Saudi Arabia ( Sex Offender " Arrested " for sexually assaulting a 7 year-old girl at School )

The Eastern Province police arrested on Thursday the man filmed on a surveillance camera sexually assaulting a seven-year-old girl in the foyer of a residential building in Dammam.
Col. Ziad Al-Ruqaiti, spokesman for the Eastern Province police, said the man is in his 20s and has a criminal record.
He said specialists analyzed the video published on YouTube and used the information to identity the perpetrator.

Al-Ruqaiti said the police dealt with few such cases. He warned parents to watch over their children when they are out in public.
There was an outpouring of anger and shock on the Internet on Wednesday after the 47-second video appeared on YouTube.
Many users on social networks called for the government to punish the man severely and introduce new legislation, including tougher sanctions, for sexual harassment.
They also called on government to introduce lessons on sexual harassment at schools.
The video shows the little girl in her school uniform standing at the elevator in the foyer of the building when the perpetrator shows up.
The man, dressed in a white short-sleeved thobe and skullcap, first walks past her to check if anyone is on the staircase and then turns back to talk to her. He checks the doors to the fire escape and the elevator, and then lifts the little girl’s dress and starts molesting her.
He stops as the elevator arrives, and then enters it behind her. The video ends at this point.
Suhaila Zain Al-Abideen, a member of the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR), has called on the judiciary to name and shame men found guilty of sexual abuse, followed by lengthy jail sentences.

Iraq ( Suicide bomber " kills 21" at military recruiting center )

BAGHDAD: A suicide bomber blew himself up at a military recruiting center in Baghdad on Thursday, killing at least 21 people in an attack likely meant to send a message to the government and would-be army volunteers over the Iraqi troops’ ongoing push to retake two cities overrun by Al-Qaeda militants.
The blast struck as an international rights group warned of the apparent use of indiscriminate mortar fire in civilian areas by Iraqi forces in their campaign to reassert control over the cities of Fallujah and Ramadi.

 Tribal leaders in Fallujah, 65 km west of Baghdad, have warned Al-Qaeda fighters there to leave to avoid a military showdown.
Vice President Joe Biden has spoken to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki twice this week, voicing support for his government’s efforts to regain control of the cities and urging him to continue talks with local, tribal and national leaders.
Iran, too, is watching the unrest with alarm as it shares American concerns about Al-Qaeda-linked militants taking firmer root in Iraq. It has offered to supply military equipment and advisers to help fight militants in Anbar should Baghdad ask for assistance.
Human Rights Watch said on Thursday that Iraqi forces appear to have used mortar fire indiscriminately in civilian areas in recent days in their effort to dislodge militants in Anbar, and that some residential areas were targeted with mortar shells and gunfire even though there was no signs of an Al-Qaeda presence in those specific areas.
The New York-based group said its allegations were based on multiple accounts provided by Anbar residents.
It also warned that a government blockade of Ramadi and Fallujah is limiting civilian access to food, water and fuel, and that “unlawful methods of fighting by all sides” has caused civilian casualties and major property damage.
Several approaches to Fallujah have been blocked by Iraqi troops, and only families with children were being allowed to leave with “extreme difficulty” through two checkpoints that remained open, the rights group said. It added that single men were being denied exit from the city.
“Civilians have been caught in the middle in Anbar, and the government appears to be doing nothing to protect them,” the group’s Mideast director, Sarah Leah Whitson, said in a statement.

Saudi Arabia ( Border Guards bust " drug traffickers " with 352 slabs of hashish )

Jazan Border Guard patrols busted 352 slabs of cannabis (known locally as hashish), weighing 358 kg on Thursday.
Three drug traffickers were transporting the substance by boat. The main smuggler, who jumped into to sea to escape arrest, sought the guard’s assistance to save him from drowning.



Brig. Gen. Abdullah bin Mahfouz, a spokesman for the Jazan border guards, said the operation was detected by the marine radar staff, who saw an object going from the north to the south.
“When we approached the boat, we found three persons on board. They tried to escape, but we fired some warning shots. Feeling besieged and powerless, one of them tried to escape by jumping into the sea. But he did not know how to swim and was rescued by police divers,” he said.
“When the police took over the boat, the three were put under arrest. The boat was found containing quantities of cannabis and three cell phones, in addition to a Garmin GPS device.”
He said the trio was carrying 352 cannabis slabs weighing 358 kg.
He added that security agents were studying the case to take proper action against the three.
Maj. Gen. Abdul Aziz Al-Subhi, commander of the Jazan border guard, said: “I ask vacationers and holiday makers, as well as fishermen at sea, to report any suspicious boat they see at sea by calling 994.”

Pakistan ( 15 yr old boy dies a Hero " Tackling a suicide bomber at School " )

PESHAWAR: The father of a Pakistani teenager killed after tackling a suicide bomber Thursday hailed his son for saving “hundreds” of lives through his bravery.
Aitzaz Hassan, aged around 15, died in hospital after stopping the bomber, who blew himself up, at the gates of his school in the northwestern district of Hangu on Monday.



His father Mujahid Ali Bangash, 55, told AFP he felt not sadness but pride at his son’s death.
“Aitzaz has made us proud by valiantly intercepting the bomber and saving the lives of hundreds of his fellow students,” he said.
“I am happy that my son has become a martyr by sacrificing his life for a noble cause.”
Bangash works in the UAE and was only able to reach Ibrahimzai village, which lies in an area of Hangu, the day after his son’s funeral.
“Many people are coming to see me but if they try to express sympathy, I tell them to congratulate me instead on becoming the father of a martyr,” he said.
“I will be even more than happy if my second son also sacrifices his life for the country.”
Police official Shakirullah Bangash told AFP that Aitzaz intercepted the bomber some 490 feet away from the main gate of the school, which has around 1,000 students.
The schoolchildren were the target of the attack, he added.
News of Hassan’s bravery also led to an outpouring of tributes on social media.

North Korea ( The Aunt of Kim Jong -un has Died in mysterious circumstances )

 

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, along with his aunt Kim Kyong Hui, right, attend a statue unveiling. Photo / AP

The aunt of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un has died in mysterious circumstances, it was reported today.
Kim Kyong-hui, 67, whose husband Jang Song-Thaek was executed under Jong-un's orders less than a month ago, is said to have either suffered a heart attack or committed suicide by North Korean media.
There has been speculation on her health and whereabouts since the death on 8 December of her husband, also 67, described as "scum" by his 30-year-old nephew.
Read: Kim Jong-un 'very drunk' ordering executions
Kyong-hui, who was said to have been receiving treatment for heart disease, reportedly had a heart attack soon after her husband was killed in what is believed to be an attempt by Kim Jong-un to tighten his grip on North Korea.

Iraq ( police have returned to the streets of Fallujah )

FALLUJAH: Uniformed traffic police have returned to the streets of Iraq’s Fallujah, but gunmen remained in control of the Sunni Arab city on Wednesday, an AFP journalist reported. Masked anti-government fighters were deployed in areas around the edge of the city, as well as on bridges and at the entrances to neighborhoods. The traffic police are lightly-armed and solely responsible for directing vehicles and controlling intersections, and appeared to be on the streets with the blessing of the gunmen.

Iran ( Government amends law " Being Gay " could cost you 100 lashes in public )

Iran arrests 'network of homosexuals and satanists' at birthday party

Revolutionary guards raid hall in city of Kermanshah where group was dancing, taking away at least 17 people Thursday 10 October 2013 13.38 EDT                

         

Women on a gay pride march in Berlin protest at Iran's treatment of gay people. Photograph: Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images

Iran's revolutionary guards have announced the arrest of "a network of homosexuals and satanists" in the western city of Kermanshah, close to the country's border with Iraq, prompting fresh alarm over the treatment of gay people in the Islamic republic.
The news website of the revolutionary guards in Kermanshah province, home to the country's Kurd ethnic minority, reported on Thursday that their elite forces had dismantled what it claimed to be a network of homosexuals and devil-worshippers.
A number of foreign nationals, including Iraqis, were also among those detained, the report said, adding that eight of the group were married to each other.
The group were picked up from one of the city's ceremony halls, which they had rented for a birthday party. The guards' webiste said they were dancing as the raid ensued.
The revolutionary guards claimed the group had been under surveillance for some time but did not specify how many people were arrested.
Authorities in the Islamic republic have previously likened homosexuals to satanists in an apparent attempt to further smear them in the eyes of the country's religious conservatives.
The Guardian has been informed that the raid took place on Tuesday night when some 80 people, including both straight and gay Iranians, had gathered for a birthday party in Kermanshah. At least 17 people who had tattoos, make-up, or were wearing rainbow bracelets were blindfolded and taken to an unknown location, according to a local source. Partygoers were filmed by the elite forces and had their mobile phones confiscated.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Iran face serious persecution both from the ruling system and broader society, especially by hardline conservatives. Some risk horrific punishments, including the death penalty and heavy jail sentences, others are bulllied and forced into exile.
Official treatment of gay people varies dramatically depending on where they are arrested and who by. Those arrested in provincial cities like in Kermanshah, are usually under more pressure.
Until recently same-sex sodomy was punishable by death but a new amendment to the penal code, approved in 2012, has brought new changes. Under the new penal code, in effect, the person who played an active role will be flogged 100 times if the sex was consensual and he was not married, but the one who played a passive role will still be put to death regardless of his marriage status. Punishment for mosahegheh (lesbianism) is 100 lashes for all individuals involved, but it can lead to the death penalty if the act is repeated four times.
In recent years, it appears that the government and the police has maintained the policy of ignoring gay people but the revolutionary guards and the informal voluntary Basij religious militia, who are indepdent of the government but close to the country's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have been active tracking down gays and punishing them.
Despite the punishment, Iran's LGBT community have been struggling for recognition in recent years with many active online, publishing their works or simply sharing their experience. An increasing number of Iranian gay people also appear to be coming out to their friends and family.
Unlike homosexuality, which is punishable by death, transsexuality in Iran has been legal since a fatwa was issued in 1987 by the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini on their behalf. Although transsexuality is legal, the social stigma means that they can have an even worse life than gay people.
In September 2007, Iran's former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad famously denied homosexuals existed in the Islamic republic. "In Iran we don't have homosexuals like in your country," he told a jeering audience at Columbia University in New York during his UN visit.
Back home, Siamak Ghaderi, a journalist working for the state news agency, Irna, proved him wrong by publishing a series of interviews with the country's homosexuals but was later arrested and sentenced to jail. He is currently in prison serving a four year prison term for "insulting the president" and "spreading propaganda against the regime", and was reportedly lashed 60 times in 2012