Libya ( A prominent Libyan activist - killed shot and stabbed )

CAIRO (AP) — A prominent Libyan activist who had become an international face of her strife-torn country's efforts to build a democracy was assassinated by gunmen who stormed her home in the restive eastern city of Benghazi shortly after casting her ballot in the country's parliamentary elections, police said Thursday.

The slaying of Salwa Bugaighis stunned residents of her home city, politicians, activists and diplomats, among whom she was well known. International rights groups called on authorities to investigate, something many Libyans believe won't be possible amid widespread fear of militias.

Bugaighis, a lawyer and rights activist, was at the forefront in the 2011 uprising against dictator Moammar Gadhafi. After his ouster, she became one of the most outspoken voices against militiamen and Islamic extremists who have run rampant in the country.

The identity of the gunmen was not immediately known. Islamic radical militias, however, have been blamed for frequent assassinations of secular activists, judges, moderate clerics, policemen and soldiers in Benghazi, Libya's second largest city.

Bugaighis was shot in the head and stabbed multiple times on Wednesday night, just hours after casting her ballot, police spokesman Ibrahim al-Sharaa said. She was rushed to a hospital where she died of her wounds, he said.

Her husband, who is a member of the Benghazi municipal council and was also at home at the time, has disappeared since the attack and is believed to have been abducted, al-Sharaa said.

Earlier in the day, Bugaighis had been speaking by phone from her home on a Libyan TV channel about fighting raging near her neighborhood, sparked when militants attacked army troops deploying to protect polling stations.

Iran ( Leva Khanjani released from prison )

Posted on: 25th June, 2014                         

              

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HRANA News Agency – Leva Khanjani, a Bahai excluded from tertiary education, has been freed from Evin prison after serving most of a two-year sentence.
According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), she was arrested on January 3, 2010, along with her husband Babak Mobasher, on the pretext that they had participated in street protests following the 2009 elections.
She began serving her sentence in Evin Prison, in Tehran, on August 25, 2012.
Leva Khanjani is granddaughter of Jamaleddin Khanjani, one of seven Bahai facilitators (Yaran) who were sentenced to 20 years in prison after their May 2008 arrest. Her brother Fu’ad Khanjani was sentenced to four years in prison by Tehran Revolutionary Court on January 17, 2012.
Both Jamaleddin and Fu’ad Khanjani are now serving their sentences inside Raja’i Shahr Prison.

BOGOTA ( Colombian Judges Suspect They’re Being Spied On )

BOGOTA – The president of Colombia’s highest administrative court said on Friday that an investigation is under way to determine whether the tribunal has been a victim of cyber-espionage.

“We suspect what has been called a ‘grab,’ or a leak of inappropriate information, so we request the support of the Attorney General’s Office,” the head of the Council of State, Maria Claudia Rojas, told RCN La Radio.

“We hope for results in the shortest possible time because this is very serious,” she said.

Concerns about spying arose after the publication of reports that appeared to have been stolen from the computer of council magistrate Gustavo Gomez, whose portfolio includes the controversial case of Bogota Mayor Gustavo Petro.

The mayor, a leftist former guerrilla, was reinstated in April after a court found that his March 19 ouster contravened Colombia’s obligation to honor formal requests from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

Petro turned to the commission, a body of the Organization of American States, after losing a battle in Colombian courts against a decision by the Inspector General’s Office to remove him from office for alleged mismanagement.

The IG’s office ruling would also bar the 53-year-old Petro from holding any public post for 15 years.

In the wake of Petro’s reinstatement, the IG’s office asked the Council of State to overturn the April ruling in the mayor’s favor.

Gomez is reviewing the brief from the IG’s office.

BAGHDAD ( Iraqi Army Says It Has Full Control of Key Refinery )

BAGHDAD – The Iraqi army said on Thursday it had taken full control of the Baiji refinery, Iraq’s largest petroleum refining complex, and released videos of the facility’s interior.

Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Qassim Atta showed images from the refinery during a press conference carried by the official Al Iraqiya television network.

The Baiji refinery, located north of Baghdad in Saladin province, is being protected by a special anti-terrorist unit, army troops, police and armed volunteers, Atta said.

Army troops killed three Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) leaders near the refinery and destroyed 50 vehicles and five tanks belonging to the insurgents, Atta said.

An activist, however, said the refinery may not be completely under army control.

Nuaman Yasem, an activist who lives in Baiji, told Efe by telephone that the complex was large and different sections were under government and rebel control.

Government forces and ISIS members have been fighting for control of the refinery since mid-June, with both the army and the Sunni insurgents claiming in recent days that the complex was under their control.

The images broadcast by government forces are of the section of the refinery under their control, Yasem said.

AZ ( Puppy thrown from car " On freeway lives " and gets a new home )

Dog Beater wanted ( Look at photo - sick )

3 sentenced to death for joining terror group and targeting banks

Three people have been sentenced to death by a special court in Jeddah after being found guilty of joining Al-Qaeda’s intelligence unit and plotting to target Saudi banks.
One defendant was sentenced to 14 years in prison after being convicted of providing another defendant with a sketch of several locations around the US Embassy in Jeddah and mixing with Westerners and Americans with the eventual aim of abducting them.
He was also accused of receiving espionage training from the other defendant, harboring the cell leader and adopting a deviant ideology.
The second defendant was accused of fighting in Afghanistan without the permission of his guardian, in addition to receiving training at one of Al-Qaeda’s training camps.
He was also found guilty of establishing sleeper cells outside of Afghanistan and preparing to carry out terrorist operations in Lebanon and Yemen. He was also convicted of establishing and leading an Al-Qaeda cell in the country.
Another defendant, meanwhile, was accused of taking part in the theft of several cars at gunpoint for the purpose of robbing Saudi banks.
The money would be used to support the terrorist cell. He was also found guilty of aiding the two other defendants in using explosives and blowing up a bank car park. The lawyer objected to the sentence and asked for a copy of the verdict, the court said.