Chinese destroyer docks in Iran, first such visit

TEHRAN: Iran’s state television is reporting that a Chinese destroyer has docked in a southern Iranian port in the first such visit to the country by the Chinese Navy.
Adm. Hossein Azad, naval base chief in the southern port of Bandar Abbas, said the four-day visit saw the two navies sharing expertise in the field of marine rescue.
The Sunday report said the destroyer was accompanied by a logistics ship, both of which were on their way to the Gulf of Aden as a part of an international mission to combat piracy.
In recent years Iran’s navy has increased its bilateral relations with various countries.
Earlier last year a Russian naval group docked in the same port on the way back from a Pacific Ocean mission.

Saudi Arabia ( Female guards at schools spark intense debate)

Intense public debate continues around the employment of female security guards at girls’ schools, with some arguing that teachers and supervisors should take up this role.
Some parents have argued that these guards are vital to tackle conflict between girl students, bullying and inappropriate behavior toward teachers.
Alfirdaus Samira Alharkan, a school director, supports having female guards, especially at entrances and inside the premises of intermediate and high schools, to tackle improper behavior such as smoking and bullying.
Abdulaziz Al-Atisham, a Shoura Council member, supports the idea and argues it can help solve many problems at schools. He said the government has taken several decisions recently to ensure women can become part of the work force.
“The challenges are mainly bureaucratic in nature. Many people are challenging the employment of women as cashiers, but the reality is that they are more punctual in terms of reporting to work and sticking to working hours.
“Female guards currently stand outside school buildings, and have no involvement in what goes on inside. Why are no female guards employed to remain inside and monitor issues among students?”
Psychiatric consultant Faiqah Badr said women should not only be employed at schools as a means of job creation. It should also be seen as a way to train women to help deal with students who are at a very sensitive stage of their lives.
Writer Suzan Al-Shadi said she was concerned that female guards would overstep their mandate to ensure control of students. She also doubted whether the Department of Education would train them properly so that they were aware of their rights and obligations.
Writer Mohammed Al-Sahimy rejected the idea of employing female guards inside girls’ schools. “Teachers and supervisors should be capable of taking on this role so students do not feel they are being monitored.”
He said teachers have recently moved away from their role as mentors and focus only on teaching. He urged the education department to place emphasis on training teachers to be both educators and mentors capable of addressing any issue at a school.

Wanted Drug Lord’s Brother Found Dead in Mexico

MORELIA, Mexico – Mexican police on Friday found the dead body of the purported brother of Los Caballeros Templarios (Knights Templar) chief Servando “La Tuta” Gomez Martinez, the country’s most wanted drug lord, authorities said.

Aquiles Gomez Martinez was found dead Friday morning of a gunshot wound at his home in the Pacific port city of Lazaro Cardenas, the Michoacan state Attorney General’s Office said.

A 9 mm pistol, two ammunition clips and a box containing 50 bullets were also found at the residence, the AG’s office said.

Prosecutors had identified him and two other purported brothers of “La Tuta,” Flavio and Luis Felipe Gomez Martinez, as chief operators of the Templarios.

Elsewhere in Michoacan, the slain bodies of six people bearing gunshot wounds were found near a campus of the University of San Nicolas de Hidalgo in the city of Uruapan.

Authorities said they believe those individuals were killed in another place and their bodies were dumped at the intersection where they were discovered.

One individual was found alive at that same location and is currently being treated at a local hospital, the state AG’s office said.

The federal government intervened in January in Michoacan to fill a security vacuum in that southwestern state, where community self-defense groups had formed to defend themselves against the Templarios.

Since January, federal authorities have dealt the cartel a series of blows, capturing or killing several of its top leaders.

The Templarios, which deal in both synthetic and natural drugs, commit murders, stage kidnappings and run extortion rackets that target business owners and transport companies in Michoacan.

Residents in several towns and cities formed vigilante groups in February 2013 to fight the crime outfit. 

Judge Fuller must resign ( Beat his wife )

Judge Fuller must resign

Federal Judge Mark Fuller was arrested for domestic violence last month after his wife called 911 during the attack.
But rather than face trial, Fuller agreed to an intervention program. He will spend no time behind bars--he's set to return to the bench--and his record will be expunged.
Fuller has completely lost the public trust. Men who beat their wives should have no place in deciding justice for others. And right now, there's a ton of attention on domestic violence. It has even forced Alabama's senators to call on Fuller to step down. If we all call for his resignation now, the public outcry will force him out of the judgeship.Will you add your name?

Tell Judge Fuller:

Domestic abusers should have no place in making justice decisions. Resign immediately.

IS calls on “Lone Wolves” in U.S. to Attack New York and Las Vegas

IS calls on “Lone Wolves” in U.S. to Attack New York and Las Vegas

WASHINGTON – Authorities in New York City and Las Vegas have beefed up security at major tourist sites after the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group issued online threats to “lone wolves” in the United States to attack these cities with improvised weapons.

“This is the first time the IS has used this medium to inspire a “lone wolf” type attack,” New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton told reporters on Wednesday.

“We are quite concerned, as you would expect, with the capabilities of IS much more than Al Qaeda ever was able to project their ability to use social media to try and spread their recruitment efforts and try to inspire,” he said.

Bratton noted that New York City is only a plane trip away for IS militants in Syria and Iraq with Western passports.

One of the messages that alarmed authorities was an Internet post entitled: “To the Lone Wolves in the United States: How to Make a Bomb from the Kitchen of Your Mom, to Create Scenes of Horror in Tourist Spots and Other Targets.”

“We take this all very, very seriously. It is part of a continuum, whether we like it or not in this city, it is part of a continuum we’ve been living with. There is no specific credible threat and that is an important fact,” New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said in an interview with the publication Politico.

The Democratic politician argued that for the city’s security it is necessary that the United States keeps President Barack Obama’s promise of not sending combat troops to Iraq and Syria to fight against the IS.

“It would be absolutely counterproductive for New York City to have American troops involved in this conflict,” he said.

Faced with the IS threat, which explicitly mentioned a potential attack on the iconic Times Square in New York City, the municipal police tightened security on Wednesday, but said they had no evidence of an imminent attack.
Las Vegas is the other target city that appeared in the jihadists’ Internet forums, where they actively attempt to recruit new members which has led local police to increase surveillance in the gambling mecca.

The recruitment of western citizens to fight alongside the IS is of great concern to the U.S. and European governments as those with Western passports could easily return to their homelands to carry out attacks.

Earlier this week, federal officials arrested a U.S. citizen of Yemeni origin on charges of recruiting for the IS and planning attacks on U.S. military personnel and Shiite Muslims in New York state.

Death toll in Ebola epidemic reaches 2,622

LONDON: At least 2,622 people have died in the worst outbreak of Ebola virus in history, which has so far infected at least 5,335 people in West Africa, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday.
In an update on the epidemic, which is raging through Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia and has spread into Nigeria and Senegal, the WHO said there were no signs yet of it slowing.
“The upward epidemic trend continues in the three countries that have widespread and intense transmission — Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone,” the United Nations health agency said.
It added that a surge in Ebola in Liberia is being driven primarily by a continued increase in the number of cases reported in the capital, Monrovia.
Meanwhile, Liberia’s president has welcomed promised US military aid to fight Ebola, saying she hopes it spurs the international community into further action.
President Barrack Obama announced Tuesday he will order 3,000 US military personnel to West Africa to help contain the disease. The US is also planning 17 treatment centers of 100 beds each in Liberia.
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf called that commitment significant and said she hopes it will only be the beginning.
“We hope this decision by the United States will spur the rest of the international community into action,” she said in a statement read by a spokesman.
She said the world community has a stake in ending the outbreak that’s affected five nations.

Australia foils IS plot ‘in largest ever anti-terror raids’

SYDNEY: Australia’s largest ever counterterrorism raids on Thursday detained 15 people and foiled an alleged plot by Islamic State (IS) militants to conduct “demonstration killings,” including beheading a random member of the public.
A major pre-dawn operation was carried out across Sydney and Brisbane by more than 800 officers acting on some 25 search warrants. One person has so far been charged with serious terrorism-related offenses.
At least one gun was seized, along with a sword.
Omarjan Azari, 22, appeared in a Sydney court and was remanded in custody, charged with planning a terrorist act which prosecutors alleged was designed to “shock, horrify and terrify” the community.
The court heard he was instructed in a recent phone call by the most senior Australian member of IS, Afghan-born Mohammad Baryalei, to commit the atrocity.
Prosecutor Michael Allnutt alleged the plan involved the “random selection of persons to rather gruesomely execute” on camera and involved “an unusual level of fanaticism.”
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation said the video was then to be sent back to IS’s media unit in the Middle East, where it would be released to the public.
The militants have in recent weeks broadcast video footage of three foreign nationals being beheaded in Syria.
The raids, which spanned multiple suburbs, came barely a week after Australia boosted the terror threat level to “high” for the first time in a decade on growing concern about militants returning from fighting in Iraq and Syria.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott said he had been briefed on intelligence that public beheadings had been ordered by IS militants.
“That’s the intelligence we received,” he said, prompting comparisons to the murder of British soldier Lee Rigby, who was hacked to death in a random attack on a street in England last year by two Muslim converts.
“The exhortations, quite direct exhortations, were coming from an Australian who is apparently quite senior in ISIL to networks of support back in Australia to conduct demonstration killings here in this country,” added the prime minister.
“So this is not just suspicion, this is intent and that’s why the police and security agencies decided to act in the way they have.”
The Australian government believes up to 60 Australians are fighting alongside members for IS, while another 100 were actively working to support the movement at home.
“These people, I regret to say, do not hate us for what we do, they hate us for who we are and how we live. That’s what makes us a target,” said Abbott.
“It’s important our police and security organizations be one step ahead of them and this morning they were.”
The latest raids followed the arrests of two people last week in Brisbane who were charged with allegedly recruiting, funding and sending fighters to Syria.