China Accuses Hong Kong Protesters of Risking Social Order

BEIJING –The Chinese government on Monday accused the pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong of “putting social order at risk”, a day before the start of negotiations between the protesters and the authorities.

“There are people in Hong Kong who are illegally blocking the main roads, opposing the law and putting the social order at risk,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying following yet another weekend of clashes between the police and activists.

Hua insisted that the activities of the movement that rejects the electoral system established by Beijing for 2017 local elections in Hong Kong were “totally illegal” and that the Communist regime fully backs the government of that territory in its actions to maintain law and order.

The spokesperson also expressed support for statements made by Hong Kong Chief Executive Cy Leung on Sunday in which he accused “external forces” of fueling the pro-democratic movement.

Hua said that China “is completely opposed to any country trying to interfere in any way in Hong Kong’s matters” and accused external forces, without specifying any countries in particular, of “protecting and instigating illegal activities.”

The protests began in late September, a month after China announced that Hong Kong’s citizens would be able to vote directly for one of two or three vetted candidates previously selected by a special commission

Three Policemen in Mexico fired over death of students

MEXICO CITY – Police force members in three southern Mexican towns have been decommissioned because of links to the case of 43 students who went missing three weeks ago, according to local press reports.

The operation was carried out Sunday in the towns of Arcelia, Taxco and Buena Vista de Cuellar, all near the town of Iguala where the students disappeared.

In the move, the officers were relieved of their duties and their radio communications equipment was seized for analysis by the intelligence division of the Federal Police, the reports said Sunday.

The federal government is expected to take over the security duties is the three towns as it did in Cocula and Iguala to investigate if they are also under the control of the United Warriors crime cartel.

According to investigators, police in Iguala and Cocula may be primarily responsible for the disappearance of the 43 students on September 26, following an altercation in which six people were killed and 25 others wounded.

Iguala Mayor Jose Luis Abarca also went missing after the incident

Twitter user " Kidnapped and murdered " Mexico

Citizen groups in the northern Mexican state of Tamaulipas reported yesterday that Twitter user María del Rosario Fuentes Rubio​​ had been kidnapped and murdered. Although it is unknown who was responsible for her death, photographs of Fuentes Rubio's body appeared on her Twitter stream.

Her Twitter account ​@Miut3 ​was suspended shortly thereafter​. After María del Rosario supposedly asked for forgiveness for facing the drug lords, photos of her own murder were published, as well as a posthumous message that warned other citizen journalists to remain quiet about Reyonsa's violence because “you won’t get anything out of it.”

A​ Reynosa​ medical doctor, Fuentes Rubio volunteered as a contributor with Valor por Tamaulipas (Courage for Tamaulipas), a citizen media platform that allows users to file anonymous reports on violence, particularly incidents concerning organized crime and the drug trade. She also served as an administrator for Responsabilidad por Tamaulipas (Responsibility for Tamaulipas), a similar project associated with the first. ​The last post by “Valor for Tamaulipas” described her as “an angel who gave everything, her life, her future, her safety and peace (…) for the good of the people of the state.”​

This is not the first time individuals associated with these networks have been punished for their reporting. Since it was established in 2012, Valor por Tamaulipas has faced a range of threats and incidents of violence that at times have forced administrators to pause their activities.

Valor por Tamaulipas has been using social media to crowdsource reports from citizens in the state of Tamaulipas, which has been riddled with drug-related conflict and corruption since 2006. In February of 2013, an unidentified drug organization circulated a pamphlet offering MX$600,000 (about US$44,000) for information on the whereabouts of the administrator(s) of the Valor por Tamaulipas social media accounts. Shortly afterwards, @ValorTamaulipas announced plans to suspend reporting. But the network has since taken shape once more — violent crime continues to plague Tamaulipas and citizens continue to report on it.​​

Life Sentence for Man Who Killed Teen for Playing Music Too Loud

ORLANDO, Florida – Michael Dunn, found guilty of first degree murder for the death of black teenager Jordan Davis, whom he shot dead in the state of Florida in 2012 for playing music too loud, was sentenced to life imprisonment without possibility of parole, and another 30 years for each of the three attempted homicides of Davis’s three friends, Tevin Thompson, Leland Brunson and Tommy Stornes.

During the trial, Dunn testified that he shot the unarmed adolescent as often as he could because he felt his life threatened by the 17-year-old.

During the closing arguments, the prosecutor said the police never found any kind of weapon in the car Davis was traveling in with his three friends.

The prosecutor said that Michael Dunn did not shoot in self-defense, he shot to kill.

As reflected in the official documents, Dunn parked his car at a gas station convenience store next to Davis’s car, but was immediately annoyed by the blaring rap music the teens were listening to.

“I hate that thug music,” he said to his girlfriend, and asked the youths to turn it down.

Thompson in the front seat lowered the volume, but Davis told him to turn it up again because he didn’t like people telling them what to do, after which Dunn and Davis started insulting each other.

Next, according to police, Dunn took out his gun and shot at least nine times at the teenagers’ car, and didn’t stop even as he was driving away.

Missing Students Were Burned Alive, Mexican Activist Says

MEXICO CITY – One eyewitness to the Sept. 26 abduction of 43 students in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero has recounted that at least some of the youths were burned alive, a prominent priest and human rights activist said Friday.

The Rev. Alejandro Solalinde, known for his advocacy on behalf of undocumented Central American migrants, cited concerns for the witness’ safety in declining to provide any details about his source.

On the night of Sept. 26, police in the town of Iguala fired shots at a group of students from Ayotzinapa Rural Normal School, a nearby teacher-training facility.

Six people were killed and 25 others wounded, while 43 students remain missing.

Several people arrested for the 26 incident told investigators Iguala deputy police chief Francisco Salgado Valladares had his men intercept the Ayotzinapa students and that while a boss from the Guerreros Unidos drug cartel identified only as “Chucky” ordered the young people seized and killed.

Solalinde said at a press conference that he had the opportunity to talk to several people who “directly” witnessed the events in Iguala and that one of them told him that Ayotzinapa students were burned.

Asked whether the witness was referring to all 43 students, the priest replied, “the information is fragmented.”

“The person who told me that is very shaken and afraid,” Solalinde said.

“If the Ayotzinapa Normal students were alive, do you think they would let this entire problem go on and grow, knowing the national and international reaction we have,” the priest said to reporters. “That is the best evidence that they are no longer living.”

Criticizing the government’s “poor handling” of the tragedy, Solalinde that Mexico needs to be re-founded in the face of violence extending “from border to border and from coast to coast.”

“Bodies turn up everywhere,” the priest said.

Conflict among rival drug cartels and between the criminals and security forces has claimed more than 130,000 lives in Mexico since December 2006, when then-President Felipe Calderon decided to militarize the struggle against the drug trade.

Man films woman with secret camera

Worker stabs colleague to death in food dispute

In an apparent dispute over food, an expatriate worker killed a colleague and injured four others when he attacked them with a knife in Rabigh on Wednesday, according to the police.
“The police received information that a Sudanese worker attacked five others on Wednesday,” said Aati Al-Qurashi, spokesman for Makkah police. He said officers arrested the man and an investigation is under way.
The workers are all employees of a supermarket near Al-Naqeel Hospital in Rabigh, which is 100 km from Jeddah. They share accommodation and cook together.
According to a source, the Sudanese man came home from the supermarket late on Wednesday afternoon and discovered that the other workers had eaten up all the food.
A heated argument ensued, with the man taking a knife and stabbing his colleagues, the source said. The Indian man died and his Sudanese colleague is in a critical condition at a local hospital. The other three stab victims are two Sudanese and an Egyptian. The Indian expatriate was declared dead at Rabigh General Hospital, said Abdullah Shamrani, director of the hospital.
There are rumors that the Sudanese man who was critically injured also died on Thursday but this could not be verified. The victim worked with his father in the vegetable section of the market, sources said.
Abdul Mannan, a Bangladeshi shop worker, who has been working in Jeddah for the past 26 years, said fights are common among workers living together.