Mexican Small Farmers Stage Missing Students Protest

MEXICO CITY – Mexican small farmers on Friday carried out a protest in solidarity with the family members and classmates of trainee teachers who disappeared more than two months ago at the hands of corrupt police officers, using 43 tractors in the demonstration to symbolize each of the missing students.

The protest began at the El Angel monument at 11:45 a.m., covered a portion of the Paseo de la Reforma thoroughfare and was to end up at the interior ministry building, organizers told Efe.

Some 2,500 small farmers from 27 of 32 Mexican states took part in the march, according to El Barzon, the association that headed the demonstration.

Each tractor had a photograph of one of the students from the teachers college in Ayotzinapa, a village in the southern state of Guerrero, who were abducted Sept. 26 by municipal cops in the nearby town of Iguala.

Police officers from Iguala and the neighboring town of Cocula detained those 43 students that night at the orders of Iguala’s mayor and handed them over to the Guerreros Unidos gang, which killed them and burned the bodies to eliminate all traces of the victims, Mexican authorities say, citing statements by suspects in the case.

Corrupt municipal police targeted the students, according to some media accounts, after they had seized several buses for use in protests against education reform.

Upon their arrival at the interior ministry building, the march participants also will call on President Enrique Peña Nieto to enact reforms that close the gap between the prices paid to small farmers and the retail price in the marketplace.

Small farmers are increasingly more “indebted,” even as the big monopolies become wealthier, according to El Barzon

Mexico City Police Chief Resigns amid Wave of Protests

MEXICO CITY – Mexico City’s police chief, Jesus Rodriguez Almeida, has resigned amid a wave of protests over the disappearance of 43 trainee teachers.

Mexico City Mayor Miguel Angel Macera announced the decision in a brief message to the media Friday in which he did not accept questions or provide further details.

Mexico’s constitution establishes that the Mexico City police chief must be endorsed by the head of state and his departure from office also must receive the approval of President Enrique Peña Nieto.

In recent weeks, Rodriguez Almeida has come under fire for the police response to protests in the capital in support of the family members of 43 students who went missing in late September in the southern state of Guerrero.

During the protests, self-described anarchist groups have carried out isolated acts of violence in the capital targeting commercial establishments and government buildings, including the National Palace.

Police officers from Iguala, Guerrero state, and the neighboring town of Cocula detained the 43 students on the night of Sept. 26 at the orders of Iguala’s mayor and handed them over to the Guerreros Unidos gang, which killed them and burned the bodies to eliminate all traces of the victims, Mexican authorities say, citing statements by suspects in the case.

The students’ parents have refused to accept the suspects’ account without definitive proof that human remains recovered near Iguala are those of their missing loved ones.

The remains are being examined by specialists at a laboratory in Austria.

Corrupt municipal police targeted the students from a teacher training college in the nearby village of Ayutzinapa, according to some media accounts, after they had seized several buses for use in protests against education reform

Chinese man charged with sending Iran parts with nuclear weapon use

 Friday, 05 December 2014 23:04

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A Chinese man accused of conspiring to export devices to Iran that can be used in nuclear weapons production has been brought to the United States on Friday to face charges.

The "pressure transducers" devices sent to Iran through china were featured in pictures of nuclear centrifuge plants that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, former president of the clerical regime released to the public, U.S. federal prosecutors said.

The man who arranged those shipments, Chinese citizen Sihai Cheng, landed in federal custody at Logan International Airport in Boston after was he was extradited to from the United Kingdom.

He was arrested on U.S. terrorism charges last February during a visit to the United Kingdom.
An indictment accuses Cheng of establishing shell companies in China to receive pressure-measuring sensors known as "pressure transducers" from the Shanghai subsidiary of MKS Instruments Inc., based in Andover, Massachusetts.

During the 2009 scheme to supply the Iranian regime with the technical goods, Cheng and six co-defendants placed ordered for pressure transducers through MKS, and had them shipped to MKS-Shanghai.

Once there, the parts made their way to Tehran where they were installed at nuclear enrichment facilities.

American photojournalist Luke Somers was killed during a failed rescue attempt

American photojournalist Luke Somers was killed during a failed rescue attempt in Yemen, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Saturday.

Somers had been held by al-Qaeda militants following his abduction in Yemen's capital of Sanaa in September 2013.

Hagel, speaking from Kabul where he made a surprise visit Saturday, confirmed the British-born hostage's death following an unsuccessful raid to free him by U.S. and Yemeni special forces.

"There were compelling reasons to believe Mr. Somers' life was in imminent danger," Hagel said in a statement, describing Somers' death as murder at the hands of terrorists.

Lucy Somers said she learned of her brother's death from the FBI.

"We ask that all of Luke's family members be allowed to mourn in peace," she told the Associated Press.

A second hostage, South African Pierre Korkie, a teacher abducted in Yemen in May 2013 with his wife, was also killed in the failed raid. Yolande Korkie had previously been released by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula militants.

During the rescue operation, helicopters swept in and dropped U.S. commandos about a mile from the village where Somers was being held hostage, according to a senior Defense Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

U.S. warplanes flew overhead for protection but did not fire weapons. The commandos, from teams based in the Middle East, killed all of the al-Qaeda-linked terrorists. No U.S. forces were wounded, the official said.

President Obama said he authorized the rescue attempt because of information the U.S. had that Somers' life was in immediate danger, including a video released by his terrorist captors earlier this week that announced the journalist would be killed within 72 hours.

Iran: Police raids a family party in Isfahan (2014)

NCRI – Iranian police raided a family party in city of Isfahan checking identifications of every participant. The Iranian regime has stepped up suppression of people under various pretexts in Iran as it fears public expression of anger against the regime. This video shows the Iranian police has setup a check point after the raid.

Dozens of Chinese Citizens Detained in Kenya for Cyber Espionage, Fraud

NAIROBI – Kenyan police have arrested 77 Chinese nationals accused of running a cybercrime ring and high-tech spy center in the African country’s capital, local media reported on Thursday.

Those arrested were “hacking the country’s communication systems” and were in possession of equipment capable of infiltrating Kenyan bank accounts and cash, police sources said.

The head of the Criminal Investigation Department, Ndegwa Muhoro, said that the preliminary investigation shows that the alleged cybercriminals were involved in money laundering and website hacking.

The arrests began last Sunday after the group was discovered, when a server they were using caught fire and killed a member of the ring, Muhoro explained to the local newspaper, The Standard.

The Chinese ambassador to Kenya, Liu Xian Fa, has been summoned to explain whether his government was aware of this group’s activities.

Meanwhile, the Kenyan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amina Mohamed, insisted that the Chinese government must fully cooperate with the investigation.

Putin Lashes Out at West, Admits That Sanctions Hurt Russia

MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin lashed out Thursday at what he described as Western attempts to contain Russia, while he acknowledged that sanctions have hurt his country and announced plans to strengthen ties with Latin America.

“Talking to Russia from a position of strength is senseless,” Putin said during a speech on the state of the nation before the Federal Assembly.

“The policy of deterrence was not invented yesterday. It has been always directed towards our country, for decades, if not centuries,” he added.

Putin acknowledged that international sanctions are “harmful” for Russia, but said he was convinced that even without the annexation of Crimea and the crisis in Ukraine, the West would have found another pretext to impose them.

The Russian leader dedicated the first part of his speech to defending Russia’s position on the conflict in eastern Ukraine, which triggered the current Western sanctions against Russia.

The Kremlin chief criticized the West for supporting the Ukrainian army in its “repression” of the pro-Russian population, such as the incident in Odessa, an important Black Sea port, last May, when “people were burned alive.”

Putin stressed that Moscow respects Ukraine’s sovereignty, but criticized the absence of dialogue over the association agreement between Ukraine and the EU, an issue that triggered anti-government protests in Kiev.

Moreover, he criticized the policy of Western containment and declared that “no one can achieve military superiority over Russia.”

The Russian president assured the lawmakers that his country has no intention of involving itself in a long-term arms race, but will guarantee sufficient military capabilities in light of the global situation.

He also criticized the United States for moving forward with strategic plans to deploy elements of its anti-missile shield in Europe.

Putin clarified that he is not considering, under any circumstances, suspending relations with Europe or the United States.

Turning to other matters, the Russian leader revealed his intention to restore and expand traditional ties with the South American continent, in addition to continuing cooperation with Africa and the Middle East.