RWB: Sixty-Six Journalists Killed this year

The Paris-based press freedom watchdog, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) says a total of 66 journalists have been killed while performing their duties across the world this year.

According to the report released Tuesday, Syria, where 15 journalists have been murdered, remains the most dangerous country to work in for the second year in a row.

Seven reporters died when covering events during the Middle East conflict, while six others were killed in Ukraine and four each in Iraq and Libya.

In its annual report the group says 66 reporters have been killed in connection to their work over the past year, down 7 percent on 2013.

In India in May this year, a journalist, Tarun Kumar Acharya, was killed and in Pakistan two journalists -- Irashad Mastoi and Abdul Rasool -- met a similar fate in August, the report added.

Meanwhile, the number of those kidnapped during journalistic activities has been on the rise. A total of 119 reporters were abducted this year around the world, with most cases reported in Ukraine (33), followed by Libya (29), Syria (27) and Iraq (20).

This figure is 37 percent higher than last year, when a total of 87 journalists were abducted.

The report says 178 journalists have been sentenced in 2014 due to their professional activities. A total of 29 reporters are serving jail terms in China, 28 in Eritrea, 19 in Iran, 16 in Egypt and 13 in Syria.

Struan Stevenson condemns abuses in Iran and Iraq

The president of the European Iraqi Freedom Association (EIFA) condemned Iran's meddling in Iraq and widespread abuses of human rights in both countries.

Struan Stevenson criticised the US for appeasing the Iranian regime over its human rights violations. And he praised Iranian Resistance leader Maryam Rajavi for her 'democratic and tolerant version of Islam' that can play a vital role in isolating the Iranian regime.

He told a conference to mark International Human Rights Day in Brussels: "Not every day is Human Rights Day in Iran and Iraq. For too long, the international community has remained silent towards human rights violations in Iraq and Iran.

"Maliki utilised the claim of fighting a war against terror to secure his grip on power and the West fell for it.

"When Maliki came to power, step by step his government distanced itself from Washington and got closer to Tehran. A clear indication of this was Maliki’s approach towards the main Iranian Opposition, members of the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI/MEK).

"3500 PMOI members had lived in Iraq for almost 25 years. But from the first day after the fall of Saddam, Tehran had conspired to massacre their arch foe and to annihilate Ashraf and in Nouri al-Maliki they found a willing tool."

"The predictable outcome materialised in the form of six brutal massacres during the years 2009 to 2013. We warned the US, UN and EU again and again that these massacres would take place. But our cries fell on deaf ears."

He added: "The PMOI and Maryam Rajavi's democratic and tolerant version of Islam, can play a vital role in isolating the Iranian regime and its twisted Islamic Ideology inside Iran."

And he said of Iraq: "It has a dreadful human rights record and now is in third place after only China and neighbouring Iran in the number of people it executes. In spite of vast oil revenues, per capita income is only $1,000 per year, making it one of the world’s poorest countries.

"The situation for women in Iraq is dire. Women are subject to rape, attack and violence. Iraq has 5 million widows and 5 million orphans, but only 120,000 receive state aid.

"The world now looks to Haider al-Abadi to take control and restore order inside Iraq. He must purge the army of Iranian mercenaries and all those that Maliki recruited under his sectarian policy, restoring patriotic officers and turning it into a professional and national army.

"The new Prime Minister should also disclose to the Iraqi people the names of those who carried out the executions, massacres, bombardment and rocket attacks against innocent people and those responsible for poverty and state corruption; all should be held accountable in the courts. He must re-establish the independence of the Judiciary, dismissing those who have turned Iraq’s justice system into a political tool wielded by Maliki. He must also arrest and hold to account the perpetrators of the six massacres at Camps Ashraf and Liberty."

Mexican Jihad's join war?

Jihadism experts said the Spanish newspaper El Mundo that a man of Mexican nationality joined the ranks of the Islamic State, his nom de guerre Abu Hudaifa to be Meksiki (Mexican, Arabic).Few details have leaked the identity of Abu Hudaifa to Meksiki, whom even his true identity is unknown.

"All we can say is that is the only Mexican enrolled in the Islamic state or at least the only one whose trail we could follow," says El Mundo, daily Veryan Khan, editorial director of TRAC (Consortium of analysis and research on terrorism , for its acronym in English).

The Mexican jihadist is not the only foreigner among the ranks of the Islamic state, which according to reports this organization has more than 15,000 foreign fighters who have traveled have joined the jihad (holy war). It is estimated that at least 184 people from Spain or Latin America in the jihadist organization

Free Dr. Stacey Addison! - American imprisoned in East Timor

Free Dr. Stacey Addison!

Angelina Brouillette

Mariposa, CA

Dr. Stacey Addison, a Portland, Oregon veterinarian is unjustly imprisoned in the South East Asian country of East Timor. While living her dream of an around the world trip Dr. Addison had the extremely bad luck to share a hired vehicle with a stranger who committed a crime. She has been imprisoned, denied due process and can be held with no charge against her for one year. What should have been a trip of a lifetime has turned into a nightmare. I've known Stacey for 15 years and I'm helping her mother bring her home with this petition. Our government and the government of East Timor must take action immediately to release Dr. Stacey Addison from her illegal imprisonment.  

On September 5th Stacey entered East Timor and shared a hired taxi from the border to the capital city of Dili with a stranger. This practice is very commonplace and usually safe. It’s like Lyft or Uber, but other people can share the car if it’s on the same route. Unknown to Stacey, the other passenger in the car was a criminal. En route he asked the driver to stop so he could pick up a package. The police were waiting, tipped off that the package contained illegal drugs. The car was surrounded by the police and everyone arrested.

After her belongings were searched, her drug test came up negative, and statements by everyone declaring they didn’t know her beyond sharing the cab were acquired, Stacey was still held for 5 days before being brought before a judge. She was given a conditional release, but told that her passport could be held for up to one year pending an investigation. Stacey found herself trapped and unable to travel back home to Portland, Oregon.

For nearly 2 months, waiting in agony and willing to cooperate, Stacey and her lawyer heard nothing from the authorities. Suddenly, on October 28th she was rearrested without a charge and taken to a women's prison.  She was told that the prosecutor had filed an appeal to have her conditional release rescinded without notifying Stacey or her lawyer. This is a violation of her Human Rights and illegal under Timorese and International law.

Stacey is not a criminal. She is a dedicated and caring veterinarian, often volunteering for causes close to her heart. Even on this trip, before these horrifying turn of events, Stacey volunteered as a vet in Peru and Ecuador. This is who Stacey is and the last place she deserves to be is in prison.

We are sharing her story in hopes you will join our friends and family in calling for her to be released and for her passport to be returned. We already have the support of both US Senators from Oregon and the media is starting to pay attention. Your support could create the momentum needed to ensure Stacey gets home. Please take a moment to sign and share our petition calling on the East Timor government to free Stacey now and return her passport.

You can also go to the Facebook page Help Stacey for more info and "like" it to show your support: https://www.facebook.com/PleaseHelpStacey 

Iran: Hundreds of nurses protest low wages and difficult work conditions

NCRI – Hundreds of Iranian nurses held a gathering on Sunday outside Hassan Rouhani’s office in Tehran to protest low salaries and difficult working conditions.

The group of 700 nurses also renewed their long demand for the implementation of the ‘Nursing Tariff Act’ that had been ratified in 2007 which limits the amount of overtime nurses can work, among other benefits.

Nurses, who came from various cities across Iran to Tehran, said large groups of nurses in their cities were distracted from attending the protest after a state institution contacted their hospitals.

The hospitals in Iran are experiencing a shortage of nurses, who leave the country on a daily basis due to low salaries.

According to international standards, there should be a minimum of two nurses per hospital bed each day, while in Iran this number is half this, according to some officials.

The shortage of nurses has forced nurses to work many hours in overtime.

The protesting nurses chanted “ignoring nurses in the country results in more and more nurse migration”.

They carried signs that read: “Five percent of the health care is taking the 95 percent of the income” and “This is injustice”.

It is estimated that some 40 nurses leave Iran every day to work in other countries making the situation in the hospitals critical.

The flow of Iranian immigrant nurses to Canada has increased. Canada is the first immigration destination for Iranian nurses with close to 50 percent, while the UAE attracts some 30 percent of immigrants.

Australia, the USA and the UK are among other major destinations for Iranian nurses.

Police storm Sydney cafe where jihadist, murder suspect held hostages

Police toting automatic weapons and lobbing flash grenades stormed a Sydney cafe early Tuesday, bringing to a dramatic end a 16-hour standoff in which a jihadist and murder suspect held an unknown number of hostages in a scene much of the world watched on television.

A series of explosions, believed to be gunshots and flash grenades, came just before 2:30 a.m. local time as several more hostages fled Lindt Chocolat Cafe, where a man identified as Man Haron Monis, an Iranian also known for sending hate mail to the families of fallen soldiers, was holed up with an unknown number of captives. The drama, which began early Monday, appeared to be coming to a dramatic resolution, as frenzied activity enveloped the scene that Australians had been watching on television for hours.

"Police and paramedics have stormed the building," the Sydney Morning Herald reported. "Dozens of continuous bangs and possibly gun shots have lit up the sky."

Several people were taken from the building on stretchers as an alarm rang and police in riot gear moved in and out of the shop, in the heart of Australia's largest city's business district. A bomb disposal robot was seen being deployed in the shop, though police said the standoff was over. It was not clear if anyone was killed or what had happened to the suspect. The handful of hostages seen fleeing as the explosions echoed through the predawn air followed escapes hours earlier by five captives.

Sydney hostages in Lindt coffee shop - terrorists #sydneysiege ( Video )

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