Saudi Arabia dismisses Iran calls for Yemen ceasefire

RIYADH, April 12 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia dismissed Iranian calls for an end to its air strikes on neighboring Yemen on Sunday, saying Tehran should not interfere in the conflict.
Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies began air strikes against Iranian-allied Houthi militia fighters in Yemen more than two weeks ago, to try and prevent them from making further advances.
'How can Iran call for us to stop the fighting in Yemen ... We came to Yemen to help the legitimate authority, and Iran is not in charge of Yemen,' Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said in the Saudi capital Riyadh at a press conference with French counterpart Laurent Fabius.

Florida - Lizards attack cats and eat them

A Florida resident spotted one of the creatures sunning itself in his backyard.The exotic pet trade has a way of introducing destructive and potentially dangerous creatures to places in which they don't belong, and Florida's sunny, warm climate makes for a perfect home for many of these invasive species.

People buy a small snake, lizard, or colorful fish, and when it gets too big to handle, they dump it in an area in which they figure it will fit in. But if these unleashed creatures fit in too well, they not only thrive in their new homes — but without natural predators they can wreak havoc on the surrounding ecosystem, unbalancing it and potentially wiping out the native animals.

Lately we've heard a lot about the Burmese pythons and the more aggressive African rock pythonsthat wildlife officials fear will wipe out the foxes, rabbits, deer, raccoons, opossums, and bobcats of the Everglades.

But another creature that Florida wildlife officers are trying to get a handle on is the Nile monitor lizard, a cousin of the most famous monitor lizard, the Komodo dragon, which has been spreading through the state since at least 1990.

Thousands are thought to be loose in parts of the state, but they have recently begun to appear in Palm Beach County, and officials are hoping they can eliminate the lizards in the area before they establish a firm toehold.

Wildlife officials armed with shotguns will be increasing patrols of Palm Beach County canals from once a month to four to six times a month to try to hunt the reptiles down, according to the Sun Sentinel. The plan is to catch or shoot the lizards on sight — they've got 20 in Palm Beach since July.

40 youth in Ahwaz arrested; call for their immediate release

On Wednesday, April 8, regime’s suppressive forces barbarically raided Hamidiya, Molashia and Kouya Enghelab in Ahwaz arresting around 40 of the youth in these townships and districts. Moreover, a poet of the Arab compatriots by the name of Ahmad Haj Sobhan was also arrested on this day in Kut Abdollah of Ahwaz and was taken to an undisclosed location. This savage crackdown was carried out in fear of expansion of popular protests in the deprived province of Khuzestan.
Last month, the people and the valiant youth of Ahwaz, in protest to the shocking self-immolation of Youness Assakera, a petty seller in Khorramshahr, turned his funeral ceremony as well as the soccer matches in Ahwaz into a scene of protest and expression of loath for the religious fascism ruling Iran.
The anti-human clerical regime, engulfed in political and economic crises, has found no solution to rein in the increasing protests but to ramp up the suppression.
The Iranian Resistance calls on the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Human Rights Council, as well as other agencies that advocate human rights, to take immediate measures to secure the release of the arrestees.

Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
April 10, 2015.

Iranian Resistance calls for action to release youths arrested in Ahvaz

NCRI - The Iranian Resistance calls on the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Human Rights Council, and other organizations in defense of human rights, to take immediate measures to secure the release of dozens of youths arrested in the southeastern Iranian city of Ahvaz on Wednesday.

The Iranian regime’s suppressive State Security Forces barbarically raided several districts in city of Ahvaz on Wednesday, arresting over three dozen youths. The raids were carried out in the districts of Hamidiya, Molashia and Kouya Enghelab.

Moreover, an Iranian-Arab poet, Ahmad Haj Sobhan, was arrested on the same day in the Kut Abdollah district of Ahvaz. The security forces transferred him to an undisclosed location.

Fearing popular protests by the deprived residents of the oil rich province of Khuzestan, the Iranian regime continues to carry out savage crackdowns on its residents - particularly the youth.

Last month, the people and the valiant youth of Ahvaz, in protest to the shocking self-immolation of Youness Asakereh, a petty seller in Khorramshahr, turned his funeral ceremony as well as the soccer matches in Ahvaz into a scene of protest and expression of loath for the religious fascism ruling Iran.

On March 17, following the soccer match between the Foulad of Khuzestan and Al-Helal of Saudi Arabia, people staged a large demonstration and expressed their loathing for the regime’s criminal and oppressive measures against the people of Khuzestan.

The angry crowd staged a large protest carrying signs reading “We are all Youness” to express their solidarity with Youness Asakereh, a petty seller who set himself on fire on March 13, 2015 in Ahvaz, in protest against repressive measures by regime agents who had obstructed his toil.

Youness Asakereh later died on March 22 due to severe burns. His burial ceremony turned into another scene of protest and an expression of anger toward the clerical regime with a large number of people from various cities of Khuzestan participating in the event.

The people of Khuzestan province are suffering from poverty, unemployment and hunger while the province is one of the most productive and wealthy regions in Iran.

However, the enormous wealth of the Iranian people is being spent on suppression, the export of terrorism, warmongering in the region and ominous nuclear projects, or it is being plundered by the leaders of the clerical regime.

Iran accused of meddling in Yemen conflict

5 Dead in Taliban Suicide Attack against NATO Forces in Afghanistan

KABUL – At least five people, including four civilians, died and another four were wounded in a suicide attack on Friday against a NATO convoy in the Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan, an official told Efe.

A Taliban suicide car bomber rammed a police vehicle with explosive cargo into a convoy of international troops in the provincial capital of Jalalabad, according to police spokesman Hazrat Hussain Mashriqiwal.

The attack was in the vicinity of the main NATO airbase, while the wounded rushed to the hospital.

“We can confirm a suicide attack targeted Resolute Support Forces today in Jalalabad,” NATO spokesman in Kabul Sharon Mulholland stated.

“According to reports from local police, the attack killed and injured several Afghans from the local community. This is another example of the Taliban disregarding the wellbeing of innocent Afghans and killing them through their indiscriminate attacks,” the spokesman added.

The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack and said that the occupants of the two NATO vehicles have died, according to Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid’s Twitter account.

The terrorist outfit added that Afghan security forces responsible for monitoring the airbase had also suffered casualties.

This is the second attack on NATO forces in Nangarhar this week, as an attack on Wednesday claimed the lives of an American and an Afghan soldier.

The end of 2014 saw the termination of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s International Security Assistance Force mission in Afghanistan, making way for Operation Resolute Support, under which NATO maintains around 4,000 soldiers to train Afghan security forces.

The United States has about 9,800 troops in Afghanistan under its anti-terrorism combat mission, where they will remain until the end of the year, while Washington is re-evaluating its withdrawal timeframe.

Banati, a Last Chance for Egyptian Street Children

CAIRO – Some of them bear the burden of years of abuse and marginalization, some are impregnated after being raped, and other are just trying to get on with their lives that began on the streets of Egypt.

These are the young girls brought together by the Egyptian organization, Banati (Arabic for “my girls”), which helps to guide street children to lead the lives of which they’ve been robbed.

Banati is not an orphanage, but rather a rehabilitation network that began its work in 2008, and aims to help street children by giving them education, shelter, and teaching them the invaluable tools typically delegated to parents. While it is designed for girls 2 to 15 years old, it also welcomes young boys.

Ultimately, the organization recognizes, the children will return whence they came: the street.

“We are not the action, we are a reaction to a problem that the government must solve, that is the street children,” Banati director Abdel Samea Mounib told Efe in an interview.

The association has several centers throughout Egypt, and the facility in Cairo has common rooms, nurseries and schools. Children run and play in the garden, fully stocked with slides and swings, and are thus shown that their lives can be better than what they have known, that they can just be kids.

Mounib explained that the association welcomes children who are “homeless and at risk, street children who suffer family problems,” attempting to provide them with a social, educational and psychological support, as well as a place to live.

“My mother brought me to the association because she did not want me to be lying in the street. She visits me sometimes. My father lives with her, but he beats me a lot,” 14-year-old Heba Mohamed said, who temporarily resides at the Cairo center.

With what could only be understood as the contentment of a child, Heba talked about how at Banati she spends her time drawing, doing crochet and practicing kung-fu, and also playing with her “sisters” who live with her in the center.

“I want to be professional kung-fu trainer and I am learning to be. I now have a greenbelt,” she stated proudly.

Banati was originally established to help girls who had been raped or assaulted on the streets, but they often came accompanied by their brothers, their children, or in a make-shift street family of many children.

So now the facility is also open to boys.

Two specialists, a man and a woman, knowledgeable about the issue go out almost every day to find children in need of help.

Sometimes they resort directly to street therapy and try to persuade children to return to their homes, but if the attempt fails, they may take them to the association, track down their families, and find a program to rehabilitate them.

The association processes around 25 children a day, and 190 children currently live in the various facilities. Only four months into 2015, it has already helped over 1,550 children and hosted 580 others.

It is difficult to come up with an exact number of children living on the streets of Egypt; the most recent government statistics report the number as exceeding 16,000, but Mounib is convinced that the figure is much higher.

Ahlam Ramzi teaches at a Banati daycare center, caring for children from 4 to 7 years old.

“We just try to give them a chance that their families have been unwilling or unable to give. Many of their mothers are divorced women who cannot take care of their children and who also live on the street,” Ramzi explained.

Meanwhile, Teresa Wafiq works as a teacher in a special, vocational program that teaches children how to cook, clean, fold laundry and educates them on personal hygiene. History and Geography is also taught orally and through pictures.

Teresa tried to convey the difficulty in reaching the children sometimes, remarking that “these are children have many problems such as lack of concentration, sadness, fear and distrust, because of situations that they have seen at home or on the street.”