Wanted: Saudi Arabia seeks eight executioners as beheadings soar

The job may also involve amputations for those convicted of lesser offences, the advert said, and no special qualifications are needed.

According to Saudi Arabia’s official press agency, the country beheaded its 85th victim on Sunday. This compares with more than 90 for the whole of last year, according to an Amnesty International report on the death penalty in 2014.

Most were executed for murder but 38 had committed drug offences. Half were from Saudi Arabia and the others were from Pakistan, Yemen, Syria, Jordan, India, Indonesia, Burma, Chad, Eritrea, the Philippines and Sudan.

Diplomats have put the increase in the number of executions down to more judges being appointed, allowing for a backlog of appeal cases to be heard.

A downloadable PDF form for the job says the successful applicants would be paid at the lower end of the civil service pay scale.

30 People Missing in Mexico’s Chilapa Municipality

MEXICO CITY – At least 30 people disappeared during an armed siege of Chilapa de Alvarez, in southern Mexico’s Guerrero state, local residents informed the state’s Human Rights Commission.

Authorities were previously aware of the disappearances of only 16 of the 30, as the families of another 14 had been intimidated into staying quiet, according to local media.

Locals blame the disappearances on the armed group.

Around 300 armed civilians took control of the city on May 9, demanding a stop to spiraling violence in the region in the run up to elections on June 7, when 1,996 representatives, at local, state and federal levels, are due to be elected.

On May 1, a candidate for the position of mayor the city, Ulises Fabian Quiroz, was murdered near Atzacoaloya.

The self-styled “community police” withdrew five days later after reaching an agreement with state and federal authorities

Iran news in brief, 18 May 2015

Singapore slams Iran regime for firing warning shots at commercial ship

Singapore on Monday condemned the Iranian forces for firing warning shots in the Persian Gulf at a commercial ship registered in the Asian city-state, calling it a "serious violation of international law".

The Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) also urged Tehran to investigate Thursday's incident involving the Singapore-flagged Alpine Eternity which it said was in international waters, AFP reported

"With regard to the reported shooting incident on 14 May 2015, involving a Singapore-registered tanker 'Alpine Eternity' that took place in international waters, Singapore is deeply concerned with such actions," the MPA said in a statement.

The statement added: "Such interference with navigational rights is a serious violation of international law,"

"The freedom of navigation and free flow of commerce are of critical importance to Singapore and other maritime and trading nations," it added.

In the incident, the Iranian regime’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) fired warning shots across the bow of the Singapore-flagged tanker before vessels from the United Arab Emirates came to the ship's aid, according to US officials.

Egypt: Ousted President Mohamed Mursi sentenced to death

Female foil fencers face off in Shanghai

Photo shows four IRGC top commanders killed in Syria

Four commanders of Iran's Revolutionary Guards have been killed by fighters of the Free Syrian Army, which is waging civil war against the regime of dictator Bashar al-Assad.

They were all member of the IRGC’s Qods Force, which Iran has sent to fight alongside Assad forces in Syria.

The photo from left to right shows: Ali Soltan Moradi, a member of Basij that was killed on February 12, 2015 in Dera’a, southern Syria; Abbas Abdollahi, commander of the Saberin Battalion of the 31st IRGC Division (Ashura) who was also killed on the same day; Alireza Tavas’solei, an Afghan living in Iran who was killed in Dera’a on February 28; Commander Hossein Badpa from 41st IRGC Division (Sarallah of Kerman) killed on April 20 near Basir al-Harir in Dera’a.

In late April, the Iranian regime's media reported on the burial ceremonies in Iran of another four commanders and dozens of IRGC forces together with dozens of Afghans and five Pakistanis.

After the uprising of the Syrian people, Iran formed groups called Fatemioun and Zainabiyoun on the pretext of defending the holy shrines in Syria, but they are known to have been extremist groups in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and Hezbollah who had been organized by the Iranian regime to massacre the Syrian people.

It was revealed last week that Iran has also been sending Afghan immigrants to fight in Syria

The Afghans are mostly Shiite Muslims from the Hazara ethnic group who were living as illegal immigrants in Iran until they were rounded up by the regime's Revolutionary Guard.

They were given the choice of either fighting in Syria or going to jail, according to German magazine Der Spiegel.

The magazine has estimated that at least 700 Afghans have now been killed in fighting around Aleppo and Damascus alone.

This reliance upon Afghan fighters is part of Iran's strategy of support for the Assad regime, which is coming under increasing pressure from opposition fighters.

It also advances Iran's larger strategy in the Middle East, according to researcher Philip Smyth, who noted in a report how Tehran is coordinating a 'Shi'ite jihad' in Syria, using its militant proxies in Iraq and Lebanon to portray the defense of the Assad regime as a religious obligation.