Joe's Crime Blog/Human Right's Site: Loyal dog mounts vigil at hospital doors for sick ...

Joe's Crime Blog/Human Right's Site: Loyal dog mounts vigil at hospital doors for sick ...: Published: 05 Sep 2016 10:58 GMT+02:00 Maya was finally reunited with her owner after waiting patiently for six days at the doors of a...

Missing Swiss cat turns up 600km away in Germany

Published: 30 Sep 2016 12:28 GMT+02:00

A family's much-loved cat who went missing from her home in the north-eastern Swiss city of St Gallen more than a year ago has been found 600 kilometres away in Bonn, Germany.

According to daily 20 Minuten, the 15-year-old moggy, called Sissi, disappeared from her home at the end of August 2015.

The cat’s distressed family looked everywhere for Sissi – who is deaf – but, as winter approached, finally gave up hope.

“It was very difficult for us. Tears flowed,” owner Julika Fitzi told the paper.

So she was amazed when she was contacted by a cat refuge in Bonn to say they had found Sissi in the German city and identified her by her microchip.

Refuge worker Susanne Wanniger told Germany’s Express paper on Thursday that the cat was found by a resident in the city centre of Bonn in a dire state – covered in fleas and very thin.

While no one knows how Sissi managed to travel the 600km to Bonn, Fitzi thinks she probably got into a vehicle by mistake and was accidentally driven there.

It takes around six hours to drive between the two cities.

Loyal dog mounts vigil at hospital doors for sick owner

Published: 05 Sep 2016 10:58 GMT+02:00

Maya was finally reunited with her owner after waiting patiently for six days at the doors of a hospital in Alicante.

Sandra Iniesta, 22, was discharged from Elda hospital near Alicante on Saturday where she rushed a week earlier after suffering a ruptured appendix.

Waiting loyally for her at the door of the hospital was Maya, a two-year-old Akita Inu, who had steadfastedly refused to leave her vigil while her owner was recovering.

Even when her owner’s father attempted to pull her away tempting her into the car with offers of treats, the dog refused to budge.

“She knows what is happening and she is showing that she can be patient,” he explained to local Alicante newspaper Información of Maya, whose Japanese breed is famous for its loyalty.

She quickly became a favourite with hospital staff who posted a photograph of Maya on their facebook page and the story soon went viral on social media.

Iniesta emerged from the hospital on Saturday to discover her beloved dog had become a celebrity.

“She just did what she does at home in Barcelona which is wait at the door of a place until I return,” explained Iniesta.

"After days of not seeing my girl Maya, the kiss and happiness at seeing me and me her is priceless," she wrote on Twitter

Iran - U.S female Chess Master faces arrest (refuses to wear hijab )

This is what standing up for women’s rights looks like.

Iran is set to host the world chess championship, but now the U.S. women’s champion and others are accusing chess tournament officials of not standing up for women’s rights because it has allowed Iran to rule that all female contestants must wear the oppressive Muslim headscarf during their stay in the Muslim country.

Worse, Iran has said that female chess grandmasters who refuse to wear the hijab while in Iran will face arrest!

Wearing the headscarves has been strictly enforced by the “morality police” since 1979.  Refusal to do so can result in public reprimands, arrests or fines, the Mail reported.

Fide, the nickname of the World Chess Federation, is now being accused of bowing to pressure from the terrorist exporting nation and not standing up for its female players.

In particular, the U.S. women’s champion, Nazi Paikidze, is attacking Fide as weak-willed.

 

“It is absolutely unacceptable to host one of the most important women’s tournaments in a venue where, to this day, women are forced to cover up with a hijab,” Paikidze said according to the Daily Mail.

“I understand and respect cultural differences,” she added. “But, failing to comply can lead to imprisonment and women’s rights are being severely restricted in general. It does not feel safe for women from around the world to play here.”

“If the situation remains unchanged, I will most certainly not participate in this event,” the U.S. female champ concluded.

U.S. Women’s Champion Nazi Paikidze

Paikidz isn’t the only chess champ from the west who is balking at Iran’s demands. Former Pan American champion Carla Heredia, from Ecuador, also criticized the tournament.

“No institution, no government, nor a Women’s World Chess Championship should force women to wear or to take out a hijab,” Heredia said. She then added, “This violates all what sports means. Sport should be free of discrimination by sex, religion and sexual orientation.”

Others agreed and a group of the female champions have demanded that Fide address the issue. So far, though, the chess organization has timidly refused to even comment and there has yet been no action on the accusations against it.

 

Iran - 16 years in prison for Human Rights activist

Iran: Amnesty International react to “shameful” 16-year-sentence for human rights defender Narges Mohammadi

 Thursday, 29 September 2016 22:05

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NCRI - Amnesty International havehighlighted the recent news that the 16-year prison sentence against Iranian human rights defender Narges Mohammadi, who is critically ill, has been upheld by the Iranian regime’s appeal court.

Their Research and Advocacy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Philip Luther, said: “This verdict is yet another cruel and devastating blow to human rights in Iran, which demonstrates the authorities’ utter contempt for justice. Narges Mohammadi is a prominent advocate of human rights and a prisoner of conscience. She should be lauded for her courage not locked in a prison cell for 16 years.” 

He added that it is “harsh” and “appalling” that this sentence has been given for human rights work that has been carried out peacefully. He said it is clear that the authorities have “laid bare their intent to silence human rights defenders at all costs”. 

Luther said that this sentence is even more shocking because it comes at a time when Iran’s regime is preparing for renewed bilateral dialogue with the EU, and “given that Narges Mohammadi was convicted for her work campaigning against the death penalty and meeting with the former EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs”. He said that this sentencing raises many doubts about Tehran’s commitment to dealing with the EU over human rights issues. 

“Narges Mohammadi’s conviction and sentence must be quashed and the authorities must order her immediate and unconditional release. We urge the EU to make these calls, too, and put the heightened repression of human rights defenders in Iran at the heart of their dialogue.”

Trump Campaign Plans to Attack Clinton with Her Husband’s Romantic Scandals

WASHINGTON – Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s campaign is ready to attack his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, using the infidelities of her husband, former President Bill Clinton, according to lists of talking points prepared for the mogul’s surrogates and obtained by CNN.

In the documents, the idea is developed that Trump “has never treated women the way Hillary Clinton and her husband did when they actively worked to destroy Bill Clinton’s accusers.”

The Democratic campaign did not delay in reacting and on Thursday said in a statement that “as many Republicans have warned, this is a mistake that is going to backfire.”

“After his disastrous debate performance and his sexist attack on a former Miss Universe over her weight, Donald Trump is now trying to deflect by going after Hillary Clinton about her marriage,” Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon said on Thursday in a statement.

The mogul admitted on Tuesday in an interview with the Fox cable network that during Monday’s debate he was on the verge of attacking Clinton with her husband’s scandal, but he said “I really eased up because I didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.”

He said he decided not to bring up former President Clinton’s infidelities because their daughter Chelsea was in the audience, and he added that he thought he did the right thing.

What almost motivated Trump to air the Clintons’ dirty laundry yet again was the former secretary of state’s criticism of him for his insults of women, which she highlighted by noting his offensive remarks concerning former Venezuelan Miss Universe Alicia Machado, now a U.S. citizen, who won the 1996 pageant, which the magnate directed at the time.

Trump’s son Eric on Wednesday said on Sean Hannity’s radio show that Bill Clinton had been possibly the worst sexist ever, according to Buzzfeed.

“It’s amazing when you hear her talk about sexism and these various claims, which are ridiculous, aside from obviously Bill, her husband, being maybe the worst that’s ever lived,” the younger Trump said.

It remains to be seen whether Trump, under pressure because it is widely considered – and recent voter surveys show – that he lost the first debate and Clinton has gained several points, resorts to using the former president’s romantic escapades to attack his rival.

For the moment, though, Trump has simply issued a warning that he might “hit her harder” in the next presidential debate, scheduled for Oct. 9.

Students Holding Police Chief Hostage in Western Mexico

MEXICO CITY – Teaching students in western Mexico’s Michoacan state are holding a police chief hostage, demanding the release of arrested fellow students, authorities said Wednesday.

On Tuesday afternoon, in the indigenous village of Carapan, teaching students took Chilchota municipality police chief Alfredo Lucio Rios Chavez hostage after he approached them as they were setting fire to three vehicles – a passenger bus, a tractor trailer and a pickup truck – and having a confrontation with security forces.

Rios approached the angry students to “try to calm the kids down and they grabbed him as a hostage and took him away,” Chilchota Mayor Mario Silva told Radio Formula.

Earlier on Tuesday, security forces had arrested 49 of the students, who study at the Indigenous Normal School for teacher-trainees in the town of Cheran.

The students have been protesting and stealing vehicles – reportedly more than 100 over the past three months, and burning some of them – to demand automatic job placement upon graduation.

On Tuesday, the students took Rios to the community of Tacuro and then to Turicuaro, where they are currently holding him and where they have their “base” of operations.

The mayor said that he has had no direct communication with the students, but they are speaking directly to the Michoacan Interior Secretariat.

“During the course of the day, we’re going to see about the possibility that our director can be released,” said Silva, citing information he had been given by the state authorities.

In addition, the mayor said that the students had “attacked” Rios and “beat him up a little,” although he was not seriously hurt.

The vehicles the students burned on Tuesday come after they had burned three others – a truck, a pickup truck and a private car – in their protests in the town of Paracho to demand the release of their classmates