Millions of Believers Gather at the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico City

MEXICO CITY - Carrying large idols of the dark-skinned Virgin of Guadalupe on their backs, millions of devotees of all ages on Monday visited the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, breaking any previous attendance record.

As every Dec. 12, the Calzada de Guadalupe Avenue of the capital was flooded with the tide of pilgrims who formed long lines to enter the church with excitement, faith and exhaustion.


"She is everything to us and she is so miraculous. And that's why we come here to pray for a miracle. We come to ask for a baby. I already have babies, I have three, but (...) now I want (another)," 32-year-old Noemi excitedly told EFE during her first visit to the church.

2016 marks the 485th anniversary of the Virgin Guadalupe's appearance to indigenous Juan Diego on the Tepeyac hill several times, the last time on Dec. 12.

As reported by the Secretariat of Public Security of the capital, more than 7.11 million pilgrims have come to the church this year.

The pilgrims came from all over and arrived on foot, by car or bus and even by air. Pierre Gondard came from the south of France together with a group of devotees from his country.

His emotion was evident within a few meters of being able to see the Virgin closely, with which Pope Francis shared some 20 minutes of prayer alone in February.

"We are in a march of humility and God gives what he wants to give," he reflected shortly before entering the basilica.

Around the basilica, many of the believers spent the night lying on the street on cardboard boxes.

Covered with blankets, Jorge Antonio, 11, rested a few hours after riding a bicycle for six hours to visit the virgin and "pray for the family."

With an empty stomach, he said how difficult it was to be part of this tradition of his town, Atotonilco de Tula, Hidalgo, in central Mexico, which performs the pilgrimage on bicycle since 35 years.

The group of 150 people from his town spent a few hours to sing to the dark-skinned Virgin at six o'clock in the morning and then returned to the village.

Many devotees came as a family, such as the family of Luis Martinez, who said that he came walking from the town of Amecameca, Mexico State, to pray for the health of his wife, who had undergone operations at her knee several times.

The Ministry of Public Security of Mexico City mobilized 3,200 agents and 800 auxiliary police to receive the believers.

Three "Dirty cops," Found Burned to Death in Mexico

MEXICO CITY – Three members of Mexico’s federal police were found burned to death inside a vehicle in the southern state of Guerrero, the Attorney General’s office said Friday.

The murders took place on the highway linking the Pacific coast cities of Acapulco and Zihuatanejo, the AG Office said in a statement “profoundly lamenting” the deaths.

Authorities “will carry out an exhaustive investigation to identify and detain those responsible for such regrettable deeds,” the statement said.

Mexican media outlets said the triple-murder took place around 5 pm Thursday, when a group of armed men set the officers’ vehicle on fire with the cops inside.

Left next to the burned-out vehicle was a message from the killers accusing the slain cops of ties to organized crime.

Corruption is rampant in Mexico and it is not uncommon for members of law enforcement to be on the payroll of drug cartels and other criminal outfits.

Man punches a kangaroo in the face to rescue his dog

Sherri Papini Case - Real or hoax ?

A woman at the local sheriff’s office said a hoax had not been “ruled out,” but the sheriff later said they believe the abduction was real.

In a Wednesday interview with NBC’s “Today” show, Bosenko said it appeared Papini’s cellphone and earbuds had been “neatly placed.”

“They had been set in some grass with the screen facing up, and then the earbuds to the phone were loosely coiled and appeared to be placed on the screen,” he said. “It did somewhat appear to be that it was placed there purposely.”

German Islamist spy was Spanish gay porn actor

The bizarre story of a spy for Germany's domestic secret service who was revealed to be an Islamist got even stranger when media reported on Wednesday that he was also once a gay porn star.

Both Bild and the Washington Post reported on Wednesday that the 51-year-old former employee of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) had appeared in gay porn movies before his conversion to Islam in 2014.
According to Bild, agents found the pornographic films in which he appeared while searching his home. The material is not of relevance to the investigation, but will remain a footnote to what is fast becoming the most surreal spy scandal in modern German history.
DPA reports that this is the first time that the BfV has found an Islamist among its agents.
Bild reports that the man was originally from Spain, but had later become a German citizen. Also a father of four children, he had hidden his radicalization from his family.
The agency said on Tuesday that the man had "made Islamist remarks online under a false name, and had offered internal information during online chats".
His chat partner was believed to be another BfV employee. According to the Washington Post, he gave away such precise information that the agents were quickly able to identify him and arrested him the next day.
German media had reported that he was believed to have been planning a bombing at the BfV headquarters in the western city of Cologne.
Der Spiegel and Die Welt said the suspect had partially admitted to the allegations by making references to bomb attacks carried out "in the name of Allah".
But a BfV spokeswoman told AFP that she could not confirm media reports that he was plotting an attack, saying there was no "evidence of a real danger to the office or its workers".
The Washington Post reported that a senior official from the BfV said those who interviewed the man say he may have been mentally ill, and perhaps even had multiple personalities, raising questions about how he could have been employed in the first place.

Fugitive British sex offender arrested in Benidorm

Spanish police said on Friday that they have arrested a British fugitive who was convicted in Britain of raping two teenage boys.

Officers arrested the unidentified man on Monday in Benidorm on Spain's eastern coast less than 24 hours after a European arrest warrant was issued for him, police said in a statement.
Spanish police said he fled to Spain after it was discovered that he sexually abused two brothers aged 14 and 16 on 22 occasions in Britain between 2007 and 2010.
"The fugitive befriended the victims' parents, who allowed him to spend time with their sons, unaware of the sexual acts the boys were subjected to," the statement said.
A British court sentenced the man in absentia to 43 years in jail for six counts of rape and several counts of sexual assault on the minors.   
Spanish police had already detained him for possession of a  "huge amount" of child pornography which he shared online.

Putin Willing to Cooperate with Trump to Fight Terrorism

MOSCOW – The Russian president said on Thursday that he is ready to cooperate with the administration of United States President-elect Donald Trump in the fight against international terrorism.

During his annual State of the Nation Address to the Federal Assembly, President Vladimir Putin said “We hope to unite our forces with the United States in the fight against the real threat, not the fictional one – international terrorism.”

Putin emphasized that he is not interested in disputes or making new enemies, and wants to normalize relations with the U.S. based on commitment “to a friendly, equal dialogue, to upholding the principles of justice and mutual respect in international affairs.”

He also said that U.S.-Russia cooperation to solve global and regional issues responds to the interests of the whole world.

Putin highlighted that this task is also fulfilled by Russian soldiers fighting in Syria, and warned that “attempts to upset the strategic balance are extremely dangerous and could lead to a global catastrophe.”

As for the European Union, the head of the Kremlin said he is prepared for a dialogue to create a Eurasian union.

The Russian leader also shed light on strengthening the cooperation with Asian countries, especially China and India, but denied that this would dictate a cooling of relations with the United States or the European Union.

3 Turkish Soldiers Killed in PKK Guerrilla Attack

ISTANBUL - Three Turkish soldiers were killed and three others wounded on Friday in clashes with Kurdistan Workers' Party fighters in Hakkari province, southeastern Turkey, according to security forces.

Several PKK fighters were also injured in the crossfire, according to the semi-official Anadolu news agency.

Security forces told Anadolu that the operation was ongoing on Güven mountain with the support of the Turkish air force.

Meanwhile, Turkish police arrested 16 suspected PKK members in Gaziantep province, near the Syrian border.

The PKK and the Turkish government suspended in July 2015 a ceasefire which lasted more than two years, and thousands of Kurdish fighters and hundreds of Turkish soldiers have died since.

China's Top Court Rules a Man Executed 21 Years ago Was Innocent

BEIJING - China's Supreme Court Friday revoked the sentence of a man, executed 21 years ago for raping and killing a woman in the northern Hebel province, after another man confessed to the crime.

Nie Shubin was executed in 1995 at the age of 21 years and the case resurfaced in 2005 when Wang Shujin admitted he had committed the crime.

In 2014, the Supreme Court decided to review the case and on Friday concluded that Nie was innocent.

The evidence used to sentence Nie was neither sufficient nor accurate and did not meet the conditions for a sentence, according to a statement by the court.

Nie confessed to the crime just a few days after his arrest although it appears he did it under pressure while in custody, his lawyer had said at the time.

In the statement, the Supreme Court says there are doubts regarding the veracity and legality of Nie's confession, which in principle corroborated the other evidence.

The court's decision was received with some bitterness by Nie's family, who has been proclaiming his innocence in the courts and his mother told a local daily that she was happy with the decision but that it had come too late.

In its latest report Amnesty International reported that torture continues to be a part of police routines in China, which has a very high percentage of sentences and the highest number of executions in the world, according to human rights groups.

"The overturning of the original verdict is a very positive move, and shows how some within the Chinese government - especially the Supreme People's Court - are willing to correct historic injustices," AI researcher William Nee said.

"However, this case also illustrates that the death penalty as currently applied in China is still flawed and prone to mistakes. The only way to truly ensure that tragic cases like Nie Shubin don't recur, is to stop tinkering with the machinery of death, and abolish the death penalty," he told EFE.

Trump Claims He Won Popular Vote, If “Illegal” Votes for Clinton Are Deducted

WASHINGTON – President-elect Donald Trump claimed Sunday that he not only won the electoral vote but the popular vote as well, if the “millions” of “illegal” votes cast for his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, in the Nov. 8 election are deducted from the tally.

“In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally,” wrote Trump on Twitter, referring to the vote recount effort in three states being headed by Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein.

In the Nov. 8 election, Trump apparently garnered at least 270 electoral votes, which technically is all that is required to win the presidency regardless of whether or not a candidate wins the popular vote.

Trump won 290 electoral votes to Hillary Clinton’s 232, with the votes from Michigan still untallied, although Clinton beat the New York mogul by at least two million votes in the popular vote.

In his tweet, one of several that Trump has fired off in the wake of the Clinton campaign’s stating it will “participate” in the recount effort, the magnate offered no proof of the alleged irregularities he claims took place in the voting, although he said that it would have been much easier for him to win the popular vote if he had limited his campaign to three or four states.

“It would have been much easier for me to win the so-called popular vote than the Electoral College in that I would only campaign in 3 or 4 -- states instead of the 15 states that I visited. I would have won even more easily and convincingly (but smaller states are forgotten)!” said Trump in two separate tweets.

Trump said earlier Sunday on Twitter that “nothing will change” as a result of the recount campaign, adding that Clinton “conceded the election when she called me just prior to (my) victory speech and after the results were in.”

In addition, the next day, Clinton telephoned Trump to say that “we have to accept the results and look to the future,” he said, paraphrasing what she had said in one of the presidential debates.

“So much time and money will be spent – same result! Sad,” the president-elect went on to say, via Twitter.

This is the first time that Trump has claimed that illegal votes were cast for Clinton, while all during the campaign he had stated that the election was going to be “rigged” against him and threatened that he might not acknowledge the results if he lost.

According to the latest vote tally, Clinton obtained 64.22 million votes to Trump’s 62.21 million.

Stein’s campaign last Wednesday launched a fundraising effort to finance vote recounts in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan, all of which Trump apparently won by narrow margins.

Wisconsin announced on Friday that it will conduct a vote recount in response to the formal request presented by Stein and another independent presidential candidate Rocky De La Fuente.

According to the Green candidate’s campaign, there is “compelling evidence of anomalies” in voting in the three states in question and, therefore, it is necessary to verify the results in those states’ counties that depend on electronic voting machines to tally the ballots.

Clinton’s campaign, meanwhile, is backing the decision by Wisconsin authorities to conduct the recount despite saying that no irregularities have been detected in the election, and it said that it will also support recounts in Pennsylvania and Michigan if the Green Party, as expected, formally requests them.

On Saturday, Trump issued a statement in which he called the Green Party’s effort a “scam.”

Israel Bombs South Syria after IS-Linked Militant Attack

JERUSALEM - The Israeli army bombed a building in Syria used to launch an Islamic State-linked attack against a military patrol, said an army statement on Monday.

An Israeli military source told EFE that the Air Force on Sunday hit an abandoned United Nations building which had been used as an operational center by Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade, a local organization that swore allegiance to the IS.

Early Sunday morning, the IS opened machine gun and mortar fire against a Golani Brigade patrol on duty in the Golan heights, which Israel has occupied since 1967.

The Israeli army responded by bombing the vehicle the militants were driving.

The military spokesperson could not confirm the exact number of casualties during the operation.

The Golan Heights have been a hotspot of violence since the Syrian conflict began five years ago, with stray artillery shells often landing on the Israeli occupied zone.

Israel responds by returning fire against the attackers or by shelling Syrian army positions.

The last incident took place on Nov. 9, when Israeli aircraft bombed a series of Syrian positions in response to a shell that hit Israeli occupied territory.

32 Bodies, 9 Heads Found in Clandestine Graves in Southern Mexico

CHILPANCINGO, Mexico – The prosecutor’s office of the southern Mexican state of Guerrero said on Thursday they have recovered 32 bodies and nine severed heads from 20 clandestine graves in Cerro Tenanchitla in Zitlala municipality.

Roberto Alvarez Heredia, spokesperson of the Guerrero Coordination Group, made up of federal and state forces, said experts from the prosecutor’s office and the forensic medical service recovered the human remains, which were taken to the state’s capital, Chilpancingo, to start the process of identifying them.

He added although the excavations of the graves were complete, personnel from the Secretariat of National Defense will continue scanning the area for more clandestine graves.

The prosecutor’s office said in a statement that human remains were found in only 17 of the 20 clandestine graves and that none of the bodies have been identified so far nor any arrests made.

An anonymous tip-off led the police to the graves in Zitlala, where they also rescued alive a kidnap victim and recovered several abandoned vehicles

Spanish shelter head on trial for 'killing' over 2,000 animals

Wolf kills beloved pet dog at farmhouse door in Galicia

Published: 22 Nov 2016 15:19 GMT+01:00

A family in Spain’s northwestern region of Galicia were left distraught after a wolf came to their door and slaughtered their pet Pomeranian.

Tatiana Díaz Fernández said she was standing in the door of her rural home in Mintiráns, near Muxía, when a wolf appeared from the darkness and snatched up her tiny pet.

The four-year-old dog weighed just 4 kg and was likely killed instantly in the jaws of the wolf before the wild animal bounded off into the night.

The tiny dog was a Pomeranian weighing just 4kg. Archive photo:Greg Treharne / Flickr

"I just opened the door to let the dog out so it could do its business and then, barely 30cm from my feet it was snatched by a wolf," the distressed owner told La Voz de Galicia.

It is just the latest in a spate of attacks by wolves on dogs in the area, reported the newspaper. In late October two farm dogs that lived outside in nearby A Frouxeira were found dead, having been ripped apart by wolves.

Residents in the region say they are now scared to leave their dogs outside or even let their children play in the garden.

"We know that the wolf is a very protected animal, but how can we dare live like this?" said Díaz.

"People are scared to let their dogs go out and we are afraid for the children," she said.

The episodes highlight the fragile coexistence between farming communities and Spain’s indigenous wolf population.

Spain’s population of Canis lupus signatus, was hunted to the point of near extinction by the middle of last century but thanks to conservation efforts has made a comeback over recent decades.

There are now estimated to be more than 2,000 individual wolves from at least 250 distinct packs roaming Spain, from the mountains of the northern Spain to just 80km of Madrid in the Sierra Norte.

But farmers are not always happy about the conservation efforts complaining that the wolf attacks aredepleting their livestock. Regional governments spend tens of thousands of euros each year compensating their losses.

Iraqi government left thousands of Iraqi Sunnis civilians displaced from #Mosul,

#MosulAid
Iraqi government left thousands of Iraqi Sunnis civilians displaced from #Mosul, with no food, no water, no tents
shame on you pic.twitter.com/t3KEwKWiFu

— #IRAQ شمرية العراق (@moonnor27) November 23, 2016

Kosovo Police Arrest 19 Suspected IS Militants, Foil Terror Plans

BELGRADE – Kosovo police in the past 10 days have arrested 19 suspected Islamic State militants suspected of preparing an attack during a soccer match in neighboring Albania, police said on Thursday.

The group was planning terror attacks in Kosovo and against the national Israeli soccer team and fans, police said, as cited by Kosovo news site “Zeri.info.”

The terror plans, allegedly led by a man identified as L.M., included an attack during the World Cup 2018 qualifying round between Albania and Israel played on Nov. 12.

Albanian authorities moved the match from the city of Shkodër, northwestern Albania, to the central city of Elbasan over fears of a possible attack.

Israel won the match 3-0, amid heightened security involving over 2,000 police officers.

Of the 19 detainees, 18 were held in preventative detention.

All of the arrested were Kosovars, with the exception of a Macedonian national.

Kosovo police reportedly found 2.5 kilograms of explosives, among other weapons such as assault rifles, shotguns, pistols and munitions, as well as extremist literature.

In 2015, Kosovo – a former part of Serbia that was granted independence in 2008 – approved 15-year prison sentences for Kosovars caught fighting in a foreign conflicts.

U.S. Intelligence Chief to Step Down

WASHINGTON – The U.S. director of national intelligence, James Clapper, announced on Thursday that he will leave the post on Jan. 20, 2017, when President Barack Obama hands over the White House to Donald Trump.

“I submitted my letter of resignation last night, which felt pretty good,” the 75-year-old Clapper said during an appearance before the House of Representatives Select Committee on Intelligence.

“I got 64 days left and I think I’d have a hard time with my wife anything past that,” he said.

The retired Air Force lieutenant general signaled some time ago that he was ready to leave the government.

Clapper initially stepped away from public life in 1995, but returned to the national security sector following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Obama named him to the post of director of national intelligence in 2010.

As Washington’s spy chief, Clapper had to respond to questions and concerns about the extent of the U.S. intelligence community’s surveillance of private individuals and the issue brought him into conflict with some in Congress.

“During Director Clapper’s tenure, senior intelligence officials engaged in a deception spree regarding mass surveillance. Top officials, officials who reported to Director Clapper, repeatedly misled the American people and even lied to them,” Sen. Ron Wyden said Thursday in a statement.

In March 2013, during a hearing of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Wyden asked Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper the following question:

“Does the NSA collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans?”

Clapper, who was under oath, responded “No, sir.”

“It does not?” the Oregon Democrat asked again.

“Not wittingly. There are cases where they could inadvertently perhaps collect, but not wittingly,” the director said.

Three months later, whistleblower Edward Snowden provided documents showing that the U.S. National Security Agency had collected the telephone records of tens of millions of U.S. residents.

Additional revelations detailed NSA programs to collect individuals’ Web-browsing histories, chat logs, e-mail usage and physical locations.

Mexico Urges Mexicans in U.S. to Avoid Confrontation

MEXICO CITY – Mexicans living in the United States should avoid “conflict situations,” Mexico’s government said Wednesday in a statement about dealing with the possible effects of Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election.

The triumph of the Republican real estate mogul, who launched his campaign with a speech denouncing Mexican immigrants as criminals and “rapists,” presents Mexico with a set of potentially major challenges.

In recommendations released by the Foreign Relations Secretariat, Mexican communities in the U.S. are urged “to reinforce dialogue with state and local authorities, on the understanding that local policies determine, to a great degree, the daily lives of Mexicans” north of the border.

Expats are likewise encouraged to strengthen ties with U.S. civil rights organizations.

Mexico’s government also appealed to Mexican communities in the U.S. “to avoid all situations of conflict and not to engage in actions that could lead to administrative or criminal sanctions.”

Since defeating Democrat Hillary Clinton last Tuesday, Trump has retreated from his campaign promise to deport all of the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S., suggesting instead that he will expel around 3 million people.

Trump also indicated some flexibility about the exact nature of the wall he vows to erect on the U.S.-Mexico border.

The secretariat announced measures to improve communication with Mexicans in the U.S., including the creation of a 24-hour, toll-free telephone hotline to request information or report incidents.

Another response will be to expand the presence of mobile consulates in the U.S. to offer “comprehensive protection and documentation services to a larger number of people in their communities.”

The secretariat said that the embassy and consulates will make it easier to obtain identification documents, such as passports and birth certificates, for the U.S.-born offspring of Mexican citizens.

Two Brits arrested for blowing up ATM's

Published: 11 Nov 2016 14:52 GMT+01:00

Spanish police swooped in on a pair suspected of blowing up more than a dozen cash machines on the Costa del Sol.

The two unnamed men were arrested during a pre-dawn raid on Wednesday at a residence in Calahonda, a resort between Marbella and Fuengirola that is popular with British expats.

 Officers from the National Police in Malaga suspect the two men of carrying out robberies at 13 different ATMs in towns across the Costa del Sol during the summer.

The thieves blew up the ATMs using explosives or acetylene gas before making off with large amounts of cash.

Officers discovered hand grenades at the property as well as gas cylinders, electrical cables and other equipment used to carry out the raids.

They also found cannabis and cocaine at the property.

Young Sunni run over by tank ?

Iraqi army crimes
عاجل من #الموصل
الحشد #الشيعي #الارهابي يسحل طفل عراقي سني ويضعه تحت الدبابه ويقتله عار على من يسكت على هذا #الارهاب pic.twitter.com/3tz8bElwOo

— #IRAQ شمرية العراق (@moonnor27) November 11, 2016

Sunni Soldier beat and killed

Shia Militias crimes
مليشات الشيعه تضرب بوحشيه لغايه القتل جندي عراقي سني من العشائر السنيه التي تقاتل ضد #داعش
غدرهم حتى مع من ضد #داعش pic.twitter.com/WIO9rWX64o

— #IRAQ شمرية العراق (@moonnor27) November 13, 2016

Men Brutally Attack Old White Guy For Voting Trump

Iran -protest

The demonstrators in #Khorramabad chanted,"Incompetent mayor,shame on you,shame on you" & "Murderer of Forouzan,Resign!" #Iran #AP #ZEID #AF pic.twitter.com/TV0sFyoZ2h

— Iran Freedom (@4FreedominIran) November 9, 2016

Iran - man blinded as punishment for throwing acid

On the same day that more than 220 million Americans go to the polls, Iranian regime blinded both eyes of a man to punish him


Associated Press cited Iranian media on Nov. 8 that the authorities in Iran on the basis of 'retribution in kind' and 'an eye for an eye' have blinded a man for throwing harmful chemicals in the face of a four-year-old girl back in 2009 that destroyed her vision.
The harsh punishment of totally blinding a man, despite happening in rare cases, but still a brutal act to be done by state regardless of the crime. 
The semi-official Fars news agency affiliated to the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said Tuesday's punishment was only the second time the Islamic Republic has implemented the 'eye for an eye' legal provision, which was first approved in 1958. In March 20 15 a man convicted of blinding another man in an acid attack was blinded in one eye in a prison near Tehran.

Trump election puts Iran nuclear deal on shaky ground

Donald Trump's election as president raises the prospect the United States will pull out of the nuclear pact it signed last year with Iran, alienating Washington from its allies and potentially freeing Iran to act on its ambitions.

Outgoing President Barack Obama's administration touted the deal, a legacy foreign policy achievement, as a way to suspend Tehran's suspected drive to develop atomic weapons. In return Obama, a Democrat, agreed to a lifting of most sanctions.

The deal, harshly opposed by Republicans in Congress, was reached as a political commitment rather than a treaty ratified by lawmakers, making it vulnerable to a new U.S. president, such as Trump, who might disagree with its terms.

A Republican, Trump ran for the White House opposing the deal but contradictory statements made it unclear how he would act. In an upset over Democrat Hillary Clinton, Trump won on Tuesday and will succeed Obama on Jan. 20.

A businessman-turned-politician who has never held public office, Trump called the nuclear pact a "disaster" and "the worst deal ever negotiated" during his campaign and said it could lead to a "nuclear holocaust."

MOSCOW - Putin congratulates Donald Trump on winning US presidential election

MOSCOW, November 9. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent a message of greeting to Donald Trump upon his victory in the US presidential election.

As the Kremlin’s press-service has said Putin expressed the hope "for joint work to steer Russian-US relations out of the critical condition and also to address crucial issues on the international agenda and identify effective responses to challenges to global security."

Putin also expressed the certainty that "a constructive dialog between Moscow and Washington, based on the principles of equality, mutual respect and realistic attitude towards each other’s positions meets the interests of the people of our countries and the entire world community."

Putin wished Trump success in his new capacity as the head of state that implied treat responsibility.

 

Muslim woman wins headscarf court battle

Published: 23 Oct 2016 13:27 GMT+02:00

A Swiss court has ruled against a company that fired a longtime employee after she began wearing the Muslim headscarf, marking one of the first such rulings in Switzerland, media reported on Sunday.

A regional court in Bern ruled last month that a 29-year-old Serbian woman was fired without just cause from a dry cleaning business, and ordered the company to dish out back-pay and damages to her, the Le Matin Dimanche weekly reported.

The woman, identified only as Abida, was fired in January 2015 from a job she had held for six years, after she began wearing the Muslim headscarf, it reported.

Her employer in Bern had told her the headscarf violated hygiene rules, and told her to remove it or be let go.

She reportedly offered to wash her headscarf daily or wear disposable headscarves, but her employer refused.

The Bern court ruled that the company had violated her constitutional right to freedom of expression, according to the paper.

It said wearing a headscarf can only be grounds for termination in cases where it makes it impossible to carry out duties described in the employment contract or if it "substantially affects" the working environment.

The case is one of the first of its kind in Switzerland, Le Matin Dimanche said, pointing to only one other known case dating back to 1990, when a machine manufacturer in the east of the country was also faulted for firing a woman for wearing a headscarf.

Spanish police nab French hitman in devil costume

Published: 05 Nov 2016 14:47 GMT+01:00

A fugitive hitman on France's most-wanted list has been arrested in Spain disguised in a devil's costume at a Halloween celebration, police said on Friday.

Officers arrested Hamid Hakkar, 47, on Monday in the port of Malaga in southern Spain along with two Spaniards suspected of helping him hide, police said in a statement.

   

"He was disguised as a devil to blend in among the party-goers," the statement said.

   

Police released a photo of the red mask with black horns and sharp teeth which the man was wearing at the time of his arrest along with a black cape and wig.

   

The authorities said the man of Algerian background is on France's most-wanted list for murder, drug trafficking and money laundering.

 

In 2005 Hakkar was sentenced by a French court to 15 years in jail after finding him guilty of the murder of a minor drug trafficker.

   

He has been on the run since November 2013 when he did not return to a jail in northern France after being granted a temporary leave.

   

Hakkar -- who went by the name "Julio" -- was jailed for two years in 2010 for his role in helping Italian bank robber Antonio Ferrara escape from a French jail.

Basque terror group leader seized in French town

Published: 05 Nov 2016 14:11 GMT+01:00

The most senior ETA leader still at large was arrested Saturday in southwest France, Spanish authorities said, dealing another major blow to the embattled Basque separatist group.

Mikel Irastorza, 41, was found in a home in the French town of Ascain, in the Pyrenees region bordering Spain, the interior ministry said in a statement.

 

The couple housing Irastorza -- a 59-year-old Basque exile and his 56-year-old wife -- were also taken into custody, French sources said.    

 

Anti-terrorism prosecutors in Paris authorised the arrests and the three are due to appear before a judge in the French capital. On Friday French authorities opened a preliminary investigation into alleged criminal association with a terrorist organisation.

 

The Spanish statement said the raid, led by French security forces working with Spanish police, was aimed at the "leadership structure of ETA".

 

Irastorza was described by the ministry as "currently the most senior leader of the terrorist group ETA still at large". Spain said other arrests could follow.
   

Founded in 1959, ETA waged a violent decades-long campaign for an independent Basque homeland in northern Spain and southwestern France, and is blamed for the deaths of more than 800 people.
   

It declared a ceasefire in October 2011 but has refused to give up its weapons, and is seeking to negotiate its dissolution in exchange for amnesties or improved prison conditions for the roughly 350 ETA members held in both countries.
   

Spain's new Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido, who was only appointed on Thursday, welcomed the arrest.

Moscow Urges West to Define Enemy in Syria, Terrorists or Russia

MOSCOW - Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu urged the West on Tuesday to decide who to fight with in Syria, the terrorists or Russia.

Shoigu made his statements during a press conference with the Russian Armed Forces senior officers.

"It is time that our Western colleagues decide who to actually fight against: the terrorists or Russia," the minister was quoted by Russian media

The defense minister was commenting on the refusal of several countries to allow Russian navy ships, led by aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov and heading from the eastern Mediterranean to the coast of Syria, to bring fuel and supplies.

Moscow requested permission from Spain to anchor Russian ships in the Spanish city of Ceuta, but it withdrew this request after the Spanish authorities asked for clarification on the nature of the military participation in Syria.

"To eliminate terrorists in Syria, it is necessary to work together rather than put a spoke into partners' wheel. The gunmen use this for their own benefit," Shoigu explained, according to TASS.

On Aleppo, Shoigu added that Russia has not been using warplanes in Aleppo for 16 days, condemning that the militants killed dozens of civilians for trying to approach the humanitarian corridors.

United States Strengthens Security on California-Mexico Border

SAN DIEGO – The U.S. Border Patrol has created a special unit to supplement its agents on the eastern area of the border between San Diego and Mexico, where the presence of criminal organizations engaged in the trafficking, kidnapping and extortion of undocumented immigrants has been detected.

“Multiple smuggling organizations are responsible for threatening our Nation’s security through persistent human smuggling on Otay Mountain,” Chief Patrol Agent Richard A. Barlow said in a statement. “We will flex our enforcement posture toward these exploited areas to weaken and ultimately eliminate these criminal enterprises.”

The special unit’s Commander Matthew Dreyer, with more than 20 years in the Border Patrol, told EFE that the area is the most difficult terrain to cover in the San Diego area because of the cliffs, steep peaks, canyons, scrub and other conditions that make it hard to get around.

Traffickers use this route because they think they won’t be seen on their hike north and often don’t tell their victims about the risks of the terrain – and when the Border Patrol is about to catch up with them, the guides tend to flee, leaving their victims somewhere they’ll be unlikely to escape. That way they use the terrain to their own advantage, Dreyer said.

In the same area but south of the border, cases of extortion, kidnapping and rape of migrants have been reported.

For that reason, U.S. authorities work closely with the Federal Police of Mexico in order to wipe out those crimes.

For agent Daniel Parks, this collaboration is an example of the solid relations maintained by security agencies across the border.

They often meet to share information that will allow them to pounce on the people traffickers and combine their strategies for use in their respective jurisdictions.

By patrolling the border together, moving together toward the east, each on his own side of the border, there’s nowhere the criminals can go to get away, Parks told EFE.

Now it becomes clear that the fight for border security does not begin and end with the border wall, Parks said, adding that the only way to fight and defeat this problem at its point of origin, on the traffickers’ route to the border, on the border itself or farther into the United States, is by working closely with the Mexican government.

Thousands of Wild Buffalo Appear Out of Nowhere at Standing Rock (VIDEO)

Raw: Over 100 ND Pipeline Protesters Arrested

Syria - School air strike (Sick video)

How Syrian parents pick up their children from school.
Mutilated by #Putin_Assad air strikes#Hass #Idleb #Syria 26-10-2016 pic.twitter.com/ApdricgxAK

— شبكة الثورة السورية (@RevolutionSyria) October 27, 2016

Wildlife ranger accused over decapitated bison ( Cover-up)

Published: 27 Oct 2016 16:12 GMT+02:00

   

When two headless bison were discovered at a nature reserve in eastern Spain wildlife police launched a search for trophy hunters who they believed had poisoned the animals to death before removing their heads.

The bizarre crime against the protected animals caused outrage in Spain but now the case has taken a surreal twist with the arrest of the head of the wildlife park.

Carlos Álamo, the director of Valdeserrillas Nature park, had taken to social media to decry the death of two males in his beloved herd, animals that were brought to Spain last year as part of a bison reintroduction programme funded by the European Union.

But he appeared in court this week after being charged for negligence following a post mortem on the animals that appeared to suggest they had been starved to death.

The headless corpse of Sauron, the 660-kilo (1,455-pound) alpha male of the herd had been found in the park in mid-September followed a week later by the discovery of a second headless animal.

Initially investigators had followed the theory that the animals had been poisoned before their heads were cut off with an axe by trophy hunters, after poison pellets were discovered.

But the park director now stands accused of having behead the animals himself to cover up the fact that they had died of malnutrition.

The European bison, the continent's largest wild land mammal, once roamed across most of the continent but it was severely hunted until it finally became extinct in the wild in 1927, according to the World Wildlife Fund.