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Showing posts from May 26, 2013

Death toll in apartment explosion in upscale Manila district rises to 6

MANILA, Philippines –   The death toll from a powerful explosion that ripped through an upscale apartment complex in the Philippine capital has risen to six, including the crew of a passing delivery van that was hit by debris, authorities said Saturday. The explosion Friday night punched a large hole in the wall of the apartment building and sent concrete chunks flying onto the street below, which was teeming with pedestrians. Three people in the van were crushed to death. The Office of Civil defense said three more bodies were recovered at the Serendra building, a plush condominium complex surrounded by restaurants and shops in Taguig city in metropolitan Manila. Five others, including a 9-year-old, were injured. Authorities were initially looking into a gas supply issue, and residents were kept out of other buildings as officials assessed the supply maintenance. A telephone operator at the Taguig

Greece: Strengthen Response to Racist Violence

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Government Should Submit Bill to Protect Victims Enlarge Immigrants living in Greece rally against racism in central Athens on August 24, 2012. (Milan) – Greece ’s government should move quickly to adopt measures to combat hate crimes and protect victims, Human Rights Watch said today. A bill on hate speech and racist violence has yet to be submitted in parliament because of disagreement among the three parties in the ruling coalition over its scope. “With people being attacked on the streets, Greece urgently needs to beef up its  criminal justice response to hate crimes,” said Judith Sunderland , senior Western Europe researcher at Human Rights Watch. “This draft law contains some good provisions and should be improved in parliament rather than delayed further.” A version of the draft law seen by Human Rights Watch would protect migrants who are victims of, or substantive witnesses to crime from deportation, as well as th

FIFA votes in favour of tougher anti-racism measures

An overwhelming majority of FIFA delegates voted in favour of stricter punishments in cases of racism at a congress in Mauritius on Friday. Football’s image has been tarnished by several high-profile incidences of racism in the recent past.  FIFA adopted a resolution that will lead to tougher sanctions in cases of racism, including points deductions and even relegation for repeat offenders, at its annual congress in Mauritius on Friday. The Congress voted overwhelmingly in favour of the resolution, with 204 votes for and just one against. "For a first infraction or a minor infraction, a warning, fine and/or ordering to play games behind closed doors should be sufficient punishment," read a text put together by a FIFA task force against racism. "For a repeat offence or a serious infraction, the deduction of points, exclusion from a competition or relegation are the recommended punishments," added the resolution. "Any person (pla

Julian Assange to receive visit from Ecuador's foreign minister

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Ricardo Patino will travel to London later this month to meet the WikiLeaks founder and has offered talks with William Hague Julian Assange has been living inside the Ecuadorean embassy in London since 19 June last year. Photograph: Lewis Whyld/PA Ecuador 's foreign minister will travel to the UK later this month to meet Julian Assange on the eve of the WikiLeaks founder's first anniversary of living in the country's embassy in London. Ricardo Patino has also offered to hold talks with his British counterpart, William Hague, to try to reach an agreement over Assange's future. Assange has been inside the embassy since 19 June last year and has been granted political asylum by Ecudador. If he leaves the embassy, he will be arrested and sent to Sweden for questioning over sexual allegations made by two women, which he denies. Assange fears that if he is sent to Sweden, he will then be extradited to the US f

Heidi Klum attacked by topless women during 'Germany's Next Top Model' finale

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Members of the same group that crashed Klum's show, Femen, also previously protested a fashion show. (Reuters) Heidi Klum wasn’t the only one shocked by the results of the “Germany’s Next Top Model” finale. On the May 30 finale episode, as Klum was hosting the show, two topless women rushed the stage in protest. Though it’s unclear what their issue with Klum was, in place of their shirts they’d written “Heidi Horror Picture Show” across their bare chests. The two were reportedly from the German feminist group Femen, which has targeted fashion shows in the past. Security guards quickly removed the nearly nude ladies and Klum maintained her composure throughout the incident. The women were escorted out and the show continued as planned. Klum made no mention of the ambush on her Twitter feed, though she did post about the final episode, thanking singers Psy and Bruno Mars for their performances. Read more: http://www.foxnews.co

Yemen air raids kill seven 'Qaeda' members

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Yemeni soldiers man a checkpoint in Sanaa, on December 15, 2012. Two air strikes that targeted two vehicles in south Yemen on Saturday killed seven suspected members of Al-Qaeda and wounded two more, a local official said. AFP - Two air strikes that targeted two vehicles in south Yemen on Saturday killed seven suspected members of Al-Qaeda and wounded two more, a local official said. The deaths came on the same day suspected members of the extremist group shot dead a senior air force officer. Saturday's attacks by the Yemeni air force hit the two vehicles on the outskirts of the town of Mahfad in Abyan province, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The official said Al-Qaeda-linked militants were seen evacuating the casualties and transferring them to a local medical centre. Al-Qaeda remains active in Mahfad close to Zinjibar and Jaar, which they ruled for a year before being driven out by a government offensi

Paris soldier stabbing suspect hit with terror-linked charges

A French judge on Friday charged a man who stabbed a soldier near Paris over the weekend with “attempted murder linked to a terrorist enterprise,” a judicial source said. The attack came in the aftermath of the brutal murder of a soldier in London. A judge on Friday charged a recent convert to Islam who stabbed a French soldier over the weekend with "attempted murder linked to a terrorist enterprise", a judicial source said. The 22-year-old was arrested Wednesday after the stabbing of a soldier in a busy Paris commercial complex and transport hub of La Defense that came on the heels of the brutal murder of a soldier in London. The man, Alexandre D., admitted after his arrest that he stabbed Private First Class Cedric Cordiez in the neck. Cordiez has since been discharged from hospital. Video footage from the shopping centre showed him buying two knives an hour prior to the attack on Saturday, and praying eight minutes before the stabbi

Widow of Chechen man shot dead by FBI: 'I hope we will get to the truth'

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Ibragim Todashev's wife Reniya Manukyan tells the Guardian why she fears the mystery surrounding husband's death may never be solved, and why 'it just feels like a movie right now' Ibragim Todashev and Reniya Manukyan. Todashev was killed while being questioned by FBI agents and Massachusetts police. Photograph: Family handout It has been 10 days since an FBI agent fired the seven deadly shots that made her a widow at the age of 24, but Reniya Manukyan is still waiting to learn the truth about the final moments of her husband's life. The shooting of Ibragim Todashev in his Florida apartment made headlines because of the Chechen national's reported friendship with the Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his alleged involvement in a grisly triple murder in Massachusetts in 2011. Todashev's grieving wife, however, says it is the FBI's refusal to answer any direct questions about the manner of

2 of 11 victims in Mexico mass abduction were sons of drug traffickers

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Friends put pictures in the bar entrance of their recently disappeared relatives in Mexico City,Thursday, May 30, 2013. Relatives who joined a march to demand solutions to the thousands of detained and disappeared in Mexico say 11 young people were kidnapped in broad daylight from a Mexico City bar last Sunday a half-block from the city's main boulevard and a few blocks from police headquarters. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo) (The Associated Press) MEXICO CITY –   The mothers of two of the 11 young people kidnapped from a Mexico City bar acknowledge that the youths' fathers are serving prison sentences for drug-related crimes. But both mothers say the fathers' arrest in 2003 had nothing to do with Sunday's mass abduction. Seven young men and four young women haven't been seen since they visited a bar, where they were apparently abducted. The mothers said Friday that nobody who wanted

Istanbul park protests sow the seeds of a Turkish spring

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A protest in a small Istanbul park has become a lightning rod for grievances against the government, and it could be explosive This morning, Turkish police surrounded protesters in Taksim Gezi park , the central square in Istanbul, blocked all exits and attacked them with chemical sprays and teargas. An Occupy-style movement has taken off in Istanbul. The ostensible issue of conflict is modest. Protesters started gathering in the park on 27 May, to oppose its demolition as part of a redevelopment plan. But this is more than an environmental protest. It has become a lightning conductor for all the grievances accumulated against the government. Police have waited until the early hours of each morning to attack, just as police in the US did when dealing with Occupy protesters. They set fire to the tents in which protesters were sleeping and showered them with pepper spray and teargas. A student had to undergo surgery after injuries to his ge

Topless Tunisian activist fined, faces new charges

On the opening day of a high-profile trial Thursday, a Tunisian judge charged prominent feminist activist Amina Tyler with carrying an "incendiary object". The Femen member was remanded in custody and faces new charges, according to prosecutors.  On Thursday a Tunisian court fined and charged a prominent member of the feminist group Femen for carrying an “incendiary object'', on the opening day of her high-profile trial in a conservative central Tunisian city. The topless activist was remanded in custody at the end of the hearing, pending more serious charges. Amina Sboui, known as Amina Tyler, appeared for her first hearing at Kairouan City Court dressed in a white robe and seemed calm as outside the court, hundreds of protesters chanted slogans against her, accusing the Tunisian activist of insulting Islam. Tyler scandalised many in her home country for posting topless photos of herself with the slogan "my body is my own"

Boston, London, Paris attacks highlight al Qaeda shift in tactics

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May 25, 2013 - Still image taken from a security camera, provided by French private TV station M6, shows the 22-year-old French suspect, identified only by his first name Alexandre, as he was strolling in a mall before stabbing a French soldier who was patrolling at the La Defense financial and shopping district, north of Paris, France. PARIS –   Intelligence agencies that have succeeded in thwarting many of al Qaeda's plans for spectacular attacks are struggling to combat the terror network's strategy of encouraging followers to keep to themselves, use off-the-shelf weapons and strike when they see an opportunity. In recent weeks — at the Boston marathon, in the streets of London and in the shadow of one of Paris' most recognizable monuments — young men allegedly carried out attacks with little help, using inexpensive, widely available knives and explosives from everyday ingredients. In each of the attacks, suspects had previously been flagged to law en

Iran accused of using online censorship and hacking to sway presidential poll

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Keyword-based filtering allows blocking of sites and texts containing candidates' names and slogans, say security experts A young girl holds a photograph of Saeed Jalili, Iran’s lead nuclear negotiator and a candidate in the presidential election on 14 June. Photograph: Vahid Salemi/AP Iranian authorities are mounting a sophisticated campaign of online censorship , hacking attacks and filtering to influence the country's imminent presidential elections, according to reports from people inside the country and security researchers outside. Iranians are finding that text messages or websites containing certain words, such as candidates' names or slogans, are being intermittently blocked, while some news sites within the country are taken offline entirely. Those that try to relocate overseas have been subjected to extensive DDoS (distributed denial of service) attacks – which make it impossible for regular users to access websites –

China trying new form of 'Internet censorship'

AFP - China is experimenting with more subtle methods to censor Internet search results ahead of the 24th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown, according to a group that monitors blocked websites in the country. In the past, a search for keywords in China related to the events of June 4, 1989, came up with an explicit message saying: "According to relevant laws, regulations and policies, search results for (the blocked keyword) can not be displayed." But GreatFire.org said in the lead up to the anniversary certain searches, such as "June 4 incident", had been intermittently returning a series of "carefully selected results", though it was impossible to click through to the actual webpages. The organisation said this was an example of "censorship at its worst", with users duped into believing the keyword they were searching for was not a sensitive topic. Troops killed hundreds of protesters during the pro-democracy pr

Syria peace talks likely to be postponed as Russia plans to ship more weapons

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Geneva negotiations conceived by US and Russia will not take place in early June as hoped, say diplomats John Kerry, who said the delivery of Russian weapons to Syria was 'not helpful' while the peace conference was being organised. Photograph: Yuri Gripas/Reuters Peace talks in Geneva between Syria 's warring parties are almost certain to be postponed after further diplomatic setbacks on Friday, as Russia announced its intention to ship more weaponry to the Assad regime. Heavy fighting continued on the ground in Syria, where it emerged that a British man and American woman had been killed, apparently while fighting with the rebels in Idlib, in the north, earlier this week. The US and Russia had together conceived the Geneva talks between the Assad regime and the Syrian opposition, raising hopes that the two superpowe

Jihadists in Syria wage a propaganda war – against each other

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Since they gained control of the central Syrian city of Ar-Raqqah and its suburbs, jihadist rebel groups have been fighting a propaganda war against one another to mark their territory and draw as many supporters as possible into their ranks. This battle for influence is evidenced by the enormous posters displayed throughout the city, which are starting to annoy the population.   Ar-Raqqah fell to the rebels on March 6. It is the first provincial capital controlled by the rebels after more than two years of fighting in Syria. The new rulers have been striving to make it into a model of what a post-Assad Syria could look like.   The city was captured by several jidahist groups, notably the al-Nusra front and Ahrar al-Sham.   Video: http://youtu.be/bXO30VkjubM The Al-Nusra Front inaugurating a new regional religious committee on March 9. Contributors Abu Bakr “There is not a single wall without a poster, banner, inscription, or g

Turkey protests rage for second day

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Police use water cannon and teargas to disperse protesters, whom prime minister described as 'extremists running wild' Violent clashes between police and protesters have continued for a second day in Turkey , as the prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan , condemned the demonstrators as "extremists running wild". In Istanbul, police used water cannon and teargas on thousands of protesters who marched from the east to the west side of the city over the Bosphorus river bridge to join the demonstrations. Police also used teargas to disperse protesters in Gezi park in Istanbul's Taksim Square, where the unrest began on Friday with a peaceful protest against the devleopment of a shopping centre on the Ottoman site. The demonstration escalated as anger mounted at violent police tactics and turned into a wider protest against Erdogan, who is seen as becoming increasingly authoritarian. The Nationalist Movement party (MHP) held a press conferenceon

China: New Leadership Should Address Tiananmen Legacy

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Tiananmen Square. June 4th, 1989. © 1989 Stuart Franklin/MAGNUM Commitments to Rule of Law Empty Without Justice for Past Abuses (New York) – President Xi Jinping and other senior Chinese leaders should demonstrate their commitment to the rule of law by acknowledging the government’s responsibility for the massacre of unarmed civilians 24 years ago, and by allowing commemorations of the anniversary, Human Rights Watch said today. More than two decades after the deadly crackdown, the Chinese government continues to deny wrongdoing in the suppression of the Tiananmen protests. The government has covered up the killings, failed to bring to justice the perpetrators, persecuted victims and survivors’ family members, and maintained tight control over freedoms of assembly and expression. “Chinese leaders continue to try to simply expunge Tiananme