Lincoln Tribune |  |
- Panetta: Israel Becoming Increasingly Isolated
- Iran hangs seven drug traffickers, one rapist
- Russian grandmother kills self after dogs maul baby to death
- Zimbabwe’s Mugabe returns to Singapore for medical treatment
- Bus overturns during heavy rains in northern Thailand, killing 7
| Panetta: Israel Becoming Increasingly Isolated Posted: 03 Oct 2011 12:29 AM PDT U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has warned that Israel is becoming increasingly isolated in the Middle East amid the ongoing upheaval that has swept across the region this year. Panetta is scheduled to hold talks this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, as well as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. He will then travel to a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels. Israel has formally accepted an international plan for restarting negotiations, but the immediate resumption of talks appears unlikely as the two sides continue to differ over terms of the proposal. Mr. Netanyahu Sunday welcomed "the Quartet's call for direct negotiations without preconditions." He said Israel has concerns about the plan that it will raise at the "appropriate time." But he did not elaborate.
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| Iran hangs seven drug traffickers, one rapist Posted: 02 Oct 2011 09:18 PM PDT TEHRAN (BNO NEWS) -- Eight people who were previously convicted of serious crimes including rape were hung in northern and southern Iran on Sunday, state-run media reported on Monday. The Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) reported that an unidentified man was hung in Sari, the capital of Mazandaran Province, after he was previously convicted of raping a woman through deception and intimidation. Other details about the case were not released. In Shiraz, the country's sixth most populous city and the capital of Fars province, seven men were hung after they were convicted of trafficking drugs. ISNA said the men already had a criminal history before they were arrested. Murder, rape and drugs trafficking are among the crimes which are punishable by death in Iran. Dozens of people were executed across the country last month alone, including 22 convicted drug traffickers who were all hung on the same day in the Tehran suburb of Karaj. But the most controversial execution last month took place on September 21 when 17-year-old Alireza Molla Soltani was executed after stabbing a popular athlete to death in mid-July. The teenager argued he stabbed the athlete in self-defense but a court still ordered he be executed in breach of international law which forbids executing anyone below the age of 18. According to Amnesty International, the Iranian government acknowledged that at least 252 people were executed in Iran last year, although Amnesty's reports indicate the actual figure is more than 550. Among those executed were five women and one adult who committed his crime when he was underage. The vast majority of those executed in Iran last year was for alleged drug trafficking, a crime authorities claim has led to the deaths of more than 4,000 police officers in recent years. According to human rights groups, trials in Iran do often not meet international standards of fairness. Proceedings, particularly those held outside Tehran, are often summary, lasting only a few minutes. Mass trials also take place on some occasions. In October 2010, Amnesty International reported, Iran's Interior Minister stated that the campaign against drug trafficking was being intensified and the Prosecutor General stated in the same month that new measures had been taken to speed up the judicial processing of drug-trafficking cases, including by referring all such cases to his office, thereby denying them a right to appeal to a higher tribunal as is required under international law. Two months later, the amended Anti-Narcotics Law came into force, apparently making it easier to sentence to death those convicted of drug trafficking, according to Amnesty International. The law also extended the scope of the death penalty to include additional categories of illegal drugs such as crystal meth, possession of which became punishable by death. Under the Anti-Narcotics Law, some defendants are not granted a right to appeal as their convictions and sentences are confirmed by the state Prosecutor-General. Family members of executed persons also faced persecution in some cases last year and were often not given the bodies of their relatives for burial. Others said that they had to pay officials in order to receive their relatives' bodies as payment for the rope used to hang them. (Copyright 2011 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)
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| Russian grandmother kills self after dogs maul baby to death Posted: 02 Oct 2011 08:21 PM PDT MEZHDURECHENSK, RUSSIA (BNO NEWS) -- A grandmother committed suicide in southern Russia on Saturday after two dogs mauled a one-year-old baby to death, local media reported on Monday. The tragedy happened on Saturday at a home in Mezhdurechensk, a city in Russia's Kemerovo Oblast, when a one-year-old baby boy was left alone at a home. He is believed to have walked or crawled to a room where two dogs, a Staffordshire terrier and a pitbull, were kept. The Russian ITAR-TASS news agency, citing police, reported that the boy's grandmother committed suicide after she found the lifeless body. It was not immediately known if the boy was in the care of the grandmother or how long and why he was left alone. Governor Aman Tuleyev has taken personal control of the investigation and questioned whether certain dogs should be banned. "This country has seen of late a wave of accidents in which dogs attacked people and such situations are especially appalling when small kids are victimized," the governor said. He added: "There is a need for revising the legislation on the management of dogs of the fighting breeds. We must tighten the responsibility of dog owners whose pets attack people and even introduce criminal punishments for this." Tuleyev noted that fighter dogs are banned in a number of countries around the world and questioned why this is not being done in Russia. "We have a ban on selling and possessing guns, and fighter dogs are in no way different from weaponry," he explained. "To keep a dog of this kind at home an owner should obtain special permission and pass serious checks." It is unknown how many people die every year worldwide as a result of dog attacks. The website Dog Bite Law reports 34 people died of dog attacks in the United States alone last year. It said more than 1,000 Americans are treated every day as a result of dog bites. (Copyright 2011 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)
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| Zimbabwe’s Mugabe returns to Singapore for medical treatment Posted: 02 Oct 2011 07:13 PM PDT HARARE (BNO NEWS) -- Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has again visited Singapore for medical treatment, a minister told the independent Standard newspaper on Sunday. Few details about his visit were released. Minister of Publicity and Information Webster Shamu said the 87-year-old Mugabe went to seek medical attention in Singapore earlier this week, leaving vice president Joice Mujuru in charge as acting president. He was due to return on Sunday. "He went for a review following an eye operation he had earlier on. He will be back [Sunday]," Shamu told the newspaper. However, a spokesman had said in March that he had already went for his final check-up. Mugabe has visited Asia at least seven times this year for medical reasons, fueling speculation that his health is taking a turn for the worse. The Standard earlier reported that Mugabe demanded $3 million in government money during each visit, possibly to cover medical bills and travel expenses. Last month, a newly-released confidential cable from the U.S. Embassy in Harare revealed that U.S. diplomats were told in June 2008 that Mugabe had only three to five years left to live due to prostate cancer. It added that Mugabe was reluctant to step down because of uncertainty of who would succeed him. But despite worrying reports about Mugabe's health, U.S. diplomats described the Zimbabwean leader in a 2009 cable as 'possibly the healthiest 85-year-old in Zimbabwe.' The diplomats noted that, during a lengthy meeting, Mugabe would constantly move and pull up his sock but described him as alert and engaged. "Despite previous rumors of possible throat cancer, we noted that his voice was fairly strong although he did speak softly at times during the first hour," the confidential cable from 2009 said. "Aside from frequent shifting, he rarely cleared his throat and appeared to be a vigorous 85-year-old in superb health." But a U.S. cable nearly three months later, in late August 2009, noted that Mugabe made a quick trip to Dubai. "While his office reports he was on holiday, many believe he was receiving medical care," the cable said. "In the past he has often traveled to Malaysia for treatment of his suspected prostate cancer." Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe since December 1987, making him one of Africa's longest-lasting leaders. (Copyright 2011 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)
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| Bus overturns during heavy rains in northern Thailand, killing 7 Posted: 02 Oct 2011 05:55 PM PDT BANGKOK (BNO NEWS) -- Seven people were killed on early Sunday morning when a passenger bus overturned during heavy rains in northern Thailand, local media reported. Nearly two dozen others were injured. The accident happened near the town of Ban Mae Tia in the Thoeng district of Lampang province when a Transport Company bus skidded off the road and overturned. The vehicle was coming from Lampang city and was en-route to Khon Kaen province. According to the Bangkok Post, two men and three women died at the scene of the accident while two more died at a local hospital. Twenty others were injured and taken to hospitals in Thoen and Sop Prap. Two of them were seriously injured. It was not immediately known what caused the accident, but reports said the accident happened during heavy rainfall on a slippery road. Police are investigating the deadly accident. Floods across Thailand in recent months have claimed nearly 200 lives and affected millions more. (Copyright 2011 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)
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