health: Lincoln Tribune

الثلاثاء، 24 أبريل 2012

Lincoln Tribune

Roadside bomb kills U.S. Marine in southern Afghanistan
Protests in Bangladesh turn violent over missing BNP secretary
Protests in Bangladesh turn violent over missing BNP secretary
U.S., European Union impose new sanctions on Syria
U.S., European Union impose new sanctions on Syria

Roadside bomb kills U.S. Marine in southern Afghanistan

Posted: 23 Apr 2012 08:32 PM PDT

LASHKAR GAH, AFGHANISTAN (BNO NEWS) -- A U.S. Marine from Texas was killed on late Sunday evening when a roadside bomb exploded in southern Afghanistan, the U.S. Department of Defense said on Monday. It raises the number of coalition troops killed so far this year to 123.

The U.S. Department of Defense said 30-year-old Staff Sergeant Joseph H. Fankhauser, of Mason, Texas, was killed on Sunday while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, which is located in Afghanistan's south. He was assigned to 7th Engineer Support Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton in California.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said Fankhauser died as a result of an improvised explosive device (IED) attack but gave no other details. "It is ISAF policy to defer casualty identification procedures to the relevant national authorities," a brief statement from ISAF said.

Earlier on Monday, ISAF also confirmed the deaths of two other coalition service members as a result of an IED attack in eastern Afghanistan. The nationalities of the service members involved were not immediately disclosed by ISAF, but both are believed to have been U.S. service members.

Sunday's deaths raise the number of coalition troops killed in Afghanistan so far this year to 123, most of them American and British service members, according to official figures. Four American service members were killed on late Thursday evening when their helicopter crashed in southern Afghanistan, possibly due to bad weather.

A total of 566 ISAF troops were killed in Afghanistan in 2011, down from 711 in 2010. A majority of the fallen troops were American and were killed in the country's south, which is plagued by IED attacks on troops and civilians.

There are currently more than 130,000 ISAF troops in Afghanistan, including some 90,000 U.S. troops and more than 9,500 British soldiers. U.S. President Barack Obama previously ordered a drawdown of 23,000 U.S. troops later this year, and foreign combat troops are due to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014.

Protests in Bangladesh turn violent over missing BNP secretary

Posted: 23 Apr 2012 08:21 PM PDT

DHAKA, BANGLADESH (BNO NEWS) -- Two people were killed on Monday and several others were injured after protests in Bangladesh turned violent over an opposition politician who went missing last week, local media reported. A strike has been called for Thursday.

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) secretary M Ilias Ali disappeared on Tuesday last week along with his driver Ansar Ali, triggering a wave of protests across the South Asian country. A massive search for Ali is underway, but only his abandoned vehicle was lcoated near his house in the Banani area of Biswanath.

Hundreds of protesters took to the street of Biswanath on Monday to demand the safe release of Ali, who is originally from the town. A large group of demonstrators who were carrying homemade bombs, stones and bamboo sticks attacked a police station in the Sylhet district of Biswanath.

Biswanath Upazila Nirbahi Officer Kamal Hossain told the state-run Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) news agency that the violent protesters attacked the Upazila complex building, causing damage and destroying official papers inside seventeen government offices.

As a result of the violence, authorities deployed the Border Guard Bangladesh troops and the Rapid Action Battalion to get the situation under control. Official media reported that two men were killed in the clashes while more than 100 others, including at least five police officers, were injured.

Witnesses told the BSS news agency that protesters had opened fire at police officers and took away their weapons. In addition, several vehicles in Biswanath were set on fire before security forces retaliated with tear gas canisters and guns, BSS reported.

Protests and strikes also affected other districts of Bangladesh, including the capital city of Dhaka where protesters set a police bus on fire.

Also on Monday, Dhaka police detained BNP vice-president and former minister Selima Rahman along with fourteen other opposition activists, although it was not immediately clear why. The BNP has claimed that 371 of their leaders have been arrested across the country, fueling the outrage among its supporters.

BNP has called for a third straight nationwide strike for Tuesday.

Protests in Bangladesh turn violent over missing BNP secretary

Posted: 23 Apr 2012 08:21 PM PDT

Protests and strikes also affected other districts of Bangladesh, including the capital city of Dhaka where protesters set a police bus on fire.

BNP has called for a third straight nationwide strike for Tuesday.

U.S., European Union impose new sanctions on Syria

Posted: 23 Apr 2012 08:04 PM PDT

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (BNO NEWS) -- The U.S. government and the European Union (EU) on Monday announced it will impose new sanctions against Syria, coming amidst reports that Syrian government forces killed more than 30 people after a UN visit to the country.

The Council of the EU said it decided to adopt restrictive measures on the export to Syria of additional equipment, goods and technology that can be used for internal repression or for the manufacturing and maintenance of such products. It also agreed to ban the sales of luxury goods from the EU to Syria.

"We have imposed additional sanctions against the Syrian regime because of deep concern about the situation and the continuing violence, in spite of the ceasefire," said EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton. "The repression in Syria must stop. We are working with the international community to ensure that we enforce sanctions as effectively as possible."

The EU also said that the Council will adopt implementing legislation to define which items are covered by the two provisions. The announcement marks the fourteenth time in which the EU imposes restrictive measures against the Syrian regime since the start of the violent repression against the civilian population.

In the United States, President Barack Obama authorized an executive order to target those who facilitate serious human rights abuses in Syria and Iran through the use of information and communications technology. "The Syrian and Iranian governments are rapidly increasing their capabilities to disrupt, monitor, and track communications networks that are essential to the ability of Syrians and Iranians to communicate with each other and the outside world," the White House said.

The executive order establishes financial and travel sanctions against those who allegedly perpetrate or facilitate human rights abuses via information technology. The White House said new sanctions are also aimed to degrade the ability of the Syrian and Iranian governments to acquire and utilize technology to intercept GPS, satellite and internet communications and cellphones which are used by activists.

"We will implement this sanctions instrument consistent with our strong belief in the need to ensure that the citizens of Syria and Iran have access to information and communications technology that facilitates their access to information and ability to protect and organize themselves in the face of oppression," the White House said in a statement. "This order underscores our efforts to help the Syrian and Iranian people pierce through the "electronic curtain" that the Syrian and Iranian regimes have put in place."

British Foreign Secretary William Hague welcomed the EU's new sanctions. "Despite the urgent need for Assad to end the violence immediately, he and his close supporters continue to lead comfortable lives," he said. "Today the EU has also agreed to ban the export of luxury goods to Syria."

Over 9,000 lives have been lost since March 2011 when a protest movement similar to those witnessed across the Middle East and North Africa began in Syria. Most of the casualties have been civilians. In addition, at least 230,000 people have been displaced and, in total, an estimated one million people are in need of relief.