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السبت، 28 أبريل 2012

Lincoln Tribune

UN condemns murder of fourth Brazilian journalist this year
Syria: 9 killed in suicide attack outside Damascus mosque
Four missing children found dead in southeastern Mexico
British and American soldiers die after being shot in Afghanistan
10 years for Dutch man who impregnated 11-year-old daughter

UN condemns murder of fourth Brazilian journalist this year

Posted: 28 Apr 2012 02:32 AM PDT

GENEVA (BNO NEWS) -- Officials at the United Nations (UN) on Friday condemned the murder of a Brazilian journalist earlier this week and urged authorities to investigate the killing. It is the fourth time this year that a journalist is killed in Brazil.

Décio Sá, an investigative journalist reporting on local politics, corruption, and organized crime, was gunned down in a bar in the city of Sao Luis in northern Brazil on Monday night. Sá's murder brings to at least four the number of reporters murdered in the South American nation this year alone.

Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the UN's Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), described the murders as 'disturbing.' "We condemn his murder and are concerned at what appears to be a disturbing trend of killing journalists that is damaging the exercise of freedom of expression in Brazil," said Colville.

He added: "We have long been concerned about the need for Brazilian human rights defenders, including journalists, to be able to conduct their work without fear of intimidation or worse." The OHCHR also urged the Government to immediately implement protection measures to prevent any more such incidents.

OHCHR welcomed the fact that state authorities have committed to conducting a thorough investigation. It also called for this and other similar cases to be treated as a major priority in order for those behind the killings to be held responsible and not embolden by the prevailing lack of accountability for such crimes.

Two journalists were killed in Brazil last year in direct relation to their work, and four others were killed in unclear circumstances, according to research by the Committee to Project Journalists (CPJ). Among those killed was newspaper publisher Edinaldo Filgueira who was gunned down after running a poll on his blog that reflected dissatisfaction with the local government.

Syria: 9 killed in suicide attack outside Damascus mosque

Posted: 28 Apr 2012 02:09 AM PDT

DAMASCUS, SYRIA (BNO NEWS) -- A suicide bomber detonated himself near a mosque in the Syrian capital of Damascus on Friday afternoon, killing at least nine people and injuring more than two dozen others, the government said.

The attack took place in the pro-opposition Midan neighborhood of Damascus as worshippers were leaving the nearby Zein al-Abidin mosque following Friday prayers. Both civilians and law enforcement personnel were among those killed and injured in Friday's attack, state-run media reported.

The Interior Ministry said nine people were killed and 26 others were injured. The figures could not be independently verified due to government restrictions on the media, but gruesome images released by the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) showed blood, human flesh, a severed hand, and a severed leg at the scene of the blast.

It was also not possible to verify who was behind Friday's attack as the Syrian government blames 'terrorist groups' while the opposition has accused the government of staging terrorist attacks to justify its deadly crackdown against the uprising. Since the start of the uprising in March 2011, at least 3,800 people have died as a result of violence, according to government figures, but opposition activists and the United Nations (UN) claim the actual number has already surpassed 9,000.

Unrest has increasingly spread to Damascus which was the scene of several other suicide bombings in recent months. At least 27 people were killed and 140 others were injured when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden vehicle at the al-Jamarek roundabout in Damascus. It was followed by a second attack several minutes later when a suicide car bomber blew himself up at al-Tahrir Square.

The attack last month followed two other deadly attacks in the country's capital. At least 26 people were killed and more than 60 others were injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up near a school in the al-Midan neighborhood of Damascus on January 6. It followed two suicide bombings which targeted Syrian government buildings on December 23, killing 44 people and injuring 166.

Four missing children found dead in southeastern Mexico

Posted: 27 Apr 2012 06:45 PM PDT

TACOTALPA, MEXICO (BNO NEWS) -- Four children who went missing in southeastern Mexico earlier this week have been found dead at a nearby ranch, and some of their organs may have been removed after their death, state officials said on Friday. No arrests have been made so far.

Tabasco state Attorney-General Gregorio Romero Tequextle said the four brothers went missing at around 7 a.m. local time on Tuesday when they left their house in the Tapijulapa community of the municipality of Tacotalpa to go to school. When the children failed to return home at 2 p.m., their mother became worried and contacted the school which reported that the boys did not attend their classes.

The children, all between the ages of 7 and 10, were reported missing to authorities on Wednesday after the mother had contacted relatives, friends, and neighbors without success. "Based on this complaint, the municipal police, the state's preventive police and the state police were given the task of investigating the whole area near the village of Tapijulapa," Tequextle said.

On Friday morning, police were searching an area near a local river and visited a ranch where the ground appeared to have been disturbed. Officers soon discovered a hand which led to the discovery of several shallow graves containing the bodies of the four young brothers.

The bodies were taken to the state's capital city of Villahermosa where an autopsy was performed. "It is understood the bodies are complete, i.e. no bodies were taken away and the forensic medical report puts the cause of death at anoxia caused by suffocation," Tequextle said. "I should point out that the children's faces were covered with masking tape, causing the suffocation."

Mexican media reported that some of the organs of the boys were removed, but authorities would not immediately confirm those reports. No arrests were immediately made, but Tequextle said arrests were expected soon.

British and American soldiers die after being shot in Afghanistan

Posted: 27 Apr 2012 01:06 PM PDT

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (BNO NEWS) -- Two coalition service members, one British soldier and one American soldier, have died of their injuries after being shot by insurgents in eastern and southern Afghanistan, officials said on Friday. It raises the number of coalition troops killed so far this year to 130.

The British Ministry of Defense said one of its soldiers was shot and killed Friday while on patrol in the Nahr-e-Saraj district of Helmand province, which is located in Afghanistan's south. The soldier from 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards was serving as part of Combined Force Nahr-e-Saraj (North) and was on a patrol to disrupt insurgent movements in the area.

"The thoughts and prayers of all in the Task Force and Combined Force are with his family and friends at this tragic time," said Task Force Helmand spokesman Major Ian Lawrence. He said the soldier's family have been informed and they have asked for a 24-hour period of grace before further details are released.

Also on Friday, the U.S. Department of Defense said 22-year-old Specialist Jason K. Edens, of Franklin, Tennessee, died Thursday at a hospital in Bethesda, Maryland of wounds sustained on April 15 when insurgents attacked his unit with small arms fire in Afghanistan's Laghman province. Edens was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 13th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division at Fort Bliss in Texas.

The deaths on Thursday and Friday raise the number of coalition troops killed in Afghanistan so far this year to 130, most of them American and British service members, according to official figures. Three U.S. service members were killed on Thursday when an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded in Afghanistan's east.

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.

10 years for Dutch man who impregnated 11-year-old daughter

Posted: 27 Apr 2012 12:20 PM PDT

GRONINGEN, NETHERLANDS (BNO NEWS) -- A 53-year-old man from the Netherlands who repeatedly raped his daughter and eventually impregnated her when she was just 11 years old has been sentenced to 10 years in prison, prosecutors said on Friday.

Calix W., whose last name was withheld under Dutch privacy laws, was arrested in April 2011 after a DNA test confirmed he is the father of his daughter's child, who was born several weeks earlier during a school trip. The girl, who gave birth at the age of 12 but became pregnant when she was 11, was unaware that she was pregnant.

The victim told police in February that Calix began sexually abusing her when she was just 6 years old. "The statement is sufficiently supported by witness testimony and factual information," prosecutors said on Friday, rejecting allegations from the defense that the statement was not credible because the victim did initially not want to talk to police. "The statement is also largely supported by the fact that on March 22, 2011, the victim gave birth to a child and research has shown the accused is the father."

Court documents detail the graphic confession made by Calix, who admitted to having sex with his daughter on one occasion but claimed she consented to it. "We had sex on the couch," he told police in a graphic statement which blames the girl for the pregnancy. "I had a t-shirt on, my pants were off. She was also only wearing a t-shirt, I remember that. We held hands, stroked each other, hugged, and then it happened: we had sex."

But the statement from the victim painted a completely different picture of the abuse. "I always thought it was normal, so to speak. That all fathers did that with their daughters," she told investigators. "He usually turned on the TV. Then he put it on a TV channel where people did the same. Then he asked if I wanted that (have sex). And I thought it was supposed to be like that, so I always said yes."

The girl said her father raped her more than 10 times a month, and prosecutors believe the victim was abused at least 300 times over a period of nearly six years. "I had a lot of pain and I had to scream, so to speak," the victim told police, recalling the first time when she was 6. "And then he said I had to be quiet. And then he became very angry at me."

There had been suspicions of sexual abuse in the past, and an anonymous tip in February 2009 led to a brief investigation which found no evidence of actual abuse. "To [school, redacted] for conversation with girl [victim's name, redacted]," an investigator said in his or her report at the time. "When asked she said her younger brother sleeps on the couch in the living room and her father sleeps with her in her room. She sometimes sees weird things, such as sex."

Prosecutors said the victim's accounts are very similar to those made by Calix's other daughter from a previous marriage, who was raped by her father at least five times in 1994. Calix served two years in prison for the abuse in the 90s. "Some of the details from the (1995) statement are remarkably consistent with the statement of [victim, redacted]," prosecutors said. "These details can not be known by [victim, redacted]."

A Dutch court sentenced the man on Friday to 10 years in prison, as had been demanded by the prosecutor's office. "In determining the length of the punishment, the court took into account the fact that it involves very serious offenses and suspect was previously convicted of abusing his other daughter," the court said in a statement. "The court charges the suspect that he has not taken full responsibility for his actions and gave no sign of understanding for the suffering he has caused."

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السبت، 28 أبريل 2012

Lincoln Tribune

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