Egypt security forces move in to clear Morsy supporters from Cairo protest camps; deaths reported

Egyptian security forces moved in on two massive makeshift camps that supporters of deposed President Mohamed Morsy had set up, bulldozing tents, lobbing tear gas, and escorting away protesters Wednesday morning.

The Muslim Brotherhood said 200 Morsy supporters were killed and more than 8,000 injured.

The government claimed casualties on its side as well. The interior ministry said two security officials were killed and nine injured.

When reached, the health ministry disputed the Muslim Brotherhood claim. It said 26 civilians were hurt -- and none killed.

In the chaos of the raid, it was impossible for CNN to verify the claims and counter claims.

The government suspended rail service to Cairo. The Brotherhood said it was to prevent more of its members from streaming into the city.

 

The raids began shortly after 6 a.m. (12 a.m. ET) at the two camps: one near the Rabaah al-Adawiya mosque in eastern Cairo, and a smaller one at the Nahda camp, near the Cairo University campus.

By 8:45 a.m., the interior ministry said the smaller camp had been cleared of demonstrators. All that remained were remnants of torn-down tents.

Hassan Al Qabana, who works at the media center set up at the Rabaa camp, said the location was facing a "full-on assault" and the wounded were streaming in.

Police in riot gear were out in full force, escorting away men. The interior ministry put the number at more than 200, and said they were caught with weapons and ammunitions.

A fire burned in the distance, sending a large plume of black smoke into the sky.

Mothers and fathers whisked away children, gas masks on their faces.

A group of protesters tried unsuccessfully to overturn a police van.

Protests leaders stood on a stage, microphone in hand. Throngs of supporters raised their hands in a peace sign, or waved Egypt's flag.

The Muslim Brotherhood police were throwing Molotov cocktails at the clinics inside the camps.

The interior ministry said security forces did not use gunfire and instead were attacked by "terrorist elements" inside the camps.

"Egyptian security forces are committed to the utmost self-restraint in dealing with the protesters," the ministry said.

For six chaotic weeks, Morsy supporters had massed at the two camps -- refusing to budge until Morsy was reinstated, and morphing the locations into cities within a city.

They lived and slept in tents.

Vendors sold everything from bottled water to masks. Children played in inflatable castles and splashed in kiddie pools.

The government have accused the protesters of packing the sites with their children to use them as human shields.

The raid Wednesday was not unexpected.

Since the Muslim holy month of Ramadan ended last week, the protesters had hunkered down and waited for the crackdown that the government had long hinted at.

They fortified their sites with sandbags, tires and stacks of bricks.

A deadly toll

The protests started soon after Egypt's military toppled Morsy in a coup last month.

Hundreds have been killed and thousands have been injured in recent weeks, either in clashes between opposing protesters or in clashes between protesters and Egyptian security forces.

Last month, Information Minister Durriya Sharaf el-Din said the gatherings were a threat to national security and traffic congestion.

And two weeks ago, Mansour issued orders in the event of a possible "state of emergency," the EGYnews website reported.

"State of emergency" is a loaded term in Egypt. Former President Hosni Mubarak ruled for 30 years under an emergency decree that barred unauthorized assembly, restricted freedom of speech and allowed police to jail people indefinitely.

Morsy's fall

Morsy became Egypt's first democratically elected president in 2012, a year after popular protests forced Mubarak to resign and end his three-decade rule.

But a year into Morsy's term, many Egyptians wanted him out, too. They said the Western-educated Islamist, aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood movement, was not inclusive and they said he had failed to deliver on the people's aspirations for freedom and social justice.

Morsy was accused of authoritarianism and trying to force the Brotherhood's Islamic agenda onto the nation's laws. He was also criticized by many Egyptians frustrated with rampant crime and a struggling economy that hadn't shown improvement since Mubarak resigned.

But supporters say Morsy repeatedly offered Cabinet positions to secularists and liberals -- only to get repeatedly rejected.

Since taking power from Morsy, Egypt's military has installed an interim civilian government with Mansour as interim president.

But Egypt's generals, the ones who oversaw Morsy's ouster and led the country for a year after Mubarak's resignation, still wield significant power.

The list of accusations against Morsy include: collaborating with the militant group Hamas to carry out hostile acts, attacking law enforcement buildings, officers and soldiers, storming prisons, vandalizing buildings and deliberately burning a prison.

He hasn't been seen since his ouster.

culled from www.cnn.com

Kiss & Tell: FEMI FANI-KAYODE UNDER FIRE OVER AFFAIR WITH BIANCA OJUKWU, 2 OTHER IGBO BIG GIRLS

Former Aviation Minister, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, has come under heavy fire after he this morning went public with his romantic affairs with Nigeria’s incumbent Ambassador to Spain, Bianca Onoh Odumegwu-Ojukwu, and two other Igbo big girls.
Ranting on his Facebook page, Fani-Kayode boasted about the affairs with the then Miss Bianca Onoh, Miss Chioma Anasoh and Miss Adaobi Uchegbu, citing them as part of the evidence tat he is not an Igbo hater.
Wrote the man who has lately beome infamous on account of his anti-Igbo utterances: “I was not a tribalist when I had a long-standing and intimate relationship with Miss Bianca Onoh, an Igbo lady, who later married Colonel Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu the leader of Biafra and who is now our Ambassador in Spain. I was not a tribalist when I had a long-standing and intimate relationship with Miss Chioma Anasoh, another Igbo lady, who I almost married. I was not a tribalist when I had a long-standing and intimate relationship with Miss Adaobi Uchegbu, another Igbo lady, who was exceptionally close to me and who is now a leading figure at the National Headquarters of the ruling PDP.”
However, rather than win him the argument, the kiss and tell has futher compounded Fani-Kayode’s image problems as several commentators said only a man of unsound mind would go public with what he did behind closed doors with ladies. Below are a sample of responses:
Emeka Ugwuonye: The reality about Fani-Kayode seems to be far worse than I could have argued – that he may not be well. Otherwise, it is almost unheard of that a man would publicly proclaim that he had intimate relationships with women who later got married to other men, and goes forward to identify such women. Only a sick man would do that in such a fashion.
Fani-Kayode’s intentions and motives are clear: He intended to actually mock the Igbo people by suggesting to them that he once had a long-standing affair with the widow of their hero. And his emphatic reference to Ojukwu with his pre-1967 military rank of Colonel, which would have been totally unnecessary, is equally remarkable. If anyone really had to insult the Igbos, it would appear that one good way to do it is to make this kind claim and statement. For that motive factor alone, an intelligent mind must treat Fani-Kayode’s claims with considerable doubt. Any man with such combination of megalomaniacal tendencies and instability and silliness of the mind would be tempted to link himself amorously to an icon such as Bianca. Laughingly enough, I could imagine that Femi Fani-Kayode similarly had a “long-standing relationship” with Jacqueline Kennedy before she married JFK. Consistent with his hatred for the Igbos, simply set out to insult them indirectly by insulting Ojukwu and his family.
Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko: To reel out names of women a man has slept with is the greatest act of lunacy that ought to be handled with care and empathy...such a mental case must be seen for what it is and not offered any legitimacy by way of rejoinders...a decent and responsible man should not under any guise disclose the BEDROOM SECRECY because the moment this social contract is breached then the offender is presumed to have crossed the borderline of sanity.
Opeyemi Bamidele Amusa: So wht does that make him? An Adulterous/Childish fool.
Magdaline Dupe Inam: This guy is an idiot, stupid is what stupid can be.
Madunagu Emeka: So sad that a distinguished institution like Cambridge University has a misfit and moron called Femi Fani-Kayode as an alumnus. Sad that this clown was a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Sad that there are people who endorse this clown's drug-induced outbursts. What a country!!! There really was a country!!!

culled from www.newsexpressngr.com

Vietnamese Men Emerge From Jungle 40 Years After War, Have Had No Contact With Outside World

In the midst of the Vietnam War, after a bomb destroyed his family home and killed his wife and two of his sons, a desperate father grabbed his infant boy and fled into the forest.
There they stayed for 40 years, where, if Vietnamese media are to be believed, they lived in the wild and made no attempts to contact the outside world. Viet Nam News, an English news service, reports locals from the Tra Xinh Commune in Tay Tra District spotted the two several days ago and alerted police, who found them in a remote patch of jungle, living in a handmade hut, lifted several feet off the forest floor.
The father, Ho Van Thanh, who is now 82, was reportedly quite ill and brought to a hospital. His son, Ho Van Lang, 41, also emerged, and is said to be overwhelmed by his new surroundings.

In the midst of the Vietnam War, after a bomb destroyed his family home and killed his wife and two of his sons, a desperate father grabbed his infant boy and fled into the forest.
There they stayed for 40 years, where, if Vietnamese media are to be believed, they lived in the wild and made no attempts to contact the outside world. Viet Nam News, an English news service, reports locals from the Tra Xinh Commune in Tay Tra District spotted the two several days ago and alerted police, who found them in a remote patch of jungle, living in a handmade hut, lifted several feet off the forest floor.
The father, Ho Van Thanh, who is now 82, was reportedly quite ill and brought to a hospital. His son, Ho Van Lang, 41, also emerged, and is said to be overwhelmed by his new surroundings.
"They still feel frightened despite being taken to an isolated area," Le Van Vuong, vice chairman of Tra Xinh Commune, told DTI News, another English Vietnamese outlet. "People who just come to stare at them bothered them the most. They do not know how to speak the Kinh people’s language. They just know a few words of Cor ethnic minority people's language and use body language to express themselves.”
"My uncle doesn't understand much of what is said to him, and he doesn't want to eat or even drink water," nephew Ho Ven Bien told the Australian Associated Press. He said he was aware of his uncle's disappearance long ago but did not expect he was alive.
A series of photos obtained by Báo Quang Ngai shows various tools the pair appear to have fashioned to survive in the forest. Among them are a hammer fashioned with shrapnel, handmade knives with iron blades scavenged from the jungle, loincloths woven from tree bark and bamboo storage containers to keep rice dry.
According to Thanh Nien News, the father and son had a daily diet including cassava (a starchy root), corn and wild leaves. They also cultivated and smoked tobacco.

In Misstep, Obama Discusses Sealed Indictment on Benghazi

President Barack Obama was a lawyer before he became a politician, but on Friday he broke one of the most basic legal rules: He publicly discussed a sealed indictment.
Speaking at a White House press conference about government surveillance, terrorism, and other topics, the president was asked about his past statements that the people who attacked the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, last year would be brought to justice.
“We have informed, I think, the public that there’s a sealed indictment. It’s sealed for a reason. But we are intent on capturing those who carried out this attack, and we’re going to stay on it until we get them,’’ Mr. Obama said.
While the president of the United States can declassify top secret intelligence information on his own say-so, disclosing secret grand jury material is a different matter. Rule 6(e) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure clearly states: “… no person may disclose the indictment’s existence except as necessary to issue or execute a warrant or summons.’’

UPDATE: A White House official said the president “was simply referencing widely reported information and was not asked about, nor did he comment on any specific indictment.’’
A violation of the rule can result in a finding of contempt of court – although it’s extremely unlikely anyone at the Justice Department would pursue the issue as it relates to the president. A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment.


culled from www.blogs.wsj.com

Kanye West Buying $1.5 Million Anti-Kidnap Cars

Kanye West has invested over $1.5 million on anti-kidnap cars to protect his family, according to reports.
The 'Clique' hitmaker will spare no expense in ensuring the safety of his partner Kim Kardashian and their two-month-old daughter North, and he has ordered matching bullet and bomb-proof vehicles to travel around Los Angeles.
The rapper has commissioned a $380,000 Chevrolet Kodiak - based on Barack Obama's Limo One - while Kim will be given an $1.2 million armored SUV called the Prombron Iron Diamond.
An insider told the Daily Star Sunday newspaper: "Kanye is fully aware that his new family is so high-profile they attract the attention of weirdos and psychopaths.
"He aims to leave nothing to chance. His priority is to get delivery of the vehicles, especially Kim's, before he begins his US tour in October."
Besides the armoured cars - which were bought on the advice of Jay Z - Kanye is also insisting both he and the 'Keeping Up with the Kardashians' star always have at least two bodyguards.
The source added: "If there have been any kidnapping threats against their daughter, he isn't saying. But that fear is clearly in his mind.
"Kanye is also acutely aware that Kim has enemies who are resentful for her reality TV success and the thought of anything happening to her or Nori, their nickname for North, is is worst nightmare."

Simon Cowell Named Highest Paid TV Personality in USA

Simon Cowell and Howard Stern are the highest-paid TV personalities in America.
The 'X Factor' supremo and the 'America's Got Talent' judge each earned an estimated $95 million between June 2012 and June 2013, making them the highest earners, according to Forbes.
Glenn Beck's subscription website, highlighting his right-wing views, helped him to earn $90 million putting him in third place, ahead of Oprah Winfrey, who pulled in $77 million for the same year.
Oprah's protege Dr. Phil McGraw completed the top five, making $72 million in the same time period.
Rush Limbaugh ($66 million), Donald Trump ($63 million), Ryan Seacrest ($61 million), Ellen DeGeneres ($56 million) and Judy Sheindlin ($47 million) also made the top 10.
Although Oprah dropped to fourth on the list this year, the 'Butler' actress recently topped Forbes magazine's most powerful celebrities list.
The billionaire TV star reclaimed the number one spot on the financial magazine's annual ranking of Hollywood stars, with the publication crediting her $77 million earnings as well as her prominence on TV, on social media and in the press.
Forbes writer Dorothy Pomerantz said: "She still wields an enormous amount of power, which is really what we look for in our fame matrix. She is taking this cable network and turning it around just through the sheer force of her will, her connections and her ability."
The 59-year-old star - who has topped the list on four previous occasions - is one of three celebrities who have featured on the prestigious list every year since its inception in 1999, along with radio DJ Howard Stern and director Steven Spielberg.
Forbes magazine's Highest-Earning TV Personalities 2013. Top 10:
Simon Cowell and Howard Stern
Glenn Beck
Oprah Winfrey
Dr. Phil McGraw
Rush Limbaugh
Donald Trump
Ryan Seacrest
Ellen DeGeneres
Judy Sheindlin

Culled from www.starpulse.com

Human trafficking roundup nets 75 in Spain, France

A gang that smuggled Chinese citizens into the United States and Europe, sometimes forcing them to work as prostitutes, has been busted with 75 arrests in Spain and France, authorities announced Saturday.

The trafficking ring was based in -- and directed from -- China, but its two suspected leaders in Europe were arrested in the operation, in Barcelona, Spanish national police said in a statement.

Besides the two main suspects, Spanish police arrested 49 others carrying forged passports at the airports in Barcelona, Madrid, Palma de Mallorca and five other cities. In France, there were 24 arrests.

The smugglers charged 40,000 to 50,000 euros ($53,000 to $66,000) to transport Chinese citizens, assigned with false identities, to the United States, Spain, France, Greece, Italy, Britain, Ireland and Turkey, the statement said. Spain was the next-to-last stop for many before they went to the preferred locations of the United States and Britain, the statement said.

The arrests were made last June and the case, at Spain's National Court, has been under seal until now, a national police spokesman told CNN on Saturday.

All of the suspects are Chinese, or from elsewhere in Asia. All have had initial court appearances and have been ordered to remain in prison while the investigation continues or have been released by the judge, with conditions, said the spokesman, who by custom is not identified.

The suspects include those who allegedly formed part of the smuggling ring and also those who paid for the forged documents, the spokesman said.

Police seized 81 forged passports, ostensibly from Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan -- but all made in China, they said. Investigators also found three laptop computers, printers and 22 rubber stamps used to forge documents at homes they said the gang used in Barcelona, police said.

Oprah gets Swiss apologies after 'racist' encounter

Oprah Winfrey.

After Oprah Winfrey said this week that she was recently denied service at a Swiss store over her race, a press officer for the country's tourism office has apologized for the way she was treated.
"We are very sorry for what happened to her," Daniella Baer, a spokeswoman for the Swiss tourism office, told The Associated Press on Friday.
Winfrey, who was just named as one of the 2013 recipients of the President's Medal of Freedom, revealed in an interview on Monday that while in Switzerland last month for Tina Turner's wedding celebration, a shop assistant at a handbag store told her the bags were "too expensive" for her.
As Winfrey told Entertainment Tonight, "I was in Zurich the other day, at a store whose name I will not mention. I didn't have my eyelashes on, but I was in full Oprah Winfrey gear. I had my little Donna Karan skirt and my little sandals on. But obviously 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' is not shown in Zurich.”

culled from www.today.com

UNBELIEVABLE . .DHQ: Over 1,000 Boko Haram Members Captured in Three Months

The Defence Headquarters has disclosed that about 1,000 members of the outlawed Boko Haram sect have been captured, since the declaration of emergency rule by President Goodluck Jonathan in the three north-eastern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, three months ago.

This was revealed by the Director of Defence Information (DDI), Brig-Gen. Chris Olukolade, Thursday when some journalists demanded an assessment of the Joint Task Force (JTF) towards achieving the mandate of emergency rule, having reached the mid-way mark of three out of the six months approved by the National Assembly.

Olukolade, who refused to give specific figures for operational, tactical and strategic reasons, noted that military operations have been very successful in dislodging the Boko Haram terrorists from their former strongholds, especially in Borno and Yobe States.

He said a lot of them have been captured, "over a thousand" and currently held in various locations for further intelligence gathering and questioning.

He, however, noted that there were more who died during exchange of gun fire with the Special Forces of the JTF, where some were also carted away and buried by Boko Haram, while some others, who were captured with gunshot wounds died afterwards, despite the best medical attention.

The DDI further emphasised that the troops deployed to the affected areas of operations conducted themselves professionally and within the dictates of the Rules of Engagement (ROE).

He said: "As a matter of being accountable to Nigerians, we believe that the activities of the three months state of emergency be made known to the members of the public. 

Before the declaration of the state of emergency, substantial part of this country was taken over by the insurgents, with strange flags hoisted in several parts of these states but today, we can say that there is no way that the insurgents have that freedom of action anymore. It (military operations in the affected states) has been a success.

"We can also assure you that our troops have performed professionally excellent, and more attention have been paid to the border control issues.

"We have also enjoyed mobilisation of civil population to volunteers information and intelligence.  Also social, commercial and economic activities have been normalised.

"For now, giving the actual figures of the dead soldiers is not possible for operational and strategic reasons. The casualties figures will be given at the appropriate time, except in a situation where it can positively affect the military. The same with the actual figure of the terrorist but I can tell you that thousands of them have been killed," he confirmed.

"Conservatively,  I can say that over a thousand have been captured and are in detention in various designated secured facilities. Another thing we also discovered is that the Boko Haram terrorist always ensure they carry their dead along if possible," he noted.

Speaking further, Olukolade emphasised the growing importance of the citizens input in the internal security operations, especially in providing useful intelligence and information leading to the capture of Boko Haram members and destruction of their bases.

He also commended the crucial role being played by the Borno Youths Vigilante Group popularly known as the 'Civilian JTF' at using their local knowledge to counter enemies’ hideouts and exposing where weapons could be hidden.

Lion Air Boeing plane hits cow on Indonesian runway

 
 A Lion Air Boeing 737-900 collided with a cow when landing on the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia.

The plane, on a domestic route that started in Jakarta, landed at Jalaluddin Airport in Gorontalo on Tuesday evening and hit one of three cows wandering on the runway.

The aircraft skidded off the runway and the cow was killed, though none of the 110 passengers on board were injured.

Several flights were canceled and the airport was temporarily closed on Tuesday due to the accident. Operations were resumed on Wednesday.

Gorontalo governor Rusli Habibie told the Jakarta Post the airport suffered from inadequate fencing.

"Lion Air management has just told me that animals, particularly dogs, are often seen on the runway," said Habibie. "This problem should be immediately resolved."

Government administrators are due to meet with the National Transportation Safety Committee and Jalaluddin Airport officials to discuss ways to prevent similar events in future.

In April this year another Lion Air flight carrying 108 people to Bali crashed into the sea after missing the runway.

All 101 passengers and seven crew were evacuated with only a few injuries reported.

Culled from www.cnn.com

A GOOD DAY TO DIE

On Friday the U.S. State Department issued a worldwide travel alert because of an unspecified al Qaeda threat. The location of that threat, the department said in a bulletin, is "particularly in the Middle East and North Africa, and possibly occurring in or emanating from the Arabian Peninsula." As a result, an unprecedented 22 embassies and consulates in 17 countries in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia closed for a day on Sunday.

Sunday is also the 27th day of Ramadan and a particularly holy day for the world's Muslims as it is the "Night of Power," when the first verses of the Koran were revealed to the Prophet Mohammed.

It is also seen by al Qaeda's would-be martyrs as a particularly auspicious day to die.

On the Night of Power in 2000, which that year fell on January 3, al Qaeda militants attempted to launch a suicide attack against the American warship USS The Sullivans off the coast of Yemen with a bomb-filled boat.

That attack failed, but the same group of militants then attacked the USS Cole 10 months later, again using the tactic of a bomb-laden boat, which exploded, killing 17 American sailors.
It was the day after the Night of Power in December 2001 that Osama bin Laden signed his will as he feared death from American bombs falling during the battle of Tora Bora in eastern Afghanistan.

Al Qaeda and aligned organizations have a long history of attacking U.S. embassies and consulates, beginning in 1998 with the bombings of the embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, which killed more than 200, and including, most recently, the storming of the U.S. government facility in Benghazi, Libya, on the 11th anniversary of 9/11 last year.

For al Qaeda, these diplomatic compounds are attractive targets because they symbolize American power and because their locations are widely known. Indeed, several of the embassies and consulates closed on Sunday have been attacked by al Qaeda and affiliated groups before.
Chaffetz: Security measures go too far
Embassy terror threat
Terror threat prompts embassy closures

In Saudi Arabia, al Qaeda terrorists stormed the U.S. Embassy compound in Riyadh on May 12, 2003, killing 36 people. A year-and-a-half later, militants breached the outer wall of the U.S. consulate in Jeddah and opened fire on the staff, killing five.
The U.S. embassy in Sana'a, Yemen, was targeted by an al Qaeda affiliate two times in 2008, attacks that killed 21.

On September 13, 2011, the Haqqani network, a Taliban group closely associated with al Qaeda, attacked the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, killing five Afghan police officers and 11 civilians.

Though U.S. officials have not confirmed the targeting of a specific embassy, it is likely that the American compound in Cairo is a particular point of concern. In May, three men were arrested by Egyptian officials, who said the men were planning to attack the embassy. Officials said they discovered 22 pounds of aluminum nitrate, instructions on how to make bombs, and materials published by al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the network's North African affiliate.

Another possible factor in the timing of the al Qaeda alert is that in the past two weeks, massive jailbreaks in Iraq and Libya have released more than a thousand prisoners, some with significant ties to al Qaeda. Very few of those inmates have been recaptured.

The U.S. embassies in Baghdad, Iraq, and Tripoli, Libya, are among the facilities that will be closed on Sunday.

culled from www.cnn.com

Kenyan lawyer on quixotic quest to nullify trial of Jesus

The conviction of Jesus by Pontius Pilate may be the most famous court verdict ever — and perhaps the most consequential, since it led to Christ’s crucifixion and the founding of a global religion.

Dola Indidis, a Roman Catholic, is petitioning the International Court of Justice, based at The Hague, to nullify Jesus’ conviction and death sentence

Now a Kenyan lawyer wants to overturn Pilate’s decision, though he wants to keep the faith that flowed from it.
“The selective and malicious prosecution (of Jesus) violated his human rights,” said Dola Indidis, a Roman Catholic who is petitioning the International Court of Justice, based at The Hague, to nullify Jesus’ conviction and death sentence.
Indidis, a former spokesman for the Kenyan judiciary, accuses Pilate, who was the Roman governor of Judea, of “judicial misconduct, abuse of office, bias and prejudice.”
That may well be the case, at least in the view of believers and many Bible scholars. But getting a court to rule on a 2,000-year-old case from an outlying province in a long-defunct empire will not be easy.
Indidis first brought his case before the Kenyan High Court in Nairobi in 2007, but the court refused to hear it, saying it lacked jurisdiction.
Now he is turning to the International Court of Justice, often referred to as the World Court, which is best known for ruling on territorial disputes between members of the United Nations.
Officials at The Hague would not confirm or deny that they have received a petition.
But Indidis seems undeterred and points to the example of Joan of Arc, the 15th-century saint who led the French to major victories against the English before she was captured and burned at the stake. A quarter-century after Joan’s death her conviction was overturned by a papal court, and in 1920 she was canonized.
Indidis’ petition has surprised Christian leaders in Kenya. The Rev. Maloba Wesonga, a spokesman for the Catholic Archdiocese of Nairobi, said the exercise was futile, at least from a theological point of view.
“As we know it, the trial had to happen,” said Wesonga. “We must understand that Jesus was not vulnerable and nobody can do justice to God.”
culled from  www.religiousnews.com

Judge sentences Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro to life, plus 1,000 years

When her chance came, kidnapping victim Michelle Knight lit into Ariel Castro, the man who held her captive and raped her in his Cleveland home for a decade.

"You took 11 years of my life away," she said. "I spent 11 years in hell. Now, your hell is just beginning."

In handing down a sentence of life without parole plus 1,000 years in prison, Judge Michael Russo told the kidnapper there was no place in the world for his brand of criminal.

"You don't deserve to be out in our community," Russo told the defendant. "You're too dangerous."

Castro pleaded guilty last week to 937 counts, including murder and kidnapping, in exchange for the death penalty being taken off the table. The charges stem from his kidnapping, rape and assault of three women: Knight, abducted in 2002; Georgina DeJesus, abducted in 2004; and Amanda Berry; abducted in 2003.

Castro is the father of Berry's 6-year-old girl, DNA tests have confirmed.

All three women kept diaries with Castro's permission, providing many of the details of their abuse.

  Berry and DeJesus, who did not attend the hearing, sent representatives to issue impact statements on their behalves, while Knight chose to address her abductor head-on.

"I cried every night. I was so alone. I worried what would happen to me and the other girls every day," she said, promising to overcome the experience. "I will live on. You will die a little every day."

She said her friendship with DeJesus was the only positive element of her years in captivity and expressed gratitude that her "teammate" was there to save her when she was "dying from his abuse."

In a pre-sentencing evaluation, Dr. Frank Ochberg, a pioneer in trauma science, wrote that Knight suffered "the longest and most severely."

"It was Michelle who served as doctor, nurse, midwife and pediatrician during the birth (of Berry's child). She breathed life into that infant when she wasn't breathing," he wrote. "At other times, she interceded when Castro sought to abuse Gina, interposing herself and absorbing physical and sexual trauma. But each survivor had a will to prevail and used that will to live through the ordeal."

Despite his repeated insistence that he wasn't making excuses for his conduct, Castro played the victim, saying he was addicted to porn and masturbation. In his oft-disjointed statement, he referred to himself as "very emotional" and "a happy person inside."

He appeared to blame the victims and accused them of lying about their treatment. He went on to say that none of the women was a virgin when he abducted them, that they wanted to have sex with him and there was "harmony" in the "happy household."

Castro even claimed that no one cared enough about Knight to search for her after she disappeared.

"I'm not a monster. I'm just sick. I have an addiction, just like an alcoholic has an addiction," he said. "God as my witness, I never beat these women like they're trying to say that I did. I never tortured them."

When Castro finished, Russo dubbed him a "violent sexual predator" and thanked Knight for showing "remarkable restraint" during the hearing.

Wearing eyeglasses and an orange prison uniform, the shackled Castro characterized his crimes in a far gentler light than did the book-length indictment handed down against him: "I'm not a violent person. I simply kept them there so they couldn't leave."

Testimony from authorities and mental health experts didn't jibe with Castro's recollection, however. Police recalled how the women were forced to play Russian roulette and how Castro would throw money at them after raping them.

Det. David Jacobs of the Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Office testified he'd also show a gun "to the girls as a form of control."

It was all to "purely satisfy his sexual needs," Jacobs said. " 'I knew what I did was wrong.' He said that more than once."

His 1,400-square-foot home was reconfigured to keep their whereabouts a secret, FBI agent Andrew Burke testified. The back door was outfitted with an alarm, bedspreads and curtains obscured parts of the home, a porch swing was placed in front of the stairs leading to the rooms where Castro held the women and girl hostage.

In the room where Berry and her daughter were held, the doorknob was removed, a lock was affixed to the outside and a hole was cut through the door for ventilation because the windows had been boarded up from the inside, Burke said.

Burke also described a handwritten letter in which Castro claimed he had been sexually abused as a child and wrote, "I am a sexual predator."

The first police officer on the scene, Barbara Johnson, recalled for the court how she and another officer heard the pitter-patter of footsteps in a dark room where Knight and DeJesus were held.

When the captive women realized they were police, Knight "literally launched herself" onto an officer, "legs, arms, just choking him. She just kept repeating, 'You saved us! You saved us!' " Johnson said.

Rape victims forced to fight for custody

T

 

The women were described as scared, pale, malnourished and dehydrated when they were rescued. Dr. Gerald Maloney, who was in the emergency room when the victims arrived, said Knight requested that no male physicians attend to her.

Several witnesses said the women told them stories of being physically abused and deprived of food. Det. Andrew Harasimchuk told the judge the women were raped "vaginally, orally and anally" during their captivity.

Multiple officers testified that Castro appeared to show no remorse for his crimes, and prosecutor Anna Faraglia said he "tormented" his victims by allowing them to watch vigils held in their honor and even attended some.

Castro would talk to his victims' parents as if he were distraught by their disappearances when "they were right underneath his roof," she said.

Outlining the emotional toll their captivity took on them, Ochberg said the women will be subjected to life sentences of their own. When they were abducted, the women were all of the age at which humans are learning to be intimate in life, he said.

"This was not real intimacy. This was a perversion of intimacy," Ochberg said, further describing the women's survival and coping skills as "marvelous, compelling examples of resilience, of imagination, of humanity."

Ochberg's evaluation -- using statements, medical records, videotaped interviews and transcripts -- painted a horrifying picture of physical and emotional abuse at the hands of Castro, including brutal beatings and repeated rapes that resulted in pregnancies that he would terminate by punching the women in the stomach.

"He appeared to be evolving in an ever more dangerous direction, capturing younger and younger women, telling his captives he was hunting for replacements," Ochberg wrote before sentencing.

Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Gregory Saathoff testified in court that the women's ordeal was a "complete and comprehensive captivity" and said when he first learned of Castro's crimes, he was compelled to write, "The scope and magnitude of Ariel Castro's crimes is unprecedented."

Asked if he felt Castro suffered from mental illness -- something the defendant repeatedly asserted during his statement -- Saathoff was firm in saying that an examination showed Castro suffered from "no psychiatric illness whatsoever."

In addition to Judge Russo's guarantee that he "will never be released from incarceration during the period of his remaining natural life for any reason," Castro was also hit with a forfeiture of property and fined $100,000.

As the judge sentenced him, Castro took issue with the aggravated murder charge related to the termination of his victims' pregnancies, saying there was no evidence those incidents occurred. Russo reminded him that he had already pleaded guilty, and Castro said he did so only to save his victims further trauma.

"In your mind, there was harmony and a happy household," Russo said. "I'm not sure there's anyone else in America who would agree with you."

As the hearing came to a close, Castro turned around in the court and glanced at family members of the victims.

"Thank you victims. Please find it in your heart to forgive me," he said.

In addition to Judge Russo's guarantee that he "will never be released from incarceration during the period of his remaining natural life for any reason," Castro was also hit with a forfeiture of property and fined $100,000.

As the judge sentenced him, Castro took issue with the aggravated murder charge related to the termination of his victims' pregnancies, saying there was no evidence those incidents occurred. Russo reminded him that he had already pleaded guilty, and Castro said he did so only to save his victims further trauma.

"In your mind, there was harmony and a happy household," Russo said. "I'm not sure there's anyone else in America who would agree with you."

As the hearing came to a close, Castro turned around in the court and glanced at family members of the victims.

"Thank you victims. Please find it in your heart to forgive me," he said.

In each case, according to court documents, Castro lured the women into his car with the promise of a ride. The women and girl were freed in May after Berry shouted for help while Castro was away. A neighbor heard her cries and let Berry use his phone to call police.

"Help me, I am Amanda Berry," she frantically told a 911 operator. "I've been kidnapped, and I've been missing for 10 years. And I'm here. I'm free now."

In early July, Berry, DeJesus and Knight released a YouTube video offering their thanks to all those who have helped them since they were freed. They have not faced their captor and tormentor since their rescue.

"I want to thank everyone who has helped me and my family through this entire ordeal. Everyone who has been there to support us has been a blessing," Berry said in the video. "I'm getting stronger each day."

culled from www.cnn.com

Lawmakers in Uruguay Vote to Legalize Marijuana

Uruguay’s lower house late Wednesday night approved a sweeping bill to legalize marijuana, opening the way for the authorities to create one of Latin America’s most ambitious nationwide endeavors in overhauling drug policy.

Following hours of debate, legislators in Uruguay’s capital, Montevideo, voted 50 to 46 in favor of the legislation, which now goes to the Senate, where lawmakers have assured President José Mujica that they have a comfortable majority to approve it. Mr. Mujica supports the bill, arguing that it is needed to redirect police resources toward fighting street crime and smugglers involved in trafficking other types of drugs.

“This is a very innovative bill, with the state deciding to regulate the entire chain of production, distribution and access to the substance,” said Laura Blanco, president of Uruguay’s Cannabis Studies Association. She said the bill sent an “encouraging” sign to other Latin American nations, as political leaders in parts of the region debate whether to follow Uruguay’s example.

Under Mr. Mujica, 78, an outspoken former guerrilla, Uruguay has emerged as a laboratory for socially liberal policies. A small nation of 3.3 million people, the country has also enacted a groundbreaking abortion rights law, moved to legalize same-sex marriage and is seeking to become a center for renewable energy ventures.

Bradley Manning found not guilty of aiding the enemy, guilty on other charges

A military judge on Tuesday found Pfc. Bradley Manning not guilty of “aiding the enemy” for his release of hundreds of thousands of military and diplomatic documents to WikiLeaks. But she convicted him of multiple counts of violating the Espionage Act, stealing government property and other charges that could result in a maximum sentence of 136 years. 

In delivering the mixed verdict, the judge, Col. Denise Lind, pulled back from the government’s effort to create a precedent that press freedom specialists had warned could have broad consequences for the future of investigative journalism about national security in the Internet era.

Colonel Lind marched through a quick litany of the charges and specifications against Private Manning, 25, who stood quietly in his dress uniform as she spoke. She said she would issue findings later that would explain her ruling.

The sentencing phase in the court-martial will begin on Wednesday with more than 20 witnesses each for the prosecution and the defense. It could last weeks; there is no minimum sentence in the military justice system. Subsequent appeals could take years, legal specialists said.