Egypt army erects barriers at Cairo presidential palace

The Egyptian army has set up barricades outside the presidential palace, after ordering protesters to leave the area.

It follows violent overnight clashes between supporters and opponents of President Mohammed Morsi that left five people dead and 644 injured.
Most protesters left the palace by the 15:00 (13:00 GMT) deadline, though some opposition activists remained.
Meanwhile, Egypt's top Islamic body has called on the president to suspend his decree claiming sweeping powers.
The Al-Azhar institution also demanded an unconditional dialogue between the president and his opponents.
Mr Morsi is expected to address the nation on Thursday evening, although his statement appears to have been delayed.
Mr Morsi, who narrowly won Egypt's first free presidential election in June, says he will give up his new powers once a new constitution is ratified.

Philippine Typhoon Bopha death toll passes 300

Three-year-old boy was among those rescued from the mud

More than 300 people have died and hundreds more are missing in the wake of Typhoon Bopha, which cut a swathe of devastation across the southern Philippines.

The Civil Defence Office said at least 325 people were confirmed dead and another 379 missing.
People were killed in eight provinces but eastern Mindanao was worst-hit.
In Compostela Valley province alone at least 184 people died, many when flash floods hit emergency shelters.
"We have 325 dead and this is expected to rise because many more are missing," civil defence chief Benito Ramos told a news conference early on Thursday.
"Communications are bogged down, there is no electricity, roads and bridges have been destroyed," he said. "We're still on a search-and-rescue mode."

Philippine death toll from Typhoon Bopha rises

The death toll from a powerful storm that hit the southern Philippines is continuing to rise, as rescue teams headed for affected areas.

More than 100 people are now thought to have died after Typhoon Bopha struck Mindanao island on Tuesday, bringing rain and high winds.
Tens of thousands were evacuated ahead of the storm, which is now passing over the western island of Palawan.
In Andap village in east Mindanao, at least 43 were killed in flash floods.
Water and mud rushed down mountainous slopes to engulf a school and a village hall serving as evacuation centres.
A road into the town was blocked by debris, reports said, but the military said it was hoping to get helicopters into the area to assess the situation.
Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman said body bags and other emergency supplies would be rushed to affected areas.

Iran says captures US drone in its airspace

Iran captured a US intelligence-gathering drone that entered its airspace over the Gulf, its armed forces said on Tuesday, the latest in a recent succession of alleged US violations of Iranian territory.

The incident highlighted tensions in the Gulf as both the Islamic Republic and the United States seek to demonstrate their military capability over the waterway amid a standoff over Iran's nuclear program.

Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz - the artery for 40 percent of the world's seaborne crude oil shipments - if it comes under military attack. US commanders have said they will not let that happen.

The compact ScanEagle drone was gathering information over the Gulf and had entered Iranian airspace when it was captured by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) naval unit, a statement on the Guards' website said.

The drone was "captured" in the last few days, it said, without specifying where the incident occurred and whether the unmanned spy plane was shot down or crashed.

The IRGC released what it said was video of the ScanEagle being displayed and examined by military officials beneath a sign reading "We will trample the United States."

Clashes outside Egypt presidential palace in Cairo

Police have fired tear gas in clashes with tens of thousands of protesters gathered near the presidential palace in the Egyptian capital Cairo.

Some of the protesters reportedly cut through barbed wire around the palace.
Crowds gathered to protest against what they say is the rushed drafting of a new constitution, due to be voted on on 15 December.
President Mohammed Morsi was in the palace but left as the crowds outside began to grow, sources there said.
Protesters are also reported to have gathered in large numbers in Egypt's second city Alexandria.
New powers Many of those gathered outside the presidential palace chanted slogans similar to those directed against the regime of former president Hosni Mubarak during protests in February 2011.
As well as their complaints about the new constitution, activists have also been angered by a decree issued by Mr Morsi last month in which he awarded himself sweeping powers.
Mr Morsi, elected in Egypt's first free presidential election in June, says he will give these up once a new constitution is ratified.
On Sunday, tens of thousands of Islamist supporters of Mr Morsi held demonstrations in support of his decisions and of the new constitution.

100 Rohingya Muslims Killed in Myanmar

At least 100 Rohingya Muslims have been killed in a recent wave of sectarian violence in Myanmar’s western state of Rakhine, a Muslim party leader says. Hla Thein, the vice chairman of the National Democratic Party for Development (NDPD), said on Friday that over 100 Muslims have lost their lives over the past week in clashes between extremist Buddhists and Rohingyas. The deadly violence peaked on Tuesday night, but people have been killed every day this week, said the leader of the Muslim political party that won four seats in Myanmar’s 2010 election. Meanwhile, Rakhine state spokesman Win Myaing said 112 people had been killed in six townships in clashes that began Sunday between members of the Buddhist Rakhine and the Muslim Rohingya communities. He said 72 people were reported injured, including 10 children. The government announced earlier that almost 2,000 homes had been burned down in the conflict. In June, ethnic violence in the state left at least 90 people dead and destroyed more than 3,000 homes. About 75,000 have been living in refugee camps ever since. A resident of another township, Ramree, said there also was violence there Friday morning. “There were some clashes between the two sides in Ramree this morning,” Kyaw Win, 30, said by phone. “Residents are very fearful of imminent attacks by the Muslim community because security presence is very little. We don't feel safe. We want the Bengalis to be moved away from the Rakhine community,” Kyaw Win said. Rakhine prefer to use the term Bengali for Rohingya, whom they contend are not a distinct ethnic group. Kyaw Win said that a few houses had been burned down but that no casualties were reported. The mob violence has seen entire villages torched and has drawn calls worldwide for government intervention. “As the international community is closely watching Myanmar's democratic transition, such unrest could tarnish the image of the country,” said a statement from the office of President Thein Sein published Friday in the state-run Myanma Ahlin newspaper. Thein Sein took office as an elected president last year, and has instituted economic and political liberalization after almost half a century of repressive military rule. “The army, police and authorities in cooperation with local people will try to restore peace and stability and will take legal action against any individual or organization that is trying to instigate the unrest,” the statement warned. The long-brewing conflict is rooted in a dispute over the Muslim residents' origin. Although many Rohingya have lived in Myanmar for generations, they are widely denigrated as intruders who came from neighboring Bangladesh to steal scarce land. The U.N. estimates their population in Myanmar at 800,000. But the government does not count them as one of the country's 135 ethnic groups, and so — like neighboring Bangladesh — denies them citizenship. Human rights groups say racism also plays a role: Many Rohingya, who speak a Bengali dialect and resemble Muslim Bangladeshis, have darker skin and are heavily discriminated against. A statement issued late Thursday by the office of U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon described the latest violence as “deeply troubling.” Ban called on Myanmar authorities “to take urgent and effective action to bring under control all cases of lawlessness.” “The vigilante attacks, targeted threats and extremist rhetoric must be stopped,” Ban said. “If this is not done, the fabric of social order could be irreparably damaged and the reform and opening up process being currently pursued by the government is likely to be jeopardized.” In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the U.S. was deeply concerned about the reports and urged restraint. In a hospital in Sittwe, the state capital not yet hit by the latest round of violence, an Associated Press photographer talked to four wounded people brought in from the affected areas. Aung Moe Khaing, 25, was wounded in an arm and a leg, saying he was shot Tuesday when soldiers dispersed the crowd. Phyu Thein Maung, 39, from Yathetaung township, said he was shot in the buttocks. “Muslims provoked us from inside their village and challenged us from their community, guarded by soldiers,” he said. “People were very angry as they shot iron spikes at us with catapults and made abusive gestures. I was hit by a gunshot when soldiers dispersed the crowd.” There have been concerns in the past that soldiers were failing to protect the Rohingya community, but accounts this time from Rakhine villagers suggest that Myanmar's military may have been defending the Rohingya. The crisis has proven a major challenge to Thein Sein's government and to opposition leader and Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been criticized by some outsiders as failing to speak out strongly against what they see as repression of the Rohingya. The U.N. warned Thursday that the crisis had sent a new wave of refugees to seek shelter in camps already overcrowded with 75,000 people from the June violence. Bangladesh has put its border guards on alert, fearing a new influx of Rohingya refugees. On Thursday, Bangladesh border guards turned away 45 Rohingya trying to enter into Bangladesh by boats, said Lt. Col. Khalequzzaman, a border commander. Local police chief Selim Mohammad Jahangir said Friday that at least another 3,000 Rohingya Muslims had been spotted on about 40 boats on the Naaf River off Bangladesh's Tekhnaf coast. He said the boats may try to enter Bangladesh, but “we have instructions not to let them come here.” Bangladesh says it's too poor to accept more refugees and feed them. Bangladesh is hosting about 30,000 Rohingya who fled Myanmar to escape government atrocities in 1991.

Husband cooked his wife's body



David Vien with his wife

 David Viens was an abusive, conniving husband who murdered his wife, cooked her body to dispose of it and then tried to cover his tracks with a string of lies and fake text messages.
In the defense's telling, Viens did kill his wife -- but by accident. After duct-taping her mouth, binding her hands and feet and falling asleep, he awoke to find her dead. Convinced no one would believe his wife's lifeless body was the result of a mishap, Viens tossed it in a dupmster  at his Lomita restaurant.
Jurors heard the two versions of the October 2009 slaying Monday during closing arguments in Viens' murder trial; the attorneys are scheduled to wrap up their cases Tuesday. Viens, 49, is accused of killing his wife, Dawn, whose body has never been found. In February 2011, after he discovered investigators suspected he'd killed her, Defense attorney Fred McCurry never challenged the premise that Dawn Viens was dead, nor did he suggest that she was slain by someone other than her husband. But he said the prosecution's evidence didn't support a first-degree murder conviction, which requires proof of premeditation.
"Dawn Viens died as an unintentional result of David Viens' actions," McCurry said. "That's not murder."
McCurry also challenged the veracity of the prosecution's most haunting piece of evidence: an interview with sheriff's investigators in which Viens said he boiled his wife's body over four days and dispatched much of what remained in his restaurant's grease trap.
At the time, McCurry reminded jurors, Viens was hospitalized from his cliff jump, suffering from "excruciating" pain and taking a cocktail of drugs that a defense expert suggested could impair his alertness and memory. During the interview, Viens spoke of being "confused" by his dreams and, while he told investigators that he'd stashed his wife's skull in his mother's attic, authorities never found it.

Love affair between Bilawal, Hina Rabbani Khar emerges. He is 24 and she is 35 with three children!

Social media is abuzz with a shocking revelation of love affair between Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar and Pakistan People’s Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

One of the Western intelligence agencies have reports regarding romantic relations between youngest foreign minister of Pakistan, Hina Rabbani Khar and Bilawal Bhutto, the son of President Asif Ali Zardari and slain Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

It said the intelligence report even indicated a ‘cold feud’ between the father and the son, following Bilawal’s decision of marrying Hina Rabbani Khar, as she is poised to end her marital relations with millionaire businessman Firoze Gulzar, from whom she has two daughters named Annaya and Dina.

The weekly tabloid quoting sources said  that President Asif Ali Zardari is vehemently opposing his son’s willingness of knotting marital relations with a woman with two children, saying it would not only jeopardize Bilawal’s political career but would also invite political doom for the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

It added being aggrieved by his son’s ego and determination in making a family with Hina Rabbani Khar, Asif Ali Zardari played key-role behind using country’s intelligence agencies in spreading the scandal about the evasion of electricity bills worth 70 million Rupees by Galaxy Textile Mills, a company owned by Khar’s husband Firoze Gulzar and father-in-law.

Media reports also alleged that she and her husband are also among many other beneficiaries of NRO – an ordinance drafted to save corruption money and provide immunity to corrupt.

It claimed that, at this stage, sensing his father’s aggressive attitude towards Hina Rabbani Khar, Bilawal expressed anger and even threatened of resigning from the post of  Presidency of Pakistan People’s Party.

The tabloid said  Bilawal told Asif Ali Zardari that he would settle in Switzerland with Hina Rabbani Khar and her daughters, though later he even told his father that, Hina might leave her daughters with her husband after the divorce.

It said that  Bhutto’s mother Benazir Bhutto left a hidden wealth worth billions of  dollars in Switzerland and Bilawal is the legal nominee of all those properties.

The tabloid claimed that the secret affair between Bilawal Bhutto and Hina Rabbani Khar came to the knowledge of Asif Ali Zardari, when the duo was caught in compromised situation inside the official residence of the President, where his son Bilawal Bhutto also resides. Later, President Zardari collected mobile call records between Bilawal and Hina and found evidences of relations between the two.

The relations became much exposed to Asif Ali Zardari, when Hina Rabbani Khar sent Bilawal a greeting card on his birthday on September 21, 2011 with hand-written message stating – “The foundation of our relations is eternal and soon we shall be just ourselves.”

Mass detention, torture of Syrian children among atrocities documented by UK charity

A boy witnesses his family members blown apart when a rocket falls on a funeral procession. A teenager is imprisoned and tortured in his own school, transformed by the regime into a mass detention center for children. The six-year-old son of an anti-government activist is abducted, then starved and beaten to death.
A new report by the British charity Save the Children documents these and other alleged atrocities in Syria’s 18-month-old civil war that according to activists have left thousands of children dead and many more traumatized. The report released Tuesday compiles 18 first-hand accounts from Syrian refugee children
Although it did not always specify which side had committed the alleged acts, most — random bombardment of civilian areas, mass abductions by mysterious gunmen — have been linked in the past with the regime’s forces or its allied shabiha militias.
“Every crime against children must be recorded to send a clear message to all sides in the conflict that these atrocities will not be tolerated,” the group said.
Among the accounts in “Untold Atrocities: The Stories of Syria’s Children”: Hassan, a 14-year-old boy now living in a refugee tent camp in Jordan, described what happened when a rocket landed in a funeral procession in his home village.
“Dead bodies along with injured people were scattered on the ground,” he said. “I found body parts all over each other. Dogs were eating the dead bodies for two days after the massacre.”

Sivaski : India's most dangerous town

Sivakasi town in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu is known as the country's fireworks capital. But frequent accidents have blotted the town's image.

The 5^th September blaze at firework factory that claimed 38 lives was the worst in recent memory.
In some of the biggest factory fires, about 40 people died in 2009, 30 in 2001 and more than 60 in 1991. The list of casualties in smaller mishaps is much longer.
But more than 700,000 workers of Sivakasi have no other option but to depend on one of the most hazardous industries for their livelihood.
About 20-25 workers die each year in fire accidents in this industry which boasts of an estimated annual turnover of more than $365m (£225m).
India is the second biggest producer of fireworks after China and, manufacturers say, almost all of it is for domestic consumption.
Sivakasi - also known for its matchbox and printing industries - contributes more than 90% to India's overall fireworks production.

Painful scars

But those who work in the industry carry painful scars - a broken leg or skull, or a hand burnt by explosives, and many here complain of chronic respiratory problems.
"In the last 12 months, before this accident, 22 workers lost their lives and 50 were injured," says Dr M Kathiresan, chief medical officer at the local government hospital.
The hospital has a shortage of staff and equipment and has no supply of morphine, the standard pain relief drug for burn victims.
After a brief shutdown following the 5 September accident, the factories have reopened and the workers are back.
"We are scared, but what else do we do," said Pummeraj, who is recuperating at home with extensive burns on his body.
The industry is criticised for observing poor safety standards and paying as low as $3 (£1.85) a day to workers.
The industry rejects the charges, saying it contributes by running schools for the workers' children and providing employment.

Deadly film protests: 19 die in Karachi and Peshawar in Pakistan

At least 19 people have died as violent protests erupted on the streets of Pakistan's main cities in anger at an anti-Islam film made in the US.

Fourteen people were killed in the port city of Karachi and a further five died in the north-western city of Peshawar, hospital officials said.
Protesters also breached the diplomatic enclave in the capital, Islamabad, near the US embassy.
There has been widespread unrest over the amateur film, Innocence of Muslims.
Dozens of people have been reported wounded and some were in a critical condition.
Protests have already left several people dead around the world, including Pakistan, where the government had appealed in advance for peaceful protests, declaring a holiday and "day of love" for the Prophet Muhammad.
Although US targets have borne the brunt of protests against the film, anti-Western sentiment has been stoked further by caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad published this week in the satirical French magazine, Charlie Hebdo.
France shut embassies and other missions in around 20 countries across the Muslim world on Friday.
Protests were banned in France itself and in Tunisia, where France is the former colonial power, but there were widespread demonstrations elsewhere.