Beside trading a kidney for a quick cash, some even take a step further by swapping their kidney with an iPad. In China, a teenager has reportedly sold one of his kidneys for 20,000 yuan ($3170) so he could buy an iPad 2.
The high school student from Anhui Province, Xiao Zhang, confessed to his mother that he was motivated to sell the kidney after seeing an internet ad offering cash to people who were prepared to become organ donors, the Global Times reported.
His mother had discovered the iPad 2 and forced him to reveal how he was able to afford it.
"I wanted to buy an iPad 2, but I didn't have the money," the boy told Shenzhen TV. He also bought an iPhone and a laptop with the proceeds from the sale, his mother said.
Chenzhou 198 Hospital in Hunan Province, where the boy reportedly had his surgery, does not have qualifications for kidney transplantation.
It has denied any connection with the organ removal but has admitted contracting out its urology department to a private businessman.
The buying and selling of organs is a growing issue in China and the government has so far failed to stamp out the practice.
There have been many reports of "transplant tourists" who come from rich countries to buy much-needed organs from poor, desperate people.
The blackmarket trade is driven by the fact that there are many times more people waiting for organs than there are legitimate donors.
Zheng's mother told Shenzhen TV that she took her son to report the matter to police but the agents who had organised the organ trade were uncontactable.
Police are reportedly trying to track down the buyers.
Related posts:
* Making money from black-market organ
* Spare parts for the rich
Showing posts with label World News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label World News. Show all posts
Saif al-Adel - the new Al-Qaeda chief
Al-Qaeda has chosen a former Egyptian special forces officer as interim leader after the killing of Osama bin Laden, CNN has reported. Saif al-Adel, a top al-Qaeda strategist and military leader, has been tapped as 'caretaker' chief of the group, CNN said, citing the former Libyan militant Noman Benotman, who has renounced al-Qaeda's ideology.
Pakistan's The News corroborated the report, citing unnamed sources in an article datelined Rawalpindi, a city near the capital, Islamabad, that is home to the military headquarters of the Pakistani Armed Forces.
The decision to choose Adel, also known as Muhamad Ibrahim Makkawi, came as militants grew increasingly restive over the lack of a formal successor to bin Laden, who was killed in a dramatic US commando raid in Abbottabad in Pakistan on May 2, Mr Benotman told CNN.
Bin Laden's long-time deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri, another Egyptian, is considered to be his presumed successor.
Mr Benotman said the appointment of Adel on a temporary basis may be a way for the group to gauge reaction to having someone from outside the Muslim holy region of the Arabian peninsula at the helm.
Pakistan's The News corroborated the report, citing unnamed sources in an article datelined Rawalpindi, a city near the capital, Islamabad, that is home to the military headquarters of the Pakistani Armed Forces.
The decision to choose Adel, also known as Muhamad Ibrahim Makkawi, came as militants grew increasingly restive over the lack of a formal successor to bin Laden, who was killed in a dramatic US commando raid in Abbottabad in Pakistan on May 2, Mr Benotman told CNN.
Bin Laden's long-time deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri, another Egyptian, is considered to be his presumed successor.
Mr Benotman said the appointment of Adel on a temporary basis may be a way for the group to gauge reaction to having someone from outside the Muslim holy region of the Arabian peninsula at the helm.
1,100 women are raped every day in the Democratic Republic of Congo - study
More than 1,100 women are raped every day in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), making sexual violence against women 26 times more common than previously thought, a study concluded Tuesday.
More than 400,000 women and girls between the ages of 15 to 49 were raped in the vast, war-ravaged country in central Africa during a 12-month period in 2006 and 2007, according to the study published in the American Journal of Public Health.
That is 26 times more than the 15,000 women that the United Nations has reported were raped there during the same 12 months. "Our results confirm that previous estimates of rape and sexual violence are severe underestimates of the true prevalence of sexual violence occurring in the DRC," said Amber Peterman, lead author of the study.
"Even these new, much higher figures still represent a conservative estimate of the true prevalence of sexual violence because of chronic underreporting due to stigma, shame, perceived impunity, and exclusion of younger and older age groups as well as men," she said.
The study, which gathered data from 2007, did not capture sexual violence among girls younger than 15 years or women older than 49 years and did not include sexual violence among boys and men.
"Although the burden of sexual violence among these groups is uncertain, a review of the records of 4,133 women attending Panzi Hospital in Sud Kivu showed that six percent were younger than 16 years and 10 percent were older than 65 years," said the study.
"In addition, Human Rights Watch reported that sexual violence in 2009 doubled in comparison with 2008. If this assessment is accurate, then the current prevalence of sexual violence is likely to be even higher than our estimates suggest."
Commenting on the study, Michael VanRooyen, director of the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, said that "rape in the DRC has metastasized amid a climate of impunity, and has emerged as one of the great human crises of our time."
via AFP News
Related posts:
* Nation of rapist - South Africa
More than 400,000 women and girls between the ages of 15 to 49 were raped in the vast, war-ravaged country in central Africa during a 12-month period in 2006 and 2007, according to the study published in the American Journal of Public Health.
That is 26 times more than the 15,000 women that the United Nations has reported were raped there during the same 12 months. "Our results confirm that previous estimates of rape and sexual violence are severe underestimates of the true prevalence of sexual violence occurring in the DRC," said Amber Peterman, lead author of the study.
"Even these new, much higher figures still represent a conservative estimate of the true prevalence of sexual violence because of chronic underreporting due to stigma, shame, perceived impunity, and exclusion of younger and older age groups as well as men," she said.
The study, which gathered data from 2007, did not capture sexual violence among girls younger than 15 years or women older than 49 years and did not include sexual violence among boys and men.
"Although the burden of sexual violence among these groups is uncertain, a review of the records of 4,133 women attending Panzi Hospital in Sud Kivu showed that six percent were younger than 16 years and 10 percent were older than 65 years," said the study.
"In addition, Human Rights Watch reported that sexual violence in 2009 doubled in comparison with 2008. If this assessment is accurate, then the current prevalence of sexual violence is likely to be even higher than our estimates suggest."
Commenting on the study, Michael VanRooyen, director of the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, said that "rape in the DRC has metastasized amid a climate of impunity, and has emerged as one of the great human crises of our time."
via AFP News
Related posts:
* Nation of rapist - South Africa
Wreckage of Air France Flight AF 447 found
Nearly two years after an Air France plane Flight AF 447 mysteriously fell out of the sky, killing 228 people, the bulk of the wreckage has been found with bodies still aboard, French officials said Monday.
The human remains will be brought to the surface and identified, French Ecology and Transportation Minister Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet said at a news conference.
Submarines searching for the wreck spotted two engines, the fuselage and landing gear over the weekend, officials said.
But the flight data recorders have not been recovered, leaving investigators as puzzled as ever about why the plane crashed in stormy weather on June 1, 2009.
It is impossible to tell how many bodies remain in the wreck, he added. Fifty bodies were recovered in previous searches, leaving 178 victims still missing.
He would not comment on the condition of the bodies, calling it "inappropriate" to discuss.
The debris is dispersed over "quite a compact area" of about 600 meters by 200 meters (1,960 feet by about 650 feet), he said.
All the wreckage will be brought to the surface and sent to France for study, said Jean-Paul Troadec, head of the French air accident investigation agency, the Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses, or BEA.
Three companies bidding to raise the wreck have until Thursday afternoon to submit proposals, he said.
The operation should take three weeks to a month, and will be paid for by the French government at an estimated cost of 5 million euros ($7.1 million), he said.
Authorities are not revealing the exact location of the wreck to protect the site, officials said.
The head of Air France said the discovery was "good news indeed since it gives hope that information on the causes of the accident, so far unresolved, will be found."
Air France's Pierre-Henri Gourgeon added his thanks to the French authorities "who employed hitherto unheard of means to pursue searches."
Investigators announced Sunday that they had found pieces of the Airbus A330-200 that disappeared while flying to Paris from Rio de Janeiro.
After three unsuccessful searches, investigators discovered the wreckage by using "a different calculation based on currents of the sea and what might have happened," Troadec, the BEA chief, said Monday.
The BEA said Sunday that a team led by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution discovered parts during an underwater search operation conducted within the previous 24 hours.
Studies of the debris and bodies found after the crash led the BEA to conclude the plane hit the water belly first, essentially intact. Oxygen masks were not deployed, indicating that the cabin did not depressurize, the agency said in a 2009 report.
Automated messages sent from the plane in the minutes before the crash showed there were problems measuring air speed, investigators have said, though they said that alone was not enough to cause the disaster.
The area where the plane went down is far out in the Atlantic -- two to four days for ships to reach from the nearest ports in Brazil or Senegal in West Africa. The underwater terrain is rough, with underwater mountains and valleys, the BEA has said.
The human remains will be brought to the surface and identified, French Ecology and Transportation Minister Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet said at a news conference.
Submarines searching for the wreck spotted two engines, the fuselage and landing gear over the weekend, officials said.
But the flight data recorders have not been recovered, leaving investigators as puzzled as ever about why the plane crashed in stormy weather on June 1, 2009.
It is impossible to tell how many bodies remain in the wreck, he added. Fifty bodies were recovered in previous searches, leaving 178 victims still missing.
He would not comment on the condition of the bodies, calling it "inappropriate" to discuss.
The debris is dispersed over "quite a compact area" of about 600 meters by 200 meters (1,960 feet by about 650 feet), he said.
All the wreckage will be brought to the surface and sent to France for study, said Jean-Paul Troadec, head of the French air accident investigation agency, the Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses, or BEA.
Three companies bidding to raise the wreck have until Thursday afternoon to submit proposals, he said.
The operation should take three weeks to a month, and will be paid for by the French government at an estimated cost of 5 million euros ($7.1 million), he said.
Authorities are not revealing the exact location of the wreck to protect the site, officials said.
The head of Air France said the discovery was "good news indeed since it gives hope that information on the causes of the accident, so far unresolved, will be found."
Air France's Pierre-Henri Gourgeon added his thanks to the French authorities "who employed hitherto unheard of means to pursue searches."
Investigators announced Sunday that they had found pieces of the Airbus A330-200 that disappeared while flying to Paris from Rio de Janeiro.
After three unsuccessful searches, investigators discovered the wreckage by using "a different calculation based on currents of the sea and what might have happened," Troadec, the BEA chief, said Monday.
The BEA said Sunday that a team led by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution discovered parts during an underwater search operation conducted within the previous 24 hours.
Studies of the debris and bodies found after the crash led the BEA to conclude the plane hit the water belly first, essentially intact. Oxygen masks were not deployed, indicating that the cabin did not depressurize, the agency said in a 2009 report.
Automated messages sent from the plane in the minutes before the crash showed there were problems measuring air speed, investigators have said, though they said that alone was not enough to cause the disaster.
The area where the plane went down is far out in the Atlantic -- two to four days for ships to reach from the nearest ports in Brazil or Senegal in West Africa. The underwater terrain is rough, with underwater mountains and valleys, the BEA has said.
Christian government minister killed opposing Islam law in Pakistan
Taliban militants on Wednesday shot dead Pakistan's only Christian government minister for challenging a law that mandates the death penalty for insulting Islam, the latest sign of instability in a country where many fear radical Islam is becoming more mainstream.
Read previous posts:
* Pakistan court encourages Islamist extremism
* Asia Bibi sentenced to death for blasphemy will be pardon by Pakistan President
Minister for Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti is the second senior official this year to be assassinated for opposing the blasphemy law. Provincial governor Salman Taseer was shot dead by his own bodyguard in January.
These killings, along with frequent militant attacks and chronic economic problems have raised fears for the future of U.S.-ally and nuclear-armed Pakistan, where an unpopular coalition government is struggling to cope.
Bhatti was shot by men in shawls in broad daylight while he was travelling in a car near a market in the capital, Islamabad, police said. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the killing, saying the minister had been "punished" for being a blasphemer.
The windscreen of Bhatti's car had four or five bullet holes and blood covered the back seat. His driver, Gul Sher, said at least one gunman had taken part in the attack. A hospital spokesman said Bhatti, who had spoken out against the anti-blasphemy law, received several wounds.
"A white car stopped near us at a crossing," Gul, who was slightly injured, told reporters. "Four people were sitting in the car. One of them got out with a Kalashnikov... He came infront of the car and opened fire. I ducked. Minister died on the spot."
Witnesses said the attackers scattered leaflets signed by " The Qaeda and the Taliban of Punjab" at the attack scene, which read: "This is the punishment of this cursed man."
The blasphemy law has been in the spotlight since last November, when a court sentenced a Christian mother of four to death after her neighbours complained she had insulted Prophet Muhammad.
On Jan. 4, the governor of the most populous province of Punjab, Salman Taseer, who had strongly opposed the law and sought a presidential pardon for the 45-year-old Christian farmhand, was killed by one of his bodyguards who had been angered by the governor's stand.
Taseer's killer was lionised by many in Pakistan, raising fears that mainstream society's tolerance for secularists and moderates was being eroded by a more hardline version of Islam.
"This kind of attack was expected after the government's
response to governor Taseer's assassination," said Amir Rana, director at the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies. "Because of the government's very weak response ... it has encouraged the hardliners in society."
The government of President Asif Ali Zardari has repeatedly said it would not change the blasphemy law, and officials have distanced themselves from anyone calling for amendments.
Al Qaeda-linked Pakistani Taliban militants, fighting to bring down the state, had called for Bhatti's death because of his attempts to amend the law.
"He was a blasphemer like Salman Taseer," spokesman Sajjad Mohmand said by telephone from an undisclosed location.
Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani condemned the killing and ordered the Ministry of Interior to investigate.
"PROTECTION FROM HEAVEN"
Bhatti was travelling without security, having left two police escorts at home, Islamabad police chief Wajid Durrani said.
"There was no protection when he left the house," the police chief said. "There was just a private driver with him. We don't know about the minister's thinking, but we had provided him two escorts because he was under threat."
Last month, in an interview with the Christian Post, Bhatti said he had received threats.
"I received a call from the Taliban commander and he said, 'If you will bring any changes in the blasphemy law and speak on this issue, then you will be killed'," Bhatti told the newspaper.
"I don't believe that bodyguards can save me after the assassination (of Salman Taseer). I believe in the protection from heaven."
The January killing of Taseer was widely praised by hardline Islamist groups such as the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), the country's largest religious party.
But the party denounced Bhatti's murder.
"We condemn this killing. This is a conspiracy and it may bean attempt to divert attention from the case of Raymond Davis," senior JI leader Farid Paracha told Reuters.
Davis is an American CIA contractor on trial for killing two Pakistanis. The case has been taken up by religious parties which have called for Davis to be hanged.
Bhatti's killing is likely to further deter any attempt to change the blasphemy law that mandates death for anyone who speaks ill of Islam's Prophet Mohammad.
Sherry Rehman, a former government minister and member of the ruling Pakistan People's Party, of which Bhatti was also a member, tried to change the law last year but the party leadership forced her to stop in the face of opposition.
The Vatican condemned Bhatti's assassination as a "violence of terrible gravity" and called for more protection for religious minorities in the country. Bhatti, a Roman Catholic, met Pope Benedict in Rome last September.
The Anglican Church, the Archbishop of Canterbury,Rowan Williams, and the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, also warned of the impact on Pakistan's religious minorities.
"This further instance of sectarian bigotry and violence will increase anxiety worldwide about the security of Christians and other religious minorities in Pakistan," they said in a statement.
The law has its roots in 19th Century colonial legislation to protect places of worship, but it was during the military dictatorship of General Mohammad Zia ul-Haq in the 1980s that it acquired teeth as part of a drive to Islamise the state.
Liberal Pakistanis and rights groups believe the law to be dangerously discriminatory against tiny minority groups.
Under the law, anyone who speaks ill of Islam and the Prophet Mohammad commits a crime and faces the death penalty, but activists say the vague terminology has led to its misuse.
Christians who make up about two percent of the population have been especially concerned, saying the law offers them no protection. Convictions hinge on witness testimony and often these are linked to personal vendettas, critics say.
Convictions are common although the death sentence has never been carried out. Most convictions are thrown out on appeal, but mobs have killed many people accused of blasphemy.
Source: Reuters
Read previous posts:
* Pakistan court encourages Islamist extremism
* Asia Bibi sentenced to death for blasphemy will be pardon by Pakistan President
Minister for Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti is the second senior official this year to be assassinated for opposing the blasphemy law. Provincial governor Salman Taseer was shot dead by his own bodyguard in January.
These killings, along with frequent militant attacks and chronic economic problems have raised fears for the future of U.S.-ally and nuclear-armed Pakistan, where an unpopular coalition government is struggling to cope.
Bhatti was shot by men in shawls in broad daylight while he was travelling in a car near a market in the capital, Islamabad, police said. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the killing, saying the minister had been "punished" for being a blasphemer.
The windscreen of Bhatti's car had four or five bullet holes and blood covered the back seat. His driver, Gul Sher, said at least one gunman had taken part in the attack. A hospital spokesman said Bhatti, who had spoken out against the anti-blasphemy law, received several wounds.
"A white car stopped near us at a crossing," Gul, who was slightly injured, told reporters. "Four people were sitting in the car. One of them got out with a Kalashnikov... He came infront of the car and opened fire. I ducked. Minister died on the spot."
Witnesses said the attackers scattered leaflets signed by " The Qaeda and the Taliban of Punjab" at the attack scene, which read: "This is the punishment of this cursed man."
The blasphemy law has been in the spotlight since last November, when a court sentenced a Christian mother of four to death after her neighbours complained she had insulted Prophet Muhammad.
On Jan. 4, the governor of the most populous province of Punjab, Salman Taseer, who had strongly opposed the law and sought a presidential pardon for the 45-year-old Christian farmhand, was killed by one of his bodyguards who had been angered by the governor's stand.
Taseer's killer was lionised by many in Pakistan, raising fears that mainstream society's tolerance for secularists and moderates was being eroded by a more hardline version of Islam.
"This kind of attack was expected after the government's
response to governor Taseer's assassination," said Amir Rana, director at the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies. "Because of the government's very weak response ... it has encouraged the hardliners in society."
The government of President Asif Ali Zardari has repeatedly said it would not change the blasphemy law, and officials have distanced themselves from anyone calling for amendments.
Al Qaeda-linked Pakistani Taliban militants, fighting to bring down the state, had called for Bhatti's death because of his attempts to amend the law.
"He was a blasphemer like Salman Taseer," spokesman Sajjad Mohmand said by telephone from an undisclosed location.
Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani condemned the killing and ordered the Ministry of Interior to investigate.
"PROTECTION FROM HEAVEN"
Bhatti was travelling without security, having left two police escorts at home, Islamabad police chief Wajid Durrani said.
"There was no protection when he left the house," the police chief said. "There was just a private driver with him. We don't know about the minister's thinking, but we had provided him two escorts because he was under threat."
Last month, in an interview with the Christian Post, Bhatti said he had received threats.
"I received a call from the Taliban commander and he said, 'If you will bring any changes in the blasphemy law and speak on this issue, then you will be killed'," Bhatti told the newspaper.
"I don't believe that bodyguards can save me after the assassination (of Salman Taseer). I believe in the protection from heaven."
The January killing of Taseer was widely praised by hardline Islamist groups such as the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), the country's largest religious party.
But the party denounced Bhatti's murder.
"We condemn this killing. This is a conspiracy and it may bean attempt to divert attention from the case of Raymond Davis," senior JI leader Farid Paracha told Reuters.
Davis is an American CIA contractor on trial for killing two Pakistanis. The case has been taken up by religious parties which have called for Davis to be hanged.
Bhatti's killing is likely to further deter any attempt to change the blasphemy law that mandates death for anyone who speaks ill of Islam's Prophet Mohammad.
Sherry Rehman, a former government minister and member of the ruling Pakistan People's Party, of which Bhatti was also a member, tried to change the law last year but the party leadership forced her to stop in the face of opposition.
The Vatican condemned Bhatti's assassination as a "violence of terrible gravity" and called for more protection for religious minorities in the country. Bhatti, a Roman Catholic, met Pope Benedict in Rome last September.
The Anglican Church, the Archbishop of Canterbury,Rowan Williams, and the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, also warned of the impact on Pakistan's religious minorities.
"This further instance of sectarian bigotry and violence will increase anxiety worldwide about the security of Christians and other religious minorities in Pakistan," they said in a statement.
The law has its roots in 19th Century colonial legislation to protect places of worship, but it was during the military dictatorship of General Mohammad Zia ul-Haq in the 1980s that it acquired teeth as part of a drive to Islamise the state.
Liberal Pakistanis and rights groups believe the law to be dangerously discriminatory against tiny minority groups.
Under the law, anyone who speaks ill of Islam and the Prophet Mohammad commits a crime and faces the death penalty, but activists say the vague terminology has led to its misuse.
Christians who make up about two percent of the population have been especially concerned, saying the law offers them no protection. Convictions hinge on witness testimony and often these are linked to personal vendettas, critics say.
Convictions are common although the death sentence has never been carried out. Most convictions are thrown out on appeal, but mobs have killed many people accused of blasphemy.
Source: Reuters
Bangladeshi Raped Victim Whipped to Death
Teenaged Hena Akter's body was exhumed a few night ago for a fresh post-mortem in compliance with a Bangladesh High Court order, following a media report that attempts are being made to suppress the actual cause of her death.
The Shariatpur deputy commissioner ordered the exhumation which was supervised by an executive magistrate, after Supreme Court Registrar M Ashraful Islam informed the Shariatpur district administration about the court directive during the day.
The Daily Star published the news report on Monday raising doubts about the earlier inquest and autopsy that found no mark of injury on Hena's body.
Hena, 15, died in a hospital in Shariatpur on Jan 31, after being whipped publicly for about 50 times following a fatwa issued by some self-appointed arbitrators in her village, according to media reports and witnesses.
The girl was sentenced to 100 lashes for allegedly having an illicit relation with her married cousin Mahbub, even though her family and neighbours insisted that she had actually been raped by the man.
Deputy Attorney General ABM Altaf Hossain placed The Daily Star report before the bench of Justice Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik and Justice Sheikh Md Zakir Hossain yesterday.
Justice Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik, senior member of the bench, observed that according to the news report the already-done inquest and post-mortem reports appear false.
He termed the incident of fatwa against Hena tragic, saying such incident is unacceptable to any human being with conscience. The media reports published recently over the incident of fatwa against Hena cannot be false, he added.
The body of Hena should be exhumed for further post-mortem, the judge said. The bench said its order will help remove the curse of fatwa from the society.
Earlier in the day, the court received the copies of police inquest and the earlier post-mortem reports from Shariatpur.
The court ordered that a three-member team of doctors be formed to conduct the fresh post-mortem.
It ordered the Shariatpur civil surgeon to include in the team a gynaecologist, a forensic expert, and one of the two doctors of Suhrawardi Medical College and Hospital who were quoted as experts in The Daily Star report. It also asked the director of Suhrawardi Medical College and Hospital to send one of the experts to the hospital in Shariatpur.
The court asked the officials concerned to submit the new post-mortem report without any delay.
The bench also summoned the officer-in-charge of Naria Police Station; its Sub-inspector Aslam Uddin, who prepared the inquest report; doctors Nirmal Chandra Das, Rajesh Majumder, and Hosne Ara Begum, who prepared the first post-mortem report; Sultan Ahmed and a senior nurse of the hospital who attended Hena; and arbitrator Idris Sheikh, a local union parishad councillor who allegedly whipped Hena, to appear before the court at 10:30am on February 10.
The doctors and police have to appear with relevant files about the incident, the order said.
Source: TheDailyStar - Girl Whipped to Death
Recommended reading:
* Bangladeshi rape victim get 101 lashes
The Shariatpur deputy commissioner ordered the exhumation which was supervised by an executive magistrate, after Supreme Court Registrar M Ashraful Islam informed the Shariatpur district administration about the court directive during the day.
The Daily Star published the news report on Monday raising doubts about the earlier inquest and autopsy that found no mark of injury on Hena's body.
Hena, 15, died in a hospital in Shariatpur on Jan 31, after being whipped publicly for about 50 times following a fatwa issued by some self-appointed arbitrators in her village, according to media reports and witnesses.
The girl was sentenced to 100 lashes for allegedly having an illicit relation with her married cousin Mahbub, even though her family and neighbours insisted that she had actually been raped by the man.
Deputy Attorney General ABM Altaf Hossain placed The Daily Star report before the bench of Justice Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik and Justice Sheikh Md Zakir Hossain yesterday.
Justice Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik, senior member of the bench, observed that according to the news report the already-done inquest and post-mortem reports appear false.
He termed the incident of fatwa against Hena tragic, saying such incident is unacceptable to any human being with conscience. The media reports published recently over the incident of fatwa against Hena cannot be false, he added.
The body of Hena should be exhumed for further post-mortem, the judge said. The bench said its order will help remove the curse of fatwa from the society.
Earlier in the day, the court received the copies of police inquest and the earlier post-mortem reports from Shariatpur.
The court ordered that a three-member team of doctors be formed to conduct the fresh post-mortem.
It ordered the Shariatpur civil surgeon to include in the team a gynaecologist, a forensic expert, and one of the two doctors of Suhrawardi Medical College and Hospital who were quoted as experts in The Daily Star report. It also asked the director of Suhrawardi Medical College and Hospital to send one of the experts to the hospital in Shariatpur.
The court asked the officials concerned to submit the new post-mortem report without any delay.
The bench also summoned the officer-in-charge of Naria Police Station; its Sub-inspector Aslam Uddin, who prepared the inquest report; doctors Nirmal Chandra Das, Rajesh Majumder, and Hosne Ara Begum, who prepared the first post-mortem report; Sultan Ahmed and a senior nurse of the hospital who attended Hena; and arbitrator Idris Sheikh, a local union parishad councillor who allegedly whipped Hena, to appear before the court at 10:30am on February 10.
The doctors and police have to appear with relevant files about the incident, the order said.
Source: TheDailyStar - Girl Whipped to Death
Recommended reading:
* Bangladeshi rape victim get 101 lashes
OpenLeaks to rival WikiLeaks
A number of WikiLeaks defectors, including founder Julian Assange's former right-hand man, plan to launch a rival site on Monday after accusing Mr Assange of behaving like "some kind of emperor or slave trader".With WikiLeaks itself vowing to press on with its leaking regardless of the fate of Mr Assange, it seems that any attempts by US politicians to stop the leaks will be futile.
The new site, Openleaks, will launch on Monday, respected Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter reported. Like WikiLeaks, it will allow whistleblowers to leak information to the public anonymously. However, Openleaks won't host the documents itself, instead acting as an intermediary between whistleblowers and other groups including media organisations.
Several WikiLeaks members abandoned the site following perceived autocratic behaviour by Mr Assange. They said he failed to consult them on many decisions and put himself front and centre of everything WikiLeaks did.
Some members were also concerned that the Swedish rape allegations against Mr Assange were damaging the organisation's reputation. Dagens Nyheter reported that insiders were sabotaging the site earlier this year in order to convince Mr Assange to step down.
OpenLeaks, one member said, would be "democratically governed by all its members, rather than limited to one group or individual".
via SMH
Dagestan Airlines crashed landed at Domodedovo airport
At least two people have been killed and many others injured when a passenger plane rolled off the runway after making an emergency landing at a Moscow airport, Russian officials say.
All of the plane's engines had failed by the time it landed at Domodedovo airport in Moscow, an official said.
The aircraft, a Russian-built TU-154 of Dagestan Airlines, was carrying about 150 passengers.
It made the emergency landing after taking off on a flight to Dagestan.
"As a result of the TU-154 making an emergency landing at Domodedovo airport, two people died and several dozens were injured," Tatyana Morozova, a spokeswoman for Moscow transport investigators, said.
Civil aviation official Sergey Izvolskiy told broadcaster NTV that the plane had taken off from Vnukovo airport in Moscow, and was heading to Makhachkala in Russia's southern Dagestan region.
Shortly after take-off, the crew reported engine problems and was forced carry out an emergency landing at Domodedovo, Mr Izvolskiy said.
"Following the landing, the plane slid off the runway and broke up", he said.
The BBC's Steve Rosenberg says the plane broke in two during the landing
By the time the aircraft landed all three engines had broken down, Russian media reported.
The cause of the engine failure is under investigation.
Russia's national carrier airline Aeroflot took all its remaining 23 TU-154 aircraft out of service in January, after a series of crashes led to safety fears.
The Tupolev midrange jets are banned from landing in Europe because of excessive engine noise.
But the aircraft are still used by smaller airlines across Russia and the former Soviet Union.
Polish President Lech Kaczynski was killed earlier this year when a Polish Airforce TU-154 crashed in western Russia.
Via BBC
All of the plane's engines had failed by the time it landed at Domodedovo airport in Moscow, an official said.
The aircraft, a Russian-built TU-154 of Dagestan Airlines, was carrying about 150 passengers.
It made the emergency landing after taking off on a flight to Dagestan.
"As a result of the TU-154 making an emergency landing at Domodedovo airport, two people died and several dozens were injured," Tatyana Morozova, a spokeswoman for Moscow transport investigators, said.
Civil aviation official Sergey Izvolskiy told broadcaster NTV that the plane had taken off from Vnukovo airport in Moscow, and was heading to Makhachkala in Russia's southern Dagestan region.
Shortly after take-off, the crew reported engine problems and was forced carry out an emergency landing at Domodedovo, Mr Izvolskiy said.
"Following the landing, the plane slid off the runway and broke up", he said.
The BBC's Steve Rosenberg says the plane broke in two during the landing
By the time the aircraft landed all three engines had broken down, Russian media reported.
The cause of the engine failure is under investigation.
Russia's national carrier airline Aeroflot took all its remaining 23 TU-154 aircraft out of service in January, after a series of crashes led to safety fears.
The Tupolev midrange jets are banned from landing in Europe because of excessive engine noise.
But the aircraft are still used by smaller airlines across Russia and the former Soviet Union.
Polish President Lech Kaczynski was killed earlier this year when a Polish Airforce TU-154 crashed in western Russia.
Via BBC
Asia Bibi sentenced to death for blasphemy will be pardon by Pakistan President
Good news for the Christian minorities in Pakistan. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari will pardon a Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy, the governor of Punjab state told CNN Tuesday.
"What basically he's made it clear is that she's not going to be a victim of this law," Gov. Salman Taseer told CNN International's "Connect the World" program.
"I mean, he's a liberal, modern-minded president and he's not going to see a poor woman like this targeted and executed. ... It's just not going to happen," Taseer said.
Asia Bibi, who has been jailed for nearly 15 months, was convicted in a Pakistani court earlier this month of breaking the country's controversial blasphemy law by insulting Islam's Prophet Mohammed, a crime punishable with death or life imprisonment, according to Pakistan's penal code. She was sentenced to death.
She has filed a petition for mercy with the Pakistan High Court, Taseer said.
"If the High Court suspends the sentence and gives her bail then that is fine. We'll see that, and if that doesn't happen, then the president will pardon her," he said.
A preliminary investigation showed Bibi was falsely accused, a government official said Monday.
"The president asked me to investigate her case and my preliminary findings show she is innocent and the charges against her are baseless," Pakistani Minister for Minority Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti told CNN.
Bhatti emphasized Monday that he has reached only preliminary conclusions and will submit a final report Wednesday to Zardari's office.
Prosecutors say Bibi, a 45-year-old field worker, insulted the Prophet Mohammed after she got into a heated argument with Muslim co-workers who refused to drink from a bucket of water she had touched.
In a brief news conference at the prison where she's being held, Bibi said Saturday that the allegations against her are lies fabricated by a group of women who don't like her.
"We had some differences and this was their way of taking revenge," she said.
Bibi's death sentence sparked outrage among human rights groups, who condemned Pakistan's blasphemy law as a source of violence and persecution against religious minorities.
Via CNN
"What basically he's made it clear is that she's not going to be a victim of this law," Gov. Salman Taseer told CNN International's "Connect the World" program.
"I mean, he's a liberal, modern-minded president and he's not going to see a poor woman like this targeted and executed. ... It's just not going to happen," Taseer said.
Asia Bibi, who has been jailed for nearly 15 months, was convicted in a Pakistani court earlier this month of breaking the country's controversial blasphemy law by insulting Islam's Prophet Mohammed, a crime punishable with death or life imprisonment, according to Pakistan's penal code. She was sentenced to death.
She has filed a petition for mercy with the Pakistan High Court, Taseer said.
"If the High Court suspends the sentence and gives her bail then that is fine. We'll see that, and if that doesn't happen, then the president will pardon her," he said.
A preliminary investigation showed Bibi was falsely accused, a government official said Monday.
"The president asked me to investigate her case and my preliminary findings show she is innocent and the charges against her are baseless," Pakistani Minister for Minority Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti told CNN.
Bhatti emphasized Monday that he has reached only preliminary conclusions and will submit a final report Wednesday to Zardari's office.
Prosecutors say Bibi, a 45-year-old field worker, insulted the Prophet Mohammed after she got into a heated argument with Muslim co-workers who refused to drink from a bucket of water she had touched.
In a brief news conference at the prison where she's being held, Bibi said Saturday that the allegations against her are lies fabricated by a group of women who don't like her.
"We had some differences and this was their way of taking revenge," she said.
Bibi's death sentence sparked outrage among human rights groups, who condemned Pakistan's blasphemy law as a source of violence and persecution against religious minorities.
Via CNN
C919 - China's first airliner unveiled
China aims to reshape the global aviation industry with a home-grown airliner, a direct challenge to the supremacy of Boeing and Airbus, the world's only makers of large commercial aircraft.
The Chinese government has staked billions of dollars and national pride on the effort, with help from big US companies.
Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China has orders for 100 single-aisle C919 passenger jets from Chinese airlines and international customers. The orders were signed yesterday at the Zhuhai air show in southern China, the state-owned Comac said in a news release.
Customers included Air China, China Southern Airlines and China Eastern, and the aircraft leasing company GE Capital Aviation Services of the US. No details were given on how many planes each customer ordered or the prices that would be paid.
The partnership with US companies will be on display this week at the air show, where a full-scale mock-up of the 156-seat C919 will be revealed. It is scheduled for production by 2016. The fuselage will carry the Comac name but inside the most crucial systems will bear the trademarks of some of the biggest names in Western aviation.
Honeywell International will supply power units, computing systems, wheels and brakes. Rockwell Collins will handle navigation systems. GE Aviation is building the avionics. Eaton Corp is involved with fuel and hydraulics. Parker Aerospace of Irvine is responsible for flight controls.
Powering the aircraft will be two fuel-efficient engines built by CFM International, a company co-owned by GE and the French conglomerate Safran.
While global supply chains are common in the aviation industry, for this project China has required foreign suppliers to set up joint ventures with Chinese companies.
By one estimate, air passenger traffic in China is projected to expand by nearly 8 per cent a year for the next 20 years. The country plans to build 70 airports by 2020.
The plane follows the 70- to 110-seat ARJ21 as the second modern commercial airliner to be developed in China, a source of huge pride for the country's economic planners, who are determined to become global players in industries such as commercial aircraft.
The ARJ21, also being built by Comac, has a backlog of about 240 firm orders and options, mostly from domestic carriers but also from GE Capital Aviation Services and Lao Airlines.
Recommended reading:
* AC313 - China made large civilian helicopter
* China's Harmony Express world's fastest long-distance passenger train service
* China 3D Bus goes into construction by end of 2010
The Chinese government has staked billions of dollars and national pride on the effort, with help from big US companies.
Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China has orders for 100 single-aisle C919 passenger jets from Chinese airlines and international customers. The orders were signed yesterday at the Zhuhai air show in southern China, the state-owned Comac said in a news release.
Customers included Air China, China Southern Airlines and China Eastern, and the aircraft leasing company GE Capital Aviation Services of the US. No details were given on how many planes each customer ordered or the prices that would be paid.
The partnership with US companies will be on display this week at the air show, where a full-scale mock-up of the 156-seat C919 will be revealed. It is scheduled for production by 2016. The fuselage will carry the Comac name but inside the most crucial systems will bear the trademarks of some of the biggest names in Western aviation.
Honeywell International will supply power units, computing systems, wheels and brakes. Rockwell Collins will handle navigation systems. GE Aviation is building the avionics. Eaton Corp is involved with fuel and hydraulics. Parker Aerospace of Irvine is responsible for flight controls.
Powering the aircraft will be two fuel-efficient engines built by CFM International, a company co-owned by GE and the French conglomerate Safran.
While global supply chains are common in the aviation industry, for this project China has required foreign suppliers to set up joint ventures with Chinese companies.
By one estimate, air passenger traffic in China is projected to expand by nearly 8 per cent a year for the next 20 years. The country plans to build 70 airports by 2020.
The plane follows the 70- to 110-seat ARJ21 as the second modern commercial airliner to be developed in China, a source of huge pride for the country's economic planners, who are determined to become global players in industries such as commercial aircraft.
The ARJ21, also being built by Comac, has a backlog of about 240 firm orders and options, mostly from domestic carriers but also from GE Capital Aviation Services and Lao Airlines.
Recommended reading:
* AC313 - China made large civilian helicopter
* China's Harmony Express world's fastest long-distance passenger train service
* China 3D Bus goes into construction by end of 2010
Pakistan court encourages Islamist extremism
Death sentence for 'blasphemy' Christian mother. The news below does reflect that Pakistan court is encouraging Islamist extremism. This is a true discrimination of the minority.
A Pakistani court has sentenced to death a Christian mother of five for blasphemy, the first such conviction of a woman and sparking protests from rights groups.
Asia Bibi, 45, was sentenced on Monday by a local court in Nankana district in Pakistan's central province Punjab, about 75km west of the country's cultural capital of Lahore.
Pakistan has yet to execute anyone for blasphemy, but the case spotlights the Muslim country's controversial laws on the subject which rights activists say encourages Islamist extremism in a nation wracked by Taliban attacks.
Ms Bibi's case dates back to June 2009 when she was asked to fetch water while out working in the fields.
But a group of Muslim women labourers objected, saying that as a non-Muslim, she should not touch the water bowl.
A few days later the women went to a local cleric and alleged that Ms Bibi made made derogatory remarks about the Prophet Mohammed.
The cleric went to local police, who opened an investigation.
She was arrested in Ittanwalai village and prosecuted under Section 295 C of the Pakistan Penal Code, which carries the death penalty.
Sentencing her to hang, Judge Naveed Iqbal "totally ruled out" any chance that Ms Bibi was falsely implicated and said there were "no mitigating circumstances", according to a copy of the verdict.
Ms Bibi's husband Ashiq Masih, 51, said that he would appeal her death sentence, which needs to be upheld by the Lahore high court, the highest court in Punjab, before it can be carried out.
"The case is baseless and we will file an appeal," he said.
The couple have two sons and three daughters.
Rights activists and minority pressure groups said it was the first time that a woman had been sentenced to hang in Pakistan for blasphemy, although a Muslim couple were jailed for life last year.
Human rights activists want the controversial legislation repealed, saying it is exploited for personal enmity and encourages Islamist extremism.
"The blasphemy law is absolutely obscene and it needs to be repealed in totality," Human Rights Watch spokesman Ali Dayan Hasan said.
"It is primarily used against vulnerable groups that face social and political discrimination. Heading that category are religious minorities and heterodox Muslim sects," he said.
About three per cent of Pakistan's population of 167 million is estimated to be non-Muslim.
Last July, two Christian brothers accused of writing a blasphemous pamphlet critical of the Prophet Mohammed were shot dead outside a court in Punjab.
Pastor Rashid Emmanuel, 32, and his brother Sajjad, were killed as they left a court hearing in Faisalabad city, where hundreds of Muslim protesters had demanded they be sentenced to death.
A Pakistani court has sentenced to death a Christian mother of five for blasphemy, the first such conviction of a woman and sparking protests from rights groups.
Asia Bibi, 45, was sentenced on Monday by a local court in Nankana district in Pakistan's central province Punjab, about 75km west of the country's cultural capital of Lahore.
Pakistan has yet to execute anyone for blasphemy, but the case spotlights the Muslim country's controversial laws on the subject which rights activists say encourages Islamist extremism in a nation wracked by Taliban attacks.
Ms Bibi's case dates back to June 2009 when she was asked to fetch water while out working in the fields.
But a group of Muslim women labourers objected, saying that as a non-Muslim, she should not touch the water bowl.
A few days later the women went to a local cleric and alleged that Ms Bibi made made derogatory remarks about the Prophet Mohammed.
The cleric went to local police, who opened an investigation.
She was arrested in Ittanwalai village and prosecuted under Section 295 C of the Pakistan Penal Code, which carries the death penalty.
Sentencing her to hang, Judge Naveed Iqbal "totally ruled out" any chance that Ms Bibi was falsely implicated and said there were "no mitigating circumstances", according to a copy of the verdict.
Ms Bibi's husband Ashiq Masih, 51, said that he would appeal her death sentence, which needs to be upheld by the Lahore high court, the highest court in Punjab, before it can be carried out.
"The case is baseless and we will file an appeal," he said.
The couple have two sons and three daughters.
Rights activists and minority pressure groups said it was the first time that a woman had been sentenced to hang in Pakistan for blasphemy, although a Muslim couple were jailed for life last year.
Human rights activists want the controversial legislation repealed, saying it is exploited for personal enmity and encourages Islamist extremism.
"The blasphemy law is absolutely obscene and it needs to be repealed in totality," Human Rights Watch spokesman Ali Dayan Hasan said.
"It is primarily used against vulnerable groups that face social and political discrimination. Heading that category are religious minorities and heterodox Muslim sects," he said.
About three per cent of Pakistan's population of 167 million is estimated to be non-Muslim.
Last July, two Christian brothers accused of writing a blasphemous pamphlet critical of the Prophet Mohammed were shot dead outside a court in Punjab.
Pastor Rashid Emmanuel, 32, and his brother Sajjad, were killed as they left a court hearing in Faisalabad city, where hundreds of Muslim protesters had demanded they be sentenced to death.
AeroCaribbean Flight 883 crashes Santi Spiritus, Cuba
A Cuban airliner flying from the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba to the capital crashed after declaring an emergency Thursday evening with 68 people aboard, including 28 foreigners, state media reported. There was no immediate word on whether any survived.AeroCaribbean Flight 883 went down near the village of Guasimal in Santi Spiritus province, carrying 61 passengers and a crew of seven, state television said. It said 28 passengers were foreigners, but did not give a breakdown of nationalities.
State media said the names of those on board would be released later.
The twice-a-week flight goes from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, to Santiago de Cuba to Havana. It had been due to land in the Cuban capital at 7:50 p.m, but reported an emergency at 5:42 p.m. and subsequently lost contact with air traffic controllers.
State media said that the plane was an ATR-72 twin turboprop and that the crash site was not far from the Zaza reservoir, the largest in Cuba. It said authorities had mobilized doctors and emergency workers in the rural area, which is about 220 miles (350 kilometres) east of Havana.
At Havana's national terminal, relatives of those on board the plane were kept isolated from other passengers and journalists.
"This is very sad," said Caridad de las Mercedes Gonzalez, who was manning an airport information desk. "We are very worried. This has taken us by surprise."
State media gave no details on what happened to the airliner, saying only that the cause of the crash was being investigated.
The flight would have been one of the last leaving Santiago de Cuba for Havana ahead of Tropical Storm Tomas, which was on a track to pass between Cuba's eastern end and the western coast of Haiti on Friday.
Cuban media said earlier that flights and train service to Santiago were being suspended until the storm passed. AeroCaribbean is owned by Cuban state airline Cubana de Aviacion.
The last passenger plane crash on the island occurred in March 2002, when a Soviet-made biplane carrying 16 people - including 12 foreigners - plunged into a small reservoir in central Cuba. The plane was operated by a small local charter company called Aerotaxi.
Execution Of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani Is Imminent
What is wrong with Iran. Authorities in Tehran, Iran, have given the go-ahead to execute a woman who initially was sentenced to death by stoning, according to an activist working on her behalf.
However, what method will be used to execute Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani is unclear, said Mina Ahadi, spokeswoman for the International Committee Against Stoning. The execution could happen as soon as Wednesday, she said, citing information received from a source in Tabriz, Iran, who is close to Ashtiani's family.
Ashtiani initially was sentenced to death by stoning for adultery. The Iranian government later said she was also convicted of murdering her husband, but her lawyer and family dispute that.
A letter from Tehran was delivered to the prison in Tabriz where Ashtiani is being held three days ago, Ahadi said, giving the go-ahead for Ashtiani's execution.
Ashtiani, 43 and a mother of two, drew international attention when she was sentenced to death by stoning. She concedes that she was convicted of adultery, as initially reported, but says she was acquitted of murder. "The man who actually killed my husband was identified and imprisoned, but he is not sentenced to death," she said in August.
The Iranian government's claims that she was convicted of murder are a lie, she told the Guardian newspaper through an intermediary. "They are embarrassed by the international attention on my case, and they are desperately trying to distract attention and confuse the media so that they can kill me in secret."
Ashtiani's son and her attorney are still in jail after being arrested last month, Ahadi said. Also still detained are two German journalists.
"The International Committees against Stoning and Execution call on international bodies and the people of the world to come out in full force against the state-sponsored murder of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani," as well as the release of the others, Ahadi said in a statement.
Before his arrest, Ashtiani's son, Sajjad Ghaderzadeh, said court officials stole documents and files pertaining to the murder of his father in order to "promote his mother as a murderer." And Ahadi's committee said the murder charges are "fabricated" by the Iranian regime.
In August, Ashtiani appeared on state TV confessing that she knew about a plot to kill her husband but felt she had been misled. Amnesty International condemned the interview.
Ghaderzadeh and attorney Hootan Kian will not be issued an attorney, because the government claims they do not need one, according to Ahadi.
Ashtiani's other former lawyer, Mohammad Mostafaei, is being protected by European diplomats after he fled to Turkey from Iran.
Mostafaei claims that Iranian authorities tried to arrest him without cause.
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http://www.freesakineh.org
However, what method will be used to execute Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani is unclear, said Mina Ahadi, spokeswoman for the International Committee Against Stoning. The execution could happen as soon as Wednesday, she said, citing information received from a source in Tabriz, Iran, who is close to Ashtiani's family.
Ashtiani initially was sentenced to death by stoning for adultery. The Iranian government later said she was also convicted of murdering her husband, but her lawyer and family dispute that.
A letter from Tehran was delivered to the prison in Tabriz where Ashtiani is being held three days ago, Ahadi said, giving the go-ahead for Ashtiani's execution.
Ashtiani, 43 and a mother of two, drew international attention when she was sentenced to death by stoning. She concedes that she was convicted of adultery, as initially reported, but says she was acquitted of murder. "The man who actually killed my husband was identified and imprisoned, but he is not sentenced to death," she said in August.
The Iranian government's claims that she was convicted of murder are a lie, she told the Guardian newspaper through an intermediary. "They are embarrassed by the international attention on my case, and they are desperately trying to distract attention and confuse the media so that they can kill me in secret."
Ashtiani's son and her attorney are still in jail after being arrested last month, Ahadi said. Also still detained are two German journalists.
"The International Committees against Stoning and Execution call on international bodies and the people of the world to come out in full force against the state-sponsored murder of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani," as well as the release of the others, Ahadi said in a statement.
Before his arrest, Ashtiani's son, Sajjad Ghaderzadeh, said court officials stole documents and files pertaining to the murder of his father in order to "promote his mother as a murderer." And Ahadi's committee said the murder charges are "fabricated" by the Iranian regime.
In August, Ashtiani appeared on state TV confessing that she knew about a plot to kill her husband but felt she had been misled. Amnesty International condemned the interview.
Ghaderzadeh and attorney Hootan Kian will not be issued an attorney, because the government claims they do not need one, according to Ahadi.
Ashtiani's other former lawyer, Mohammad Mostafaei, is being protected by European diplomats after he fled to Turkey from Iran.
Mostafaei claims that Iranian authorities tried to arrest him without cause.
Please sign >
http://www.freesakineh.org
Billionaire Ma Huateng GetsHousing Subsidy
Internet mogul Ma Huateng is number nine on Forbes magazine's list of the richest people in China, with a fortune of 4.4 billion dollars. But he gets 450 dollars a month in official housing subsidies.
Ma, 39, is the chairman of Hong Kong-listed Chinese web portal Tencent and has been deemed a "local leading talent" by the government in the southern boomtown of Shenzhen on the border with Hong Kong, where the company is based.
The title gives him the right to 3,100 yuan a month in housing subsidies over a five-year period as an incentive to buy or rent a flat in the city, according to the state-run Global Times, citing the city government.
"The housing-subsidy policy aims to attract talents to Shenzhen and make them stay," an official with Shenzhen's bureau of Human Resources and Social Security, identified by his surname Liu, told the newspaper.
"The city has lost its competitive edge to other cities such as Beijing and Shanghai."More than 2,900 people believed to have contributed to the coastal city's boom had benefited from the programme by early this year, one-third of them businessmen, the report said.
The South China Morning Post said many senior corporate officials were on the list.The news has triggered uproar among the public, particularly the online community, amid soaring property prices and rising concerns over the country's widening income gap.
"Ordinary people cannot afford to buy their flats and there is no policy to address that, but the government is granting house-buying subsidies to the filthy rich.... Who can save China?" one user said in a posting on netease.com.
In a commentary, the Shanghai Evening Post said: "Any incentive policy must not go counter to social equality or hurt the mass public's feelings, nor can it become a treatment for 'super citizens'.
"Officials at Tencent were not immediately available for comment when contacted by AFP. The company told the Global Times it respected the policy in Shenzhen to attract top talent, but said nothing further.
Recommended reading:
* Top 10 Richest People - 2010
* White people for rent in China
Ma, 39, is the chairman of Hong Kong-listed Chinese web portal Tencent and has been deemed a "local leading talent" by the government in the southern boomtown of Shenzhen on the border with Hong Kong, where the company is based.
The title gives him the right to 3,100 yuan a month in housing subsidies over a five-year period as an incentive to buy or rent a flat in the city, according to the state-run Global Times, citing the city government.
"The housing-subsidy policy aims to attract talents to Shenzhen and make them stay," an official with Shenzhen's bureau of Human Resources and Social Security, identified by his surname Liu, told the newspaper.
"The city has lost its competitive edge to other cities such as Beijing and Shanghai."More than 2,900 people believed to have contributed to the coastal city's boom had benefited from the programme by early this year, one-third of them businessmen, the report said.
The South China Morning Post said many senior corporate officials were on the list.The news has triggered uproar among the public, particularly the online community, amid soaring property prices and rising concerns over the country's widening income gap.
"Ordinary people cannot afford to buy their flats and there is no policy to address that, but the government is granting house-buying subsidies to the filthy rich.... Who can save China?" one user said in a posting on netease.com.
In a commentary, the Shanghai Evening Post said: "Any incentive policy must not go counter to social equality or hurt the mass public's feelings, nor can it become a treatment for 'super citizens'.
"Officials at Tencent were not immediately available for comment when contacted by AFP. The company told the Global Times it respected the policy in Shenzhen to attract top talent, but said nothing further.
Recommended reading:
* Top 10 Richest People - 2010
* White people for rent in China
Somali Militants Executes Two Teenage Girls
More images and commentary of peaceful Muslims .. from Somali. Where are the moderate Muslims on this heinous, evil , sick act? Strapping children to trees and executing them by firing squad is not a matter of religion, speech, or culture.
A Somali militant group publicly executed two teenage girls after accusing them of being spies for the Somali government, according to the group, eyewitnesses and a relative of one of the girls.
"Those two girls were evil and they were spies for the enemy (the Somali government), but the mujahedeen caught them and after investigation, they admitted their crime, so they have been executed," said Sheikh Yusuf Ali Ugas, commander of Al-Shabaab in Beledweyne, a town in central Somalia.
The teens were blindfolded with their hands behind their backs against a tree, and shot, according to a local journalist.
A resident of Beledweyne told CNN that Al-Shabaab called on the town's residents to come out and watch the execution.
"Hundreds of people came out to watch the execution," he said. "It was very bad ... the girls looked shocked and were crying but [no one] could help." A relative of one of the teens denied they were spies.
"My cousin, Ayan Mohamed Jama, was just 16 years old and she was absolutely innocent," said the relative, who did not want their name used out of fear of retribution from Al-Shabaab. "And Al-Shabaab caught her and the other girl between El-gal and Beledweyne and simply accused them of what they were not."
The other girl, said the relative, was 15. Al-Shabaab refused their families' request to see the teens while they were in detention, "and they executed them at a public gathering, so this is inhumane and cruelty."
The El-gal area has been the scene of heavy fighting recently between Somali government forces and Al-Shabaab.
"Ayan didn't have any contact with the government and even in her life, she never had a mobile [phone] so we can't understand how she could be accused of being a spy," the relative said.
Last year, Al-Shabaab stoned a teenage girl to death in Kismayo, a town in southern Somalia.
Al-Shabaab is waging a war against Somalia's government in an effort to impose a stricter form of Islamic law, or sharia.
Somalia has not had a stable government since 1991, and fighting between the rebels and government troops has escalated the humanitarian crisis in the famine-ravaged country.
Recommended reading:
* World vs Somali Pirates
* Sakineh Mohammadie Ashtiani faces stoning
* How Somalia's Fishermen Make Money From Piracy
A Somali militant group publicly executed two teenage girls after accusing them of being spies for the Somali government, according to the group, eyewitnesses and a relative of one of the girls.
"Those two girls were evil and they were spies for the enemy (the Somali government), but the mujahedeen caught them and after investigation, they admitted their crime, so they have been executed," said Sheikh Yusuf Ali Ugas, commander of Al-Shabaab in Beledweyne, a town in central Somalia.
The teens were blindfolded with their hands behind their backs against a tree, and shot, according to a local journalist.
A resident of Beledweyne told CNN that Al-Shabaab called on the town's residents to come out and watch the execution.
"Hundreds of people came out to watch the execution," he said. "It was very bad ... the girls looked shocked and were crying but [no one] could help." A relative of one of the teens denied they were spies.
"My cousin, Ayan Mohamed Jama, was just 16 years old and she was absolutely innocent," said the relative, who did not want their name used out of fear of retribution from Al-Shabaab. "And Al-Shabaab caught her and the other girl between El-gal and Beledweyne and simply accused them of what they were not."
The other girl, said the relative, was 15. Al-Shabaab refused their families' request to see the teens while they were in detention, "and they executed them at a public gathering, so this is inhumane and cruelty."
The El-gal area has been the scene of heavy fighting recently between Somali government forces and Al-Shabaab.
"Ayan didn't have any contact with the government and even in her life, she never had a mobile [phone] so we can't understand how she could be accused of being a spy," the relative said.
Last year, Al-Shabaab stoned a teenage girl to death in Kismayo, a town in southern Somalia.
Al-Shabaab is waging a war against Somalia's government in an effort to impose a stricter form of Islamic law, or sharia.
Somalia has not had a stable government since 1991, and fighting between the rebels and government troops has escalated the humanitarian crisis in the famine-ravaged country.
Recommended reading:
* World vs Somali Pirates
* Sakineh Mohammadie Ashtiani faces stoning
* How Somalia's Fishermen Make Money From Piracy
Killer Tsunami Strikes Mentawi Indonesia
A powerful, 7.7-magnitude earthquake triggered a tsunami that pounded villages on remote islands off western Indonesia, killing at least 23 people and leaving more than 160 others missing, witnesses and officials said Tuesday.The fault that ruptured Monday, running the length of the west coast of Sumatra island, also caused the 9.1-magnitude quake that unleashed a monster tsunami around the Indian Ocean in 2004, killing 230,000 people in a dozen countries.
The death toll from the quake late Monday, which struck 13 miles (20 kilometres) beneath the ocean floor, was expected to climb as reports on damage and injuries began trickling in Tuesday.
Mujiharto, who heads the Health Ministry's crisis center, said a 10-foot (three-metre) high wave washed away hundreds of houses on Pagai and Silabu, part of the remote and sparsely populated Mentawai island chain. "We have 200 body bags on the way, just in case," he said.
Separately on Tuesday, emergency officials were rushing to evacuate several thousand residents from the slopes of the country's most volatile volcano, Mount Merapi, as scientists warned that pressure building beneath its lava dome could trigger one of the most powerful blasts in years.
Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity due to its location on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire - a series of fault lines stretching from the Western Hemisphere through Japan and Southeast Asia.
Getting to the Mentawais, a popular surfing spot 175 miles (280 kilometres) from the Sumatra coast takes 12 hours and the islands are reachable only by boat.
A group of Australians said they were hanging out on the back deck of their chartered surfing vessel, anchored in a nearby bay, when the temblor hit. It generated a wave that caused them to smash into a neighbouring boat, and before they knew it, a fire was ripping through their cabin.
"We threw whatever we could that floated surfboards, fenders then we jumped into the water," Rick Hallet told Australia's Nine Network. "Fortunately, most of us had something to hold on to ... and we just washed in the wetlands, and scrambled up the highest trees that we could possibly find and sat up there for an hour and a half."
By daytime Tuesday, the toll from the quake and tsunami was rising. Ade Edward, a disaster management agency official, said 23 bodies were found in coastal villages - mostly on the hardest hit island of Pagai and another 167 people were missing.
Water in some places reached roof tops, and in Muntei Baru, a village on Silabu, 80 percent of the houses were damaged. Some 3,000 people were seeking shelter Tuesday in emergency camps, Edward said, and the crews from several ships were still unaccounted for in the Indian Ocean.
The quake also jolted towns along Sumatra's western coast including Padang, which last year was hit by a deadly 7.6-magnitude tremor that killed more than 700. Mosques blared tsunami warnings over their loudspeakers.
"Everyone was running out of their houses," said Sofyan Alawi, adding that the roads leading to surrounding hills were quickly jammed with thousands of cars and motorcycles.
"We kept looking back to see if a wave was coming," said 28-year-old resident Ade Syahputra.
Source: AP
Recommended reading:
* Tsunami Predicted on July 22 2009
* 7.2-magnitude quake hit Meulaboh, Aceh
Peter Bossman becomes Slovenia first black mayor
According to Associated Press's report, Slovenia has elected its first black mayor on Sunday, an immigrant from Africa known as the "Obama of Piran," the town where he lives. A proud day for the black in Slovenia.
In fact, Peter Bossman, a Ghana-born physician, could be the first black mayor elected anywhere in his region of Europe.
Bossman, who settled in this tiny Alpine nation in the 1970s to study medicine in what was then known as Yugoslavia, won a runoff election in the coastal town of Piran with 51.4 percent of votes, defeating Dr. Tomaz Gantar, the outgoing mayor.
The 54-year-old Bossman is a member of Slovenia's governing Social Democrats. He runs a private practice and was previously a member of the Piran City Council.
Following the vote, Bossman said he was "happy and proud."
"I based my campaign on a dialogue, and I think the dialogue has won," he said.
Slovenia, a country of 2 million people is located near Italy, Austria and Croatia, and is a member of European Union and NATO. The vast majority of Slovenians are white, and there are few immigrants. The few blacks who are seen in the country tend to be tourists.
Vlado Miheljak, a political analyst, said the vote in Piran was a test about whether Slovenia was "mature enough to elect a nonwhite political representative."
No racial issues were raised during the campaign in Piran, where Bossman was nicknamed after President Barack Obama, the first African American to hold that office in the U.S. But he was criticized for not speaking fluent Slovene, the nation's official language.
In an interview with Delo, a leading daily newspaper, Bossman said he has a friend who is a professor of Slovenian "and she offered to give me additional lessons."
Piran is a picturesque town of about 17,000 people, surrounding the tiny Gulf of Piran in the Adriatic Sea. Its main revenue comes from tourism.
During the campaign, Bossman offered to introduce electric cars to the town and boost Internet shopping to overcome a problem of too few stores.
He also said he will try to get an airport in Piran and a golf course to boost its tourism.
Recommended reading:
* Jean Gregoire Sagbo First Russian Black Politician
In fact, Peter Bossman, a Ghana-born physician, could be the first black mayor elected anywhere in his region of Europe.
Bossman, who settled in this tiny Alpine nation in the 1970s to study medicine in what was then known as Yugoslavia, won a runoff election in the coastal town of Piran with 51.4 percent of votes, defeating Dr. Tomaz Gantar, the outgoing mayor.
The 54-year-old Bossman is a member of Slovenia's governing Social Democrats. He runs a private practice and was previously a member of the Piran City Council.
Following the vote, Bossman said he was "happy and proud."
"I based my campaign on a dialogue, and I think the dialogue has won," he said.
Slovenia, a country of 2 million people is located near Italy, Austria and Croatia, and is a member of European Union and NATO. The vast majority of Slovenians are white, and there are few immigrants. The few blacks who are seen in the country tend to be tourists.
Vlado Miheljak, a political analyst, said the vote in Piran was a test about whether Slovenia was "mature enough to elect a nonwhite political representative."
No racial issues were raised during the campaign in Piran, where Bossman was nicknamed after President Barack Obama, the first African American to hold that office in the U.S. But he was criticized for not speaking fluent Slovene, the nation's official language.
In an interview with Delo, a leading daily newspaper, Bossman said he has a friend who is a professor of Slovenian "and she offered to give me additional lessons."
Piran is a picturesque town of about 17,000 people, surrounding the tiny Gulf of Piran in the Adriatic Sea. Its main revenue comes from tourism.
During the campaign, Bossman offered to introduce electric cars to the town and boost Internet shopping to overcome a problem of too few stores.
He also said he will try to get an airport in Piran and a golf course to boost its tourism.
Recommended reading:
* Jean Gregoire Sagbo First Russian Black Politician
Albino kid killed for parts
Does witchcraft still exist in this modern world? The dismembered body of a young albino boy has been found in a river on the Burundi-Tanzania border, reports say.
Read also a previous post on Tanzania Albino Victim Of Witchcrafts.
The boy, aged nine, was taken from Makamba province in Burundi by a gang that crossed the border, the head of Burundi's albino association said.
Kassim Kazungu told AFP the remains had been recovered from the Malagarazi river and given a formal burial.
Albino body parts are prized in parts of Africa, with witch-doctors claiming they have special powers.
Mr Kazungu told the AFP news agency that Tanzanian police had arrested five people, although there was no official confirmation from Tanzania.
In Tanzania, the body parts of people living with albinism are used by witch-doctors for potions which they tell clients will help make them rich or healthy.
Dozens of albinos have been killed, and the killings have spread to neighbouring Burundi.
In August a court in Tanzania sentenced a Kenyan accused of trying to sell an albino to 17 years in jail and a fine of more than $50,000 (£41,200).
Tanzanian authorities have promised to crack down on albino traffickers, and several people have been sentenced to death in connection with killings.
Read also a previous post on Tanzania Albino Victim Of Witchcrafts.
The boy, aged nine, was taken from Makamba province in Burundi by a gang that crossed the border, the head of Burundi's albino association said.
Kassim Kazungu told AFP the remains had been recovered from the Malagarazi river and given a formal burial.
Albino body parts are prized in parts of Africa, with witch-doctors claiming they have special powers.
Mr Kazungu told the AFP news agency that Tanzanian police had arrested five people, although there was no official confirmation from Tanzania.
In Tanzania, the body parts of people living with albinism are used by witch-doctors for potions which they tell clients will help make them rich or healthy.
Dozens of albinos have been killed, and the killings have spread to neighbouring Burundi.
In August a court in Tanzania sentenced a Kenyan accused of trying to sell an albino to 17 years in jail and a fine of more than $50,000 (£41,200).
Tanzanian authorities have promised to crack down on albino traffickers, and several people have been sentenced to death in connection with killings.
Suicide Bomber Attack Chechnya Parliament
Russian local news agencies report shooting taking place in or near the Chechnya parliament in restive Grozny. One agency cites law enforcement agencies as saying a suicide bomber had attacked the building.
The Kremlin is struggling to contain a growing Islamist insurgency in the North Caucasus, a strip of impoverished, ethnically mixed provinces along predominantly Orthodox Christian Russia's southern border.
The Kremlin had declared victory in its battle with Chechen separatists, but analysts say a wave of shootings and bombings over recent months shows Moscow has failed to tame the growing insurgency.
Local leaders say it is fueled by desperate poverty, clan rivalries, rampant corruption, Islamism and heavy-handed tactics by law enforcement agencies.
Related links:
* Reuters - Insurgents attack parliament in Russia's Chechnya
* BBC - Chechen parliament 'under attack'
Chechnya Attack | Grozny Attack
The Kremlin is struggling to contain a growing Islamist insurgency in the North Caucasus, a strip of impoverished, ethnically mixed provinces along predominantly Orthodox Christian Russia's southern border.
The Kremlin had declared victory in its battle with Chechen separatists, but analysts say a wave of shootings and bombings over recent months shows Moscow has failed to tame the growing insurgency.
Local leaders say it is fueled by desperate poverty, clan rivalries, rampant corruption, Islamism and heavy-handed tactics by law enforcement agencies.
Related links:
* Reuters - Insurgents attack parliament in Russia's Chechnya
* BBC - Chechen parliament 'under attack'
Chechnya Attack | Grozny Attack
Congo is "rape capital of the world"
The United Nations has named the Democratic Republic of Congo the "rape capital of the world," with 15,000 women raped in eastern Congo last year. The attacks occurred in parts of the country where armed rebel groups moved into areas considered to be pro-government but lacking in army or police protection, according to the U.N.
Margot Wallstrom, the U.N. secretary-general's special representative on sexual violence in conflict, said recently that one distraught Congolese woman had told her that "a dead rat is worth more than the body of a woman."
"It was an expression of how human rights violations against women are still the lowest on a fool's hierarchy of war time horrors," she said.
Sunday's march was organized by the World March of Women in association with local women's groups. Organizers hoped the march would combat the stigma attached to rape victims and draw international attention to the problem of rape as a war tactic.
"It's just great to have so many women out on the streets," said Celia Alldridge, a representative from World March of Women. "We believe that women should not be made prisoners in their own homes."
Among throngs of marchers, many clad in bright traditional garb and carrying homemade signs, one Congolese marcher echoed that sentiment.
"I tell you it's a wonderful thing to see all the women together, just for one reason for the peace of the women of Congo," said Mary Georges. "This is the freedom of the Congo women."
Last month, a U.N. report slammed Congo's security forces for failing prevent a wave of mass rapes over several days during the summer.
The preliminary report confirms the rape of at least 303 civilians between July 30 and August 2 in the Walikale region of Congo's North Kivu province.
The report points to serious shortcomings in the preparedness and response of the local detachments of the Congolese army and the police stationed in the area.
It also notes that their failure to prevent or stop the attacks was compounded by subsequent failings on the part of U.N. stabilization mission forces in Congo.
The report said the force had not received any specific training in the protection of civilians, and suffered from a number of operational constraints, including a limited capacity to gather information, as well as the lack of a telecommunications system in the area.
"The scale and viciousness of these mass rapes defy belief," said U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay.
"Even in the eastern part of DRC where rape has been a perennial and massive problem for the past 15 years, this incident stands out," Pillay said, "because of the extraordinarily cold-blooded and systematic way in which it appears to have been planned and executed."
Via CNN.
Recommended reading:
* Rape-aXe - Anti-rape female condoms
* Bangladeshi rape victim get 101 lashes
* Nation of rapist - South Africa
Margot Wallstrom, the U.N. secretary-general's special representative on sexual violence in conflict, said recently that one distraught Congolese woman had told her that "a dead rat is worth more than the body of a woman."
"It was an expression of how human rights violations against women are still the lowest on a fool's hierarchy of war time horrors," she said.
Sunday's march was organized by the World March of Women in association with local women's groups. Organizers hoped the march would combat the stigma attached to rape victims and draw international attention to the problem of rape as a war tactic.
"It's just great to have so many women out on the streets," said Celia Alldridge, a representative from World March of Women. "We believe that women should not be made prisoners in their own homes."
Among throngs of marchers, many clad in bright traditional garb and carrying homemade signs, one Congolese marcher echoed that sentiment.
"I tell you it's a wonderful thing to see all the women together, just for one reason for the peace of the women of Congo," said Mary Georges. "This is the freedom of the Congo women."
Last month, a U.N. report slammed Congo's security forces for failing prevent a wave of mass rapes over several days during the summer.
The preliminary report confirms the rape of at least 303 civilians between July 30 and August 2 in the Walikale region of Congo's North Kivu province.
The report points to serious shortcomings in the preparedness and response of the local detachments of the Congolese army and the police stationed in the area.
It also notes that their failure to prevent or stop the attacks was compounded by subsequent failings on the part of U.N. stabilization mission forces in Congo.
The report said the force had not received any specific training in the protection of civilians, and suffered from a number of operational constraints, including a limited capacity to gather information, as well as the lack of a telecommunications system in the area.
"The scale and viciousness of these mass rapes defy belief," said U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay.
"Even in the eastern part of DRC where rape has been a perennial and massive problem for the past 15 years, this incident stands out," Pillay said, "because of the extraordinarily cold-blooded and systematic way in which it appears to have been planned and executed."
Via CNN.
Recommended reading:
* Rape-aXe - Anti-rape female condoms
* Bangladeshi rape victim get 101 lashes
* Nation of rapist - South Africa
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