Thursday, February 13

Day: February 19, 2016

Four year old sentenced to life in prison for murder in Egypt
Arab world, ENGLISH

Four year old sentenced to life in prison for murder in Egypt

    Egyptian courts have been cracking down on dissenters since the coup in 2013. An Egyptian court has sentenced a four-year-old boy to life in prison for committing murder when he was aged just one. Ahmed Mansour Karmi was not in court on Tuesday when he was convicted of four counts of murder, eight of attempted murder, one vandalisation of property and another count of threatening soldiers and police officers - all before his second birthday. Ahmed was one of 115 defendants who were all handed life sentences at the same time at the court in western Cairo for crimes allegedly committed in early 2014. His defence attorney, Faisal al-Sayd, told the Jerusalem Post the child’s name had been added to the list by mistake but the court did not pass Ahmed’s birth certificate on to t...
US warplanes strike IS facility in Libya
America, ENGLISH

US warplanes strike IS facility in Libya

    American warplanes struck multiple targets in Libya overnight, hitting an Islamic State training camp and a senior extremist leader, U.S. defense officials said Friday. One official described the strikes as being carried out against an ISIL training camp and said the attack near Sabratha, Libya, not far from the Tunisian border, likely killed ISIL operative Noureddine Chouchane, who is believed to be a Tunisian. The U.S. officials spoke on grounds of anonymity because they weren't authorized to be publicly identified discussing a military operation not yet formally announced. President Barack Obama earlier this year directed his national security team to bolster counterterrorism efforts in Libya while also pursuing diplomatic possibilities for solving its political crisis ...
Police Investigate Street Death of Imam
ENGLISH, United Kingdom

Police Investigate Street Death of Imam

    Police were called by paramedics to a play area at the end of South Street in Wardleworth, Rochdale, on Thursday night. Officers attended and found a man believed to be in his late 40's to early 50's with a serious head injury. He was taken to hospital where he died a short time later. A major investigation has been launched to establish the circumstances surrounding how the man came to be injured. A statement from a local mosque read: The cause of his death is yet to be confirmed. "We recommend that you do not speculate but rather wait for the facts to be established by the police." A Home Office post mortem is due to take place later today. Detective Superintendent Jon Chadwick, of the Serious Crime Division, said: Our investigation is at an early stage but we are keen t...
Trump’s pope retort could be calculated political move
America, ENGLISH

Trump’s pope retort could be calculated political move

    When Republican frontrunner Donald Trump offered a provocative retort to criticism by Pope Francis, it may have been a calculated political move to boost his standing ahead of South Carolina's presidential primary. Two-thirds of South Carolinians are Protestants, with evangelical voters comprising the largest voting block in the state during its Republican primary, which is being held on Saturday. The evangelical faithful are often suspicious of hierarchical authority, and a Pew Institute study in Jan-uary said liberal Americans have a more favorable view of the leader of the Roman Catholic Church than conservatives. This could serve in Trump's favor when it comes to the spat between him and the pontiff, who triggered the controversy when he said the billionaire real estat...
Chilling drone pictures reveal devastating result of huge blast that flattened home and killed man
ENGLISH, United Kingdom

Chilling drone pictures reveal devastating result of huge blast that flattened home and killed man

    These pictures lay bare the scale destruction following a suspected gas explosion that flattened a home and killed a man. Taken by a drone, they show debris littered all over the ground following this morning's fatal blast. Once thelocation of a house, the land is now covered by wood and rubble. A man aged 63 died in the explosion in a leafy cul-de-sac in Haxby, North Yorkshire. Police confirmed the body, believed to of the man who lived in the property, has been found. An officer at the scene told reporters police have informed "various members of his family". "Formal identification is yet to take place. It will be some time before we can retrieve the body as the scene is still in a state of disarray. We need to be sure everyone is safe before doing that," he added. A det...