Militant commander, 2
others killed in Pakistan blast
A bomb blast has killed at least three people on Friday,
including a local militant commander, in a restive Pakistani tribal region
bordering Afghanistan,
officials said. Four people were also injured by the explosion in the town of Wana
in the South Waziristan tribal district, considered a
base for Islamist militants. “A bomb at the office of local Taliban
commander Maulvi Abbas's brother in the vegetable market went off, killing
Abbas and two others including his son,” a local security official told
AFP. Abbas reportedly had close links with the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.
Iranian suspects
testify in Bangkok over alleged bomb plot against Israelis
Two Iranians arrested after a botched bomb plot allegedly
targeting Israeli diplomats appeared in a Bangkok
court Friday. The two men said they were innocent, and did not know about the
explosives in their rented Bangkok
home, which went off on Valentine's Day. Israel
claimed an Iranian-backed network was preparing attacks against Israeli
diplomats. The lawyer representing the two men said they were completely
unaware there were bombs in their house.
28 people killed in
fresh Tana clashes on Kenyan coast – reports
At least 28 people were killed in renewed clashes in the
Tana Delta on the Kenyan coast on Friday morning, local media said, citing
police sources. The clashes between rival farming communities in the Tana
River district also injured several others. The hostilities
between members of the Orma and Pokomo communities were reportedly provoked by
an official order to disarm, as some believed the government was favoring one
side of the dispute. Coast Provincial Police Chief Aggrey Adoli said the exact
number of the dead was not immediately clear. Four months ago, more than 100
people were killed in a dispute between the Orma and Pokomo over grazing
rights.
Collapsing reef could
trigger tsunami near Australia
While mapping the ocean bed near the Great
Barrier Reef, Australian marine geologists reportedly discovered a
giant slab of collapsing seafloor that could trigger a tsunami in the future.
The researchers said it is unclear when the collapse will occur, but that the
eventual collapse will lead to a localized tsunami affecting the Queensland
coastline. The geologists’ research was published in the November 2012 editions
of the ‘Natural Hazards’ journal.
Argentina deploys troops to resort city after riots
The Argentinian government has sent police task force units
to the resort city of San Carlos de Bariloche, which saw protests and looting
on Thursday, Itar-Tass reported. The police of Rio Negro
province had too few officers to maintain order during the demonstrations, in
which participants urged authorities to increase social spending ahead of the
holidays. Argentinian Prime Minister Juan Manuel Medina said in an emergency
news briefing in Buenos Aires that
the rioting was caused be “violence-inclined groups of outcasts,” on
the 11th anniversary of protests that forced ex-President Fernando de la Rua to
tender his resignation.
Chinese navy ships
enter disputed waters
The Japanese coastguard reported that three Chinese maritime
surveillance vessels have sailed into the territorial waters of disputed
islands in the South China Sea, the first such intrusion
since Japan
elected its new government, AFP reported. The ships were spotted northwest of Kubajima
Island, in the archipelago dubbed
Senkaku by Japan
and Diaoyu by China,
at around 10:20am local time (0120
GMT). Chinese government ships have repeatedly entered the waters since September.
Analysts believe that China
is challenging Japan's
de facto control of the islands for the past 40 years.
2 German tourists,
Australian rescued after 2 days adrift in Philippine sea
Two German tourists and an Australian have been rescued
after being adrift at sea for two days, the Philippine coast guard said Friday.
Large waves capsized their small boat in the Sibuyan Sea
in the central Philippines,
and a passing ship found them clinging to the vessel. The Philippine skipper
went missing after attempting to swim ashore for help, coast guard officer
Venerando Celiz said. German national Ralph Harald Auer, his son Thomas and
Australian Joshua Marsh were heading from Banton Island to nearby Marinduque
Island, about 25 kilometers away. The tourists arrived Friday in Iloilo.
Student arrested for
threatening to shoot in school
A teen has been arrested in Florida
after threatening to “shoot everyone" in school in a Facebook message, the
local sheriff announced. Authorities say that they received a tip from a parent
who saw the threat from the 13-year-old. Neither the teen nor his school has
been identified. The student is charged with a single second-degree felony of
making a written threat.
Weather in the US kills a least 7
Apocalyptic weather sweeping across the Midwest
of the United States
has left at least seven dead, closed transportation hubs and caused havoc for
air travel just days before Christmas. The deaths from the snowstorm include a
woman in Utah who died trying to
walk for help after her car became stuck. The states of Kansas,
Iowa, Wisconsin
and Nebraska also witnessed
traffic related fatalities. Overall 17 states are under winter weather
advisories. Further south, tornado watches are in force in Georgia
and Florida.
Mosque arsonist
pleads guilty
A man accused of setting a mosque on fire has accepted a
plea bargain after admitting his wrongdoing. The 52 year old Randolph Linn is
to spend 20 years in prison, under the condition of his plea bargain.
Sentencing has been set for April 16,
2013. Linn said that on September 30, he had drank 45 beers and was
"riled up" by Fox News before heading to the Islamic Center of
Greater Toledo in Perrysburg Township with a revolver, where he then set a fire
in a prayer room.
Marine who urinated
on dead Taliban fighter sentenced
A Marine was sentenced to 30 days jail after pleading guilty
to urinating on the body of a dead Taliban soldier and posting the incident
online. The judge recommended that Joseph Chamblin was to be reduced in rank by
three grades and fined $2,000. But Lt. Gen. Richard Mills, who was overseeing the
Chamblin case, agreed before the court-martial to limit his punishment to the
loss of $500 in pay and a reduction in rank by one grade. Video footage of the
offensive behaviour surfaced in January. Three other serviceman involved have
already been disciplined while another is facing court martial.
S. Africa decides to
support Palestinian boycott of Israel
South Africa's
governing political party, the African National Congress has decided to support
the Palestinian boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel,
saying it is “unapologetic in its view that the Palestinians are the
victims and the oppressed in the conflict with Israel.”
The BDS campaign was started by 171 Palestinian non-governmental organizations
in support of the Palestinian cause. Its main objectives are to put an end to
the Israeli occupation, offer equality to Palestinian citizens of Israel
and promote the rights of Palestinian refugees.
Facebook allows
sending messages to strangers for $1
Facebook has begun testing a new system that allows users
to send messages to people who are not in their friend list for a payment of
one dollar, the company said in a statement on Thursday. “Imposing a
financial cost on the sender may be the most effective way to discourage
unwanted messages and facilitate delivery of messages that are relevant and
useful,” the statement reads. The system will route each paid message to
recipient’s inbox folder instead of the low-priority “other” folder. The new
feature will only work for users in the US
and the number of paid messages to a particular recipient will be limited to
one per week.
UAE shuts down US think tank
The American based policy think tank RAND Corp. has been
ordered to close its Abu Dhabi
office, due to licensing issues. The directive is the latest move by the United
Arab Emirates to crackdown on activists. RAND
has conducted research into areas of education and environment. In spring this
year, the UAE shut two pro-democracy groups, the US-funded National Democratic
Institute and the Germany-backed Konrad Adenauer Foundation.
UN authorizes
military intervention in Mali
The UN Security Council has unanimously approved an African-led
military force to intervene in Mali
to combat hardline Islamists, terrorists and armed gangs ruling the northern
part of the country. The international force will be given a one-year mandate
which may later be extended. It will be allowed to use “all necessary
measures.” The intervention was authorized after regional politicians
failed to broker a political solution between the Islamist extremists and
Tuareg rebels vying for control of northern Mali.
A March 22 coup allowed Islamists, who are imposing Islamic sharia law, to take
control of Mali's
northern cities.
At least one dead and
five injured in Benghazi police attack
An attack on the police in Benghazi,
Libya has killed one
civilian and left five injured, the officials announced. Witnesses on the
ground estimated the number to be higher and placed the death toll at 4
including, 2 soldiers. Authorities believe that an armed group was trying to
liberate a number of detainees arrested earlier this week. The incident began
at a rally demanding release of those allegedly involved in the killings of
several police and military officers. The crowd became unruly when extremist
elements in the began firing at the police headquarters.
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