Several bombings targeting Baghdad’s main Shi’ite district as well as in Kirkuk left more than 35 dead on Wednesday as part of Iraq’s continuing sectarian violence. Several car bombs in Baghdad, including one detonated outside a cafe and another next to a market, left at least 22 dead and dozens wounded according to a Reuters report. These explosions came after 10 people were killed after two car bombs were detonated near government buildings in the ethnically diverse city of Kirkuk. Another suicide bombing was reported near a police patrol in northern Baghdad, leaving two officers dead, while an additional roadside bomb killed a policeman near Mosul, 240 miles north of the capital. The string of blasts are thought to be linked to Sunni Islamist insurgents who seek to further destabilize relations between Iraq’s Sunni Muslim minority and its Shi’ite population who now lead the country.Iraq’s Al Qaeda wing, the Islamic State of Iraq, and additional Sunni groups seem to be tapping into the ongoing civil war in neighboring Syria to stoke tensions among the country’s Sunnis.Violence in Syria has in the last few months taken a decidedly sectarian path, with Sunni rebels intent on removing president Bashar Assad from power, himself a member of the Alawite branch of Shi’ite Islam.Meanwhile, Iraq’s coalition government, which is comprised of Shi’ite, Sunni and Kurdish blocs, continues to experience deadlock. In addition to sectarian conflicts between Sunni and Shi’ite, a movement for a self-rule region of Iraq by Kurds introduces a third source of conflict.The oil-rich region of Kirkuk, home to Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen, is one region Iraq’s Kurds want to appropriate as part of their semi-autonomous region.”I saw a bright flash followed by a strong explosion that shook the building. Glass was shattered everywhere, people immediately ran to the scene and started evacuating the wounded and the dead,” said Jabar al-Rubaie, a policeman at the scene in Sadr City district in Baghdad who spoke with Reuters.Sectarian violence has spiked, and led to almost daily attacks by Sunni insurgents since US forces withdrew from Iraq in 2011, although it still fails to match the bloodshed of 2006-7 when tens of thousands were killed throughout Iraq.Sunnis, who held a position of privilege under Saddam Hussein, complain of second-class treatment by the Shiite leadership, and have been protesting laws which they believe unfairly target them.Relations worsened in late April, after Iraqi government troops clashed with Sunni demonstrators in the town of Hawija, which lies north of Baghdad. That incident is thought to be linked to a wave of violence that has left more than 230 dead, according to an Associated Press report.There were no immediate claims of responsibility for Wednesday’s bombings, though car bombings and suicide attacks have been attributed to Al Qaeda’s Iraq insurgency in the recent spate of violence. … Read More
HRW urges Bahrain to probe torture claims as 6 more tweeters jailed
HRW cites multiple reports of torture that emerged during the Formula 1 grand prix held in Bahrain in April. They include accounts of activists and women subjected to electric shocks and forced into signing confessions.In addition, the organization harks back to the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry report, issued in November 2011 that stated five activists had died in custody of torture since uprisings began against the Sunni ruling class.“If the latest allegations are brushed aside it will be yet more evidence suggesting that Bahrain’s justice system is a haven for torturers,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Bahrain’s allies should apply serious pressure on Bahrain to investigate and hold accountable anyone responsible for brutally torturing activists.”Bahrain has blocked the entry of the UN’s special rapporteur on torture, Juan Mendez, from coming to probe police abuses of power. His visit, which was scheduled to begin on May 8, was indefinitely postponed by the Bahraini authorities.“This is the second time that my visit has been postponed, at very short notice. It is, effectively, a cancellation as no alternative dates were proposed, nor is there a future road map to discuss,” said Mendez, expressing his “disappointment” over the announcement.Protests against the Bahrain’s oppressive Sunni royal family have become commonplace. The country’s 70 per cent Shia claim they are discriminated against and call for a transfer to a democratic system of government.This comes as six tweeters were jailed on Wednesday for insulting King Hamad and ‘misusing the right to free expression.’ According to prosecutors, they posted comments on their Twitter feeds that undermined “the values and traditions of Bahrain’s society towards the king.”The Bahraini capital, Manama, was hit by mass protests during the grand prix. Activists branded the event “a race for blood” and claimed it was a ploy by the Bahraini authorities to “whitewash” the country’s poor human rights reputation.One of the highest-profile cases of human rights abuses to come out of Bahrain is that of activist Nabeel Rajab, who openly attacked the country’s government following an interview on RT for Julian Assange’s show The World Tomorrow. Nabeel was sentenced to three years in jail for ‘participation in an illegal assembly’ and ‘calling for a march without prior notification.’Since the beginning of the uprisings against the Bahraini monarchy in 2011, Human Rights Watch has calculated that at least 80 people have been killed and thousands arrested. … Read More
Sweden plummets in income equality ranking
The living conditions of most Swedes have improved in recent decades, but income inequality is growing rapidly, according to a new OECD report, which saw Sweden drop 14 spots from its first place ranking in 1995. … Read More
Filming for Need for Speed movie begins in Macon, Georgia
Filming for the screen adaptation of Electronic Arts’ Need for Speed franchise has begun in an unlikely location: Macon, Georgia. A local car wash in the southern city is being used as the backdrop for at least a portion of the Dreamworks Studios film according to a news report from… … Read More
Inside Story Americas – The American single mother’s burden
http://www.youtube.com/v/lsKMZbKAgTc?version=3&f=videos&app=youtube_gdata Originally from: Inside Story Americas – The American single mother’s burden
Gerald Celente on Internet Popularity & the Economy
http://www.youtube.com/v/xwDztrm-nic?version=3&f=videos&app=youtube_gdata Link to original: Gerald Celente on Internet Popularity & the Economy
Prosecutors mulling execution for Ohio kidnapper over forced miscarriages
A police report obtained by The New York Times states that immediately after Cleveland police broke into Castro’s residence on Monday, Michelle Knight – who, unlike Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus remains hospitalized – disclosed that Castro had impregnated her several times.“She stated that Ariel would make her abort the baby,” read the police report. Castro would starve Knight for weeks on end, then repeatedly punch her in the stomach “until she miscarried.”Timothy J. McGinty, the Cuyahoga County prosecutor, has stated that the forced miscarriages could constitute grounds for seeking the death penalty against 52-year-old Castro.An official who spoke with the Times anonymously also provided further detail of the conditions under which the three women were held for close to a decade. Initially, Castro had kept the victims chained up in his basement, eventually allowing them access to the second floor.They “were brought into the room and out of the room, when the chains were on, when the chains were off,” as well as being occasionally given the priviledge of access to a toilet and a shower, said the official.”The law of Ohio calls for the death penalty for those most depraved criminals who commit aggravated murder during the course of a kidnapping,” McGinty said at a news conference on Thursday.The prosecutor’s office now intends to pursue charges of kidnapping and sexual assault as well as aggravated murder, the latter of which could carry the death penalty.According to the anonymous official who spoke with the Times, FBI specialists have already spent hours with each of the women, gathering necessary information to base charges against Castro.Their captivity was “depraved beyond your imagination,” said the official.Michelle Knight went missing in 2002 at the age of around 19, while Amanda Berry disappeared in 2003 at 16 and Gina DeJesus went missing a year later at age 14.”The only opportunity, after interviewing the young ladies, to escape was the other day when Amanda escaped,” Cleveland Deputy Police Chief Ed Tomba said on Thursday.”They don’t believe that they’ve been outside that home for the last 10 years respectively,” he added. “They were not in one room, but they did know each other and they did know each other was there.” … Read More
