Justice at last? Private US security guards who killed 17 Iraqi civilians in aftermath of Baghdad bombing face new charges
Almost four years after the case was dramatically thrown out, four former Blackwater Worldwide security guards accused of unlawfully killing 14 unarmed Iraqi civilians in a 2007 shooting in Baghdad have now been charged in connection with the incident following a new indictment handed down by a US grand jury.
The shooting, which took place on 16 September 2007 and left 17 Iraqi civilians dead, provoked international outcry, inflamed anti-US sentiment in Iraq and gave rise to concerns about the use of private contractors by American armed forces operating abroad. Blackwater Worldwide has since renamed itself twice, first as XE Services and then as Academi. An FBI investigation of the incident found that, of the 17 Iraqis killed, at least 14 were without cause.
The defendants – 34-year-old Paul Slough, 29-year-old Nicholas Slatten, 31-year-old Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard, 32 – were part of a Blackwater contingent contracted to protect US State Department officials in the country. On the day of the shooting, their convoy was among a group of Blackwater teams responding to a bombing in Baghdad. Its mandate: to help secure an evacuation route.
'A dark day for democracy': Maldives police halt presidential election
A presidential poll due to be held today in the Maldives has been halted at the last minute after police surrounded the office used by election officials and stopped them from working.
On what an election official said was a “dark day for democracy”, police officers claimed they would not allow the election to proceed as it would be in breach of regulations issued by the country’s highest court.
“We cannot proceed with the election if police are obstructing it,” Elections Commissioner Fuwad Thowfeek told reporters, according to Reuters. “[The police have] overstepped their authority.”
Scathing Report: Turkish Kids 'Put in State Care Illegally'
Politicians in Ankara have accused several European countries -- including Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands -- of illegally taking children of Turkish origin from their families and putting them into foster care. The children are being alienated from Turkish culture, the report claims.
Turkish lawmakers are making their displeasure known in unusually strong terms: "Thousands of Turkish children" living in several European countries have been illegally removed from their families, according to a report by the Turkish Parliament's Human Rights Inquiry Committee (IHIK). Around 5,000 children and young people throughout Europe have supposedly been affected.
Uganda on alert after threats of Kenya-style mall attack
Ugandan police issued a security alert on Friday amid warnings of a possible attack similar to the bloody assault by Somalia's Shebab fighters in Kenya's Westgate mall last month.
At least 67 people were massacred in the upmarket shopping centre in Nairobi when gunmen stormed the crowded complex on September 21, firing from the hip and hurling grenades at shoppers and staff.
"Stay alert and watch each other's steps and activities, as we are still threatened by terror," the Ugandan police said in a message.
It followed a message Tuesday from the US embassy in Uganda which said it was continuing "to assess reports that a Westgate-style attack may soon occur in Kampala".
North Korean ship carrying Cuban arms to be freed; two officers held
By Carol J. Williams
A North Korean freighter seized in Panama for carrying contraband fighter jet engines and missile components from Cuba will be released soon and allowed to return home with most of its crew members, Panamanian authorities have decided.
The ship's captain and first officer, however, will remain in Panama pending a decision by United Nations inspectors on whether they should face charges of violating sanctions on weapons trade, Panamanian Foreign Minister Fernando Nunez Fabrega told journalists in Panama City.
The other 33 crewmen onboard in July when the ship was intercepted off Panama's Atlantic coast probably were unaware that the ship was carrying prohibited cargo, Nunez said, according to a report in the South China Morning Post.
The Englishman in charge of the worst team in the world
Waking up on an island of crystal blue lakes, turquoise seas and tropical temperatures each morning sounds like paradise.
But rather than relaxing in a hammock all day in his adopted home of the Turks and Caicos Islands, 41-year-old Englishman Matthew Green is busy trying to rid the country of the title 'world's worst football team'.
It's a distinction they share with Bhutan and San Marino at joint 207th place in the Fifa world football rankings.
The task isn't easy, as Green's team last won in 2008 (against St Lucia) and haven't actually played a match for two years because of a shortage of players. His squad includes a variety of occupations, including a policeman, lawyer, teacher and construction worker.
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