Syrian snipers target pregnant women, unborn babies, doctor says
October 23, 2013 -- Updated 0340 GMT
CNN) -- An X-ray shows a bullet lodged in a baby's head. The image would be chilling enough without knowing the child was still in its mother's womb when it became the target of snipers hiding in the shadows in northern Syria.
The mother survived. Her baby didn't. And it's not the only one.
Volunteer doctor David Nott, a British surgeon who's worked in several Syrian hospitals with the charity Syria Relief, says snipers are playing a "targeting game," and heavily pregnant women are on the hit list.
"Most of the children removed were seven, eight, nine months gestation, which meant it was fairly obvious to anybody that these women were pregnant."
Old attitudes resurface in Greece: inside the Roma camp where Maria the ‘blonde angel’ lived
Anger and defiance in Greece after a case that has reignited prejudices
Some of the houses in the Roma settlement near the central Greek town of Farsala resemble containers – the kind that would usually be found on ships. Outside, groups of children are playing and laughing in the early evening. Inside, the mood is more sombre as their parents watch the latest developments of a case that is very close to their hearts unfold on television.
"They call us Roma on the TV but in the streets they shout out Gypsy, spitting and walking away from us," says Maria, a 20 year-old Roma mother of one. A sparkling golden coloured pin holds her long blonde hair in a bun, her fair cheeks are flush with pique and her fists are restless as she places them in the pockets of her white jumper. "The press says we dance like monkeys or bears, just because we're celebrating - they want to ridicule us."
Maria is livid. She feels her community is being vilified by Greek and international media after the fair-haired infant, who is now known across the world as "Maria", was found with a Roma couple who claimed to be her parents at the settlement.
CHINA
China admits human rights shortcomings
China has admitted shortcomings at a UN Human Rights Council review in Geneva. Rights advocates continue to rebuke Beijing for arresting dissidents, suppressing ethnic minorities and widespread use of the death penalty.
A Chinese envoy told the 47-member UN council on Tuesday that China had "many difficulties" in promoting human rights. Wu Hailong said reducing poverty was the priority among China's 1.3 billion people.
Hours before the council began its four-yearly review of China's rights record, Tibetan activists slipped past guards at Geneva's Palais des Nations and unfurled a banner reading: "China fails human rights in Tibet – UN stand up for Tibet." They also displayed a mock head (pictured above) of China's new president Xi Jinping.
China faces persistent criticism, mainly from Western countries, for repression, including crackdowns on Tibetans and Muslim Uighurs in the western Xinjiang region.
Saudi Arabia to 'shift away from US' over Syria, Iran: spy chief
October 23, 2013 - 11:42AM
Amena Bakr
Doha: Saudi Arabia's intelligence chief has said the kingdom will make a "major shift" in relations with the United States in protest at its perceived inaction over the Syria war and its overtures to Iran, a source close to Saudi policy said on Tuesday.
Prince Bandar bin Sultan told European diplomats that Washington had failed to act effectively on the Syrian crisis and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, was growing closer to Tehran, and had failed to back Saudi support for Bahrain when it crushed an anti-government revolt in 2011, the source said.
"Prince Bandar told diplomats that he plans to limit interaction with the US," the source close to Saudi policy said.
It was not immediately clear if Prince Bandar's reported statements had the full backing of King Abdullah.
Nigeria Islamic cops arrest dozens for clothing offences at birthday party
Religious police in Nigeria's northern city of Kano publicly paraded scores of people arrested for flouting Islamic law, including transvestites and people wearing clothing deemed too tight or revealing.
They also publicly shaved off the supposedly overly long hair of several men.
Mohammed Yusuf Yola, spokesman for the board that polices implementation of Shariah law, told The Associated Press that 45 men and women were detained at a birthday party in a hotel Sunday because of "indecent dress that is against the practice of Islam."
He said the recent arrests of 150 people, including 55 alleged prostitutes, is part of a new campaign to enforce Islamic law, which officially governs nine of Nigeria's 37 states. All those arrested were Muslims, Yola said.
Cuba to end dual-currency system
The system of a regular and a convertible peso has caused resentment as a privileged class has access to the more valuable one.
By Richard Fausset
MEXICO CITY — Cuba announced Tuesday that it would move toward ending a two-tier national currency system widely criticized for creating a privileged class with access to a special peso.
The notice, published in Granma, the official Communist Party newspaper, was not unexpected: President Raul Castrohad announced his support for such a plan in July. But the announcement Tuesday was short on details about how the country's leadership plans to unify the regular peso, which is worth pennies on the U.S. dollar, and the "convertible" peso, or CUC, which is pegged to the dollar.
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