Verdict Looms in Massive Jihadi Trial in Belgium
BY ROHIT KACHROO
I t might seem like an unlikely place to begin a jihadi war with the West, but Antwerp, Belgium, is at the center of Europe's biggest trial of young men accused of plotting violence in the name of Islam.
The trial began in September and verdict is expected Wednesday in the prosecution of 46 alleged jihadists who are accused of travelling to Syria to fight for ISIS. Eight of them were arrested in Belgium while 38 others are still believed to be in Syria.
Jejoen Bontinck, 20, is one of the defendants. He was raised as a Catholic, but at the age of 15 he fell for a Muslim girl and converted to Islam, preaching on the streets of Antwerp.
His father, Dimitri Bontinck, risked his own life by travelling to the war zone to find his son, and eventually managed to bring the young man home.
Malaysian cartoonist Zunar arrested for criticising Anwar Ibrahim ruling
Zulkifli Anwar Ulhaque - better known as Zunar - taken into custody after using Twitter to criticise judiciary involved in sodomy case
One of Malaysia’s best-known political cartoonists has been arrested for sedition over a Twitter posting that criticised the jailing of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, the artist’s wife said Wednesday.
Zulkifli Anwar Ulhaque - better known as Zunar - was arrested Tuesday night, hours after Anwar was jailed for five years in a politically charged sodomy case.
“Of course this is a form of intimidation, with the purpose that society does not question the authorities,” his wife Fazlina Rosley told AFP.
“Zunar will not bow down to this intimidation. He will continue to criticise even if he remains in jail.”
The cartoonist’s lawyer Melissa Sasidaran said he is expected to be held for a few days.
Pressure mounts on Ukraine peace talks in wake of fighting
Claim and counterclaim: Kiev accuses Russian-backed rebels of lethal rocket strike
Daniel McLaughlin
Deadly missile fire has ripped into a government stronghold in eastern Ukraine, in advance of a summit on Wednesday seen as crucial to halting the spiralling conflict.
Fifteen civilians were killed and 63 injured when Russian-backed militants fired a powerful rocket at Kramatorsk, Kiev’s military command centre in the largely rebel-held Donetsk region, according to Ukrainian security council chief Oleksandr Turchinov.
The separatists denied the claim and accused government forces of firing on residential areas, as the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France prepared to meet in the Belarusian capital Minsk for long-awaited talks.
Nearly 4000 blacks lynched in the US from 1877 to 1950: study
A total of 3959 black people were lynched in the southern United States over 73 years, 700 more than previous tallies, a study finds.
New York: Nearly 4000 black victims were lynched in 12 states in the southern United States from 1877 to 1950, an average of more than one a week for 73 years, a new study has revealed.
The Equal Justice Initiative, a human rights group in Alabama, spent years researching what it called racial terrorism and visited countless sites where the brutal murders took place.
It documents 3959 lynchings in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
The group says it found 700 more victims than any previous study into the thousands of black men, women and children who were lynched in the South in this period.
It documented how thousands of white Americans, including elected officials, gathered to watch public lynchings in which victims were tortured, mutilated and dismembered.
'Nut rage' in S Korea spotlights culture of punishing long hours
Studies show that South Koreans work 47 days more each year than the average American, and a six-day week is still common.
SEOUL — South Korea’s “nut rage” scandal has unleashed long-simmering public resentment over the makeup of family-run conglomerates here.
Now the saga – where the daughter of Korean Air's chairman turned around a taxiing aircraft after being served bagged nuts in first class – is casting a light on the country’s relentless work culture. New revelations show the chief flight attendant who oversaw the nuts presentation was ordered to work shifts lasting up to 18 hours.
Testifying at the trial of the daughter, Cho Hyun-ah, who at the time was a Korean Air vice president, flight attendant Park Chang-jin said he was assigned a “work schedule from hell” after the incident that received international press attention. Ms. Cho potentially faces three years in prison if convicted of assault and aviation-safety related charges.
Iran: World must seize opportunity of nuclear deal
Iranian President Rouhani says Tehran has taken "necessary steps" despite US questioning Iran's desire to strike a deal.
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani has said that world powers must "seize the opportunity" of a landmark nuclear deal, insisting Tehran had taken the "necessary steps" for an accord.
Rouhani's remarks on Tuesday appeared to be a response to US President Barack Obama, who on Monday said: "The issues now are - does Iran have the political will and the desire to get a deal done?"
Speaking in Tehran, Rouhani said that although gaps remain between Iran and the P5+1 powers - Britain, China, France, Russia and the US plus Germany - it was up to them to close a deal.
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