Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Six In The Morning Tuesday May 19


Afghan police jailed over Farkhunda mob death


  • 2 hours ago
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  • From the sectionAsia

Eleven Afghan policemen have been sentenced to one year in prison for failing to protect a woman killed in Kabul in March.
The 28-year-old woman called Farkhunda was beaten to death after being accused of burning a copy of the Koran, although witnesses say she did not.
Earlier this month four men were sentenced to death for the killing, with eight others handed jail terms.
The incident led to widespread protests against the treatment of women.
Eight other police officers accused in the case were acquitted on Tuesday.
Farkhunda had argued with an amulet seller about his practice of peddling charms to women at the well-known Shah-Du-Shamshaira shrine, which is within walking distance of the presidential palace and Kabul's main bazaar.
The amulet seller is one of those sentenced to death earlier this month.










Where there is oil and gas there is Schlumberger

It’s ubiquitous in fossil fuel operations across the world, has more staff than Google, turns over more than Goldman Sachs, and is worth more than McDonald’s – yet you won’t have heard of it. Meet the oil world’s most secretive operator


In the dying hours of a high-level conference on the banks of the Thames late in April, two oil executives are sitting patiently waiting on faded leather chairs in the lobby of a five-star Tower Bridge hotel, briefcases, architects’ plans and a folded flipchart pad at their feet.
The two bespectacled executives, looking much like soberly-suited bank managers, soon disappear into a private room to meet with Dr Abdullahi Haider, a senior adviser to the Somalian government, and a Canadian middleman, emerging an hour or so later.
Somalia could be one of the great untapped sources of offshore oil, if someone can secure a deal to find and extract it, and if anyone can, it’s the company these men work for.

Egypt: Rape and sexual violence perpetrated by security forces surges under el-Sisi's regime in campaign to 'eliminate public protest'

LGBT people are believed to have been targeted by police and are subjected to ‘examinations’ constituting forms of torture

 
 

The systematic use of rape, sexual violence and assault constituting as torture has surged since the political coup led by President el-Sisi in Egypt, spreading beyond the confines of police stations and detention centres to officials openly assaulting people in the streets, at universities and people’s homes during raids, according to a new report.
The International Federation for Human Rights’ (IDFH) latest report, which focuses on sexual violence committed since the Egyptian military takeover in July 2013, said has documented the sexual harassment, rape, sexual assault, rape with objects, anal and vaginal “virginity tests”, electrocution of genitalia, sex-based defamation and blackmail by police, state and military personnel to “eliminate public protest”.
Human rights NGOs have stated the likelihood of being sexually assaulted when arrested is extremely high, especially if a woman is being detained, because the “police consider it their duty to discipline prisoners."

Japan's UNESCO campaign upsets former adversaries

Tokyo wants industrial sites to be recognized as important historical landmarks in nation's modernization process, but critics say they ignore the slave laborers who built and worked in them.
Japan has applied to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization to have 23 industrial sites across southern Japan granted UNESCO World Heritage status, but the campaign has ignited fierce criticism nations that felt the full force of its colonial years and from former prisoners of war who were used as slave laborers at the sites.
An advisory panel set up to screen applications has recommended that "Sites of the Meiji Industrial Revolution" of the late 19th and early 20th centuries go forward to a meeting of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in Bonn from June 28 for a final decision.
The Japanese government says the sites, which include mines, ports, factories, shipyards and other industrial facilities should be recognized by the world for their contribution to Japan's development as the first industrial power outside Europe and North America.

Fears grow for hundreds of Rohingya on missing boat

May 19, 2015 - 5:13PM

Pak Bara, Thailand: Fears are growing for hundreds of Rohingya refugees on a boat bounced between waters off Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia that has not been heard from in more than 60 hours.
Around 300 men, women and children were found pleading for help on Thursday on the drifting trawler which has become emblematic of Southeast Asia's growing migrant crisis and the region's reluctance to offer sanctuary to the passengers.
The Thai navy said it had repaired the engine and provided visibly thin passengers with food, water and medicine on Thursday and Saturday before "escorting" the vessel into international waters.

Boy castaway Elian Gonzalez, now 21, wants to revisit the US

Elian Gonzalez, the Cuban boy who became famous after his dramatic ocean rescue at age 6 led to an international custody battle, has said that he would like to revisited the US.




Elian Gonzalez, who spent months with his Florida relatives as a Cuban child at the center of an international custody dispute, said in an interview broadcast Monday that he'd like to return to the United States for a visit.
Now 21, Gonzalez told ABC News in an interview that if he could visit anywhere, it would be the U.S.
Gonzalez thanked the American people for the love they showed him during the custody battle 15 years ago, and said he would like to go back "to give my love to the American people."
He said he'd like to see a baseball game, visit Washington museums and talk to Americans.


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