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EXCLUSIVE: Gruesome Syria photos may prove torture by Assad regime

By Mick Krever and Schams Elwazer, CNN

AFP See realtime coverage

January 20, 2014 -- Updated 2119 

Editor's note: Read this story and more on CNN.Arabic

(CNN) -- A team of internationally renowned war crimes prosecutors and forensic experts has found "direct evidence" of "systematic torture and killing" by the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime, the lawyers on the team say in a new report.

Their report, based on thousands of photographs of dead bodies of alleged detainees killed in Syrian government custody, would stand up in an international criminal tribunal, the group says.

"This is a smoking gun," said David Crane, one of the report's authors. "Any prosecutor would like this kind of evidence -- the photos and the process. This is direct evidence of the regime's killing machine."

Crane, the first chief prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, indicted former Liberian President Charles Taylor for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Taylor went on to become the first former head of state convicted of war crimes since World War II. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison.

CNN cannot independently confirm the authenticity of the photographs, documents and testimony referenced in the report, and is relying on the conclusions of the team behind it, which includes international criminal prosecutors, a forensic pathologist, an anthropologist and an expert in digital imaging.

Alleged torture of prisoners by Assad regime

Analyzing Syria's alleged torture report

How will Syria react to torture allegations?

The bodies in the photos showed signs of starvation, brutal beatings, strangulation, and other forms of torture and killing, according to the report.

In a group of photos of 150 individuals examined in detail by the experts, 62% of the bodies showed emaciation -- severely low body weight with a hollow appearance indicating starvation. The majority of all of the victims were men most likely aged 20-40.

A complex numbering system was also used to catalog the corpses, with only the relevant intelligence service knowing the identities of the corpses. It was an effort, the report says, to keep track of which security service was responsible for the death, and then later to provide false documentation that the person had died in a hospital.

One of the three lawyers who authored the report -- Sir Desmond de Silva, the former chief prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone -- likened the images to those of Holocaust survivors.

edited:   Erma Xhillari

Suicide bomb kills four in Hezbollah area of Beirut: sources                              

BEIRUT Tue Jan 21, 2014 5:29am EST

 People gather at the site of a bomb blast in the Haret Hreik area, in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut January 21, 2014.

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  Asuicide    bomber killed four people on Tuesday in a residential neighborhood of southern Beirut known for its support of Shi'ite military and political group Hezbollah, security sources said.

A Reuters reporter said she saw the remains of what appeared to be the suicide attacker at the site of the blast as emergency workers transported wounded people from the area, where a similar bombing occurred earlier this month.

Images broadcast on Hezbollah's Al Manar channel showed flames erupting from a building and a thick plume of smoke billowing over a street near the charred remains of cars as a crowd gathered at the site of the blast.

 

 

It was not immediately clear what the blast had targeted. The explosion went off on a busy street of small shops and restaurants in the Haret Hreik area of Beirut's largely Shi'ite southern suburbs.

Tensions from the nearly three-year conflict in Syria have increasingly infected neighboring Lebanon, which is still struggling to recover from its own 1975-1990 civil war and has been without a fully functioning government since March.

Hezbollah has sent fighters and advisers across the border to help its ally President Bashar al-Assad, a member of the Shi'ite-derived Alawite minority, in his fight against mainly Sunni rebels.

Hezbollah's strongholds in Lebanon have meanwhile been hit by a string of rocket and bomb attacks claimed by hardline Sunni militants.

Security sources told Reuters that four people died in Tuesday's attack and at least 20 more were wounded.

Haret Hreik was the target of a car bomb attack earlier this month that killed at least five people.

Rocket fire from Syria killed at least seven people in the border town of Arsal on Friday, a day after a suicide car bomber killed three people in the Hezbollah stronghold of Hermel on the border with Syria.

Former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri told Reuters last week he was ready to share power with Hezbollah if that's what it took to help end the country's political deadlock.

(Reporting by Laila Bassam, Alexander Dziadosz and Stephen Kalin; Writing by Alexander Dziadosz; Editing by Mark Heinrich, John Stonestreet)

worked:  Erma Xhillari

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Thai police to nab anti-government protest leader See realtime coverage

Xinhua  - ‎31 minutes ago‎ BANGKOK, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) --  Thai police are set to arrest  Suthep Thaugsuban, leader of anti-government protesters as  " Bangkok shutdown" entered into a fourth day on Thursday. RelatedBangkok »Thailand »Yingluck Shinawatra » Thai protesters on the march againTVNZ Thai conflict: 2 powerful sides, many in middle From Thailand:'Yingluck' chairs first formal reform forumThailand National News Bureau In Depth:Bangkok Shutdown: Yingluck Supporters  Prepare to Fight for Democracy

Deputy premier Surapong Tovichakchaikul announced that the police will take a scrupulous, well-guarded approach to arresting the protest leader, for whom a rebellion charge and arrest warrant have already been issued.

Suthep was said to have stayed at a hotel near Rajprasong intersection, which is among several others where the protesters have been occupying and blocking road traffic since Monday.

According to the police, about 40 guards believed to be armed with handguns were known to protect Suthep around the clock.

Surapong said the police will take the protest leader into custody without use of weapons but declined to comment whether gunfight might possibly occur between the police and his guards.

Suthep has also threatened to capture premier Yingluck Shinawatra and other members of the caretaker cabinet to force them to step down.

Meanwhile, three navy servicemen were arrested by police at a checkpoint near Government House Wednesday night. The sailors, including one lieutenant and two non-commissioned officers attached to the Navy Fleet, were found to have acted as guards for the Students and People Network for Reform of Thailand, another anti-government group which has joined hands with Suthep's People' s Democratic Reform Committee in the prolonged bid to depose Yingluck from power.

Three 9 mm. handguns were found inside their pickup truck with a false license plate, police said.

"It remains to be seen how many soldiers might probably be hired as guards for the protesters. The police are gathering information and will report to the Center for Administration of Peace and Order. The commanding units of those soldiers will also report to the CAPO about that," said Surapong, who currently heads the government's ad hoc body.

He also called on the protesters to stop laying siege to the Foreign Ministry's Consular Office where an estimated 4,000 people may obtain passports for overseas travels daily.

As part of the "Bangkok shutdown" the protesters have surrounded a dozen of government premises in the heart of the capital and its northern suburbs, forcing government staff to quit and denying people's access to them.

They have also paralyzed road traffic in Bangkok's business districts such as Sukhumvit, Patumwan and Silom since Monday.

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CNN	Gunman, 2 women dead in Indiana grocery store shooting

CNN) -- A gunman killed two women inside an Indiana grocery store 

Wednesday night before police rushed to the scene and gunned him down.

The tragic scene played out in a sprawling grocery store in Elkhart, Indiana.

Officers were called to the scene just after 10 p.m. and found an armed man in the store, according to Indiana State Police Trooper Brooks Shirk. The man also fired at officers.

Officers fatally shot the gunman, police told CNN affiliate WXIN.

They found the bodies of two women aisles apart inside the grocery store, both of them shot by the gunman, Shirk said. One of the women was a shopper, the other was an employee.

It was unclear whether he knew the victims or if there was any connection between the three, Shirk said.

Police said the man used a semi-automatic handgun. A knife was also recovered at the scene.

Investigators scoured through a huge crime scene overnight, police said, as shell casings and debris stretched throughout the store.

The names of the gunman and victims were not released. Neither was a motive.

"You never know why this happens," said Indiana State Police Sgt. Trent Smith "People are depressed. People do things that are not rational. You just can't explain these things a lot of the times."

CNN's Marlena Baldacci contributed to this report.

Birdy: New 'Skinny Love' Music Video & 2014 Tour Dates!

  http://www.justjaredjr.com/#i                                                                             

Check out the brand new music video for Birdy‘s beautiful version of “Skinny Love”!

The 17-year old British singer/songwriter covered the Bon Iver favorite for her EP Breathe, which is out now! The video was directed bySophie Muller at The Hope & Anchor Pub in Islington, England.

Birdy‘s sophomore album Fire Within is due out later this year and she is set to join Christina Perri on tour this Spring!
Watch Birdy‘s new video for “Skinny Love” below!

                                   

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JANUARY 2014

4 militants, 3 officers killed in shootout in Dagestan, Russian news agency says

By Jason Hanna and Marie-Louise Gumuchian, CNN

January 15, 2014 -- Updated 1820 GMT (0220 HKT)

Terrorism in Russia and the Olympics

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• The clash occurred at a house in the Dagestan village of Karlanyurt, RIA Novosti reports
• It says at least 5 officers were injured in the clash, which came amid an anti-terror operation
• Russia has been trying to address security concerns before the Winter Olympics
• Security fears have been heightened after bombings in Volgograd last month

(CNN) -- Four militants and three Russian security force members were killed Wednesday in a shootout in the Russian republic of Dagestan, Russian state-run news agency RIA Novosti reported, citing anti-terror officials.

The shootout came amid an anti-terror operation at a house in the Dagestan village of Karlanyurt, the officials told RIA Novosti.

At least five officers were also injured in the shootout, the agency added.

The confrontation came as Russian security forces have tried to address security concerns before next month's Winter Olympics in Sochi, about a 13-hour drive west of Karlanyurt. It also comes amid years of unrest and an Islamist insurgency in the North Caucasus region

Russia ramps up security before Olympics

Concerns about security in Russia were heightened after twin bombings on public transit that killed more than 30 people in the southern city of Volgograd at the end of last month.