FRIENDS AND FAMILY GATHER FOR THE FIRST OF FUNERAL SERVICES FOR VICTIMS OF THE STORM THAT KILLED 24 PEOPLE *

TODAY'S SERVICE IS FOR 9-YR-OLD ANTONIA CANDELARIA, ONE OF SEVEN CHILDREN WHO PERISHED WHEN THE TORNADO FLATTENED AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN THE CITY OF MOORE *

TEN OF THE VICTIMS WERE CHILDREN *

SECOND JEWELRY THEFT REPORTED AT THE CANNES FILM FEST *

POLICE SAYS A "HIGH VALUE" NECKLACE WAS NABBED OVERNIGHT FROM THE RESORT TOWN OF CAP D'ANTIBES *

NO OTHER INFO WAS RELEASED *

LAST WK, THIEVES STOLE ABOUT $1 MIL WORTH OF JEWELS FROM A HOTEL SAFE IN CANNES *

CAP D'ANTIBES IS JUST DOWN THE ROAD FROM CANNES AND CONSIDERED EVEN MORE EXCLUSIVE *

GUNMEN KILL AT LEAST SEVEN SOLDIERS IN CENTRAL IRAQ *

MILITANTS ATTACKED AN ARMY CHECKPOINT IN THE TOWN OF TAJI, KILLING FOUR SOLDIERS AND WOUNDING FOUR OTHERS *

ANOTHER GROUP OF MILITANTS EXCHANGED GUNFIRE WITH MILITARY FORCES IN THE WESTERN VILLAGE OF KARMA, NEAR THE CITY OF FALLUJAH *

THREE SOLDIERS WERE KILLED AND 18 WOUNDED IN THAT ASSAULT *

TWO MEN ACCUSED OF BEHEADING A BRITISH SOLDIER HAD PREVIOUSLY BEEN INVESTIGATED BY SECURITY SERVICES, BRITISH OFFICIAL SAYS *

IT'S UNCLEAR HOW RECENT THE PROBES WERE OR WHETHER THE MEN WERE TIED TO OTHER SUSPECTS UNDER INVESTIGATION *

MEANWHILE, AUTHORITIES HAVE INCREASED SECURITY AT MILITARY BARRACKS AND INSTALLATIONS IN LONDON, WHILE POLICE ADDED PATROLS AT PLACES OF WORSHIP, TRANSPORT HUBS AND CONGESTED AREAS *

THE SOLDIER KILLED HAS BEEN ID'D AS 25-YR-OLD LEE RIGBY *

BRITISH POLICE ARREST A MAN AND A WOMAN IN CONNECTION WITH YESTERDAY'S BEHEADING OF A SOLDIER IN SE LONDON *

THE SUSPECTS ARRESTED TODAY ARE NOT BELIEVED TO BE RELATED TO TWO MEN IN CUSTODY WHO WERE ARRESTED YESTERDAY *

TWO NIGERIAN MEN, SHOT BY POLICE AT THE SCENE, ARE BEING TREATED FOR NON-LIFE-THREATENING INJURIES AT SEPARATE HOSPITALS IN LONDON *

PRES OBAMA GIVES A SPEECH ON NATL SECURITY *

THE PRES DEFENDED HIS USE OF DRONES, SAYING THE PROGRAM IS LEGAL AND THAT STRIKES HAVE BEEN EFFECTIVE IN FIGHTING TERRORISTS WHO LAUNCHED THE 2001 9/11 ATTACKS *

HE SAYS THE END OF THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN AND U.S. SUCCESS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST AL QAEDA ARE LIKELY TO REDUCE THE USE OF DRONES *

THE PRES ALSO RENEWED HIS CALL TO CLOSE THE DETENTION CENTER IN GUANTANAMO BAY *

OBAMA SAYS THERE'S "NO JUSTIFICATION BEYOND POLITICS FOR CONGRESS TO PREVENT US FROM CLOSING" GITMO *

SECY OF STATE JOHN KERRY VISITS PALESTINIAN CITY OF RAMALLAH IN A BID TO REVIVE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN PEACE TALKS *

KERRY IS ON HIS FOURTH TRIP TO THE REGION SINCE BECOMING SECY OF STATE FOUR MONTHS AGO *

NEGOTIATIONS BROKE DOWN IN LATE 2010 *

ISLAMIST HOMICIDE BOMBERS STRIKE AN ARMY BARRACKS AND FRENCH-RUN URANIUM MINE IN NIGER, KILLING 20 AND WOUNDING DOZENS *

MILITANT GROUP KNOWN AS MUJWA CLAIMED RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE COORDINATED ASSAULTS AT AREVA'S MINE AT ARLIT AND THE MILITARY BASE IN AGADEZ *

MUJWA AND AL QAEDA'S NORTH AFRICAN WING PLEDGED TO STRIKE AT FRENCH INTERESTS ACROSS THE REGION AFTER PARIS LAUNCHED A GROUND AND AIR CAMPAIGN TO OUST TERRORISTS FROM PARTS OF MALI EARLIER THIS YR *

IRS REPLACES LOIS LERNER A DAY AFTER SHE PLEADED THE FIFTH AT A CONGRESSIONAL HEARING... *

LERNER WAS DIR OF THE AGENCY'S DIVISION THAT OVERSAW EMPLOYEES WHO TARGETED TEA PARTY AND OTHER CONSERVATIVE GROUPS *

SHE WILL BE REPLACED BY KEN CORBIN, CURRENTLY DEPUTY DIR OF SUBMISSION PROCESSING IN THE WAGE AND INVESTMENT DIVISION *

A CONGRESSIONAL AIDE SAID LERNER HAS BEEN PLACED ON ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE *

BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA'S NATL COUNCIL VOTES TO EASE LONG-STANDING BAN AND ALLOW OPENLY GAY BOYS TO BE ACCEPTED INTO THE ORG *

MORE THAN 60% OF SCOUT LEADERS VOTED IN FAVOR OF EASING THE BAN AT THEIR ANNUAL MEETING IN TX *

GAY ADULTS REMAIN BARRED FROM SERVING AS SCOUT LEADERS *

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SYRIA’s TORTURE CENTERS!

 

In an effort to suppress opposition against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Syria has been running a network of 27 torture centers, the international Human Rights Watch announced Tuesday in a report.

The report, titled “Torture Archipelago,” is based upon interviews and testimonies from former detainees since March 2011, the group said.

“The intelligence agencies are running an archipelago of torture centers scattered across the country,” Ole Solvang, emergencies researcher at the Human Rights Watch, said in a press release.

The report identifies generals running the torture centers, found in cities including Damascus, Idlib, Homs and Aleppo.

Detainees said the Syrian government carried out more than 20 types of torture, which included pulling out fingernails, being burned with acid, electrocution, mock execution, and threats of rape and death directed at family members.

Victims mentioned in the report were primarily males between 18 and 35 years old, but also included women, children and the elderly.

“They forced me to undress. Then they started squeezing my fingers with pliers. They put staples in my fingers, chest and ears,” a 31-year-old victim said. “I was only allowed to take them out if I spoke.”

One form of torture, called “Shabeh,” involved hanging a victim from a ceiling by their wrists.

“After a few days of hanging, being denied sleep, it felt like my brain stopped working,” Elias, a detainee, described in the report. “I was imagining things. My feet got swollen on the third day. I felt pain that I have never felt in my entire life. I screamed that I needed to go to a hospital, but the guards just laughed at me.”

Another victim said after the hanging his hands were “red like blood.”

In another form of torture, called “Dulab,” victims said they were folded at the waist and had their head and legs put inside a car tire. The victims were then subjected to beatings by security forces using batons and whips while they were unable to protect themselves.

The Human Rights Watch is asking the United Nations Security Council to have the International Criminal Court enact sanctions against those behind the abuses. It urged Syria to release all detainees and suspend security force members suspected of human rights violations, pending investigations.

The group also called for Syria to increase access for foreign journalists, human rights organizations, and humanitarian missions, and allow international detention monitors to view the torture facilities.

[the above from FoxNews.com]

 









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