Israelis detain camel for ‘infiltrating military zone’

Israeli security forces have detained a camel alleged to have “infiltrated” a “military zone” near Bethlehem, taking the level of arbitrary arrests and harassment of young Palestinians to a new low.

The head of Rashaida village council, Fawaz Rashaydeh, told Quds news agency that Israeli soldiers arrested the camel belonging to Moslim Younis Rashaydeh and took it to the Ma’ale Adumim settlement near Bethany. The soldiers arrested the camel’s owner at the same time and forced him to pay a fine of 2,000 shekels for the return of the animal and an additional 600 shekels as a “transfer fee”. Rashaydeh accused the Israelis of acting with intent to drive Palestinians from their land to the east of Bethlehem.

According to Mr Rashaydeh, this is not the first time that the occupation forces have confiscated and detained livestock belonging to local citizens. “Over the past few years Israel has confiscated several herds of cattle belonging to Palestinian farmers from the village,” he said.

The village head appealed to the relevant authorities and institutions to intervene and stop Israeli violations against Palestinians and protect their livestock. The farmers face the loss of their livelihood due to the Israelis taking ever more of their pastures as well as their animals.

Source: Al Quds

Hitler died at 95 in South America?

BRASILIA: Adolf Hitler died at the age of 95 in 1984 in a small town near Brazil’s border after having escaped his Berlin hideout, says a new book.

The book contains a photo that allegedly proves this theory challenging the official story that says that Hitler died after losing World War II and shooting himself in a Berlin bunker in 1945, reported Al Arabiya News quoting a story in UK’s Daily Mail. Simoni Renee Guerreiro Dias, the author of “Hitler in Brazil — His Life and His Death,” has written on her belief that the Fuhrer fled to Argentina and then Paraguay before settling in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso to hunt for buried treasure with the help of a map given to him by Vatican allies.

Simoni is a Brazilian who comes from Cuiaba. The author also claims that Hitler “may have lived as Adolf Leipzig in the small town of Nossa Senhora do Livramento, 30 miles from the state capital Cuiaba.”

She is now planning to use DNA tests using a relative of Hitler living in Israel, after been given permission to exhume Adolf Leipzig’s remains from his alleged final resting place in Nossa Senhora do Livramento

29 killed, dozens injured in Egypt clashes

The Egyptian Health Ministry says at least 29 people have been killed and dozens injured in the country during clashes between security forces, opponents and supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi.

On Saturday, tens of thousands of Muslim Brotherhood activists and their supporters staged nationwide demonstrations to mark the anniversary of the 2011 revolution that toppled former dictator Hosni Mubarak.

The demonstrators demanded Morsi’s reinstatement and called for the release of Brotherhood activists arrested by police. They also chanted slogans against army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Clashes between protesters and security forces broke out in several cities. Police used violent force against demonstrators. A number of pro-coup protesters also attacked Morsi’s supporters with stones as well as bullets.

The deaths were reported in the cities of Cairo, Alexandria, Giza and Minya. Most of the fatalities occurred in the capital and its suburbs.

At least 300 protesters were reportedly arrested across the nation.

Egypt has been experiencing unrelenting violence since July 3, when the army toppled Morsi’s government, suspended the constitution, and dissolved the parliament. It also appointed the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court, Adly Mahmoud Mansour, as the new interim president.

The interim government has launched a bloody crackdown on Morsi’s supporters and arrested thousands of Brotherhood members, including the party’s senior leaders.

Egyptian universities have also been the scene of violent clashes, with students calling for the reinstatement of Morsi and demanding an end to the crackdown on Brotherhood supporters.

On December 25, the military-appointed government listed the movement as a “terrorist” organization over alleged involvement in a deadly bombing, without investigating or providing any evidence.

On Wednesday, Amnesty International criticized Egyptian authorities for using an “unprecedented scale” of violence against protesters and dealing “a series of damaging blows to human rights.”

According to the UK-based rights group, 1,400 people have been killed in the political violence since Morsi’s ouster, “most of them due to excessive force used by security forces.”

GJH/NN/AS

Netanyahu says Israel not to remove illegal settlements

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Tel Aviv will not remove a single settlement in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Netanyahu made the remark on Friday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

The Israeli Prime Minister also stated that he will not “evacuate any settlements or uproot a single Israeli.”

He further emphasized that any ideas to advance the so-called peace talks with Palestinians are just proposals.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State John Kerry has claimed a frame agreement between the two sides is closer than ever.

Acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas earlier said the so-called peace talks are based on a full withdrawal from the territories Israel captured in 1967.

Israel’s illegal settlement expansion in the occupied Palestinian lands is one of the sticking points in the talks, which resumed in July 2013.

The Palestinians want East al-Quds (Jerusalem) as their capital and that Israel should recognize borders based on the 1967 lines which existed before the Six-Day War, when Israel captured the West Bank and East al-Quds.

Tel Aviv, however, has refused to return to the 1967 borders and is unwilling to discuss the issue of al-Quds. It also wants to keep settlements it has constructed inside the occupied Palestinian territories.

Israel also wants to keep its military presence in the Jordan Valley under any deal, but the Palestinians say an international force should be stationed there to guarantee security.

SAB/AB/SS

Over 1,000 anti-coup protestors arrested in Egypt

As many as 1,079 supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi were arrested over charges of rioting and attempted violence, the country’s interior ministry said in a statement early Sunday.

Some of the rioters possessed machine guns and Molotov cocktails, the statement said, Xinhua reported.

The arrests came during Saturday’s mass celebrations on the third anniversary of Jan 25 uprising that toppled the regime of then president Hosni Mubarak.

The statement said that Morsi’s supporters, mostly from the Muslim Brotherhood and their affiliates, attempted to ruin the celebrations “by staging marches to block traffic, shouting hostile slogans and inciting riots”.

On Saturday, at least 29 people were killed and around 170 others were injured during clashes between security forces and pro-Morsi protestors as well as some anti-government activists.

Similar clashes Friday left 15 people dead and several others injured.

5 Egyptian diplomats kidnapped in Libya in 24 hrs

Militants have kidnapped four more Egyptian diplomats in the Libyan capital of Tripoli hours after gunmen captured an Egyptian official in the city.

Egypt’s cultural attaché and three other embassy staff were abducted on Saturday and its administrative attaché on Friday evening, forcing Cairo to evacuate its embassy in Tripoli and consulate in Benghazi.

The Libyan government said that the Egyptian officials were kidnapped in retaliation for the arrest of a Libyan militia commander by Egyptian authorities.

On Friday, Libya’s state news agency reported that Egyptian authorities had arrested Shaaban Hadiya, the commander of the Operations Room for Libya Revolutionaries. The group was accused of briefly abducting Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan in October last year.

Libyan Justice Minister Salah al-Marghani said the government had established contacts with the kidnappers to free the diplomats.

“We condemn and reject what has happened here as a reaction,” he stated.

“Those who are detaining the Egyptian diplomats committed a huge mistake, for themselves and for Libya,” Marghani added.

Libyans rose up against former dictator Muammar Gaddafi’s four-decade rule in February 2011 and deposed him in August 2011. He was slain on October 20 of the same year.

Since 2011, Benghazi has been the scene of numerous attacks and political assassinations amidst increasing power struggle among several militias who fought against Gaddafi during the uprising.

The former rebels refuse to lay down their arms despite efforts by the central government to impose law and order.

Over the past few months, Tripoli and its suburbs have been hit by violent clashes between rival militias.

In an interview with Press TV in October last year, political commentator Johnny Miller said that Libya is on the verge of becoming a failed state.

Libya “really is close to being a failed state. I mean you have the situation where the government is very, very weak. You have the streets ruled by militias, affiliated with the government, but also acting unilaterally by themselves,” he said.

GJH/NN/AS

Teessiders turn out for charity match in memory of Boro star Stuart Parnaby's daughter

26 Jan 2014 20:15

Fundraiser Barry John-Hall organised a charity football match in memory of Poppy Parnaby and raise funds for the 4Louis charity

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4Louis charity match

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Kindhearted Teessiders pulled on their football boots for a charity match in memory of Boro star Stuart Parnaby’s daughter.

Stuart and his wife Paula were expecting their first child earlier this month, but, after 36 weeks, doctors were unable to detect a heartbeat and Poppy Isabella Elizabeth Parnaby was born three days later weighing 5lbs 13.5oz.

On hearing the news football fan and fundraiser Barry John-Hall, 19, organised a charity football match in Poppy’s memory.

The event in aid of 4Louis – a trust which raises funds to help supply memory boxes to bereaved parents – was held at Acklam Green Centre yesterday.

Stuart and Paula went along to watch the 10-a-side match which saw Thornaby United beat Athletics 4-1.

Stuart, who was joined on the told the sidelines by Boro mates Rhys Williams and Ben Gibson, told the Gazette: “Barry got in touch and said he wanted to organise the game.

“It’s unbelievable because I don’t even know him. For him to do this shows what a really nice lad he is.

“It’s been hard for us but the help we’ve had from everyone, fans and friends and family has helped.”

Stuart’s dad David, the Middlesbrough FC Academy manager said: “I think a lot of credit should go to the people involved in this match.

“They obviously love football but it’s great they’re doing this for charity. We are so grateful for all the help.”

Boro fan Barry, who has previously organised charity matches in aid of Age UK, Corey’s Smile and Zoe’s Place, said he wanted to do something after hearing the Parnabys sad news.

The event, which kicked off at 2pm, raised £150 just from the players.

Barry, who studies IT at Stockton Riverside College and plays midfield for Thornaby United, said: “The match went well.

“I’m really pleased with how much we collected. I didn’t expect to raise that much.

“We decided to do charity matches as we were going to play anyway so we thought we might as well do it for a reason.”

The charity 4Louis provides memory boxes contains a clay impression kit for hand and feet imprints, teddy bears and an Angel, which signifies a born sleeping baby, for parents who suffer the trauma of stillbirth or neonatal death Each box

To make a donation to Barry’s fundraising effort, visit http://ift.tt/MgDuRl or text TUFC90 with the amount to 70070.

'It took me back to the old days': Middlesbrough mayor Ray Mallon tackles suspected jewellery thief in Edinburgh

26 Jan 2014 19:53

The mayor wrestled the suspected crook to the ground and held him in a headlock in the centre of the Scottish capital

Middlesbrough Mayor Ray Mallon

Robocop Ray Mallon has foiled a suspected jewellery heist by tackling a man who allegedly stole two watches - valued at more than £17,000 -

as he fled a high-end store.

The Middlesbrough mayor wrestled the suspected crook to the ground and held him in a headlock until police arrived.

The drama unfolded on Saturday while Mr Mallon, a former senior officer at Cleveland Police , was enjoying some window shopping in Edinburgh.

The 58-year-old responded after a thief swooped on Laing Boutique, in Frederick Street, in the centre of the Scottish capital.

He said: “I was looking at some watches in the window of a jeweller’s shop when I noticed a commotion inside. Suddenly a man came sprinting out the door with two assistants chasing after him.

“What happened next was instinctive, it took me back to the old days.

“I stepped across the man and we grabbed hold of each other and wrestled for a few seconds. I managed to get him in a headlock and we

ended up on the ground.”

He added that two female shop assistants deserved “a lot of praise” as they “showed great courage” throughout the incident.

Mr Mallon said: “The man was shouting and trying to get away but they did a great job helping me to restrain him until police arrived and took him into custody.”

It is not the first time that Mr Mallon - nicknamed RoboCop for his tough stance on crime after being promoted Detective Superintendent in 1996 - has sprung into action after a suspected crime has taken place.

In 2011 he made a citizens arrest and held onto a suspect until police arrived, after eggs were pelted at MP Sir Stuart Bell at a Remembrance Day parade.

Mr Mallon, who resigned from the police after pleading guilty to 14 charges of misconduct - though he maintains his innocence - announced last year, that after three successive election victories he will not be standing again.

A spokesman for Police Scotland said: “A 23-year-old man was arrested on Frederick Street, Edinburgh on Saturday afternoon by officers who responded to an alarm call from a city centre jewellers after an alleged theft of two watches worth more than £17,000.

“On arrival we found the accused had been detained by a member of the public who saw him running out of the shop and tackled him to the ground.

The man is expected to appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court today in connection with the incident.

A spokeswoman for Laing Edinburgh said: “There was an attempted theft at the Frederick Street store late afternoon. It is a police matter and currently being investigated.”