Two mass shootings in two days, little Serbia in shock - 19 dead, 21 injured

..

If this was Chicago it would be easier to believe, but it's Serbia, a small, landlocked country in the middle of Europe with only 7 million people. A Christian country - 85% Eastern Orthodox, 5% Catholic. A beautiful country with memories of horrible violence and human rights abuses. A country with one of the most weaponized populations on the planet, but for how long?

2 mass shootings in 2 days plunge Serbia into shock, dismay

By JOVANA GEC and DUSAN STOJANOVIC

Woman comforts a child after signing the book of condolences in front of Vladimir Ribnikar school, two days after a 13-year-old boy used his father's guns to kill eight fellow students and a guard in Belgrade, Serbia, Friday, May 5, 2023. The bloodshed sent shockwaves through a Balkan nation scarred by wars, but unused to mass murders. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — The first shooting left Serbia weeping. The second set off waves of soul-searching in a deeply divided nation, awash in weaponry, where war criminals are glorified and memories run deep of years of civil war.

Two mass killings in two days. Nineteen people dead and 21 injured.

“We walked around like zombies for 24 hours, not believing what has happened and looking for reasons,” President Aleksandar Vucic, a populist authoritarian who began his political career as a far-right Serbian nationalist during the Yugoslav civil wars, said Friday in a nationwide TV address.

The last mass shooting was 10 years ago (It's obviously not Chicago)

The back-to-back bloodshed sent shockwaves through a Balkan nation scarred by wars, but unused to mass murders. Though Serbia is full of weapons left over from the conflicts of the 1990s, the last mass shooting before this week was in 2013, when a war veteran killed 13 people in a central Serbian village.

In Thursday’s attack, a gunman apparently firing at random killed eight people and wounded 14 in two Serbian villages, authorities said, shaking a nation still in the throes of grief over another mass shooting a day earlier. Police arrested a suspect Friday after an all-night search.

Vucic called the shootings an attack on the whole nation — and said the person arrested wore a T-shirt bearing a pro-Nazi slogan although he did not shed light on a motive.

The slayings came a day after a 13-year-old boy used his father’s guns to kill eight fellow students and a guard at a school in Belgrade, the capital.

Public figures, politicians and experts appeared successively on TV Friday, desperately trying to explain the tragedies.

“This is a moment when a nation decides whether it will go along a healing path,” actor Srdjan Timarov said on N1 television. “The only other way is to declare capitulation.”

As a nationwide period of mourning began, TV screens were filled with people wearing black and music was banned from the airwaves as well as in cafes and restaurants. People lined up in Belgrade to donate blood, responding to an appeal for supplies needed to treat the wounded.

The assailant in Thursday’s attack shot people in two villages near Mladenovac, a municipality located about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of the capital, police said. Vucic said the gunman targeted people “wherever they were.”

In the village of Dubona, blood stained a schoolyard where some of the shots were fired and also the ground near a bench where residents often sit to share a beer and chat.

“I heard some tak-tak-tak sounds,” recalled Milan Prokic, a Dubona resident. Prokic said he first thought people were shooting to celebrate a birth, as is tradition in Serbia.

“But it wasn’t that. Shame, great shame,” Prokic added.

Police said a suspect, identified by the initials U.B., was arrested in Vinjiste, a village 150 kilometers (90 miles) south of Belgrade. Officers searching a relative’s home found a large stash of illegal weapons and ammunition, state broadcaster RTS reported.

Authorities released a photo showing a young man in a police car in a blue T-shirt with the slogan “Generation 88” on it. The double eights are often used as shorthand for “Heil Hitler” since H is the eighth letter of the alphabet.

Vucic said the suspect repeated the word “disparagement” but it wasn’t clear what he meant.

The president vowed in an address to the nation that the suspect “will never again see the light of the day.” He referred to the attack as an act of terror and announced tougher gun-control measures, in addition to those proposed by the government a day earlier.

He called for a moratorium on new licenses for all weapons in the next two years, a review of all current licenses, longer prison sentences for those who break the rules and “fierce” punishment for anyone caught with illegal weapons. But first, police will offer an amnesty to encourage people to hand over illegal guns — an action that has had limited success in the past.

“We will disarm Serbia,” Vucic promised, saying the government would outline the new rules later Friday.

Good luck with that. I don't think people are going to be very willing to give up their guns now.

Health Minister Danica Grujicic said the wounded included a teenage girl who was hit in the head and another teen who had to have a kidney removed.

“We haven’t seen this since the 1990s (war era),” the minister said. “They are stable for now, but you can never tell for sure with gunshot wounds.”

While the Serbian government sought to crack down on guns and police raced to investigate the fresh violence, the nation started to ask what social factors may have contributed to the mass shootings. Serbia has one of the highest number of firearms per capita in the world, and guns are frequently fired into the air to mark special occasions.

Experts have repeatedly warned of the danger posed by those weapons coupled with decades of instability stemming from the conflicts of the 1990s, as well as ongoing economic hardship. Belgrade University psychology professor Dragan Popadic pointed to the violence coursing through society, including harassment of political opponents by ruling populists and aggressive sports hooligans.

“People suddenly have been shaken into reality and the ocean of violence that we live in, how it has grown over time and how much our society has been neglected for decades,” Popadic said after the first shooting. “It is as if flashlights have been lit over our lives and we can no longer just mind our own business.”

Opposition parties called for a march against violence on Monday, urged the government to control media content and demanded the resignations of three ministers.

“Serbia is not a powder keg. Serbia has exploded,” said Marinika Tepic, the vice president of an opposition party.

Before the second shooting, Serbia spent much of Thursday reeling. Students, many wearing black and carrying flowers, filled streets around the school in central Belgrade as they paid silent homage to slain peers. Serbian teachers’ unions announced protests and strikes to warn about a crisis in the school system and demand changes.

The school attack also left seven people hospitalized, six children and a teacher. One girl who was shot in the head remains in life-threatening condition, and a boy is in serious condition with spinal injuries, Grujicic said Friday.

Authorities have said the suspected shooter, Kosta Kecmanovic, is too young to be charged and tried. He has been placed in a mental hospital, and his father has been detained on suspicion of endangering public security.

___

Associated Press journalist Sabina Niksic in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, contributed to this report.

470 People ‘Die of Grief’ in Wake of Indian Politician’s Death – Party Claims

In the "Whaaaat?" category...

People pay homage to the body of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa Jayaraman, who died on Monday, in Chennai, India, December 6, 2016. © Adnan Abidi / Reuters

Nearly 500 people have died because they were “unable to bear the death” of one of India’s most powerful politicians, Jayalalithaa, her party said. However many people are questioning the claim

Thousands mourn death of leader from

India's 3rd-largest party

Jayalalithaa Jayaram, commonly referred to as Jayalalithaa or Amma (mother), passed away at the age of 68 on December 5 after more than two months in hospital. She served five terms as the Chief Minister of the state of Tamil Nadu between 1991 and 2016.

A former actress who starred in around 140 films, Jayalalithaa was a Tamil cultural icon whose life was more unbelievable than even the most dramatic screenplay.

She was brought into politics by former Tamil movie star and state chief minister, MG Ramachandran.

In 2000 she was convicted of embezzlement and monetary fraud and had to spent time in jail. She was elected the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for the third time in the 2011.

On Sunday, AIADMK said that 470 people died due to the shock and grief of her passing.

"[In] total 470 people died, unable to bear the death of Puratchi Thalaivi Amma, Rs 3 lakh ($4445.44) aid will be given to each family,” the party tweeted.

3 lakh is a lot of money in India. I think I might have lost a family member or two also.

The tweet garnered a huge number of sarcastic responses as numerous people took to social media to express skepticism about the number of people supposedly dying because of overwhelming grief.

"People don't die of shock over their own mother's death but here we are told 280 died of shock over Jayalalithaa's demise. Too much to believe," Anshul Saxena said.

Especially when she's been dying for two months. Seriously!

Many more questioned where the money would be coming from to pay the families and labeled the idea a scam.

The party previously said it would be pay the medical expenses of a man who attempted to kill himself when news of her illness was released. The bill is reportedly Rs 50,000 ($741). They also said they would be paying a similar amount to a man who chopped his finger off when she died.

Strangely that wasn’t the first time someone chopped off a finger for Jayalalithaa. In 2003 a man made one of his an offering at a Hindu temple so that she would live a long life.

How did that work out?

Not sure how to critique this, but it's certainly apparent that Muslims are not the only people prone to hysteria. But I suspect, as many Tweeters do, that this is one big scam. Poverty causes people to do some pretty desperate things; pretending you're dead for a big check is not so far fetched.

Instead of honouring her, they make a mockery of her.

The Agony and Strength of Mothers of Sick Children

Katie's Dream for a Cure

Katie's Dream for a Cure feeling frustrated at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford.
19 November at 12:14 ·

Katie Grace has been intibated for 2 months now.

Katie Grace's mom:
So stinking super frustrated and upset with our team today. Katie Grace finally got to a point they are willing to extibate her yet after 2 month of living like this they don't feel it's emergency to get this gosh darn tube out. Average length of time for intubation is 14 days. Hello people. Why make her suffer and possibly cause more damage We were supposed to do it this week now "maybe " next week

Katie has already endured a lung transplant that was supposed to
cure her PH. It didn't.

Katie's Dream for a Cure feeling hopeful at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford.

15 November at 23:43 · Palo Alto, CA, United States · 

So I was asked this week if I thought what we are doing is what she would want? Katie Grace is by far one of the strongest fighters I know. I am not sure what will happen here. I know my prayers are for a true miracle. Today they had to place another chest tube. 😢. 

Yes she has been doing better but 2 steps forward 1 step back. But tonight Katie Grace surprised us all when she did this while listening to last year's cvchs (high school) doing "Everything is Awesome " always able to find her joy

Progress is measured in small steps

Concord, CA, United States · Edited · 
For all Mothers of children with PH:

"When children come face to face with the Goliath's of disease — cancer, heart defects, cystic fibrosis, brain injuries and many more — it’s their mothers who gather the stones that this child will use to fight the fearsome foe. We often revere the doctors who take care of these little ones, and it’s true, they are heroes. They make the stones so that we have weapons with which to go into battle. But often, there is a forgotten hero: the mother who gathers each and every stone, places it into tiny hands and stands by while her baby takes his best shot.

Mothers who take care of children with serious diseases don’t have the same luxuries that the rest of us have. Every parent carries the nagging fears: What if something happens to my child? Will I be able to give my child all the things they need to help them live a happy, healthy life? How can I help them realize their full potential? And perhaps it all comes back to this question: Am I enough? Am I enough to give my child what she needs?

But, for mothers whose children are healthy, we can put those fears on the back burner. We don’t often have to look that scary monster in the eye and face the reality. We can hide our heads under the covers and pretend that as long as we can’t see the monster, he can’t come and get us. For mothers who are battling a child’s illness, that’s a luxury they cannot afford. They are forced to face the monster head on, and their monsters look like this:

* Explaining to a child why they must face yet another surgery that will bring incredible pain.
*Holding frail little hands as they vomit and lose their hair and cry from the pain and frustration of chemo and explaining why the medicine seems so much worse than the disease.
*Navigating the fine line between protecting the health of your medically fragile child and allowing them freedom to experience the joys of childhood.
*Grieving the loss of the child you envisioned yours would be and coming to accept the reality of the one you have.
*Managing the guilt that you carry for so much of your time and energy being focused on your sick child, knowing that your well children need you, too.
*Talking to your child about the reality of death, knowing that you would trade places with them in a second if you could. But instead, you’re faced with the heart-wrenching task of letting them go on before you.

These are just some of the burdens that the mothers of sick children carry. They carry them around every single day, and the weight is heavier than you and I can possibly know. What is astonishing, though, about this thing called motherhood is that somehow, someway there is still incredible joy. Their pain is deep, but their joy runs deep, too.

They are faced with the harsh, unfair realities so they’ve been forced to clarify what is truly important to them. They know that the most precious parts of their lives may not be around forever, so they’ll appreciate every moment. Their child’s illness has given them a higher calling, a purpose in life that is beyond any desire they’ve ever had. They know exactly what they’re fighting for.

For the rest of us who look at these mothers and think, “I don’t know how she does it,” know this: It’s not their abilities that are superhuman, it’s their love. It is this intense love for their child that pushes them out of bed every morning and forces them to keep going, no matter what odds are stacked against them.

Look around at the mothers who are fighting for the lives and well-being of their children. Let them know you recognize that you can’t possibly understand what it’s like to walk in their shoes, but you know enough to appreciate every single step they take. Share in their hopes, their joys, their triumphs and their disappointments. Listen and learn: Their hard-won wisdom will take you far.

But most of all, love them. Love them well because they have loved others well." by Courtney Schmidt.

Beautifully written, Courtenay. Thank you for sharing. You are my hero today in representing all mothers of PH children and other seriously ill children. God bless you.

Alberto Nisman was Murdered, His Family Says

Alberto Nisman's ex-wife Sandra said her report was available to official investigators

Independent tests show that Argentine special prosecutor Alberto Nisman was murdered, his family says.

At a news conference, Mr Nisman's ex-wife said the findings ruled out theories of accident or suicide.

Mr Nisman was found dead in his home on 18 January, hours before he was due to testify in Congress against President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

He was probing Argentina's deadliest terrorist attack, the 1994 bombing of a Buenos Aires Jewish centre.

Sandra Arroyo Salgado, Mr Nisman's ex-wife, said a team of experts had made their conclusions based on reports from a post-mortem examination and existing forensic evidence.

Ms Arroyo Salgado, a federal judge, added that her report was at "the disposal of the prosecutor and judge" involved with the official investigation into Mr Nisman's death.

Despite telling journalists the report's conclusions, Ms Arroyo Salgado has not released the full details of the document.

Alberto Nisman, 29 May 2013

What the family report concludes:

Alberto Nisman claimed President Fernandez knew who was behind the bombing
There were no spasms in Mr Nisman's right hand, suggesting he had not shot himself
Additionally, no gunpowder residue was found on his hands
The prosecutor had been shot in the back of the head
Mr Nisman's body had been moved to the bathroom once he was shot
Claims that the prosecutor was drunk are false.

After presenting the report, Ms Arroyo Salgado expressed her disappointment that family members at the scene were not allowed to participate in Mr Nisman's autopsy, despite having the right to do so.

However, she said Mr Nisman's family had decided against conducting a second autopsy.

Following the press conference Viviana Fein, who is leading the investigation into Mr Nisman's death, told Argentina's Radio Nacional that she would consider Ms Arroyo Salgado's report.

Ms Fein told the station: "Up until now ... there has been nothing which allows me to say categorically whether this was a suicide or homicide. Nothing."

One of the experts who helped compile the report was Daniel Salcedo, a former Buenos Aires police chief. He was assisted by a forensic expert and forensic pathologist.


Analysis: Ignacio de los Reyes, BBC News, Buenos Aires

These new revelations are likely to add even more pressure to the investigation of the most controversial case in Argentina's recent history. They thrust the prosecutor in charge of the investigation, Viviana Fein, into the spotlight.

For weeks she has faced criticism for refusing to say if Alberto Nisman was killed or took his own life, only describing the case as a mysterious death.

But for Mr Nisman's ex-wife there is only one mystery to be solved: who killed him? From the beginning of the investigation, Sandra Arroyo Salgado distrusted the way the first tests were carried out and appointed her own team of analysts.

Among other shocking revelations in her report, she says Mr Nisman died in agony and alleges that his body was moved after he died.

The nation's eyes are now on the Argentine justice system, which is facing some of its toughest tests ever. It is expected to solve the death of the man who created a political earthquake, and to decide whether to investigate the accusations made against the president and some of her highest ranking officials.

Police and rescuers in the wreckage of the Amia building in Buenos Aires
The 1994 attack was the worst act of terror in Argentina's history

Ms Arroyo Salgado's announcement comes a day after an Argentine prosecutor appealed against a judge's decision last week to throw out Mr Nisman's case against President Fernandez.

In a 350-page report, Mr Nisman had suggested Ms Fernandez covered up the alleged involvement of senior Iranian officials in the 1994 bombing of the Jewish centre.

Ms Fernandez has always rejected the allegations, claiming Mr Nisman was fed misleading information by a rogue intelligence agent trying to discredit her government.

Eighty-five people died in the car bomb attack, which completely destroyed the seven-storey Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (Amia) cultural centre in the capital Buenos Aires.

Hundreds of Thousands Rally in Argentina Over the Death of Alberto Nisman

Plazo de Mayo, Buenos Aires where the presidential palace is located

Hundreds of thousands of people have taken part in a march in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, to mark one month since the death of prosecutor Alberto Nisman.

The protest was called by federal prosecutors and attended by Mr Nisman's family and opposition politicians.

They defied torrential rain to demand justice for Mr Nisman, who had been investigating the government.

The prosecutor was found dead in his apartment on 18 January.

It is still not clear whether he killed himself or was murdered.

Mr Nisman was investigating Argentina's deadliest terrorist attack, the 1994 bombing of the Amia Jewish centre.

The silent march was called by prosecutors demanding a full investigation.

Mr Nisman's ex-wife, federal judge Sandra Arroyo Salgado, and their two daughters joined the demonstration, which lasted nearly two hours.

Similar protests took place across the country.

Murdered prosecutor Alberto Nisman

Argentines living in Spain, France, Israel and other countries also gathered to demand justice for Mr Nisman.

Officials have denounced the march as a political move to weaken the government.

Mr Nisman was found with a bullet wound to the head and a gun was lying next to him.

Days earlier, he had published a 300-page report in which he accused President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and Foreign Minister Hector Timerman of covering up Iran's alleged role in the bombing.

President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner

His body was found just hours before he was due to appear before a congressional committee to present more details of his allegations.

News of his death and its timing led to speculation among some Argentines that the government may have played a role in it.

The government has strongly denied both allegations.

'Rogue agents'
In an open letter published on her website, President Fernandez suggested rogue intelligence agents had fed Mr Nisman false information in order to destabilise her government.

She also said she was convinced Mr Nisman's death was not suicide.

Days later, she announced she planned to dissolve Argentina's intelligence service, SI.

Critics said the move was aimed at diverting attention away from Mr Nisman's death.

In fact, it was a good move by the much beleaguered, but always elegant President. If rogue elements had been involved in planting false information, or even in the death of Mr Nisman, then they had to be cut down. 

On the other hand, if they had been acting on behalf of the President (whether she knew it or not), and murdered Nisman, they did such an amateur job of it, they deserved to be fired. I would think a country the size of Argentina would have a secret service capable of doing a better job of murdering someone.

Earlier, President Fernandez and her cabinet attended an unrelated event at the Atucha power plant, in the city of Zarate, 90km (55 miles) north of the capital.

Ms Fernandez said she would not bow to internal or external pressure and would remain in office until December, when her term ends.

"This government will not allow anyone else to impose their rules on us," she said in a speech that was broadcast on national television.

Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner May Face Argentina Bomb Probe

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner

An Argentine prosecutor has asked a federal judge to investigate President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner over allegations she helped cover up Iranian links to a deadly 1994 bombing.

Prosecutor Gerardo Pollicita inherited the case from Alberto Nisman, who was found dead in mysterious circumstances.

The president denies the allegations, with the government calling the probe an "anti-democratic attack".

The attack on a Jewish centre killed 85 people. Iran denies being involved.

The latest prosecutor's move means the judge will have to decide whether to authorise new investigations to prove the president's alleged involvement.

In this July 18, 1994 file photo, (right) firefighters and rescue workers search through the rubble of the Argentine-Israeli Mutual Association community center, after a car bomb rocked the building in downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina
The investigation looks at the 1994 bombing of a Jewish centre in Buenos Aires

If the prosecutor and the judge agree that there are enough elements to prove Ms Fernandez committed a crime, she could face prosecution and be charged.

Analysis: Ignacio de los Reyes, BBC News, Argentina

Although this was an expected move, it could not have come at a worse time for the Argentine president.

Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner was already facing criticism for the way she has been managing the Nisman case, which has become the worst crisis of her political career so far.

Now she will also face pressure from the judiciary, which is demanding an unprecedented investigation into a sitting president - one that could end up with an impeachment-like process if she is found guilty.

Meanwhile, prosecutors are calling for a massive protest on the streets of Buenos Aires next week in what is expected to become the largest anti-government march in recent years.

Opposition leaders, unions and even the Catholic Church are joining calls for a fair and independent investigation into a death that has shocked this nation.

Alberto Nisman

Before his death, Mr Nisman had published a report on the attack on the Amia Jewish centre.

He alleged that the president and others had conspired to protect Iranian suspects in the bombing case in exchange for favourable deals on oil and other goods.

Mr Nisman was found shot in the head in January, hours before he was due to give evidence to a congressional committee.

The president suggested he may have been manipulated into killing himself by rogue security agents in an attempt to discredit her.

A document written by Mr Nisman's successor said there was enough evidence to go ahead with the case.

"An investigation will be initiated with an eye toward substantiating... the accusations and whether those responsible can be held criminally responsible," Mr Pollicita wrote.

President Fernandez's cabinet chief, Jorge Capitanich, accused the courts of trying to stage a "judicial coup" by pursuing the investigation.

Anibal Fernandez, a spokesman for the presidency, said moving the case forward was a "clear manoeuvre to destabilise democracy''.

A team of police investigators arrive at Le Parc Tower where the late prosecutor
Alberto Nisman was found dead

Timeline
January 14: Nisman files a 300-page report accusing President Fernandez of colluding to shield Iranian suspects.
January 18: Nisman is found dead at his apartment
January 22: President Fernandez says she is not convinced his death was suicide
January 27: The president announces she is disbanding Argentina's intelligence agency following the death
February 10: Experts find DNA from an unidentified person in Nisman's apartment
February 13: Prosecutors say they are pursuing Nisman's claims

Two Murdered Boys - A Palestinian and an Israeli - The Profound Consequences

The stories referred to in the title are the stories of two of the boys who were murdered by evil men. Their deaths provoked last summer's Israeli - Hamas war that left thousands dead, many innocent women and children.

I've heard it and read, even here, that the Israelis were looking for an excuse to bomb Gaza, and, at first, I rejected that notion, but then realized that the IDF was indeed probably quite anxious to get into Gaza and destroy the myriad of tunnels Hamas had built with the intention of causing terror in Israel. The murder of the three Jewish boys and the incessant pounding of rockets from Gaza was all the excuse they needed.

I suggest you get a cup of coffee or tea and enjoy this brilliantly presented, completely unbiased report. While reading it you might want to compare the long-term reactions of the parents of the murdered children.

Mohammed Abu Khdeir

Naftali Fraenkel, Gilad Shaar, Eyal Yifrach

Read their beautifully presented stories here.

Jewish Centre Bombing: Argentine Prosecutor Nisman Found Dead

A weapon was found next to Mr Nisman's body,
but the circumstances surrounding his death remain a mystery

An Argentine federal prosecutor who accused President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner last week of a cover-up has been found shot dead at his home in the capital, Buenos Aires.

Alberto Nisman was investigating the 1994 bombing of a Jewish centre in Buenos Aires in which 85 people died.

On Wednesday, he accused the president of involvement in a plot to cover up Iran's alleged role in the bombing.

The president's spokesman dismissed the allegations as "ridiculous".

'No burglary'
Mr Nisman, 51, was found dead by his mother in the bathroom of his home.

Investigating prosecutor Viviane Fein said he had been shot once. She said an autopsy was under way and its results would be made public later on Monday.

Ms Fein ruled out burglary as a motive. "It [the apartment] was in perfect condition, there was no mess, nothing was missing," she said.

She also said that no suicide note had been found in the flat.

Forensic scientists of the Argentine Federal Police arriving at the flat where
Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman, 51, was found dead on 19 January, 2015

Earlier, the Security Ministry released a statement saying that Mr Nisman's bodyguards had raised the alarm after he failed to answer their phone calls on Sunday.

Really? Bodyguards phoning him? Shouldn't they be close enough to talk to him without phones?

Concerned about his welfare, they fetched Mr Nisman's mother and tried to enter his apartment, the statement said.

They found the door locked from the inside with a key still stuck inside.

After a locksmith gained access, they found Mr Nisman's body in the bathroom.

According to the statement, a gun and a cartridge shell were found next to his body.

Key hearing
Mr Nisman was due to give evidence at a congressional committee hearing on Monday to outline his accusations against President Fernandez and other officials.

He had published a 300-page report on Wednesday alleging that the president and Foreign Minister Hector Timerman had opened a secret back channel to Iranians suspected of involvement in the bombing of the community centre.

18 July 1994 - rescue workers searching
the rubble of the Argentine-Israeli Mutual
Association community centre after a
car bomb exploded.
85 people died in the bombing

Mr Nisman alleged that the scheme was intended to clear the Iranian suspects in order to facilitate a trade deal between Iran and Argentina.

He said that he had issued a request that a judge question the president and the foreign minister "for being authors and accomplices of an aggravated cover-up and obstruction of justice regarding the Iranians accused of the Amia [Israeli-Argentine Mutual Association] terrorist attack".

The car bombing of the seven-storey building was the worst terrorist attack in Argentina's history.

In 2007, Argentine prosecutors accused Iran of planning and financing the attack, and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah of carrying it out.

Iran dismissed the allegations as "baseless".

So far, no-one has been convicted in connection with the Amia attack.

Last July, at events marking the 20th anniversary of the bombing, Pope Francis demanded justice for the victims.

In a recorded video to mark the anniversary, the Pope described the attack as an "act of madness".

Mexico Missing Students: Guerreros Unidos Gang Member Arrested

Relatives of the 43 missing students protest outside the Attorney General's
office in Mexico City. They are calling for an investigation into the role
of the Mexican army in the case

Police in Mexico have arrested a member of a criminal gang accused of killing 43 students in Iguala in September.

Felipe Rodriguez ordered Guerreros Unidos gang members to burn the bodies and clothing of the victims to hide evidence, prosecutors say.

They say the students were detained by police after a protest and handed over to the gang.

The students' disappearance sparked weeks of protests across Mexico against corruption and violence.

Felipe Rodriguez

Felipe Rodriguez - known as "El Cepillo" or "The Brush" - was arrested on Thursday night in the city of Jiutepec, some 90km (55 miles) south of Mexico City.

Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam identified him in November as the gang member who ordered the bodies and clothes of the victims to be burned in a nearby rubbish dump and thrown into a local stream.

'Mayor ordered killings'
"His intent was to destroy all evidence of the murders," said Mr Murillo Karam.

More than 90 people, most of them local police in south-western Guerrero State, have been detained so far in connection with the case.

Maria de los Angeles Pineda (C), wife of former Mayor of Iguala, Jose Luis Abarca
Maria de los Angeles Pineda will be tried with involvement in organised crime

Members of the gang confessed to killing the 43 and burned their bodies after they were told the students belonged to a rival gang.

Alexander Mora's remains were identified by
forensic experts at the University of Innsbruck

But the remains of only one student, Alexander Mora, have been identified so far, after being taken for DNA tests at a forensic centre in Austria.

He was in his first year of studies at the rural teacher training college in Ayotzinapa, a college with a tradition of left-wing political activism.

Empty chairs at the Ayotzinapa teachers school in Guerrero State

Alexander Mora was part of a group of students who travelled to nearby Iguala on 26 September and, as part of a protest, commandeered a number of buses.

On their way back to their college the students were intercepted by police allegedly on the orders of the local mayor, who wanted to prevent them from disrupting a speech his wife was giving at a public event that evening.

Mayor and Maria Pineda in happier times
They were arrested in a Mexico City slum in November

Federal investigators blamed Iguala Mayor Jose Luis Abarca and his wife, Maria de los Angeles Pineda, for ordering local police to hand the students over to members of the Guerreros Unidos gang.

Relatives of the 42 missing students say they will not give up hope of finding them alive until forensic evidence proves they are dead.

They want the authorities to open an investigation into the role of the Mexican army in the disappearance.

Manhunt on for Woman Thought to be Involved in Charlie Hebdo Massacre

A young Frenchwoman of North African origin, she opted to wear an Islamic veil, though she said the pious choice of attire cost her a job as a cashier. She has accused the U.S. of killing innocent Muslims.

Hayat Boumeddiene
She might be a very attractive young woman if she had a soul.
But those eyes are as dead as doornails. Is that what radicalizing
does to a girl?

Never convicted of a crime herself, Hayat Boumeddiene, 26, was being sought Saturday by French police, who think she may have vital information about an Islamic extremist cell that her common law husband, shot dead by police, may have belonged to.

French authorities, though, may be too late in their hunt for the missing widow. Turkish authorities told The Associated Press that she may be in Syria, after landing in their country days ago and vanishing near the Turkish-Syrian border.

In a 2010 interview with French counterterrorism police, a summary of which was obtained by the Associated Press, Boumeddiene characterized herself as an observant Muslim, and her late common law husband Amedy Coulibaly, 32, who worked at the time for Coca-Cola, as somewhat of a party animal.

Coulibaly "is not really very religious," Boumeddiene told police, according to the official judicial documents. "He likes to have a good time (and) all that." Apparently, he changed!

French media described her as one of seven children whose mother died when she was young and whose delivery-man father struggled to keep working while looking after the family.

'We must interrogate her'

The pair wed in July 2009 in an Islamic religious ceremony not recognized by French law. The judicial records say she was known to French internal security services as being very close to Islamic radicals, and an official circular distributed Friday by French police said she should be considered dangerous and potentially armed.

At dusk Friday, Boumeddiene's husband was killed when police stormed the kosher market in eastern Paris where he had taken hostages. French prosecutors said Coulibaly killed four people before police put an end to the ordeal.

French media have released photos purporting to be of a fully-veiled Boumeddiene, posing with a cross-bow, in what they said was a 2010 training session in the mountainous Cantal region.

At virtually the same hour near the Charles de Gaulle airport outside the French capital, two brothers suspected of killing 12 people at the Charlie Hebdo newspaper on Wednesday died in a shootout with police.

Arc de Triomphe

It's Boumeddiene who may have key information about how the attackers were linked, officials said. She and the female companion of one of the Kouachi brothers talked to each other by telephone about 500 times, Francois Molins, the Paris public prosecutor, said Friday.

"We can call this complicity by furnishing of means," Christophe Crepin, spokesman for the UNSA police union, told the AP in an interview. "We must interrogate her so she explains exactly if she did this under influence, if she did it by ideology, if she did it to aid and abet."

For Paris authorities, Coulibaly's widow "is considered an important witness to whom we must ask questions," added Crepin. "Since 2010, she has had a relationship with an individual whose ideology has been expressed in violence, and by the execution of poor people who were just doing their shopping in a supermarket."

Official judicial records show Boumeddiene was asked once by French counterterrorism police about her reaction to attacks committed by al-Qaeda.

"I don't have any opinion," she answered, according to the documents, but added immediately that innocent people were being killed by the Americans and needed to be defended.

The same year she wed, she told police, she began wearing a full-length Islamic veil —a decision, she told her interrogators that led to losing her job.

On Saturday night, a Turkish intelligence official told AP that authorities believe Boumeddiene arrived in Turkey days before the attacks that shook France, and may have crossed the border into Syria.

'She then disappeared'

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a woman by the name of Boumeddiene and who resembled a widely circulated photo of her flew to Istanbul on Jan. 2. Turkish authorities believe she travelled two days later to the Turkish city of Sanliurfa, and "she then disappeared," the intelligence official said.

Two police officers stand guard a day after the terrorist attack
on a kosher market in Paris on Saturday.

Of the two spouses, who lived in Bagneux near Paris, Boumeddiene may have been the more religiously observant, said Coulibaly's one-time lawyer, George Sauveur. His former client, Sauveur said, had at least six prior convictions, including three for armed robbery, before he was assigned to defend him in 2011 in a terrorism-related case, in which he said Coulibaly admitted furnishing ammunition for a planned jailbreak intended to free a radical Islamist. He was sentenced to five years.

While behind bars, authorities say, the one-time Coca-Cola employee made the acquaintance of the younger of the Kouachi brothers, Cherif, 32.

In an encounter that, in retrospect, appears astonishing, Coulibaly was among a group of people received in July 2009 by then French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the Elysee Palace for a meeting on a government program to get more young Frenchmen and women into the work force, the lawyer said.

Before the meeting, an awed and apprehensive Coulibaly, then 27, was interviewed by Le Parisien newspaper.

Hayat and Coulibaly left, Hayat and crossbow right

His temporary job at the local Coca-Cola plant in his hometown of Grigny would be over in two months, he said, adding, "if the president can help me get hired ... "

When he met Coulibaly, Sauveur said, his client said he was earning $2,600 a month— and making money on the side by dealing in Kalashnikov ammunition.

Coulibaly never talked about Islam

If Coulibaly turned to radical Islam while in prison, he hid it well, two former friends told the AP on Saturday.

One fellow drug dealer from the Paris suburb of Bretigny said Coulibaly regularly sold marijuana and hashish to high school students, and as recently as a month ago, was still dealing dope at La Grande Borne, a tough public housing estate to the south of Paris.

"He never went to prayers or talked about Islam," said the 19-year-old, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he didn't want to attract police attention. The dealer described Coulibaly as a fitness fan who worked out often and dressed in Nike shoes and athletic gear.

"I was totally shocked when I found out," the former dealer said, referring to the siege at the kosher market and the fatal shooting Thursday of a suburban Paris policewoman that authorities said was also Coulibaly's doing.

Paris Massacre Shows Jihad can Strike the Heart of Western Countries

from Agence France-Presse

The deadly attack on France's Charlie Hebdo magazine has confirmed the West's worst fears that militants will act on jihadist threats to target Western countries fighting Islamic extremism. 

Personally, I am quite sure that things will get a lot worse before they get better. So, why don't we import a few hundred thousand more Muslims. Oh, I know Islam is a religion of peace, but if even 1% of 200,000 immigrants are or become militant (read nutso), that's 2000 more jihadists running around our cities shooting people for exercising their right to free speech.

The brazen targeting of a media outlet that sparked widespread Muslim outrage with cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed is also a powerful propaganda weapon and potential recruiting tool, analysts say.

"This attack was designed to cause shock in the international community," said Lina Khatib, director of the Carnegie Middle East Centre think-tank.

"The 'spectacular' manner in which it was executed is intended to show the influence of jihadist movements in Europe," she said.

It remains unclear whether the attackers who killed 12 people on Wednesday have direct ties to groups like the Islamic State organisation in Iraq and Syria or Al-Qaeda. No jihadist group has yet claimed responsibility for masterminding the assault.

But Max Abrahms, a political science professor at Northeastern University, said jihadists would rally around it regardless. "There is no question that IS and other jihadist groups will tout this attack as a success that should be replicated," he said.

Charlie Hebdo was no random target. Its publishing of multiple caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed caused deep outrage and its offices were fire-bombed in 2011.

Prosecutors said witnesses heard the gunmen shout "we have avenged the prophet" as they carried out the killings.

But Ms Khatib said the reasons for the attack likely went beyond the magazine's controversial publications. France is a leading partner in the US-led coalition fighting IS, participating in air strikes against the group in Iraq. It has also led operations against jihadist groups in Africa, making it a key target of extremist ire.

The attack's goal was to "send a message to states, particularly those who are part of the international coalition fighting groups like IS, that they are now vulnerable," Ms Khatib said. "The fact that the attackers chose a central area in Paris is very symbolic... the invoking of vengeance for the prophet is just an excuse," she added.

The killings come amid resurgent fears that Islamic extremists will strike at the heart of Europe, targeting Western capitals.

Western intelligence services have warned recently of the threat posed by Europeans returning home after fighting in the ranks of militant groups in Iraq and Syria. Thousands of Europeans are believed to have joined IS, which has declared a so-called Islamic "caliphate" in the territory it controls.

Almost 1,000 French nationals from a wide range of backgrounds are estimated to have joined jihadists in Iraq and Syria, including some 400 thought to be currently fighting on the ground and almost 50 who have been killed.

Both IS and Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the jihadist network's powerful branch in Yemen, have called on followers to target France specifically. In September, IS spokesman Abu Mohamed al-Adnani singled out France in a message urging followers to kill "disbelievers".

And AQAP's Inspire magazine both urged attacks against France and put Charlie Hebdo editor-in-chief Stephane Charbonnier, who was killed on Wednesday, on a "Most Wanted" list. Jihadist sympathisers have expressed their approval of the attack online.

On Twitter, they touted the attack using the hashtag "Paris Invasion" and "Paris is Burning," and describing the attackers as "lions". Some posted photos of Charbonnier holding an issue of Charlie Hebdo with cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed with the caption: "This is why he died."

"This attack will be seen as successful and when terrorist groups give the appearance that they're successful, it means an easier time for them in terms of attracting volunteers and recruiting," Mr Abrahms said.

AFP

Paris Massacre A Sign of Things to Come with Creeping Islamization

Excellent report from BBC covering the Charlie Hebdo massacre, including two cell-phone videos.

Also comprehensive live coverage is available from BBC.

Charlie Hebdo attackers shooting at police before racing away

Charlie Hebdo is a left wing paper who's intent is to shock and ridicule. They have no favourites, apparently, everyone is fair game to them - an equal-opportunity offender, you might say.

While some of us might (probably would) find their content offensive, in a western society, their right to offend, or free speech, is a cornerstone of a free society. Islam's attack on such freedoms should be cause for reflection in European countries where Muslims are immigrating in the 100s of thousands.

Germany's Pegida movement has come under some harsh criticism from many 'higher purpose persons' in government and industry, but this is the very type of thing that they are trying to spare Germany from; and it's going to get worse.

For France, Germany and other EU countries, increasing Muslim immigration will result in a corresponding decrease in tolerance for free speech, free dress, free expression in the arts and any western value that conflicts with the Quran or Shariah.

Countries that are admitting thousands of Muslim refugees are committing cultural suicide. While liberal governments, in the name of humanity, invite them in, they are really loading the cultural gun.

Wife of Mayor of Mexican City where 43 Students Were Murdered Sent to Federal Prison

Maria de los Angeles Pineda was transferred to federal prison in western Mexico

The wife of the former mayor of the Mexican city where 43 students went missing has been charged with organised crime and money laundering.

Maria de los Angeles Pineda was transferred to a high security prison to await trial.

She had brothers in a local drug gang that operated in the city, Iguala, in the state of Guerrero, prosecutors say.

They said police handed the students over to the drug gang who then killed them and burnt the bodies.

It is unclear whether the charges against Maria Pineda are related to the students' disappearance.

They went missing in September after clashes with police.

Their disappearance sparked nationwide protests and has rocked the government of President Enrique Pena Nieto.

Prosecutors said that members of the drug gang linked to Maria Pineda had confessed that her husband, ex-mayor Jose Luis Abarca, had ordered the police to crack down on the students to stop them disrupting an event his wife was speaking at.

However a local news magazine said the event was over by the time the students arrived in the town.

The students vanished after the police attacked their buses leaving six people dead.

Investigators said members of the drug gang told them the police had delivered the young men to them.

They then took them to a local landfill, killed them and burned the bodies.

Only one of the students has been positively identified from the charred remains.

Maria Pineda and her husband Jose Abarca were arrested in November in Mexico City.

He was charged with organised crime, kidnapping and murder for events before the disappearance of the students.

"If You Are Reading This, It Means I Have Committed Suicide"

"If you are reading this, it means I have committed suicide and obviously failed to delete this post from my queue."

So starts a suicide note written by Leelah Alcorn, a 17-year-old transgender teenager who died this week in the US state of Ohio. Alcorn scheduled the note to be published several hours after her death.

In the letter posted on Tumblr, she said she killed herself after years of struggling with her strict Christian parents' refusal to acknowledge her true identity as a female.

"There's no winning. There's no way out... People say 'it gets better' but that isn't true in my case. It gets worse. Each day I get worse," Alcorn wrote in the post which has since been reblogged more than 196,000 times. The hashtag #LeelahAlcorn also went viral, with more than 243,000 mentions over two days.

Alcorn ended her note with a plea: "The only way I will rest in peace is if one day transgender people aren't treated the way I was... My death needs to mean something. Fix society. Please."

Many saw the public suicide note as a way to both provide awareness of trans issues and provide Alcorn a final measure of dignity.

"By scheduling tumblr posts, #LeelahAlcorn defeated measures by her parents to defame her legacy, her life, herself," wrote Twitter user @Unit0053.

User @RozeWithaZee tweeted, "Just had an epiphany that #Tumblr saved #LeelahAlcorn's life from being misrepresented entirely. She was able to tell her actual story."

But experts say there are risks to a message of this nature going viral.

"In a way, it's a double-edged sword," said Christine Moutier, chief medical officer at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Moultier explained that stories like Alcorn's can be used to raise awareness about suicide, transgender issues and mental illness - but that high-profile suicides sometimes come with tragic, unintended consequences.

"It's sensationalised in and of itself," Moultier said of the post, noting that the phenomenon of suicide contagion, where one suicide leads to the death of others, is especially high among troubled teens.

Moultier also notes that while Alcorn's note focuses on the external circumstances that led her to kill herself - what she felt was a lack of acceptance by her religious parents - it only touches on the mental health problems that underlie more than 90% of suicides.

Tumblr could not comment on Leelah Alcorn's post, but the sharing platform's community guidelines seem to reflect the grey area between using social media as a forum to help those who feel alienated and alone, and the danger of providing a place where disturbing messages can be shared globally.

The policy states "don't post content that actively promotes or glorifies self harm," but recognises that the internet is a place where people dealing with suicidal thoughts, eating disorders and cutting look for support.

"Dialogue about these behavours is incredibly important and online communities can be extraordinarily helpful to people struggling with these difficult conditions. We aim for Tumblr to be a place that facilitates awareness, support and recovery, and we will remove only those posts or blogs that cross the line into active promotion or glorification of self-harm."

Whether Alcorn's note is seen as a springboard for change or a trigger for other at-risk youths remains up for debate - but either way, her note has sparked a global conversation.

And it's a conversation I would like to continue here. As a born-again, fairly conservative Christian, I have great difficulty with people who appear to be born gay or transgender as Leelah's parents did. Christians tend to believe that all life is created by God and so God would not create someone with the emotional characteristics of a girl and the physical characteristics of a boy. Yet, it happens!

We can blame it on spiritual attack or invasion but is that realistic? Not that I don't believe in spiritual attacks and invasions, I certainly do, but why would God allow such a thing to happen to an unborn or newborn baby?

Our own adopted daughter was born with Spina Bifida, hydrocephalus; through several surgeries contracted meningitis and lost most of the use of her right hand, and is mentally restricted to the level of a 6 year old. She also has fatal food allergies. Was that God's plan for her? Was she demonized because of her parent's eastern religion?

She's 26 now, knows Jesus, and is personal friends with Christian singer/songwriter Brian Doerksen. She knows the words to every song he ever wrote. Is this a case of "What the devil meant for ill, God turned to good?" Gen 50:20.

I do not believe that God creates sick or broken or sexually confused children; but I do believe such children are born, whether it is a spiritual cause or just the consequences of man's free will and God's unwillingness to usurp that will, as with the sexual abuse of billions of children in the 21st century.

In any case, we as Christians have to respond with more compassion and allow God to do whatever He will do in that child's life. Driving your child to suicide is never right! There is no love in legalism!

Ferry Catastrophe: Muslim Men Beat Women and Children to Save Themselves

It's often in a crisis that a person's true character is revealed. In the sinking of the Norman Atlantic, some Muslim men revealed what they are made of, and it wasn't pretty.

December 29, 2014 , by Nicolai Sennels, News 10.DK

Greek soprano Dimitra Theodossiou

"Witnesses report about the hell on the ferry Norman Atlantic and tell of chaos, panic and people fighting for their own survival."

The ferry caught fire Sunday morning at. 6 local time. At that time the ferry was 61 km from the coast near Corfu.

The fire broke out on the deck, and has been impossible to extinguish. And it took 32 hours before the last person had been evacuated from the ferry.

The Norman Atlantic 

The Greek soprano Dimitra Theodossiou was on board the ferry. She told the Italian media that she saw men beat women in order to come first to the rescue helicopter.

“It was hell. I saw some scary scenes. There were men, Iraqis, Turks, Pakistanis on the ship, who were told to sit down to allow rescuers to prioritize children, elderly and women. But they climbed, beat and pulled the people to come first to the rescue helicopter and into safety. I was also beaten. I was so furious. It was really ugly. I will never forget it.”, Said Dimitra Theodossiou.”

Isn't it nice to know that if you are a 13 year old Muslim girl with a baby, that your husband would probably knock you down and step on you to save his own life?