Kurdish PKK Rebels Begin Leaving Turkey

Kurdish rebel fighters have begun leaving south-eastern Turkey for their safe havens in Iraq under a ceasefire, Kurdish sources say.

"We know that they have started moving," Selahattin Demirtas, a pro-Kurdish politician involved in the peace process, told AFP news agency.

The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) announced last month a phased withdrawal to start early in May.

More than 40,000 people have died in their 30-year fight against Turkey.

There was no immediate official confirmation of the move from Turkey but an unnamed security source told Reuters news agency: "We have observed movement among [PKK] group members, but have not been able to establish whether this is regrouping or preparation for a withdrawal."

The PKK is believed to have up to 2,000 fighters inside Turkey and their full withdrawal may take up to four months.

They are expected to cross the border on foot, heading for their bases in the Qandil Mountains of Iraq.

Abdullah Ocalan, the veteran PKK leader in prison in Turkey, ordered the withdrawal in March as part of peace negotiations with Ankara.

Gultan Kisinak, who co-chairs the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) along with Mr Demirtas, told the Associated Press news agency that a first group of fighters had started to move toward the border with northern Iraq.

A PKK spokesman, Bakhtiyar Dogan, told the Kurdish newspaper Hawlati that between 200 and 500 fighters would withdraw on Wednesday.

They would, he said, leave from the Semdinli and Sirnak areas of Turkey "on three fronts".

According to AFP, PKK fighters complained on the eve of the withdrawal that the Turkish state had increased its forces in the border area and was carrying out surveillance flights.

Such actions, they said, were "delaying the peace process" and paving the way for "provocations and clashes".

The Turkish army did not confirm any extra measures but said their "fight against any terrorism" continued.

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc was quoted as saying by AP: "We are following the issue. It's the results that are important for us. We feel that we are close to getting results."

The PKK's acting leader, Murat Karayilan, warned in April that the fighters would strike back and the withdrawal would halt "immediately" if they were attacked.

"We have no doubt about the state but fear provocation from dark forces," Mr Demirtas said.

During a 1999 withdrawal, the Turkish military attacked the rebels, killing some 500.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly pledged the army will not attack any PKK fighters who withdrew.

On Tuesday, he said that "laying down weapons" should be the group's top priority in order for the peace process to succeed.

Source: BBC News

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Deaths As Ship Rams Genoa Tower

Seven people have died and two are missing after a container ship crashed into a control tower in the Italian port of Genoa, officials say.

The Jolly Nero smashed into the 50m (164ft) concrete and glass tower late on Tuesday, causing it to collapse.

Rescue workers have been searching in the rubble for survivors while divers are scouring the surrounding water.

The ship's captain is being investigated by prosecutors with a view to possible manslaughter charges.

Officials, though, have said that some sort of mechanical failure was most likely to blame for what happened.

The vessel has been impounded and its "black box" seized by investigators, according to Italy's Ansa news agency.

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North India Bus Crash Kills 33

At least 33 people have been killed in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh after a bus skidded off the road into a fast-flowing river.

Fourteen others were hurt in the accident, which happened near Kullu, a summer resort 250km (155 miles) north of the state capital, Shimla.

The bus was partially submerged in the river, forcing rescuers to use boats.

Police said they had recovered 33 bodies, but feared that those of other victims might have been washed away.

Road accidents are common in India. In 2011, more than 130,000 people were killed on the country's roads - an average of 15 deaths every hour.

It is less than a month since a similar crash killed 12 people in Himachal Pradesh. An SUV carrying them fell into a gorge in Chamba district.
 

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Many Dead in Nigeria Militant Raid

Fifty-five people have been killed in the north-east of Nigeria in co-ordinated attacks by the Boko Haram militant group, the Nigerian army says.

It said 105 prisoners were freed in the pre-dawn raid in Bama, Borno state.

Bama's police station, military barracks and government buildings were burned to the ground, said the military and witnesses.

Correspondents say extremist attacks are common in the region but the scale of bloodshed makes this raid stand out.

This strike - coming on the back of other deadly attacks - undermines the suggestion that the military operation against the militants has diminished the threat they pose, says the BBC's Will Ross in Lagos.

President Goodluck Jonathan has set up a committee to agree the terms of an amnesty for the rebels but Boko Haram's leader, Abubakar Shekau, has so far rejected the idea.

Tuesday's raid in the remote town began when some 200 heavily-armed suspected members of Boko Haram arrived in buses and pick-up trucks at about 05:00 (04:00 GMT), said Musa Sagir, a military spokesman based in Maiduguri, some 70km (44 miles) from Bama.

"Some of the gunmen attacked the military barracks but they were repelled. Ten of them were killed and two were arrested," he told AFP news agency.

"But the gunmen broke into the prison, freeing 105 inmates, and killed all prison warders they could see except those who hid in a store where cooking utensils were kept," he said.

Some of the attackers wore army uniforms for the assault, which continued for almost five hours, he added.

Twenty-two police officers, 14 prison wardens, two soldiers and four civilians are said to have died along with 13 members of Boko Haram.

Bama police commander Abubakar Sagir was quoted as saying the civilians comprised a woman and three children.

Police and public buildings - reportedly including a magistrate's court - were razed to the ground.

"The call to prayer was just being said at about 05:00 when the Boko Haram started shooting from all directions and we ran for our lives," a witness, Amina Usman, told Reuters.

"One woman who could not run burned to death," Ms Usman added.

Boko Haram, as it is popularly known, has its roots in this region of Nigeria. It is fighting to overthrow the government and set up an Islamic state.

Late last month the military launched a raid to hunt down militants in Baga, also in Borno state, after Boko Haram militants attacked a military patrol.

Nearly 200 people died in the raid, and thousands of buildings were destroyed, leading to claims by rights groups that the military had used excessive force. The army put the number killed at 37.

Source: BBC News

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Arrests Over $50m Belgium Airport Diamond Heist

Police in Belgium, Switzerland and France have arrested 31 people in connection with one of the world's largest robberies of diamonds.

Belgian prosecutors say they have recovered large sums of money and some of the diamonds that were taken in a raid at Brussels airport in February.

A gang cut through the airport's perimeter fence and broke into the cargo hold of a Swiss aeroplane as it waited for take off.

They took $50m (£32m) of diamonds.

The diamonds were "rough stones" being transported from Antwerp to Zurich.

Prosecutors described the thieves as "professionals".

They had dressed as police, wore masks and were well armed.

They forced their way through security barriers and drove towards the Helvetic Airways plane, forcing open the cargo hold to reach gems that had already been loaded.

They snatched 120 packages before escaping through the same hole in the fence.

Prosecutors said the whole operation took only about five minutes, no shots were fired and no-one was hurt.

One suspect was arrested in France and six in Switzerland on Tuesday, Belgian prosecutors said.

The other 24 were rounded up near Brussels early on Wednesday.

Source: BBC News

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Ohio Women Were Tied And Chained

Cleveland's police chief has said the three women held captive in an Ohio house for about a decade were restrained with ropes and chains.

Michael McGrath told US broadcaster NBC that investigators believe the victims were allowed out in the backyard occasionally.

He added Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight were in good condition "considering the circumstances".

Chief McGrath said a charging decision would come later on Wednesday.

Former school bus driver Ariel Castro, 52, who owns the house where the women were found, has been arrested along with his two brothers, Pedro, 54, and Onil, 50.

Meanwhile, Cleveland public safety director Martin Flask said in a statement that no human remains had been found at the home, after "a thorough search". Police have said they are also searching other properties.

Standing near the scene, Chief McGrath told NBC's Today Show: "Currently, today, we are interviewing the suspects that were arrested here the night before last. They are talking."

He said the women had been allowed out of the house "very rarely".

"They were released out in the backyard once in a while I believe," he said.

Chief McGrath disputed claims by neighbours that police did not fully investigate reports of suspicious activity at 2207 Seymour Avenue, which is in a working-class district.

He said he was "absolutely" sure police did not miss any opportunities to find the women over the years.

Neighbours have told news organisations they had made multiple calls to police about the house to report women crying for help and the noise of pounding on doors.

Chief McGrath said he could not confirm reports that the captives had had multiple pregnancies.

Police have confirmed a six-year-old girl, Jocelyn, who was discovered along with the women, is Ms Berry's daughter. The girl was apparently conceived and born during her mother's captivity.

Ms Berry, 27, arrived at her sister's home shortly before midday on Wednesday. The sister, Beth Serrano, read a statement asking for her family's privacy to be respected.

Ms Berry, who disappeared in 2003 aged 16, escaped with the help of a neighbour who heard her screaming and kicking a door while her alleged captor was out of the house.

When police arrived they also found Ms DeJesus, 23, and Ms Knight, 32, in the house. Ms DeJesus had gone missing aged 14 in 2004, while Ms Knight had disappeared in 2002, aged 20.

Ariel Castro reportedly fled the neighbourhood, and was arrested at a nearby McDonald's restaurant, according to local media. It is unclear when his brothers were detained.

A neighbour, Israel Lugo, told the Associated Press that Ariel Castro had identified Jocelyn as "his girlfriend's daughter" when they went to a nearby park to play last week.

Residents of the mostly Puerto Rican district said the former bus driver, a family friend of Ms DeJesus, had helped hand out fliers to raise awareness of her disappearance and attended a candlelight vigil for her last year.

Cleveland Mayor Frank Johnson said on Tuesday that child welfare officials had paid a visit to Ariel Castro's home in January 2004 because he was reported to have left a child on a school bus while he stopped for lunch.

But no-one answered the door and an inquiry found no criminal intent, officials said.

Puerto Rico-born Ariel Castro was reportedly sacked from his school-bus driving job in November for "lack of judgment". He played bass guitar in Latin music bands in the area.

His son, Anthony Castro, told London's Daily Mail newspaper that he had rarely spoken to his father, adding that the suspect would not let him inside on his last visit to his house.

"The house was always locked," he said. "There were places we could never go. There were locks on the basement. Locks on the attic. Locks on the garage."

Cleveland's police were pilloried in 2009 after the discovery of a home in a poor district where Anthony Sowell had killed 11 women.

Victims' families allege that police had not taken neighbours' reported suspicions seriously enough.

Meanwhile, there has been an online backlash against a self-proclaimed psychic, Sylvia Browne, who in 2004 told Ms Berry's mother, Louwana Miller, on TV that her daughter was dead and that her last words were "goodbye, mom, I love you".

Ms Miller died in 2006 of heart failure, aged 43.

Source: BBC News

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Seven Nato Troops Die In Afghanistan

Seven soldiers serving with Nato's force in Afghanistan have been killed in two attacks, the alliance says.

An Afghan soldier turned his weapon on coalition troops in the western Farah province, reports said, killing two in the latest so-called insider attack.

Earlier, a roadside bomb killed five US soldiers in the southern Kandahar province.

The deaths came after three British troops were killed by a roadside bomb this week in southern Helmand province.

The Taliban launched its annual spring offensive last Sunday, saying it would target foreign military bases and diplomatic areas.

Some 100,000 soldiers are still serving with Isaf, but they are due to be withdrawn by the end of next year.

Nato is in the process of handing security operations to Afghan forces, and some areas have already been transferred.
'We stay committed'
The US-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) released a statement saying: "Two International Security Assistance Force service members were killed when an Afghan National Army soldier turned his weapon against Isaf service members in western Afghanistan today."

It did not disclose the nationalities of the victims, but unnamed American officials later said the victims were US soldiers, AP reported.

As the number of Nato troops killed by their Afghan counterparts continues to rise, analysts wonder how the breakdown of this relationship will have an impact on the scheduled departure of international forces from Afghanistan.

After the earlier roadside bomb in Kandahar, Isaf spokesman Brig Gen Gunter Katz said it had been a "difficult week" for the coalition, but added that the deaths would not change its commitment to the task in Afghanistan.

"Every soldier who dies here in Afghanistan is one too many," he said. "But again, this will not have an effect on our overall campaign. We stay committed and will stay committed in this country to support the Afghans also in the future."

Faisal Javi, a spokesman for Kandahar's governor, said the roadside bomb exploded in Mewand district, which has a strong Taliban presence, but he said the group had not yet claimed responsibility for planting the device.

Saturday's deaths bring the toll for coalition troops in 2013 to 49, including 37 Americans.

Most Nato troops are due to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014 - when all combat operations are due to finish - although a small number will remain in support roles.

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Shock Over Latest Brazil Bus Rape

Police in Brazil are looking for a man who raped a woman on a moving Rio de Janeiro bus.

Witnesses say the armed man ran away after abusing the woman for about 30 minutes, and robbing other passengers.

The crime has shocked the country, becoming a topic of discussion on social media.

The rape of a tourist in late March had already raised concerns about security ahead of the football World Cup next year and the Olympics in 2016.

Days later, seven people died as a packed bus crashed off a bridge following an alleged argument between the driver and a passenger.

After these episodes, Rio de Janeiro's mayor, Eduardo Paes, vowed to tighten security and checks on public transport.

But Friday afternoon's attack comes as a fresh blow, correspondents say.

Witnesses told the authorities the assailant took a group of about 10 passengers to the front of the vehicle, telling the driver to keep on driving.

After taking their belongings, the man is said to have hit a 30-year-old woman with his gun before raping her.

The man, who witnesses said appeared to be under the influence of drugs, then got off the bus and ran across a busy motorway.

Video footage of the bus is being analysed and a sketch of the suspect is being drawn up, police said.

Robberies are common on buses in Rio de Janeiro and other Brazilian cities but the violence and audacity of these attacks has shocked local media.

Curbing violence is a major priority for city authorities ahead of the major global sporting events.

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French Left Rallies Against Hollande

Tens of thousands of protesters have rallied in the French capital, Paris, to express their dissatisfaction with President Francois Hollande ahead of the first anniversary of his election.

The left-wing demonstrators accuse the president of abandoning socialism with his austerity policies.

Recent opinion polls show Mr Hollande's approval rating among the public has fallen to about 25%.

This is the biggest slump for any French president in the past 50 years.

Many people are angered by the weak economy and soaring unemployment.

And correspondents say Mr Hollande's vision of a fairer society does not sit well with the recent scandal involving his former budget minister Jerome Cahuzac, who admitted lying about a savings account in Switzerland.

Separately, opponents of gay marriage held protests in several major cities calling for the president not to sign a law passed by parliament last month allowing same-sex couples to wed and adopt children.

Organisers of the anti-austerity demonstration estimated that about 180,000 people were in attendance, but police put the figure at just 30,000.

Left-wing former presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melanchon, who organised the protest, accused Mr Hollande of betraying his supporters.

"We don't want the financial world taking the power, we don't accept austerity measures which doom our people, like all people in Europe, to never-ending pain," he said.

In response, Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said: "There is no austerity, that's a propaganda invention," adding that reforms would "bear fruit little by little".

Source: BBC News

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Ruling Party Wins Malaysia Election

The ruling National Front coalition has won a simple majority in Malaysia's election, extending its 56-year rule, with two-thirds of seats confirmed.

PM Najib Razak's Barisan Nasional coalition had passed the threshold of 112 seats in the 222-seat parliament, the Election Commission said.

Defeated opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim accused the party of widespread fraud before and during the polls.

Some 80% of registered voters cast ballots, said election officials.

Voters had been faced with returning the ruling party, or choosing Mr Anwar's untested three-party alliance, Pakatan Rakyat.

As the result was confirmed, Mr Najib, 59, urged all Malaysians to accept his coalition's victory.

"The results show a trend of polarisation which worries the government. If it is not addressed, it can create tension or division in the country," he said.

"We have to show to the world that we are a mature democracy."

With results trickling in overnight, Barisan Nasional had won 127 seats to Pakatan Rakyat's 77 by 03:30 (19:30 GMT), the Associated Press reported.

Earlier, Mr Najib had said he was confident Malaysians would retain his coalition and even return the two-thirds parliamentary majority it lost in the 2008 polls.

Barisan Nasional, while credited with bringing economic development and political stability, has also been tainted by allegations of corruption.

In what was considered a tight race, it had campaigned hard to shore up its base among poorer ethnic Malay neighbourhoods and in rural areas.

But Mr Anwar refused to concede defeat, accusing the authorities of widespread abuses which he said had distorted the result of the election.

"It is an election that we consider fraudulent and the Electoral Commission has failed," he told a news conference after midnight on Monday.

Allegations of election fraud surfaced before the election. Some of those who voted in advance told BBC News that indelible ink on their hands - supposed to last for days and show they had already voted - had easily washed off.

The opposition also accused the government of funding flights for supporters to key states, which the government denied.

Independent pollster Merdeka Center also cited unconfirmed reports of foreign nationals being given ID documents and being allowed to vote.

And the international organisation Human Rights Watch said there had been well-planned attacks against the country's independent media ahead of the polls.

Most traditional media in Malaysia are linked to the governing parties so their opponents rely almost exclusively on the internet to get their message out, correspondents say.

Source: BBC News

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Deadly Blast Hits Mogadishu Convoy

A car bomb has exploded near a government convoy in the Somali capital Mogadishu, killing at least seven people, officials say.

A police spokesman told AFP news agency a suicide attacker had driven a car laden with explosives at an armoured government vehicle.

Eyewitnesses said, a government vehicle carrying foreign aid workers had been targeted.

The attack comes days before a conference in London on Somalia.

No group said immediately it had carried out Sunday's attack.

The country's main Islamist group al-Shabab, which is part of al-Qaeda, has been forced out of the main cities in the south and centre but still controls smaller towns and many rural areas.

Ten people were also injured by the explosion, BBC reporter Mohamed Ibrahim reports from the city.

Government forces had only re-opened the main roads in Mogadishu on Saturday after a four-day ban on vehicle traffic, he adds.

The ban had been aimed at preventing attacks by al-Shabab.

A Reuters news agency photographer said he could see three people lying motionless near the wreckage of four burning cars.

The London conference will discuss how best the international community can support Somalia's progress.

More than 50 countries and organisations are due to take part when it opens on Tuesday, co-hosted by Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and UK Prime Minister David Cameron.

The UK recently re-opened its embassy in Mogadishu.

The security situation in city was thought to have been improving after two decades of conflict, despite occasional attacks.

Masked gunmen shot dead the deputy chief prosecutor, Ahmad Shaykh Nur Maalin, last month in the city centre.

Source: BBC News

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Tanzania Church Hit By Deadly Blast

An explosion at a crowded church in the northern Tanzanian city of Arusha has killed at least three people, a local priest has told the BBC.

More than 50 others were injured in the blast. Police say they believe it was caused by a bomb.

The explosion occurred at the official opening of the new Roman Catholic church in the suburb of Olasiti.

The Vatican's ambassador to Tanzania and the archbishop of Arusha were attending, but were not hurt.

A man has been arrested in connection with the incident, police say.

An eyewitnesses told AFP news agency: "There was a stampede, people running in all directions, walking on each other, children were screaming and women crying."

Tanzanian Foreign Minister Bernard Membe said in Twitter message he was "greatly shocked" by the attack.

Tanzania has seen a rise in sectarian violence between Christians and Muslims in recent times.

Last month, police in southern Tanzania used teargas to disperse about 200 Christian rioters attempting to torch a mosque over an animal slaughtering conflict.

In February, a Catholic priest was shot in the head on the largely Muslim island of Zanzibar.

Source: BBC News

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Libya Bans Gaddafi-era Officials

Libya's parliament has passed a law banning officials from the Gaddafi era from holding political office.

The vote in the General National Congress (GNC) came a week after militias backing the law began besieging the ministries of justice and foreign affairs.

They had said they would not leave until the bill was passed.

The law could affect senior members of the government, including Prime Minister Ali Zeidan.

Both Mr Zeidan and GNC speaker Mohamed Megaryef were diplomats before the revolution.

Human rights groups say the measure is too sweeping.

"This law is far too vague - potentially barring anyone who ever worked for the authorities during the four decades of Gaddafi's rule," Human Rights Watch's Sarah Leah Whitson said in a statement on Saturday.

In a vote broadcast live on state TV, 164 MPs supported the measure in the 200-member chamber and just four voted against.

It required a two-thirds plus one majority to pass.

Under the law, anyone who held a key official post between 1969 and 2011 is supposed to be excluded from government.

But it is not clear how long the exclusion will last.

While officials and the public at large generally see the law as necessary, many believe other interests are being pursued on all sides under the guise of demands for its adoption.

This includes militias afraid of losing power and political infighting within the congress itself, she adds.

A special commission will now be set up to implement the new law.

In March, protesters barricaded members of the GNC inside the building for hours to call for the new law to be adopted.

Militias blocked the foreign ministry last Sunday, moving in to surround the justice ministry on Tuesday.

But until now officials had been unable to agree the terms of the law.

Since Gaddafi's death, Tripoli and other Libyan cities have been plagued by violence and infighting.

The government has recently tried to dismantle militias that formed during and after the war that toppled the long-serving leader.

Source: BBC News

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Hungary PM Condemns Anti-Semitism

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has condemned anti-Semitism at the opening of a meeting of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) in Budapest.

He acknowledged anti-Semitism was on the rise in the country because of the economic crisis but said his government had a "zero-tolerance" towards it.

On Saturday the far-right Jobbik party held a protest against the Hungarian capital hosting the WJC meeting.

The party's leaders regularly issue anti-Semitic statements.

The WJC usually hosts its assembly in Jerusalem, but chose Hungary this year to highlight what it says is growing anti-Semitism in Europe.

Addressing the opening session, Mr Orban said: "Anti-Semitism is unacceptable and cannot be tolerated."

He added that his government had a "moral duty to declare zero tolerance on anti-Semitism".

However the WJC expressed its disappointment that Mr Orban had not specifically talked about Jobbik, the third-largest party in parliament.

"The prime minister did not confront the true nature of the problem - the threat posed by the anti-Semites in general and by the extreme-right Jobbik party in particular," it said in a statement.

The president of the World Jewish Congress, Ronald Lauder, said Jews were again wondering if they were safe in Hungary.

Saturday's rally by Jobbik was billed as a tribute to what organisers called the victims of Bolshevism and Zionism.

"The Israeli conquerors, these investors, should look for another country in the world for themselves because Hungary is not for sale," party chairman Gabor Vona told the crowd.

Jobbik MP Marton Gyongyosi said Hungary had "become subjugated to Zionism, it has become a target of colonisation while we, the indigenous people, can play only the role of extras".

Mr Orban had ordered police to ban the march, but a Budapest court overruled the ban.

Source: BBC News

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Syria Condemns Israeli Air Strikes

Israeli strikes on Syrian army targets show co-ordination with "terrorists" including al-Qaeda linked militants, the Syrian foreign ministry has said.

The strikes had led to a number of casualties and widespread damage, it reported in a letter sent to the UN.

State media said a research centre and other sites had been hit overnight. Israeli sources said weapons bound for Hezbollah in Lebanon were the target.

The strike, the second in two days, drew condemnation from the Arab League.

Syria's government refers to rebels fighting against it as "terrorists".

On Friday, Israeli aircraft hit a shipment of missiles near the Lebanon border, according to unnamed US and Israeli officials.

The latest developments are a significant escalation in Israel's involvement in the conflict.

The Syrian foreign ministry statement said three military sites had been hit - a research centre at Jamraya, a paragliding airport in the al-Dimas area of Damascus and a site in Maysaloun.

"The flagrant Israeli attack on armed forces sites in Syria underlines the co-ordination between 'Israel', terrorist groups and... the al-Nusra Front," the statement said, referring to al-Qaeda militants fighting with the rebels.

"The Israeli attack led to the fall of a number of martyrs and wounded from the ranks of Syrian citizens, and led to widespread destruction in these sites and in the civilian districts near to them."

The statement added: "This leaves no room for doubt Israel is the beneficiary, the mover and sometime the executor of the terrorist acts which Syria is witnessing and which target it as a state and people directly or through its tools inside."

The Syrian cabinet held an emergency meeting on the attacks, after which Information Minister Omran al-Zohbi read a statement at a news conference.

He said the attack made the Middle East "more dangerous" and "opens the door wide to all possibilities".

Syria had the right and the duty "to defend its people by all available means," he added.

In the latest attack, Damascus was shaken by repeated explosions coming from the north-western suburbs.

Amateur video footage and eyewitness testimony suggested rocket attacks had hit weapons dumps, triggering dramatic orange-flamed blasts.

The area houses numerous military facilities, including the Jamraya research centre, designated by Syria as a scientific research centre "in charge of raising our level of resistance and self-defence".

Damascus-based journalist Alaa Ebrahim told the BBC it was "the biggest explosion" the city had seen since the conflict began two years ago.

He said residents living near Jamraya reported feeling a "mild earthquake" just before the blast, indicating that the rockets may have hit an underground facility.

Our correspondent says the Israeli attack is a high-risk strategy, and it has drawn strong reaction from the rest of the Arab world.

The Egyptian presidency said they "violated international law and principles that will further complicate the situation".

"Despite its strong opposition to bloodshed in Syria and the Syrian army's use of weapons against its people... Egypt rejects at the same time the assault on Syria's capabilities, violation of its sovereignty, and exploitation of its internal crisis under any pretext," the presidency's statement said.

And the Arab League, which has given its Syria seat to the rebels, called on the UN Security Council to "act immediately" to end the attacks.

The Jamraya facility was also apparently hit in an Israeli air strike in January.

Israeli officials confirmed the January strike, but insisted trucks carrying missiles to Hezbollah were the target.

After the latest attack, unnamed Western intelligence sources said the target was a weapons cache heading for Lebanon.

Israel has repeatedly said it would act if it felt advanced weapons were being transferred to militant groups in the region, especially Hezbollah.

Source: BBC News

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Police Break Up Dhaka Islamist Unrest

Police in Bangladesh have used stun grenades and rubber bullets to disperse a huge demonstration by Islamist protesters in the capital Dhaka.

Thousands fled as police took control of the central business district.

Up to half a million supporters of the group Hefazat-e Islam had gathered in the city to call for stronger Islamic policies. Rioters went on to set fire to shops and vehicles.

At least seven people were killed and 60 injured in clashes with police.

Some casualties suffered bullet wounds in the head, hospital sources say.

Thousands of Islamist activists were seen fleeing the Motijheel area as police moved in to take control of the area.

Early on Monday, a police spokesman said officers had secured the business district and were searching for protesters hiding in nearby buildings.

The area around the city centre's largest mosque had turned into a battleground as police reacted to stone-throwing rioters with tear gas, rubber bullets and truncheons.

On Sunday, crowds of protesters blocked main roads, isolating Dhaka from other parts of the country.

Dhaka's Daily Star newspaper reports that the group hired at least 3,000 vehicles, including buses, lorries and minibuses to bring demonstrators into the capital, while others travelled there by train.

Chanting "Allahu Akbar!" ("God is greatest!") and "One point! One demand! Atheists must be hanged", the activists marched down at least six main roads as they headed for Motijheel, AFP news agency reported.

Hefazat-e Islam wants greater segregation of men and women, as well as the imposition of stricter Islamic education.

The movement draws its strength from the country's madrassahs, or religious schools.

Its opposition to a national development policy for women has angered women's groups.

The government, which describes Bangladesh as a secular democracy, has rejected Hefazat-e Islam's demand for a new law on blasphemy.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said current legislation was adequate.

Muslims make up nearly 90% of the country's population, with the rest mostly Hindus.

Source: BBC News

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Chris Kelly of Rap Duo Kris Kross Dead at 34

Chris Kelly, one half of the '90s rap duo Kris Kross, has died of a possible drug overdose, Georgia authorities said.

Kelly, 34, was pronounced dead Wednesday night at the Atlanta Medical Center, Clint Harbin, an investigator with the Fulton County Medical Examiner's Office, said.

Authorities are investigating the circumstances surrounding his death and an autopsy is expected to be performed later today.

"It appears it may have been a possible drug overdose," said Cpl. Kay Lester, a spokeswoman for the Fulton County police, according to The Associated Press.

Kelly (known as "Mac Daddy"), along with Chris "Daddy Mac" Smith, the backward-pants-wearing mini-rappers, rose to fame with their song "Jump" from their 1992 album, "Totally Krossed Out."
"Jump" hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and remained there for eight weeks.

Kelly and Smith were discovered by music producer and rapper Jermaine Dupri in an Atlanta mall. Kelly was 13 when "Totally Krossed Out" was released. The album went on to multiplatinum status thanks to "Jump," which remained a popular song throughout 1992.

They toured with Michael Jackson later that year during his "Dangerous World Tour."

Their gimmick of wearing clothes backward won over legions of fans and allowed the duo to cross over into mainstream success. They even went on to release their own video game titled "Kris Kross: Make My Video" for the Sega CD console.

They released "Da Bomb" in 1993, which failed to match the success of their prior album. One of the singles off the album, also titled "Da Bomb," featured female rapper Da Brat.

The group's last album, "Young, Rich & Dangerous," was released in 1996 and reached gold status.
Earlier this year, the group performed together in Atlanta to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Dupri's label, So So Def.

"He actually was still working on music and recording," said Yahoo music writer Billy Johnson Jr., who interviewed Kelly in February.

"He said he had several hundred songs that he had recorded and he had mentioned that during his time away from releasing music that he had actually gone back to school to learn how to be a studio engineer," Johnson said.

Johnson also discussed questions about Kelly's health after pictures surfaced online with patches of his hair missing.

"I asked him about that and he said he had skin disease called alopecia and he said that those rumors had been very hurtful because people thought he had cancer and it wasn't true," Johnson said.

Rapper LL Cool J tweeted a link to his new song, "Jump on It," and dedicated it to Kelly.

"R.I.P Chris Kelly. This song is now officially dedicated to you. May GOD embrace your soul & lift up your family," he tweeted."

Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons and Da Brat also both tweeted condolences overnight.

Source: ABC News

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5-year-old Boy Accidentally Shoots, Kills 2-year-old Sister In Cumberland County

5-year-old boy who was playing with a .22-caliber rifle accidentally shot and killed his 2-year-old sister in Cumberland County on Tuesday afternoon, according to a news release from the state police.

The shooting happened just after 1 p.m. at a home on Lawson's Bottom Road.

The 2-year-old was taken to Cumberland County Hospital, where she was later pronounced dead. An autopsy has been scheduled for Wednesday.

Cumberland County Coroner Gary White identified the girl as Caroline Sparks.

He said the children's mother was at home when the shooting occurred, and the gun was a gift the boy received last year.

"It's a Crickett," he said. "It's a little rifle for a kid. ...The little boy's used to shooting the little gun."

White said the gun was kept in a corner, and the family did not realize a shell had been left in it.

He said the shooting will be ruled accidental.
 "Just one of those crazy accidents," White said.  Source: kentucky.com

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2013/04/30/2621458/5-year-old-boy-accidentally-shoots.html#storylink=cpy

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Jamestown Settlers Ate 14-year-old Girl, Researchers Say

The early American settlers called it "the starving time," and accounts of the winter of 1609-1610 were so ghastly, and so morbid, that scholars weren't sure if the stories were true.

George Percy, then president of the English settlement of Jamestown in Virginia, wrote that settlers ate horses, then cats and dogs, then boots and bits of leather, and, finally, one another.

"One of our colony murdered his wife, ripped the child out of her womb and threw it into the river, and after chopped the mother in pieces and salted her for his food," wrote Percy, who then ordered the man executed.

"Now whether she was better roasted, boyled or carbonado’d [barbecued], I know not, but of such a dish as powdered wife I never heard of," added the famed settler John Smith. "This was that time, which still to this day we called the starving time; it were too vile to say, and scarce to be beleeved, what we endured."

Until now: Researchers said Wednesday that they have discovered the first forensic proof that cannibalism happened at Jamestown during one of its darkest periods.

The announcement was presented by Douglas Owsley, the division head for physical anthropology at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, chief archaeologist William Kelso from the Jamestown Rediscovery Project at Preservation Virginia and historian James Horn, vice president of research and historical interpretation at Colonial Williamsburg.

But the biggest name involved with the announcement was "Jane," the nickname given to the remains of a 14-year-old girl found last year in settlement trash from the starving period.

Archaeologists did not find much of Jane -- just part of her skull and part of her leg, or 10% of her body -- but said those remains showed that someone tried to eat her, apparently after she had died of an undetermined cause.

Someone made four small chops to Jane's forehead before an ax or cleaver broke open the back of her skull, the researchers aid. There were also small knife cuts on her jaw and cheek.

“The desperation and overwhelming circumstances faced by the James Fort colonists during the winter of 1609–1610 are reflected in the postmortem treatment of this girl’s body,” Smithsonian anthropologist Owsley said in the announcement. “The recovered bone fragments have unusually patterned cuts and chops that reflect tentativeness, trial and complete lack of experience in butchering animal remains. Nevertheless, the clear intent was to dismember the body, removing the brain and flesh from the face for consumption.”

Researchers took DNA from Jane in case that her real identity could be someday discovered by matching samples with those of her family's descendants, though officials said finding relatives was unlikely.

Tests showed that Jane had a diet of wheat and meat, said officials, who believe she arrived in Jamestown in August 1609, mere months before the worst of the colonists' starvation. That winter, 80% of the settlers died -- about 200 people -- sometimes at the hands of the Native Americans living in the area.

"The 'starving time' was brought about by a trifecta of disasters: disease, a serious shortage of provisions, and a full scale siege by the Powhatans that cut off Jamestown from outside relief," Colonial Williamsburg's researcher Horn said in the announcement. "Survival cannibalism was a last resort; a desperate means of prolonging life at a time when the settlement teetered on the brink of extinction."

By May, the colony's Percy wrote, settlers called out to visitors, "We are starved, we are starved."

One man, Hugh Pryse, "being pinched with extreme famine ... did come openly into the market place blaspheming, exclaiming and crying out that there was no God, alleging that if there were a god he would not suffer his creatures whom he had made and framed to endure those miseries." Pryse was soon killed by Native Americans, Percy wrote, surely in divine punishment for his blasphemy.
Jamestown, although almost abandoned, survived after more settlers and colonists arrived.

The discovery of Jane came as part of a 20-year excavation of the colonists' original settlement. A digital reconstruction of her face will go on display Friday at the Nathalie P. and Alan M. Voorhees Archaearium at Historic Jamestowne and at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington.

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Boston Marathon Bombings: 3 Charged In Connection With Attack

The three young men charged with helping a suspect in last month's fatal bombing attack at the Boston Marathon cover his tracks were handed into the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service after their initial court appearance on Wednesday.

Kazakhstani nationals Azamat Tazhayakov, 19, and Dias Kadyrbayev, 19, were earlier charged with conspiring to obstruct justice and the third man, a U.S. citizen named Robel Phillipos, was charged with making false statements to investigators.

Two of the men were university classmates of 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who last week was criminally charged with planting homemade pressure-cooker bombs at the marathon finish line on April 15 along with his older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

Papers filed in federal court said authorities charged tTazhayakov and Kadyrbayev with throwing away a backpack containing fireworks and a laptop computer belonging to alleged bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

Tsarnaev, who attended the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, is being held at a prison hospital where he is recovering from gunshot wound sustained in a gun battle with police. His older brother died in the gunfight.

Last week law enforcement officials were seen searching dumps in southeastern Massachusetts.

Kadyrbayev's lawyer said his client was being held for violations of his student visa.

The lawyer, Robert Stahl, said his client was "not a target" of the bombing investigation, but declined to comment on any other specifics. He said his client had "cooperated fully" with investigators and "wants to go home to Kazakhstan."

The parents of the Tsarnaev brothers have said in interviews in the North Caucasus region of Russia that they do not believe their sons were responsible for placing the bombs.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev's body has still not been claimed, a spokesman for the state's chief medical examiner said. His widow, Katherine Russell, on Tuesday said she wanted the medical examiner to release her husband's body to his family.

Source: Chicago Tribune

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