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Brazen Gang rape in India sparks outrage and shocks the world

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The 23-year-old medical student has been left fighting for her life after a attack by upto four men on a bus. She was gang-raped by at least four men, brutally bashed, and then thrown out of the bus while it was still moving. Her male companion was also seriously injured by the same group of attackers.

crimes-sad-girl rape india

Her male companion who  tried to intervene  also got beaten up brutally with an iron rod.

According to police and reports, the rape took place over a period of more than 40 minutes. The victim was dragged to the rear of the bus and brutally beaten and raped.”

Rape cases in India more than doubled between 1990 and 2008 according to official data

 

Four people including the bus driver have so far been arrested and the police are on the hunt for two other suspects

 

Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh joined his ruling Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi in condemning Sunday night’s “heinous” assault.

The brutal gang-rape of a student on a bus has sparked outrage and protest on the streets of New Delhi, India. Demonstrators say violence against women is skyrocketing across the city.

During the protest screened live on television, police could be seen hosing down demonstrators after a group of them tried to tear down steel barricades outside the official residence of New Delhi’s Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit

Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan weighed in by calling on his Facebook page for “every Indian (to) become a vigilante, a soldier, a commander” to “fight such heinous crimes with strength and conviction”.

In  a more recent incident

After gang rape of a girl in a moving bus in Delhi, which shocked the entire country, a 38-year-old woman was allegedly gang-raped by three persons at a roadways bus stand in Mau district of Uttar Pradesh. According to this report the police refused to lodge a rape complaint and registered a case of molestation, eve-teasing and theft

After public anger and outrage rocking India , New Delhi’s police chief on Tuesday demanded the death penalty for people convicted of rape, a crime that currently carries a maximum punishment of 10 years in prison.

Mother dead, Daughter seriously Injured in Police car chase

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An innocent mother has died and teenage daughter seriously injured in a police car chase. A police vehicle  on a car chase in pursuit of a stolen car  rammed into  innocent civilians  causing death and serious injury.

police car chase accident australia laws

Many people have been shocked by the result of this  police chase and it emerged this afternoon according to media reports that the two officers did not have official permission to engage in the pursuit.

This police chase in pursuit of a stolen car claimed the life of a 50-year-old Dianella mother and left her 16-year-old daughter in hospital,

The Police car was chasing the stolen grey Audi sedan when they drove against a  red light and hit the Toyota Corolla travelling south through a green light on Alexander Drive at 11am.

Major Crash investigators are said to probe the crash, while internal affairs officers will examine the police conduct

In a previous incident Two officers were the subject of an internal investigation over a pursuit in Noranda last month, in which a 15-year-old male driver crashed a stolen Ford Falcon and died.he AVL recorded the police car travelling at 164km/h but this has been disputed by the officers.

 

Woman killed during Perth police pursuit‎ Ninemsn
Cops kill woman in high-speed chase‎ Adelaide Now
Woman killed during Dianella pursuit‎ The West Australian

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Iran gets tough, Australia gets tougher

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Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd has said Australia will follow the European Union in banning Iranian oil imports, after talks with his British counterpart in London. Iran has been reported in the press widely  to have made a threat to block the strait of hormuz through which oil passes through to the rest of the world. Blocking this could result in a oil price hike affecting us immediately with increase in prices to fill and drive our cars.

iran oil exports sanctions emargo block hormuz

China and India Oil imports with Iran

A leading state-run Chinese daily warned on Monday that Moscow and Beijing were seriously concerned over US attempts to go to war with Iran, IANS reported from Beijing.

The EU and the United States are pushing major importers of Iranian oil such as China, Japan, South Korea, India and Turkey to join the economic embargo. The US has been trying to pursue India and china to lessen their reliance on oil exports from Iran  and putting pressure on Iran. China and INDIA have major oil imports agreements from Iran and India recently had payment routing problems to Iran  for payments for oil  that was routed through US based firms.

Some 65 percent of Iranian exports go to Asia.  This step joins Russia and Iran’s announcement to begin trading in their own domestic currencies rather than use the US dollar – a reserve currency. China has rebuffed Western entreaties to reduce oil imports from Iran. When one Chinese oil firm, Zuhai Zhenrong, was recently placed on the financial sanctions list for trading with Iran, Beijing reacted furiously and conveyed "strong dissatisfaction and adamant opposition".

India has decided not to heed the West on abandoning Iranian oil imports, and it is proceeding to negotiate alternative payment processing mechanisms to continue trading with Tehran. Currently, India depends on the volatile Middle East for 70% of its oil and gas imports.

A senior member of Iran’s parliament said on Monday the Islamic Republic would close the entry point to the Gulf (  Strait of Hormuz ) if new sanctions block its oil exports. This news has been reported widely in online and News media  with the affect of it creating a atmosphere  of distrust towards Iran and creating  a scenario of justifying an attack on Iran.

Any bid by Iran to block the Strait of Hormuz at the entrance to the Gulf, through which 20 per cent of the world’s oil exports pass could result in a big oil price spike  and ensuing chaos and distrust between countries.

What are these sanctions imposed by the EU ?

EU nations have formally adopted an unprecedented set of sanctions against Tehran – which include a bloc-wide embargo on Iranian oil

abraham-lincoln-battlegroup picture hormuz

Iran’s blocking threat of the strait of Hormuz was a reaction to the European Union decision to impose sanctions on the Iranian central bank.But with no defined central power figure in Iran , it cannot be confirmed  whether this threat is legitimate  and backed by the powers that run Iran or as specified just  a comment made by a member of the parliament which has been blown out of proportion , for the selfish propaganda needs of some western countries that are safeguarding their interests.

The EU embargo or sanctions on Iranian oil exports, amounts to the most significant package of sanctions yet agreed. They are also likely to impose a partial freeze on assets held by the Iranian Central Bank in the EU. The reasons for these sanctions is aid to arise from concern that Iran is developing nuclear weapons under the guise of a nuclear energy programme.

The strait of hormuz and its importance !

On an average day in 2011, about 14 tankers carrying 17 million barrels (2,700,000 m3) of crude oil passed out of the Persian Gulf through the Strait of hormuz. This represents 35% of the world’s seaborne oil shipments, and 20% of oil traded worldwide. More than 85 percent of these crude oil exports went to Asian markets, with Japan, India, South Korea, and China representing the largest destination

strait of hormuz iran sanctions

The strait at its narrowest is 54 kilometres (34 mi) wide. It is the only sea passage to the open ocean for large areas of the petroleum-exporting Persian Gulf and is one of the world’s most strategically important passageways  through which major part of the oil exports to the world passes through.

Tensions near strait of hormuz

US Miliatary carrier Abraham Lincoln’s entry into the Gulf came in defiance of an explicit warning from Iran. Earlier this month, General Ataollah Salehi, commander of the country’s armed forces, threatened to respond with "full force" if any US carrier ventured into the region’s waters. "We don’t have the intention of repeating our warning, and we warn only once," he said.

USS Abraham Lincoln, a nuclear-powered carrier capable of embarking 90 aircraft, passed through this channel and entered the Gulf without incident on Sunday. HMS Argyll, a Type 23 frigate from the Royal Navy, was one of the escort vessels making up the carrier battle-group. A guided missile cruiser and two destroyers from the US Navy completed the flotilla, along with one warship from the French navy.

On Sunday, six naval warships including Abraham Lincoln that is based in those waters from the US and the UK started to patrol the Straits of Hormuz in a show of strength. The straits could be the chokepoint for global oil flows if Iran decides to take the battle to oil-dependent countries and stops oil tankers here. This could send oil prices soaring and would be a killer blow to the sluggish global economy.

With this current situation looking like a economic war brought on by US , EU  and IRAN, there is always the danger of it escalating with dangerous consequences. China’s Prime Minister Wen Jiabao was  has expressed concerns in this context of rising tensions over fresh Western sanctions against Iran and its consequences for energy security in Asia.

 

Links:

Europe buys oil from – http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1621003/Factbox–Whose-oil-does-the-EU-buy-

Another Qantas Incident on Perth to London flight

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31 July 2011: Qantas had another incident today  on its Perth to London flight that left  Perth on July 30 .  we just got informed by a passenger who was travelling on the flight that the Qantas flight midway between Singapore and London  suddenly started descending rapidly mid –air and swaying side to side.

The  pilot announced that there was turbulence later.  She said she felt as if the aircraft had lost control as it was swaying wildly  and descended rapidly for some time.

 Qantas turbulence problems on london flight

Qantas has been hit by a string of problems   in recent years

ground-qantas - problem

 

Quote passenger from the Perth to London flight on qantas

“They said it was turbulence but it was quite bad turbulence and am not sure the pilot handled it well cos the landing was bad too. About 3 hours after take off from Singapore, the flight suddenly started to shake and sway from side to side and lose altitude and the crew ran to their stations. Lunch trays fell off the tables and people were clutching their seats, the girl in front of me started feeing pukey.This went on for about 5 minutes and then there was an announcement saying it was turbulence and will last for 15 minutes, which made me relieved that it wasn’t engine problems. Incidentally this aircraft was delayed by 2 hours from taking off from its starting point, Melbourne so I guess this got us all even more panicky. But yes, thank God we ere all safe.”

 

This incident that occurred today  sounds quite similar to this previous incident  which has occured before with a Qantas flight.  More detailed information to follow soon…..

 

Previous Qantas incidents

7 hurt after Qantas flight hits severe turbulence – World – CBC News

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/story-e6frezi0-1111119018754

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/story-e6frg8ro-1226059449143

http://www.guardian.co.uk/qantas-plane-forced-land-engine

 

Article by sheldonsingh

Cats eating more fish that their owners

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“In many cases they are eating better quality fish than their owners”. Leading this fishy business is the US, where more than 1.1 million tonnes of small forage fish, including sardines, herrings and anchovies, go into cat food.

Each cat in Australia eats 13.7 kilograms of fish a year, while humans on average consume about 11 kilograms of fish and seafood each.

“Good fish is being wasted because of some pet owners’ hedonistic needs when feeding their pets.”  GOURMET meals dished up to pampered pets could be threatening world fish supplies, Victorian scientists have warned. 2,48 million tonnes of “forage” fish ie sardines, herrings and anchovies, are being consumed by the world’s cat population via the cat food industry, each year.That means about 13.7 kg per putty cat, purr year. Note, that is, only if you have an Aussie cat, not all global cats are so lucky (or included in the study).

canned Cat Food

“Australian pet cats are eating better than their owners,” Friggin felines are messing with our fish supplies and denying third world countries. A recent report draws attention to the cat food industry’s use of forage fish, which includes sardines and herrings and is considered a limited biological resource.researchers have discovered that cats eat 2 and a half tons of real fish each year and not only that, it’s the good stuff. In other words cats are eating fish that could be consumed by humans when they could be eating the guts, heads and the rest of the offal. Read more here  @ http://www.australianstockwatch.com/2008/08/each-cat-in-australia-eats-137.html

The lines are drawn with the nobel prize

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Chinese pro-democracy activist, Liu Xiaobo, is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize amid controversy between pro and anti-China supporters.

For the first time since 1936, the Nobel peace prize could not be presented today either to its laureate or, as the prize rules require, to a close relative.  “No medal or diploma will be presented today,” the committee’s chairman, Thorbjorn Jagland as the prize winner is unable to attend.

China, drawing on its growing economic clout in the world, has mounted a campaign  to encourage countries to boycott the ceremony. China declared that the “vast majority” of nations would boycott but the Norwegian award committee said two-thirds of those invited would attend. Among the countries not attending were Russia, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Pakistan, Serbia, Iraq, Vietnam, Iran, Afghanistan, Egypt, Sudan, Cuba, Morocco and Algeria.


According to the Nobel Institute, 44 embassies have accepted invitations and 19 have refused “for various reasons”, while two have not replied. Ukraine and the Philippines had at first declined their invitations, but Nobel Institute director Geir Lundestad said Thursday they had changed their minds. Serbia, which had initially refused the invitation, said Thursday it would be sending a representative after all. Russia, which signed trade agreements with China last month worth 8.5 billion dollars, has officially pleaded prior engagements for its absence.

The  non attending  versus the attending  definetly indicates or gives us an idea where  the line is drawn and who ( country ) stands where  if   a situation arises , similar to what Kevin Rudd said recently as disclosed in the wikileaks.org  “ preparing to deploy force if everything goes wrong” .

The obvious variables to consider are alliance patterns, regime type, trade with/aid from China, proximity to Beijing, and maybe a corruption measure. That said, if you look at the list of all foreign embassies in Oslo, there are some interesting questions to ask. Why is Thailand attending but not the Philippines? Why is Colombia joining Venezuela in not attending? Why is Vietnam, an enduring rival of China, allying with China on this issue?

Embassies are not required to explain why they accept or decline a Nobel invitation, but a senior Filipino diplomat spoke candidly, underlining China’s growing power, especially in Asia.

“We do not want to further annoy China,” he said.

India plans to attend the ceremonyat which the Nobel Peace Prize is to be presented to Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, Foreign Minister SM Krishna said Thursday. New Delhi is disregarding Beijing’s request for an international boycott of the event

Nominated for his “long and nonviolent struggle for fundamental human rights in China“, Liu, a 54-year-old critic and writer, is serving an 11-year prison sentence for inciting subversion after coauthoring Charter 08, an appeal for democratic reform. His wife, Liu Xia, has been under house arrest since the award was announced last month. Liu is married, but has no children. His wife has remained under police surveillance at the couple’s home in central Beijing since her husband was imprisoned.

It was the first time that a laureate under detention had not been formally represented since Nazi Germany barred pacifist Carl von Ossietzky from attending in 1935. Several jailed or detained laureates since had been represented by family but China did not allow anyone near Liu to travel to Oslo

China appeared to have blocked Western news websites, including the BBC and CNN, and state media made no mention of the ceremony, aside from a statement condemning the prize Ref ( http://tvnz.co.nz/nobel )

Winners of previous Nobel prize

Winners of the Nobel Peace Prize since 1980:

– 2010: Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo.

– 2009: US President Barack Obama

– 2008: Martti Ahtisaari

– 2007: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Al Gore

– 2006: Muhammad Yunus, Grameen Bank

– 2005: International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei

– 2004: Wangari Maathai

– 2003: Shirin Ebadi

– 2002: Former US President Jimmy Carter

– 2001: United Nations, Kofi Annan

– 2000: Kim Dae-jung

– 1999: Medecins Sans Frontieres

– 1998: John Hume, David Trimble

– 1997: International Campaign to Ban Landmines, Jody Williams

– 1996: Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, Jose Ramos-Horta

– 1995: Joseph Rotblat, Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs

– 1994: Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres, Yitzhak Rabin

– 1993: Nelson Mandela, FW de Klerk

– 1992: Rigoberta Menchu Tum

– 1991: Aung San Suu Kyi

– 1990: Mikhail Gorbachev

– 1989: The 14th Dalai Lama

– 1988: UN Peacekeeping Forces

– 1987: Oscar Arias Sanchez

– 1986: Elie Wiesel

– 1985: International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War

– 1984: Desmond Tutu

– 1983: Lech Walesa

– 1982: Alva Myrdal, Alfonso Garcia Robles

– 1981: Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees

– 1980: Adolfo Perez Esquivel

Related Links

Nobel peace prize winners list 2010


Liu Xiaobo – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://nobelprize.org/

The “ Big Burqa Debate in Australia”

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A  WA Perth judge in Western Australia is set to decide whether a Muslim woman can wear a full burqa while giving evidence before a jury  in court in a fraud case.

Burqa In australia

Anwar Sayed from perth WA  has been charged with fraudulently obtaining $1.125 million from the state and federal governments by falsifying the number of students at the Muslim Ladies College of Australia in Kenwick in Perth’s south.

The witness in this case , Tasneem, wants to wear a full burqa while giving evidence in court in the fraud trial of Muslim school director Anwar Sayed. The woman is a strict practising Muslim who does not want to show her face to men. Tasneem was an Islamic studies teacher at the Muslim Ladies College of Australia in Kenwick, south of Perth, in 2006. The school is run by Muslim Link Australia, and Sayed is the director.

This is a Burqa ( below)

burqa in australia france1

Burqa – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A burqa (Arabic pronunciation: [ˈbʊrqaʕ]; also transliterated burkha, burka or burqua from Arabic: برقع‎ burqu’ or burqa‘ ) is an enveloping outer garment

Updated News 07/08/2010 :

Burqa case defendant stabbed‎ – 1 day ago

The concerns were raised in Perth’s District Court during legal argument about whether a prosecution witness could wear her burqa while giving evidence

Defence lawyers have raised concerns about how the jury is expected to read the woman’s facial expressions if they cannot see her face.

He said it was believed to be the first time in Australia that a witness had wanted to wear a full burqa

Prosecutor Mark Ritter told the court 36-year-old Tasneem wanted to give evidence, but would feel uncomfortable without her burqa and that could prejudice the way she presented her evidence. District Court Judge Shauna Deane heard lawyers’ submissions on Thursday as to whether the woman, a witness for the prosecution in a fraud trial, should be allowed to wear the full burqa, also known as a niqab. After the jury was discharged, defence lawyer Mark Trowell told reporters a jury would not be able to “make a proper assessment” of the witness if they could not see her face.

Abbott finds  the “burqa’confronting”

Tony Abbott says he would like to see fewer women in Australia wearing burqas.

“I don’t want to interfere in the operations of our legal system but I have said it before and let me say it again, I find the Burqa a particularly confronting form of attire,” Mr Abbott said.

PM  Julia Gillard enters debate on Burqa

Australian prime-minister-julia-gillard

The Prime Minister this morning commented on the case, saying woman giving evidence in court should be forced to remove face-covering burqas. Ms Gillard said she thought it was one of the “limited” instances when it should be removed.

“I worked as a lawyer for eight years, I ran a lot of cases, I interviewed a lot of clients, having done that it can be very difficult to tell whether or not people are telling you the truth,” she said.

So why do muslim women wear burqa ?

The “burqa  or niqab” is a piece of clothing that covers a woman from head to foot. There is an opening for the eyes, but the rest of the body, except the hands, are covered. The burqa or niqab is usually made of light clothing, and is essentially outerwear for some Muslim women in some regions. It is worn when women leave their homes, over their indoor clothes. It’s not worn indoors in the presence of family

Related News on Burqa

Spain to debate burqa ban

UK rules out ‘rather un-British’ burka ban

French Parliament approves burqa ban

 

This is a Hijab ( below)

REF:http://www.defence.pk/forums/pakistans-war/62627-burqa-clad-german-arrested-bannu-bordering-pakistan-s-tribal-area-2.html

 

Quote from : http://www.youngandgrumpy.com/2010/05/banning-burqa-in-australia.html

Lets get a couple of things straight. Women in Burqas in Australia are not going out of their way to conceal bombs under their clothes. They are not about trying to destroy our way of life. They are doing the same thing that the rest of us do – trying to live their lives in a quiet peaceful way. Live and let live i say.
Its like the whole gay marriage debate. So many people are so passionate about denying gay people the right to marry. Why? How does someone else who you don’t know, nor will ever know give you cause for concern? What does it matter to you what someone else does with their life?

Australian Times – Business News and report

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