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Cats Attacked
Authorities say several feral cats have been found beaten, burned and mutilated in the Bronx.
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Green Beret: Special forces team leader 'grinned' as he held ear of Afgh...
The leader of an Army special forces team "grinned" as he held the ear of an Afghan man he suspected of being an insurgent after he shot him and left his body in the desert, a Green Beret testified Tuesday.
The testimony by Sgt. 1st Class Ricky Derring came at a military hearing for his team leader, Master Sgt. Joseph D. Newell, who could face court martial on a murder charge in the March 5 killing of the Afghan civilian.
Derring said Newell returned to the spot where he left the man's body and "made a stabbing motion and I could see his arms cutting." Newell then walked back to the team's vehicle with the man's ear in his hand, Derring said.
"He shook the ear and grinned," Derring said.
Under cross examination by Newell's civilian attorney Todd Conormon, Derring said he didn't actually see Newell cut off the man's ear.
The Article 32 hearing that is expected to last two days is similar to a civilian grand jury. It is not used to decide guilt, only whether there's enough evidence to court martial Newell, who was assigned to the Fort Bragg-based 3rd Special Forces Group. The Army has not released details about Newell such as his age, hometown and how long he has served.
Derring said his team was escorting a convoy of supplies in Helmand province, when they spotted two civilian cars in the distance. The soldiers fired a warning shot and went to investigate.
Derring, a 50-caliber machine gunner on the team, said Newell asked the man through an interpreter whether he was an insurgent or had improvised explosive devices. He questioned him about a photo of a weapon on his cell phone.
"Joe was asking him questions: Where did he get the phone, was he placing IEDs, was he Taliban," Derring testified during a hearing at Fort Bragg, a sprawling Army base near Fayetteville.
Derring said the man answered no. But Derring said he, Newell and the interpreter believed the man was an insurgent because Taliban forces often use cell phones to communicate and call in their locations.
Newell drew his gun and shot him, left him in the desert, then returned and cut off his ear, Derring testified. Newell took the body to another place in the desert, "and kicked and over his face a little bit," Derring said.
Derring responded to Conormon's questions about hard feelings between Newell and other team members. Derring said they would argue about tactics and other matters, adding that Newell had to assert himself because he was a newer member of the team.
Derring said he was upset about the shooting and later told another sergeant what had happened.
"He basically said Master Sgt. Newell had a screw loose," Derring said.
Newell later talked to Derring about the killing, during which Derring told Newell he never wanted to be in that kind of situation, Derring said.
"He told me, 'Don't worry, nothing will come of it.' He said, 'if it does, I'll just say I was attacked,'" Derring testified. The leader of an Army special forces team "grinned" as he held the ear of an Afghan man he suspected of being an insurgent a... more -
7 terrible abuses suffered by women around the world
Terrible atrocities are committed against untold numbers of women around the world every day and for most of these women, justice will never be served. This is a list of the worst of the atrocities. In no particular order:
7:
Bridekidnapping
Bride kidnapping is a common practice in Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan. When it is time to get married in Kyrgyzstan, a man or his family will pick a woman and she will be kidnapped. The prospective groom and his male relatives or friends or both abduct the girl (in the old nomadic days, on horseback; now often by car) and take her to the family home, where the older women of the family try to get her to accept the marriage. Some families will keep the girl hostage for several days to break her will. Others will let her go if she remains defiant. The kidnapped woman’s family may also become involved in the process, either urging the woman to stay if the marriage is believed to be socially acceptable or advantageous for the prospective bride and her family, or opposing the marriage on various grounds and helping liberate the woman.
In Ethiopia and Rwanda it is quite brutal, where the man kidnaps the woman and rapes her. The family of the woman either then feels obliged to consent to the union, or is forced to when the kidnapper impregnates her, as no one else would marry a pregnant woman. Terrible atrocities are committed against untold numbers of women around the world every day and for most of these women, justice will... more -
Egyptian activists strive to halt female circumcision
SULTAN ZAWYIT, Egypt - In this small Nile River farming village, Maha Mohammed has started to doubt whether she should circumcise her two daughters.
A year ago, she had few qualms about female genital mutilation, the practice of cutting a girl's clitoris and sometimes other genitalia. She herself was cut two decades ago, and she fears her daughters will not find husbands otherwise.
But Mohammed also has heard that circumcision can be medically risky and emotionally painful. And a strong-willed neighbor, another woman, has been dropping by her house regularly to persuade her to say no.
"I hear that girls suffer not just physically but psychologically," the 31-year-old Mohammed said. "But I am afraid. I don't want my daughters to have uncontrollable demands for sex."
Such doubts are significant. With vigorous grass-roots campaigns and the passage of tough laws against circumcision, Egypt seems to be making a dent in this deeply ingrained practice, which is thousands of years old. The number of young girls circumcised is now steadily declining in a country where an estimated 96 percent of married Egyptian women have had their genitals cut.
The most recent comprehensive study predicts about 63 percent of Egyptian girls 9 years old and under will be circumcised over the next decade. The numbers are lower in urban areas like Cairo - about 40 percent - but higher for rural areas in the south - about 78 percent, the government's 2005 demographic and health survey predicts. SULTAN ZAWYIT, Egypt - In this small Nile River farming village, Maha Mohammed has started to doubt whether she should circumcise her ... more -
Abused dog up for adoption
Escambia County (Pensacola, Florida) officials may let a no-kill shelter or similar organization adopt a severely injured dog that was rescued earlier this week and remains at the county’s animal shelter.
Escambia County spokeswoman Sonya Daniel said it is not known what caused the injuries, which removed most of the skin from a large portion of the dog’s back.
“Animal Control took the dog to an emergency clinic where it was treated,” she said. “The vet said the dog was friendly and had a good demeanor. And it was transported to the shelter on Monday.”
“There is no way to know for sure what happened to the dog,” she said. “It was found with no collar or tag, so finding the owner will be difficult.”
Escambia County Sheriff’s spokesman Glenn Austin said the extent of the dog’s injuries would warrant felony charges of animal cruelty against those responsible.
Article:
http://www.pnj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/200805301... Escambia County (Pensacola, Florida) officials may let a no-kill shelter or similar organization adopt a severely injured dog that was... more -
Man accused of cooking, eating his girlfriend
A Tyler, TX man is in jail tonite after police found remains of his 21 y/o girlfriend simmering away on his stove
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Mutilation
