Friday, 17 July 2009
Thursday, 16 July 2009
Natalia Estemirova: Russian Rights Activist Kidnapped, Found Dead
The daylight slaying of Natalya Estemirova follows the killings in recent years of reporters, lawyers and activists, and appeared to indicate that Russia remains a place where political murders are committed with impunity...
Story at 'HuffPo' here.
Russian leader condemns killing.
Story at the'BBC' here.
Israeli navy in Suez Canal prepares for potential attack on Iran
Full story at the 'Times' here.
Israel soldiers speak out on Gaza
A group of soldiers who took part in Israel's assault in Gaza say widespread abuses were committed against civilians under "permissive" rules of engagement.
The troops said they had been urged to fire on any building or person that seemed suspicious and said Palestinians were sometimes used as human shields. Breaking the Silence, a campaign group made up of Israeli soldiers, gathered anonymous accounts from 26 soldiers. Israel denies breaking the laws of war and dismissed the report as hearsay. The report says testimonies show "the massive and unprecedented blow to the infrastructure and civilians" was a result of Israeli military policy, articulated by the rules of engagement, and encouraged by a belief "the reality of war requires them to shoot and not to ask questions".
Full story at the 'BBC' here.
US Man chokes on the cost of his cigarette habit
A man in the United States popped out to his local petrol station to buy a pack of cigarettes - only to find his card charged $23,148,855,308,184,500.
That is $23 quadrillion (£14 quadrillion) - many times the US national debt.
"I thought somebody had bought Europe with my credit card," said Josh Muszynski, from New Hampshire.
Full story at the 'BBC' here.