#News - #Iraq jet accidentally bombs Baghdad, killing eight

A bomb fell from an Iraqi Sukhoi warplane and exploded in eastern Baghdad on Monday because of a “technical problem”, killing at least eight people and wounding 17, officials said.

“One of the bombs became stuck because of a technical problem, and
during its (the aircraft’s) return to base it fell on… houses in Baghdad Jadida,” security spokesman Brigadier General Saad Maan said.

The pilot tried six times to drop the bomb, which became stuck while
he was carrying out strikes against the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group, but was unable to dislodge it “mechanically or manually,” the defence ministry said in a statement.
But the bomb came loose as the plane overflew Baghdad to land at its base, the ministry said.

The governor of Baghdad province, Ali al-Tamimi,called for the Rasheed air base, where the plane was bound, to be moved to a non-residential area.

Tamimi said he contacted the air force and was told the plane was
returning from the Haditha area in Anbar province, which is surrounded by IS.

The explosion ripped through small houses in Baghdad Jadida, tearing
down walls, smashing roofs and leaving bricks and other rubble piled
in the street.

“Our house was destroyed,” said Ali Jassem, a 27-year-old interior
ministry employee.

Jassem said that if an accidental bombing can happen in an area where there is no fighting, “God knows the extent of the events happening” in combat zones.

Iraq received Sukhoi Su-25 jets from Russia and Iran last year as it
sought to bolster its fledgling air force to combat IS, which overran
large parts of the country.

The Su-25s are robust aircraft designed for ground attack missions,
but Iraq’s Sukhoi fleet is made up of ageing planes that have seen
heavy use as Baghdad’s forces battle to push the jihadists back.
The US agreed to sell Baghdad 36 F-16 warplanes, but none have been
delivered to Iraq so far.

The first batch of the jets has instead been sent to Arizona, where
Iraqi F-16 pilots are training.

One of the pilots, Brigadier Rasid Mohammed Sadiq, was killed in a
crash during an aerial refuelling exercise at the end of June.

Source - Guardian Newd

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#News - #Israel says 6 Bedouins arrested for supporting IS

Israel has arrested six Bedouin Arabs, including four teachers, for
allegedly supporting the extremist Islamic State group, the domestic
security service said Monday.

The six men, all members of the same family, were relatives of two
people who already travelled to Syria to fight alongside jihadists, Israeli media said.

Around 30 Arab Israelis have already made their way to Syria to fight
for Islamist groups against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in the country’s more than four-year civil war, according to the authorities.

The men met “in secret to study the doctrine of Islamic State”, a
statement from the Shin Bet intelligence agency said, adding they had intended to “spread the ideology of this group among their family and friends,” and that some had wanted to travel to Syria.

It did not give further details,including the date of their arrest.

Several Arab Israelis have been arrested after returning from Syria, and convicted for attempts to join Syrian rebels.

IS purportedly executed an Arab Israeli in March who had gone to join the group, accusing him of being an Israeli spy.

Arab Israelis number around 1.4 million, just over 20 percent of Israel’s population.

They are the descendents of the 160,000 Palestinian Arabs who remained on their land when the Jewish state was established in 1948.

Israel and Syria are technically still at war following their 1967 and
1973 conflicts.

Source - Guardian News

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#News - Two pilots killed in Russian military jet crash

Two pilots of a Russian military aircraft were killed Monday when
their jet crashed during a training mission in the far east of the
country, the defence ministry said, the latest in a string of accidents involving military planes.

“The aircraft suffered a crash during take-off in a planned training
flight near the Khurba aerodrome. The two pilots were killed,” the
ministry said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies.

The wreckage of the Sukhoi Su-24 jet created a 20-metre-wide crater, state-owned RIA Novosti news agency reported, but no casualties or property damage were recorded.

The defence ministry dispatched an investigation team to the scene
to probe the causes of the plane’s demise, TASS reported. Officials did
not offer any explanations for the crash and could not be reached for further comment on the incident.

The commander of the Russian Air Force declared a moratorium on flights of Sukhoi fighter jets until the
reasons behind the latest crash were uncovered, Russian media
reported.

The incident is Russia’s fifth military plane accident in the last
month and the second crash in the last few days, raising questions
about the safety of Russian military aircraft.

On Friday, the pilot of a Mikoyan MiG-29 jet fighter that crashed in
the Krasnodar region managed to eject himself from the cockpit. A
faulty engine in thought to have caused the incident.

The Sukhoi Su-24 dates to the Soviet era but is still used by the
Russian air force.

The last deadly crash involving a Sukhoi Su-24 fighter jet occurred
in February on the outskirts of the southern Russian city of
Volgograd, TASS reported.

Source - Guardian News

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#News - Greek banks to stay closed until Wednesday: official

Greek banks will remain closed until Wednesday with limits on daily
withdrawals unchanged, the state news agency reported on Monday,
citing officials.

Further developments will depend on decisions by the European Central
Bank, whose board of governors were holding a conference call on
Monday to decide whether to maintain its lifeline to Greek banks, the
officials added.

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#News - Philippines confirms second MERS case

A foreigner who flew to the Philippines from the Middle East has become
the second confirmed case of MERS in the country, the health
department said Monday, as a deadly outbreak in South Korea spreads
alarm across Asia.

The 36-year-old male patient, whose nationality was not disclosed, has
been put in isolation at a government facility to contain the virus,
Health Secretary Janette Garin said.

“We can see he is getting better,” Garin told a news conference,
adding the man had a “low viral load” indicating his infection was not
extremely serious.

“There is no reason to panic and we appeal to the public to respect the
privacy of the patient.”

The man fell ill on July 2, having earlier arrived in the country from
Saudi Arabia by way of Dubai, she said, declining to give more details.

A Filipina nurse who returned from Saudi Arabia in February became
the first person in the Philippines to test positive for MERS but she
later recovered.

Although Garin stressed that there had been no cases of MERS
infection through casual contact in the Philippines, the health
department was tracing people who may have had contact with the
patient.

They include all those who were on the same flight as the infected man,
Garin said.

In South Korea, which is suffering the worst outbreak of MERS
outside Saudi Arabia, 185 people have been diagnosed with the disease
with 33 fatalities, the government there said.Of those infected, 41 remain hospitalised, with 11 in a critical
condition.

The Philippine health department has been on alert in recent weeks for
the possible entry of the virus that causes the Middle East Respiratory
Syndrome, particularly among the 88,000 South Koreans living in the
country.

Health authorities earlier examined three South Korean expatriates
who developed respiratory ailments, but all tested negative for MERS,
department spokesman Lyndon Lee Suy said.

Elsewhere in Asia, Malaysia reported a case before the South Korean
outbreak in May, while China reported a person with MERS who had
travelled to the country after recent exposure in South Korea,
according to the WHO.

Source - Guardian News

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#News - 16-year old girl dies after not having bowel movement for 8 weeks

16-year old Emily Titterington had a phobia of using the restroom and
would frequently withhold her stools for up to two months.

A teenager in the United Kingdom has died from a heart attack, after
not having bowel movement for 8 weeks.

According to Telegraph , 16-year old Emily Titterington had a phobia of
using the restroom and would frequently withhold her stools for up to
two months.

Eventually her bowel grew so large it compressed her chest cavity and
caused the displacement of other organs.

Titterington's death was revealed during an inquest which heard how
her life could have been saved with appropriate treatment but she had
refused to be medically examined.

Home Office pathologist Dr Amanda Jeffery said her symptoms were in
keeping with a condition known as "stool withholding", which is more
frequent in children.

According to the inquest, Titterington who had mild autism, suffered
with bowel problems for most of her life but doctors had been unable to
pinpoint the cause.

Furthermore it was learnt that in the period leading up to her death,
Emily's mother had battled in vain to persuade her to be medically
examined.

Emily collapsed at her home in St Austell on February 8, 2013, and
though paramedics desperately tried to revive her, she was later
pronounced dead in hospital.

Describing the evening that led up to her death, Paramedic Lee Taylor
said he came to Emily's home that evening and found her looking pale as
she complained of pain between her shoulders.

But she refused to go the hospital. However later on when he came back
to the house after her parents called again he said "as she moved away
I could see that her abdomen was grossly extended. Her lower ribs had
been pushed out further than her pubic bone - I was shocked."

During the inquest, it was also revealed that Titterington hadn't used
the convenience in 6 - 8 weeks, although her family had tried a number
of different remedies for her bowel condition including homeopathic
pills, and a technique known as Body Talk, which involved so-called
"distance healing".

Source - PunchNG

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#News - Yemen battle rages as air strikes intensify in Sanaa

The coalition has been bombarding the Iran-allied Houthi militia and allied army units since March [AP]

The Arab coalition has intensified air strikes on Yemeni capital of Sanaa while fighting raged between pro-government fighters and Houthi rebels in the country’s south.

Friday's air raid in Sanaa's al-Jaraf neighbourhood killed six people,including a woman and a child, and injured six others, rebel sources told the Reuters news agency.

Al Jazeera has learnt that more strikes on Friday targeted the aviation college building and the air defence headquarters, in addition to the house of the former president’s brother, Mohammad Abdullah Saleh, who was also the head of the presidential guards.

It was unclear if he was in his residence.
Warplanes also hit the ministry of communications building, the Houthi-controlled Saba news agency reported, setting it on fire and destroying nearby buildings.

They also bombed Faj Attan Mountain overlooking Sanaa, home to a military base and a weapons depot that have been a frequent target of raids in the course of the three-month-old war.

At least 10 people were killed in a strike on another building in Bayt al-Faqih city in the southwestern province of al-Hodeida, Saba reported.

In Aden, Yemen’s second city, clashes killed at least 13 Shia Houthi rebels and eight pro-government fighters on Friday, according to the AFP news agency citing military sources.
The coalition has been bombarding the Houthis and allied army units since March in a campaign to restore exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power.

Hadi fled in February to Saudi Arabia, where he remains, after the Houthis swept out of their northwestern stronghold and captured Sanaa last September, pushing Hadi's government aside and then extending their control to large parts of Yemen.

Saba also reported mortar attacks by al-Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Islah party against homes in the Hasb district of the southwestern province of Taiz. The report could not immediately be confirmed.

On Thursday, the US State Department called for a "humanitarian pause" in the conflict during the current Muslim holy month of Ramadan to allow international aid organisations to deliver urgently needed food, medicine, and fuel.

The United Nations on Wednesday had designated the war in Yemen as a Level 3 humanitarian crisis, its most severe category.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

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#News - Wisconsin man threatens to kill President Barack Obama

According to the warrant, Dutcher confirmed in an interview with the
Secret Service that he made the remarks to the security guard.

The warrant also says Dutcher posted on Facebook on June 30 "that's it! Thursday I will be in La Crosse. Hopefully I will get a clear shot at the pretend president. Killing him is our CONSTITUTIONAL DUTY!"

Dutcher also told a La Crosse detective that his threat was serious and that "he would not have said what he said if he didn't intend to carry it out."

While threats against the White House and Obama are relatively common occurrences, Thursday's arrest warrant comes amid increased security measures leading into the July 4 holiday weekend and concerns of a terrorist threat.

Source - CNN

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#News - Dozens killed in Philippines ferry accident

Thirty-eight people have been confirmed dead and 15 people are still missing after a ferry sank in the central Philippines, the coastguard said.

The vessel carrying 187 passengers and crew overturned in rough waters minutes after leaving the port of Ormoc City on Thursday headed for the islands of Camotes east of Cebu.

Search and rescue operations continued through the night, with coast guard personnel reinforced by a Philippine navy ship and two air force planes.

Divers were to search waters for those still missing on friday.
A preliminary investigation of the accident pointed to human error after the wooden hulled ferry made a sharp right turn soon after it left port.

Panicked passengers crowded the right side of the ferry, causing it to tilt slowly before capsizing, coast guard spokesman Armand Balilo told local radio.

"The ferry was carrying cement and rice but it didn't appear to be overloaded," Balilo said.The captain of the boat survived the incident and will be investigated,he added.

Poorly maintained, loosely regulated ferries are the backbone of maritime travel in the Philippines.

Last September, at least three people died and more than 100 people were rescued after a ferry sank in waters off Panaon Island in the Southern Leyte province after it was hit by huge waves during bad weather.

In August 2013, at least 114 people died after the MV St Thomas
Aquinas sank after colliding with a cargo ship as it headed to Cebu.

Emergency teams rescued more than 100 people from the seas off Ormoc City in Leyte province [EPA]

Source: Agencies - Aljazeera

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Paralysed soldier learns to walk with exoskeleton

A former British soldier who was paralysed in Afghanistan is learning how to walk again with the help of an exoskeleton.

James Johnson, who served with the Grenadier Guards, is the first paraplegic person to be part of the Salford University pilot scheme to teach people how to walk using robotics. In the past two years, exoskeletons have started to be sold commercially but they are expensive.

The ReWalk system being used by Mr Johnson costs €60,000($66,541,£42,850). The company hopes insurance firms will help others with similar disabilities meet the cost of learning to walk again.

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Tunisia attack: Minute's silence to be held for victims

A minute's silence will be held across the UK at midday to remember the 38 people - including 30 Britons - killed in the Tunisia beach attack a week ago.

Flags will be flown at half-mast over Whitehall and Buckingham Palace,while play at Wimbledon will be delayed. The Queen and Prime Minister David Cameron will join the silence.

The first inquests into the deaths of the Britons will begin later, with the bodies of more of the dead expected to arrive back at RAF Brize Norton.

The foreign secretary has said all 30 British people killed have been
identified. Philip Hammond said he was confident the figure was the
final British death toll from the beach shootings in Sousse last Friday.

The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh will join staff at the University of Strathclyde marking the silence, while Mr Cameron will be in his Witney constituency in Oxfordshire.

A number of mosques are expected to participate in the silence, and
many will also remember the victims during Friday prayers. Police officers across the country will take part, the National Police Chiefs Council said.

And a special ceremony will also be held at the scene of the killings in Sousse, where dignitaries and tourists are expected to attend.

At Wimbledon, matches on the outdoor courts usually start at 11:30 but
will begin at 12:15 to allow spectators and participants to take part in the silence.

What we know about the British victims

Bodies returned Later, the first inquests will open at West London Coroner's Court.

Coroner Chinyere Inyama is expected to open and adjourn the hearings.

Further inquests are due to be opened at the court on Saturday and Sunday.

Post-mortem examinations will be carried out before the bodies are released to their families.

The bodies of 17 of the British victims have now returned to the UK.The repatriation of the dead is likely to take several days, with two further flights planned for Friday and Saturday.

Thomson and First Choice has said all 30 British people killed were its customers.

"The whole company would like to extend our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of those involved in this tragic event," it added.

"Our main focus now is to ensure the families of the deceased and our customers who have been injured receive all possible support at this incredibly difficult time."

'Tragic event'

Tunisian authorities have identified 28-year-old student Seifeddine Rezgui as the gunman who carried out the attack.

They are also holding eight suspects in custody on suspicion of being directly linked to the attack , which IS has claimed. Four others who were held have been released.

On Thursday, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon set out the case for air strikes on Islamic State targets in Syria in Parliament on Thursday.
He has suggested the Tunisia attack may have been planned by IS in Syria.

Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Police has said more than 160 officers were interviewing witnesses to the attack who had returned to the UK.

A total of 20 officers have been sent to Tunisia by the Met's Counter Terrorism Command, which is leading the coroner's investigation.

The National Policing Counter Terrorism Headquarters has also sent specialist security advisers to Tunisia, to support a review of security at resorts and tourist attractions.

Scotland Yard has previously said its investigation into the attack is likely to be one of the largest counter-terrorism deployments since the London 7/7 bombings in 2005, which killed 52.

Source - BBC News

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Charleston gunman’s sister did about the most narcissistic thing she could

The sister of racist Charleston gunman Dylann Roof sparked
outrage with an online fundraising campaign to raise donations,
not for the lives lost, but for her honeymoon and dream wedding.“It was going to be the PERFECT day!” Amber Roof wrote on her GoFundMe page, which was swiftly taken down on Thursday afternoon.

“As many of you know Michael and I had to abruptly cancel our wedding day, due to the tragedy that occurred in Charleston,” she said. “We would like the chance to start our lives on a positive note. Therefore, we have decided to start a Go Fund Me account. We know money cannot replace the wedding we lost and our perfect day, however it will help us to create new memories and a new start with our new family.”

The 27-year-old was set to be married on June 21 — four days after her brother allegedly slaughtered nine worshipers at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church .In four days, Roof had received 36 contributions. As of noon Thursday, she had raised $1,609 of her $5,000 goal.

“June 21st was suppose to be the happiest day of our lives,” Roof said. “It is the day every girl dreams of, it was the day we dreamed of. We had each other, we have the perfect venue, and we had our vows ready to be read. We were ready! We had planned out every detail for months and months. Many friends and family members came into town and took time off of work to be there for us. We could not ask you to do that again.” Roof also went on to blast the press for the cancellation.

“The media abused our privacy and published all of our wedding information and destroyed our dream day,” she fumed. “Destroying the first day of Michael and my life together….We would like the chance to start our lives on a postive note.”

Roof claims the “money raised will be used to cover lost wedding costs, to pay bills, and to send us on our dream honeymoon” — while just 10 percent of all funds will be donated to Emanuel AME Church. Despite the contributions, most people have been disgusted by Roof’s request for cash.

“THE NERVE OF YOU!!!” one commenter said. “If its just about getting married then go to the court house. But how dare u set up a gofundme under these circumstances.” Another person wrote, “This has to be the most self-centered and insensitive fundraising page I’ve ever encountered and I’m shocked that gofundme hasn’t erased you from their existence already!”

“I can’t imagine the anguish and sorrow that your own brother has inflicted on so many wonderful and kind people,” she continued. “And all the while, you are fantasizing about letting others fund your honeymoon!!” Attempts to reach Roof by phone Thursday were unsuccessful.

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#News - 26 million Facebook users go rainbow for gay marriage ruling

New York - More than 26 million Facebook profile photos have taken on a rainbow hue since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Friday that marriage is a right guaranteed under the Constitution regardless of a person's sexual orientation.

People have been covering their profile photos with the Facebook-supplied overlay that uses the best-known symbol in the U.S. of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights movement.

Rainbow-tinted celebrities include Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg,
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Leonardo DiCaprio and "Fifty Shades of Grey" author E.L. James.

While the people who've used the overlay is a fraction of Facebook's 1.4 billion users worldwide, the number is far bigger than the last mass profile photo change on the site. In 2013, some 3 million Facebook users changed their photos to show a pink-on-red equal sign in support of gay marriage.

Four years earlier, in what might have been the first large-scale profile-photo activism, Twitter users turned their photo green to support pro-democracy protesters in Iran.

Facebook said it is not using the filters for ad targeting, nor does it plan to do so.

Facebook said the fact that the rainbow filter appeared on the same day as the Supreme Court decision was not planned any more than the Supreme Court planned to issue its ruling the Friday.

The filter was created last week by two Facebook summer interns who said they wanted to help other employees "show their spirit" for gay pride parades in San Francisco, New York and elsewhere in recent days. The filter was popular among employees, so Facebook rolled it out to regular users.

Counter-filters also have popped up, with some users in Russia overlaying their profiles with the country's flag instead of a rainbow.

In the U.S., the website Right Wing News created a tool that lets people place a filter of the American flag over their profile photos.

- AP

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#News - Tanzania High Court sentences 4 men to death for killing albino teenager

Tanzania High Court on Thursday sentenced four men, including a
witchdoctor, to death after being found guilty of abducting, killing and dismembering a 17-year-old albino boy.

The prosecutor told the court that the killers planned to sell the victim’s organs for use in witchcraft.
He said the fifth defendant was released because there was insufficient evidence to link him to the murder.

The prosecutor said the witchdoctor, Adangalwisye Kayuni, was found with human intestines whose DNA matched that of the dead teenager.

He added that another defendant was found in possession of four fingers and 10 bones, which DNA tests proved were also those of the victim.

The prosecutor said that the boy, Henry Mwakajila, went missing in the Mbeya region one night in 2008.
A Red Cross report said the court sentenced 15 people to death for killing albinos since 2008.

It said more than 75 people with albinism, a lack of pigment in the skin, hair and eyes, were killed in Tanzania since 2000.

The Red Cross added that the killers often hack their victims to death and sell their body parts to witchdoctors who used them in spells to bring good luck and wealth.
It said witchdoctors paid as much as 75,000 dollars for full albino body parts.

Albinism is a congenital disorder affecting about one in 20,000 people
worldwide but more common in sub-Saharan Africa.

It affects an estimated one Tanzanian in 1,400.

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[#News] German among bombers in deadly Iraq attack

At least 11 Iraqi security personnel were killed Saturday in a quadruple
suicide car bombing near Baiji that the Islamic State group said four of
its foreign fighters carried out.
Police and army sources said the four car bombs were unleashed on
security targets in Hajjaj, which lies on the road between Tikrit and
Baiji in Salaheddin province, north of Baghdad.
Seven soldiers were killed as well as four members of the Popular
Mobilisation force, an umbrella for mostly Shiite militias and volunteers
that has been doing much of the heavy lifting in the fight against IS in
Iraq.
At least 27 people were also wounded in the coordinated attack, which
saw one of the four car bombs neutralised before it could reach its
target, a police colonel said.
An army officer said the vehicles used were identical, brand new SUVs
that looked like an official convoy.
Pictures released by IS show the black-clad suicide bombers each
standing by one of four black Toyota Land Cruisers.
IS said in a statement that the bombers were a Kuwaiti, a Palestinian,
a Briton and a German.
The picture of the German bomber, named Abu Ibrahim al-Almani, shows
a red-haired blue-eyed man behind the wheel of his explosives-laden
car, smiling and pointing his index finger to the sky.

Source - Punch News Ng

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Gunmen abduct Tunisian consulate staff in Libya

Armed gunmen have kidnapped ten members of staff at the Tunisian
consulate in Libya’s capital Tripoli, the Tunisian Foreign Ministry said.
A ministry statement said Friday’s incident was a “blatant attack on
Tunisian national sovereignty and a flagrant violation of international
laws and diplomatic norms.”
The statement said Tunisia’s government was monitoring the situation
and working to secure the release of the employees.
“All government services are following developments with interest
in coordination with Libyan, regional and international parties, to
liberate without delay the Tunisian mission team and guarantee its
safety,” the ministry statement read.
Al Jazeera’s Nazanine Moshiri said Tunisian officials were holding a
crisis meeting but were being reticent about who was behind the
kidnapping.
“Some people are saying that all of this connected to a man named
Walid Kalib, a member of Libya Dawn, which took control of Tripoli and
forced the government to move to Tobruk in the east,” Moshiri said.
“Walid Kalib was arrested here in Tunisia in May, he’s facing charges of
kidnapping.
“In May, more than 250 ordinary Tunisian were detained but then
released.”
Tunisia is one of the few countries which still has a mission in Tripoli,
which is controlled by a government not recognised by the UN.

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China deploys drone to catch cheating students

The latest weapon in the fight against cheating for China’s all- important university entrance exam is a six propeller drone.

The drone flew over two testing centres in Luoyang city in central China’s Henan province to scan for any unusual signals being sent to devices smuggled by students taking the annual test.

A Henan province news website said no such signals were detected on
Sunday, the first day of the test.
Almost all Chinese high school graduates must take the test, and their scores are the key criterion for which tier of university they can enter.

Luoyang’s Radio Supervision and Regulation Bureau said the drone cost
hundreds of thousands of yuan (tens of thousands of dollars).

- Aljazeera.com

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S’Korea shuts 2,000 schools as MERS cases increase

South Korean authorities have ordered nearly 2,000 schools closed nationwide to prevent the spread of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).

The health ministry on Monday reported 23 new infections, bringing the total to 87. Six people have so far died in the outbreak.

South Korea now has the second highest number of infections in the world after Saudi Arabia, according to statistics from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

Reflecting public concern among parents, 1,869 schools across the country are due to be closed on Monday, the education ministry said.

The government, under criticism for a lack of transparency and failing to respond swiftly to the outbreak, also said it would track people who may have been in contact with patients through their mobile phones.

- Aljazeera

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New York offers $100,000 reward for escaped prisoners

New York authorities have offered a $100,000 reward for information
leading to the apprehension of two convicted murderers who used power tools to break out of a maximum security prison.

The pair may have had help, and they left a taunting note for their jailers to “Have a nice day,” authorities said on Sunday.

More than 200 local, state and federal law enforcement officials set up
roadblocks, took to the air and went door-to-door in their search for
Richard Matt, 48, and David Sweat, 34, who went missing early on Saturday morning from the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora,about 30km south of the Canadian border.
Governor Andrew Cuomo described the reward of $50,000 per prisoner as extraordinary.

“These are dangerous individuals,” he said during a telephone news conference. “They are killers. They are murderers.”

“This is a crisis situation for the state,” he added. “They’re capable of
committing grave crimes again.”

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UN: Killings, torture, sexual slavery committed in Eritrea

Geneva - Eritrea may have committed crimes against humanity, a year-long UN human rights inquiry said in a report published on Monday describing extrajudicial killings, widespread torture, sexual slavery and enforced labour.

"The commission finds that systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations have been and are being committed in Eritrea under the authority of the Government," the 484-page report of the UN commission of inquiry said.

Slavery-like practices are routine and torture is so widespread that the commission said it could only conclude that the government's policy was to encourage its use.

"The commission concludes that the government is accountable for the widespread torture inflicted on Eritreans throughout the country," it said.The commission had asked Eritrea for access and information during its inquiry but "it received no response", it added.

Eritrea effectively enslaves people by a system known as "national service", but which really involves "arbitrary detention, torture,sexual torture, forced labour, absence of leave", the report said.

National service is supposed to last 18 months, but the commission spoke to one witness who had fled after 17 years. Witnesses reported people being executed for trying to avoid being drafted into service as recently as 2013, it said.

Eritrea maintains a vast detention network and regards anyone who tries to leave the country as a traitor, but a large portion of the population has already fled. About 6 to 10% of Eritreans are now registered as refugees by the UN, depending on estimates of the population.

Eritrea has operated a shoot-to-kill policy on its borders to stop people fleeing. The commission said people were still being shot in 2014, although the government says it has ended the policy.

The government operates a "pervasive" surveillance network to monitor its own citizens, while judges, often conscripts earning less than $2 per day are not competent to ensure fundamental rights are upheld, the report said.

Mass killings had also been perpetrated against certain ethnic groups,it added.
There was no immediate response from the government to the report.

- Reuters

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