Monday, 13 February 2012

Athens clashes in Greece over Greece Eurozone austerity deal

Protesters threw petrol bombs at police in the Greek capital

Global Economy

Protesters have clashed with police in the Greek capital Athens, amid anger over fresh austerity measures approved under pressure from Eurozone ministers.

Demonstrators threw rocks and petrol bombs at police, who responded with tear gas. The clashes came after trade unions began a 48-hour strike.
Parliament is expected to vote on a package of cuts and reforms on Sunday.
Eurozone ministers say MPs must approve it before Greece receives 130bn euros ($170bn; £110bn) in bailout funds.
They are also demanding further budget cuts of 325m euros.

Analysis

Mark Lowen BBC News, Athens

And so it wasn't enough. Days of political horse trading to agree on a package of cuts and still Brussels has said "do more". The frustration here in Athens is palpable.
Parliamentary approval should be the least of the problems. The coalition controls a large majority of MPs so even a backbench rebellion shouldn't sink the package. The 325m euros in extra savings are possibly feasible too - there is talk that defence could be further cut.
But written commitment to the cuts from the party leaders could be the sticking point. It's a tactic that Brussels has tried before and it faced stiff resistance from politicians who talk of national humiliation.
But the price of failure is too high for Greece's government, which fears bankruptcy and a potential exit from the euro. And Eurozone leaders are unlikely to cut Greece loose either. Germany's Angela Merkel has said "if the Euro fails, Europe fails."

A third condition set by the Eurozone ministers is that the Greek coalition gives "strong political assurances" on the implementation of the programme".

The ministers - who met in Brussels on Thursday - said the conditions must be fulfilled by next Wednesday, when they are due to meet again to consider releasing the bailout funds.
Greece cannot service its huge debt, and there are fears that a default could endanger Europe's financial stability and even lead to a break-up of the Eurozone.
The country is already reeling from the effects of an earlier round of austerity that followed a previous bailout. Those cuts triggered widespread unrest and violent protests.
Greece is deep in recession, with unemployment rising above 20%.
The unions have condemned the latest proposed cuts as "painful measures" that would create misery.

Fisrt moving of northen lights from space..

New images of the Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, have been captured by Nasa using a new time-lapse photographic technique.
By combining hundreds of stills taken from the International Space Station, they have produced the first 'moving' images of the spectacle.
Nasa Earth Scientist Melissa Dawson explains how she happened on the technique almost by accident, when looking over other material from the ISS.

Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi cheered by crowds in Kawhmu

Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has begun campaigning for the first time in the constituency where she is standing for election to parliament.

Burma: Battle for Democracy

Crowds of cheering supporters in rural Burma have turned out to welcome opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on her first campaign stop ahead of by-elections scheduled for April.

Ms Suu Kyi, who is standing in the constituency of Kawhmu, was released from house arrest shortly after parliamentary elections in 2010.
Her party won a landslide victory in elections in 1990 but was never allowed by the military junta to take power.
In all, 48 seats are being contested.
Meanwhile, an activist monk who led an uprising in 2007 has been released after briefly being detained by the authorities.
Shin Gambira had been taken from a monastery in Rangoon early on Friday morning, his brother told the BBC.
He was jailed in December 2007 for 68 years but freed last month as part of an amnesty for political prisoners.
Symbolic importance

REFORM IN BURMA

7 Nov 2010: First polls in 20 years
13 Nov: Aung San Suu Kyi freed from house arrest
30 Mar 2011: Transfer of power to new government complete
19 Aug: Aung San Suu Kyi meets Burmese President Thein Sein
12 Oct: More than 200 political prisoners freed
13 Oct: New labour laws allowing unions passed
17 Nov: Burma granted Asean chair in 2014
23 Dec: NLD registers as political party
12 Jan: Karen ceasefire signed
13 Jan: Highest-profile political prisoners freed

Timeline: Reforms in Burma

Since the military formally handed power to a civilian administration last year, Burma has made significant changes. It has released hundreds of prisoners, signed a ceasefire in a long-running insurgency, and eased restrictions on freedom of expression and trade unions.

Supporters waved the flag of the National League for Democracy (NLD) as Ms Suu Kyi arrived in Kawhmu on Saturday.
"We warmly welcome mother Suu!" and "Long live Daw [Aunt] Aung San Suu Kyi!" they shouted.
Ms Suu Kyi spent most of the two decades from 1990 to 2010 under house arrest.
Even if the NLD wins all 48 seats, it cannot threaten the military-backed government's hold on power. The party boycotted the 2010 elections.
However, April's vote has enormous symbolic importance.
As a result of the changes taking place in Burma, the US has lifted one of its sanctions to allow the delivery of limited technical assistance from international financial institutions.

Syria unrest: Arab League 'seeks peacekeeping mission'

Comments (222)

Empty Syrian seat at Arab League meeting in Cairo

Syria's membership of the Arab League has already been suspended

Syria Crisis

The Arab League is calling for a joint Arab-UN peacekeeping mission to end the 11-month conflict in Syria.

In a resolution seen by the BBC but not yet officially released, it scrapped its observer team, suspended last month, and said it was ending all diplomatic co-operation with Syria.
Damascus "categorically rejected" the resolution, a Syrian envoy said.
The League's moves come a week after a UN Security Council resolution on Syria was vetoed by Russia and China.
The BBC's Jeremy Bowen in Cairo says the resolution contains the toughest language on Syria by the Arab League so far and makes it much more likely that the issue will return to the Security Council.
The fact that they are considering these moves shows the extent of the Syrian regime's isolation, our correspondent adds.
It remains to be seen whether Moscow will continue to ride diplomatic shotgun for its old allies and trading partners, he says.
Earlier, al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri backed the Syrian uprising in a video message, telling the opposition not to rely on the West or Arab countries for support.

Analysis

Jim Muir BBC News, Beirut

The Arab League decisions to halt all economic and diplomatic co-operation with the Syrian government may intensify the pressure and isolation for Damascus.
But the call on the UN Security Council to pass a resolution to set up a joint UN/Arab League peacekeeping operation is unlikely to bring swift results.
Any such move needs a ceasefire which does not exist, and which Syria would not accept because it would put rebels and government on the same footing.
It would also require a consensus at the Security Council which is not there. Russia and China have staunchly protected Syria, which immediately rejected the League decisions out of hand.
But the League's decisions gave its members political cover for backing and financing the Syrian opposition. Syria already accuses some Arab states of paying and arming the rebels.
The appearance on the scene of al-Qaeda further complicates the picture as the opposition strives to appear peaceful victims of state oppression.

Meanwhile the bombardment of the Syrian city of Homs was reported to have continued after a brief lull on Saturday night and Sunday morning, with activists saying four people had been killed.

Human rights groups say more than 7,000 have died throughout Syria since March. The government says at least 2,000 members of the security forces have been killed combating "armed gangs and terrorists".
'Hysteria' A statement issued by the League after the Cairo meeting said it would "ask the UN Security Council to issue a decision on the formation of a joint UN-Arab peacekeeping force to oversee the implementation of a ceasefire".
It said it was ending its observer mission, sent in December but suspended in January amid criticism that it was ineffective in the face of continuing violence.
The head of the mission, the controversial Sudanese General Mohammed al-Dabi, submitted his resignation earlier on Sunday.
The League also called for "opening communication channels with the Syrian opposition and providing all forms of political and material support to it", and urged opposition groups to be more united.
It held the Syrian government responsible for the protection of civilians, and said their killing was a crime which must be punished.
A representative of the League told the BBC the resolution had been agreed to by a majority of the foreign ministers.
But the Syrian ambassador in Cairo, Yusuf Ahmed, rejected the resolution, saying it "reflected the hysteria of these governments" after they failed to get UN Security Council support.
'Move swiftly' Opening the meeting, the League's Secretary General, Nabil al-Arabi, said the failure of international diplomacy had put a special responsibility on the league.

"It is imperative for us to move swiftly in all directions, to halt the vicious cycle of violence," he said in his opening words to the meeting.

The UN General Assembly is scheduled to discuss Syria on Monday.
There is no power of veto at the General Assembly but its resolutions have no legal force, unlike those of the Security Council.
There were reports of a respite in the bombardment of Homs on Saturday night and Sunday morning.
Shelling later resumed, but the lull was enough to allow some people to get out and queue for bread.
At least four people were killed in the Baba Amr neighbourhood of the city on Sunday, the Syrian Observatory on Human Rights said. At least 35 died on Saturday.
Activists say more than 400 people have been killed since security forces launched an assault on opposition-held areas on the city last Saturday.
Separately, Syrian state TV showed pictures of funerals of car bomb victims in the country's second city Aleppo.
The government says 28 people were killed in two attacks in the city on Friday.
Uprising activists have condemned such attacks, and blamed them on the regime itself, but US officials are reported to believe they were the work of al-Qaeda.

Whitney Houston: No foul play, says coroner

Comments (54)

Whitney Houston won six Grammy Awards during her career

Whitney Houston 1963-2012

A Los Angeles coroner has said there were no signs of foul play surrounding the death of singer Whitney Houston.

After a post mortem examination, the coroner said there were no visible signs of trauma on Houston's body and that foul play was "not suspected at this time".
He added officials were not ruling out any causes of death until they had the results of toxicology tests.
The star was found dead in the bath in her Los Angeles hotel room on Saturday.
The coroner said he would not release any more details on the post mortem, performed on Sunday at the request of police detectives investigating the singer's death.
Meanwhile, the music world has been remembering her life and career at the Grammy Awards.
Host LL Cool J opened the event with a prayer for the singer, who won six Grammys during her career.
"There is no way around this. We've had a death in our family," he said.
"The only thing that feels right is to begin with a prayer for a woman who we loved - for our fallen sister, Whitney Houston."
The audience then gave a standing ovation after watching a clip of her hit I Will Always Love You.
Dressed in black and with a simple piano accompaniment, singer Jennifer Hudson later gave a moving rendition of the same song, ending with the line: "Whitney, we will always love you."
Others paying tribute during the ceremony included singer Bruno Mars, who told the crowd: "Tonight we're celebrating the beautiful Miss Whitney Houston."

LA county coroner Ed Winter: "Foul play is not suspected at this time"

"To Whitney up in heaven, we all love you," echoed Stevie Wonder.
Melanie Fiona, who won best traditional R&B vocal performance and best R&B song, said: "Whitney Houston, I would not be standing up here if it were not for you."
Reactions to Houston's death dominated the ceremony, the most high-profile event in the US music calendar.
Before the show, Jimmy Jam, a friend and producer of Houston's, said it was "a bitter-sweet occasion".
"Anytime someone passes away, the thing you do is you gather your family together [and] tell stories," he said.
"A little bit of mourning, little bit of celebrating - this is our family tonight and we're going to do it the best that we can do it."
Earlier on Sunday, the Reverend Al Sharpton paid tribute to Houston while preaching at the Second Baptist Church in Los Angeles.
"Yes, she had an outstanding range," he said. "Yes, she could hit notes no one else could reach.

Singer Jennifer Hudson giving her rendition of I Will Always Love You

"But what made her different was she was born and bred in the bosom of the black church.
Meanwhile, Houston's 18-year-old daughter Bobbi has been released from hospital after being treated for stress and anxiety following her mother's death.
Houston holds the record for having the most consecutive chart-topping singles in the US, reaching number one seven times between 1985 and 1988.
But her later career was overshadowed by substance abuse and her turbulent marriage to singer Bobby Brown.
In recent years drug use had taken its toll on the star and her voice - once acknowledged as one of the finest in pop music - was badly damaged.

Car bombs 'target Israel envoys' in India and Georgia

The BBC's Sanjoy Majumder at the scene in Delhi: "The entire area has been cordoned off"

Bombers have targeted staff at Israeli embassies in India and Georgia, officials say, with Israel accusing Iran of masterminding the attacks.

Witnesses said a motorcyclist placed a device on an embassy car in Delhi, causing a blast that hurt four people - one seriously. A bomb underneath a diplomat's car in Tbilisi was defused.
Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran was behind both incidents.
But Iranian officials denied the claims as "sheer lies".
One of the victims of the Delhi bombing, the wife of a defence ministry official, was in a "critical but stable" condition, according to AFP news agency. It quoted a doctor as saying she had undergone spinal surgery.
'Terror exporter'

“Start Quote

The war of words may be escalating, but so is a semi-clandestine struggle ranging well beyond the Middle East”

End Quote Gordon Corera Security correspondent, BBC News

Who is behind Israel's embassy attacks?

Mr Netanyahu told a meeting of his Likud party MPs that there had been "two attempts of terrorism against innocent civilians".

"Iran is behind these attacks and it is the largest terror exporter in the world," he said.
He also blamed Iran for recent plots to attack Israeli targets in Thailand and Azerbaijan that were prevented.
And he suggested that the militant Islamist Hezbollah movement was also involved.
Israel's foreign ministry said the country had the ability to track down those who carried out the attacks.
But Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast rejected Mr Netanyahu's accusation, calling it "psychological warfare against Iran".
"We condemn any terrorist action and the world knows that Iran is the biggest victim of terrorism," he was quoted as saying by the official Irna news agency.
International condemnation Earlier, the state's ambassador to India Mehdi Nabizadeh had told Irna: "These accusations are untrue and sheer lies, like previous times."
In a statement, India's Foreign Minister SM Krishna pledged a full investigation, adding: "The culprits will be brought to justice at the earliest."

At the scene

Sanjoy Majumder BBC News, Delhi

The attack took place in a high security zone in the Indian capital, a kilometre from the heavily fortified Israeli embassy, and just down the road from the Indian prime minister's official residence.
Eyewitnesses say a man on a motorcycle drove up to the Israeli embassy minivan, sporting distinct blue diplomatic plates, and appeared to attach something to the back. Minutes later it exploded. The vehicle itself has been badly damaged - the back of it blown out. Police and emergency services cordoned off the site almost immediately. Forensic experts in white jackets and members of the bomb disposal squad examined the debris - trying to find traces of the explosive. They were joined by Israeli embassy staff.
Tonight Delhi has been placed on high alert with extra security outside Western embassies including that of the United States. India has not experienced this kind of an attack before and it's going to be a while before they make sense of what happened here.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned the attacks, saying the US "stands ready to assist with any investigations of these cowardly actions". UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said he was "shocked and appalled" by the bombings.

The BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes, in Jerusalem, says security at Israeli embassies has been tightened in recent months following warnings of potential attacks, after Iran accused Israel of a series of attacks on its nuclear scientists.
BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera said one of them, Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, died last month when motorcyclists placed a "sticky bomb" on his car - a technique similar to that used in previous attacks attributed to the work of Israel's Mossad.
Similarities seen in the Delhi blast could be an indication of the aggressors sending a message that attacks in Tehran will be repaid in kind, he added.
After the explosion in Delhi, Indian TV showed pictures of a burning car near the embassy.
The area around the vehicle was later cordoned off and forensic experts and the bomb squad were examining the burnt out remains.
The embassy is guarded by several layers of security and is in a well-defended area of central Delhi, close to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's official residence.
'Noticed device' David Goldfarb, the spokesman for Israel's Delhi embassy, said the diplomat's car was close to the building on Aurangzeb Road when the explosion went off.
He said they had no details as to who was behind the attack.
Officials in Georgia said an explosive device was attached to the bottom of a diplomat's car in the capital, Tbilisi, but was found and defused before it detonated.
Israeli embassy driver Roman Khachaturyan said he had just driven his child to school when he spotted the bomb.
"When I was driving I heard a noise. I got out of the car and saw something stuck to it."

Myanmar authorities release detained monk

From Kocha Olarn, CNN

February 11, 2012 -- Updated 0320 GMT (1120 HKT)

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

NEW: U Gambira, an activist monk, is released after being detained earlier Friday
NEW: He was questioned at a military headquarters in Yangon, a fellow monk says
U Gambira was released by the government last month along with other political prisoners

Yangon, Myanmar (CNN) -- An activist monk detained by Myanmar authorities Friday was freed hours later after being questioned at a military base in Yangon, a fellow monk said Saturday.
U Gambira was taken away from a monastery in Yangon by about 10 men in plainclothes who said they were from the "Yangon Division," said U Thika, a monk who witnessed the events. His detainment occurred only weeks after he was released from years of imprisonment.
He was released again Friday night after being questioned at the military headquarters in Yangon about his personal and family information, according to Ashin Issariya, another monk at the Yangon monastery.

Aung San Suu Kyi on the campaign trail

Child of freed Myanmar prisoner speaks

The detention of U Gambira comes after the Myanmar government has taken notable steps to improve its human rights record.
In recent weeks, the regime has pardoned hundreds of political prisoners, approved the participation of the pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her party in April elections, and pledged to pursue a peace deal with an ethnic rebel group.
Western governments have applauded the effort, with the United States announcing in January that it would exchange ambassadors with Myanmar for the first time since 1988. That came after a visit to the country last month by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the first top U.S. diplomat in the nation in more than five decades.
U Gambira was one of the leaders of anti-government demonstrations that rallied tens of thousands of people in 2007. The Myanmar authorities cracked down on the demonstrations, clubbing and gassing protesters and arresting as many as 200 monks. He was released last month with other political prisoners.
U Thika said he believed the reason U Gambira had been taken away Friday may be related to a recent effort by U Gambira to break into his old monastery, which was locked after the 2007 protests.

7 officials in Tibet sacked for 'neglect of duties,' state media report

By Jaime FlorCruz, CNN

February 11, 2012 -- Updated 0058 GMT (0858 HKT)

Tibet officials fired for neglect

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

State media report seven officials in regions of Tibet are fired
There is a media report a monk and his brother were shot dead in Sichuan province
A party official says the situation in Tibet is "grave"

Beijing (CNN) -- Four officials in the Chamdo region of Tibet were sacked for leaving their posts during the Chinese New Year, and three more police officials were sacked in the Shigatse region for failing to carry out security duty in local government buildings, state-run Tibet Daily reported Friday.
The decision regarding their "neglect of duty" was announced at a Communist Party conference in the region. Chen Quanguo, the party chief, told the conference the current situation in the Tibetan Autonomous Region is "grave."
Chen urged the local governments and party officials to maintain stability in the region and to fight against separatism.
This comes amid reports that two Tibetan brothers were shot dead on the run after protesting against Chinese rule, according to Radio Free Asia (RFA), the U.S.-based broadcaster.
RFA reported that Yeshe Rigsal, a monk and his brother, were shot dead on Thursday in Luhuo County, Sichuan, in southwestern China.
CNN could not reach the local government or the local police bureau and is unable to independently confirm the shooting.
The incident reportedly happened one day after two Tibetans set themselves on fire on Wednesday, according to Free Tibet. According to the rights group, a monk in his 30s set fire to himself on February 8 in Qinghai, another province with a large population of ethnic Tibetans, while another Tibetan set himself on fire in the town of Ngaba in Sichuan.
Calls to the local government and police bureau in Chenduo county, where the self-immolation reportedly happened, were unanswered.
The Tibetan Government in Exile in Dharmsala, India told CNN that they have no information on the reported incidents. "We have heard about the incident and we are looking into it," said Lobsang Choedak, a representative of the Tibetan Government in Exile. "We do not have any details at this time. We are also looking into the two recent self-immolations in Tibet."

Trial set for Bali bombing suspect

By Kathy Quiano-Castro, CNN

February 11, 2012 -- Updated 1259 GMT (2059 HKT)

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Umar Patek has been one of Indonesia's most wanted terrorists
Patek was seized in the same Pakistani city where bin Laden was killed
Indonesian authorities have convicted hundreds since the 2002 bombing.

Jakarta, Indonesia (CNN) -- A high-profile terrorism trial begins in Jakarta on Monday against an Indonesian man accused of assembling the bombs used in the 2002 Bali attack.
Umar Patek faces charges of premeditated mass murder and a maximum penalty of death if found guilty. The bombings on the Indonesian resort island of Bali killed 202 people, including foreign tourists.
Patek also is expected to be charged for his alleged involvement in church bombings in 2000.
The 44-year-old Patek was one of Indonesia's most wanted terrorists, with a $1 million bounty on his head from the U.S. government's Rewards for Justice program.
After almost a decade on the run, Patek was arrested in January 25, 2011, in Abottabad, Pakistan. A few months after his capture, U.S. Navy Seals found and killed al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden in the Pakistani city.
Patek was extradited to Indonesia in August.
Indonesian authorities say Patek admitted his role in the Bali attacks to investigators, saying he helped assemble the explosives.
Noor Huda Ismail, an Indonesian terrorism expert, told CNN that Patek's detention and trial "should go beyond the Bali bombings."
"Umar Patek is a gold mine of information for security authorities, not only here in Indonesia, but also in Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines. He has valuable information about the extent of the network, who are the people moving from one place to another and how they're doing it," Ismaill said.
Ismail says Patek may also give clues on the ties between the region's militants and international terror networks like al Qaeda.
"It may be no coincidence that Patek was found in the same village where bin Laden was living," Ismail said.
Patek is one of the last figures associated with a splinter group of the terror network Jemaah Islamiyah, responsible for the Bali bombings and other major attacks on Indonesian soil.
Many in that group, like Patek, trained and fought in Pakistan and Afghanistan in the early 1990s and were deeply influenced by bin Laden's teachings.
Three of the masterminds of the Bali bombings -- Imam Samudra, Amrozi bin Nurhasyim and Ali Ghufron -- were executed in 2008.
Patek fled to Mindanao in the southern Philippines with several other Indonesian militants. One of them was Dulmatin, another former JI member, who returned to Indonesia and helped set up a military-style training camp in province of Aceh. He was killed in a police raid, just outside Jakarta in October 2010.
Patek is also charged for failing to disclose knowledge he had about the militant training camp. According to Ismail, Patek refused an offer to train at the camp and instead chose to leave for Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Indonesian authorities have tried and convicted hundreds of terrorists since the 2002 bombing. The arrests of senior militants with combat experience have weakened the terror network and its capability to launch major attacks.
According to recent reports by the International Crisis Group, the terror threat in the country remains but has shifted to attacks on Indonesian authorities, with smaller groups or radicalized individuals targeting the police.

Indian baby's case opens doors into a dark world

By Moni Basu, CNN

February 11, 2012 -- Updated 1451 GMT (2251 HKT)

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Baby Falak is fighting for her life in a New Delhi hospital
A teenage girl brought her there with severe injuries
A police probe is unearthing a possible human trafficking ring
10 people have been arrested in a case that could be huge

(CNN) -- In a New Delhi hospital, a two-year-old girl is fighting for her life after a teenager brought her there three weeks ago, unconscious with severe head injuries and bruises, fractured arms and human bite marks covering her tiny body.
All of India began following her ordeal through newspapers and television. Doctors operated on the toddler, opened up her airways and placed her on a ventilator. They named her Falak, which means sky.
Her condition remains critical, said Dr. Sumit Sinha of the India Institute of Medical Sciences. No one knows whether she will survive or if she does, whether she will live with permanent brain damage.
But that's just the tip of the story. With each day, it becomes more sordid.
Once police began investigating Baby Falak's back story, they unearthed a suspected ring of human trafficking. The details sparked new outrage among authorities and the public alike, who say the case raises a host of questions about child abandonment, exploitation and the poor treatment of girls and women in the world's second most populous nation.
"This has turned out to be one of the biggest sex rackets involving minors and child prostitution and sale of women for marriage," said Raaj Mangal Prasad, head of India's Child Welfare Committee. "This shows this is a classic case where the magnitude of trafficking has come to light."
Indians came to know of Baby Falak after a distraught teenage girl, only 14, brought the baby to the hospital, claiming to be her mother.
On the night of January 17, the baby just kept crying and crying, the teenager told the Child Welfare Committee in New Delhi. Angered by the tantrum, the girl slapped the baby three or four times -- and bit her.
A while later, she said, the baby slipped on a wet bathroom floor and fell on her face. The girl tied a bandage around the baby's head but the wound began to swell. The next day, when the baby did not wake up, the girl took her to the hospital.
The doctors said Baby Falak was bruised the color of eggplant and beets. She was in a coma. They did not believe the girl's story. Nor that she was Falak's biological mother.
"My personal opinion would be that it doesn't look like a simple case of falling down," said Dr. Deepak Agarwal, a neurosurgeon at the hospital.
She was referred to a juvenile center for counseling and police launched an investigation.
South Delhi deputy Police Commissioner Chhaya Sharma formed five teams to fan out across India to track down Falak's real family.
What police learned in the subsequent weeks was shocking.
The teenage girl ran away from home last June to escape abuse from her alcoholic father. The father failed to pay rent, his landlady told CNN's sister network CNN-IBN. A neighbor described him beating his daughter so hard that her red welts were readily visible.
"I have seen with my own eyes how her father used to beat her up with a stick," Vikram told CNN-IBN.
But her escape led the teenager to more trouble.
She told authorities two people, Sandeep and Arti, forced her into a life of prostitution; that Sandeep allegedly raped her first for three days before he found her customers, according CNN-IBN. Months later, the girl met a man named Rajkumar and the two began living together in a New Delhi slum. Police suspect he, too, was sexually abusing the girl.
The girl told authorities that Rajkumar brought Baby Falak home in November. It's unclear whether the baby was abused then but on that January night, Falak almost died.
"Once victim hurting another victim because there is no sense of hope, sense of survival they can see for themselves," psychiatrist Achal Bhagat told CNN-IBN.
In the western state of Rajasthan, police eventually tracked down Munni, 22, the woman believed to be Falak's biological mother. She had been abandoned by her first husband and sold off in marriage when she was 16 to a young man from a Rajasthani village, Sharma said. She was valued at $6,000, according to The Times of India.
Munni left her three children behind.
"The family life was very disturbed," Sharma said. "She was convinced that she would not be able to raise Falak on her own."
While Munni's youngest fought for her life in the hospital, police found her other daughter in the state of Bihar, many miles from Delhi and Rajasthan. Her son's whereabouts are still not known.
Police scored a breakthrough in the case Friday when they were able to nab Rajkumar, the man they believe is central to the possible trafficking ring. He was caught absconding at the New Delhi train station, Sharma said at a news conference.
In all, police have arrested 10 people so far who are believed to have profited greatly from their crimes.
They are still probing. No one knows how many babies were abandoned, how many women were married off for a price or how many girls were forced to sell their bodies.
The case prompted India's home ministry to review police reports and consider action and reignited national debate on a serious problem in India.
A 2011 TrustLaw danger poll ranked India as the fourth most dangerous place on earth for women, behind Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo and neighboring Pakistan.
The survey said 100 million women and girls are involved in prostitution and 50 million are "missing" in the last century because of female feticide and infanticide. Almost 45% of girls are married off before they reach adulthood.
Prasad of the Child Welfare Committee called the problem "huge." He said India needs more comprehensive laws on the books and stronger enforcement.
This sort of thing happens all too often, Prasad said, and sadly, flies under the radar of a majority of India's 1.2 billion people.
But now, a hapless child fighting very publicly for her life has thrust an ugly side of Indian society into the national spotlight.

Groups: Young nun latest to self-immolate in Tibet

By the CNN Wire Staff

February 12, 2012 -- Updated 0219 GMT (1019 HKT)

Buddhist people attend a candle vigil of the Tibetan Community in memory of self immolations in Tibet during the eighth day of the Kalachakra Festival in Bodhgaya, India, on January 8, 2012.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Nun, 18, set herself afire in Tibet, rights groups say
It is the latest in a string of defiant acts
China has denied many of them occurred
It says its rule has improved living standards in the region

(CNN) -- An 18-year-old nun set herself afire Saturday, the latest in a string of self-immolations by Tibetans amid anger and despair over Chinese rule, Tibetan rights groups reported.
The woman, who was calling out slogans of protest, was believed to have survived, said the London-based Free Tibet.
The organization, which says people in the mountainous region should determine their own future, said the act was the 22nd self-immolation there in less than a year.
"We know many more Tibetans are willing to give their lives and Tibetans are protesting in the streets, free from fear, aware that the consequences of doing so could be as grave as being shot and that arrest is likely," Free Tibet director Stephanie Brigden said in a statement.

Unrest ahead of Tibetan New Year

Tibet officials fired for neglect

China unrest targets Tibetan protesters

What's behind Tibetan unrest?
Chinese state media have contested several reports of self-immolation.
But Xinhua, the official state news agency, said this week that authorities "have stressed the efforts to maintain stability" following the defiant acts.
China rejects accusations of oppression of Tibetans, saying its rule has greatly improved living standards for the Tibetan people.
It has accused the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader in exile, of encouraging people to harm themselves in this way -- a charge the leader denies.
Timeline of Tibetan protests in China
The Dalai Lama denies seeking independence for Tibet, saying he wants genuine autonomy, under which Tibetans can make their own policies on key issues, such as religious practices.
Global Times, an English-language newspaper run by the Chinese Communist Party, reported Friday that officials are readying for a "war against secessionist sabotage."
It cited officials saying the Dalai Lama and supporters are determined "to plot conspiracies this year."
Advocacy groups Free Tibet and the International Campaign for Tibet have reported that the Chinese authorities have fired on unarmed protesters in at least three places in the past few weeks, killing several and wounding dozens.
The Chinese state-run media have reported that at least one protester was killed in the clashes, but that the police fired in self-defense after the Tibetans attacked them.
Pro-Tibetan groups claim Tibetans have gradually become the minority population in their own homeland, as Han Chinese -- China's main ethnic group -- have migrated to the region.
Resentment among Tibetans spilled over in 2008 when a protest in Lhasa turned violent, as Tibetan mobs burned vehicles and shops and attacked ethnic Chinese. Tibetan exiles say more than 200 people died when Chinese security forces clamped down, but Beijing denies this, saying 22 people, mostly Chinese civilians, died during riots. Activists say tensions have remained high ever since.

Thousands cheer Suu Kyi on campaign trail

By Paula Hancocks and Moni Basu, CNN

February 13, 2012 -- Updated 1104 GMT (1904 HKT)

Aung San Suu Kyi takes her campaign for a parliament seat to Kaw Hmu, Myanmar, on Saturday.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Adoring supporters greet Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi
She is running for a parliamentary seat in southern Myanmar
48 seats are under contention in April elections
Suu Kyi, Myanmar's face of democracy, spent years under house arrest

Kawhmu, Myanmar (CNN) -- Thousands of cheering people crammed the streets in a southern Myanmar district Saturday to catch a glimpse of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi on the historic first official day of her campaign.
Supporters lined the streets of Kawhmu with the party flags of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy as the 66-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate's convoy of 40 cars and vans made its way south to Kawhmu.
It was the first time Suu Kyi, hidden from her people for years under house arrest, has been able to openly campaign, the first time people have been able to publicly support her.
One banner said: "We want peace and human rights by the people for the people."
A year ago, the scene might have been unthinkable.
No wonder then that Suu Kyi was greeted Saturday more like a rock star than a politician.

Aung San Suu Kyi campaigns in Myanmar

Tourists discover Myanmar

She plans to hit the campaign trail for the next 50 days.
Dressed in white, Suu Kyi popped out from the sunroof of her vehicle, clutching in her hand flowers that have come to symbolize defiance in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.
She registered last month to run for a parliamentary seat in Kawhmu after Myanmar's autocratic regime agreed to negotiate with an ethnic rebel group and pardoned hundreds of political prisoners.
National reconciliation has been a priority for Suu Kyi.
The international community has applauded liberalization efforts in Myanmar, long secluded from the rest of the world since a military junta grabbed power in 1962. The generals began loosening their grip after international criticism for their country's abysmal human rights record.
Western nations have recently extended an olive branch of sorts, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Myanmar in December, becoming the first top U.S. diplomat in the nation in more than five decades.
Suu Kyi's party boycotted the 2010 elections that put the military-backed civilian government of President Thein Sein in place.
But she can only hope to make a small dent in parliament. The National League for Democracy is putting up candidates for all 48 parliamentary seats that are being contested. Even if every National League for Democracy candidate wins, the party will have a sliver of votes in the 440-seat lower house.
However, the symbolic importance of her run does not escape anyone. Excited supporters were talking about when Suu Kyi will be in parliament -- not if.
The daughter of Gen. Aung San, a hero of Burmese independence, Suu Kyi herself became an inspiration with her fight for democracy.
She quietly defied Myanmar's military junta for years from from the prison of her disintegrating Inya Lake villa in the former capital, Yangon. She was released from house arrest in November 2010.

Writer extradited over tweets on Prophet Mohammed

By Ashley Gallagher, CNN

February 12, 2012 -- Updated 2002 GMT (0402 HKT)

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

The Saudi writer tweeted about the Prophet Mohammed
Human rights groups fear he will face the death penalty
Saudi officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment

(CNN) -- Malaysian authorities extradited Saudi writer Hamza Kashgari back to Saudi Arabia Sunday on a warrant for his arrest over statements he made on Twitter.
"Saudi media said Hamza made a posting on the Prophet Mohammed's birthday celebration last week, implying that he was interacting with the prophet, as if they were equal status," Malaysia's state news agency said.
The tweets have been removed.
Kashgari was deported Sunday morning, said Ramli Yoosuf, a spokesman for the Royal Malaysian Police. "The Saudi Arabian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur had arranged for his deportation."
After speaking with an immigration official, Kashgari's lawyer Muhammad Afiq Bin Mohammad Noor confirmed that his client was taken at 10 a.m. local time on a Saudi jet.
Noor said he was granted an interim court order on Sunday afternoon to prevent officials from deporting Kashgari, but it came too late.
Amnesty International and other human rights groups are concerned that Kashgari's extradition will lead to his facing the death penalty in Saudi Arabia.
"Amnesty International considers Hamza Kashgari a prisoner of conscience...for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression and calls for his immediate and unconditional release," the group said in a statement.
Saudi officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Kashgari's controversial tweets included language saying he loved some aspects of Mohammed and "hated" others, and will "not pray for you," according to news reports.

Japan's GDP shrinks 2.3% in fourth quarter

By Ben McLannahan, FT.com

February 13, 2012 -- Updated 0248 GMT (1048 HKT)

A woman walks past vegetables in a supermarket in Nihonmatsu, Fukushima prefecture, on March 26, 2011.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Numbers are much worse than consensus forecasts of a 1.3 per cent decline
Factors included Thai floods, a strong yen and subdued overseas demand for exports
Outlook more positive, thanks to reconstruction demand in quake-hit regions

(Financial Times) -- Japan's economy shrank for the third time in four quarters between October and December, after floods in Thailand damaged production and a strong yen and subdued overseas demand hurt exports.
Cabinet Office figures on Monday showed that real GDP fell an annualized 2.3 per cent in the fourth quarter, much worse than consensus forecasts of a 1.3 per cent decline. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, output fell by 0.6 per cent, dragged down by exports -- which fell 3.1 per cent -- following a 1.7 per cent rise in the third quarter.
The nation's currency has eased only a little since hitting a postwar high of Y75.35 against the US dollar in October. The trade balance for 2011 showed a deficit of Y2.5 trillion ($32 billion) -- the first annual deficit in 31 years -- as exports to the eurozone and Asia, including China, fell sharply.
Looking forward, the picture is brighter, thanks in large part to reconstruction demand in the quake-hit region of Tohoku. Machinery orders in the three months to December increased by 10 per cent from September, suggesting that industrial production in January and February could recover to a level reached before the disasters last March, according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
Real GDP growth for the full calendar year is expected at 1.7 per cent, according to Bloomberg. While that is well short of the 2.2 per cent global average, it is more than double the average growth rate Japan has achieved since 1995.
"Provided that the US and global economy can continue to grow, a recovery in Japan's exports on top of reconstruction demand could allow the economy to make up for the slack seen late last year," said Takuji Aida, an economist at UBS, before the release of Monday's data.
Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan, which concludes a two-day policy meeting on Tuesday, will be under pressure to do more to shake off the country's persistent state of deflation. Opposition party members last month called for the BoJ to emulate the US Federal Reserve's decision to set a firm inflation target of 2 per cent.
The BoJ, however, prefers to aim for what it calls "price stability", whereby the year-on-year rate of change in the core consumer price index -- which includes all items, excluding fresh food -- is between zero and 2 per cent, centering around 1 per cent.
Nationwide core CPI fell 0.1 per cent, year-on-year, in December, the third straight month of decline. Prices haven't risen at least 1 per cent for any year since 1997.

Trial of Bali bombing suspect begins in Indonesia

By Kathy Quiano, CNN

February 13, 2012 -- Updated 0741 GMT (1541 HKT)

Umar Patek arrives at court in Jakarta to face trial for his alleged involvement in the 2002 Bali bombings.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Umar Patek has been one of Indonesia's most wanted terrorists
His trial on charges related to the Bali bombing starts Monday in Jakarta
Indonesian authorities have convicted hundreds since the 2002 bombing
Patek was seized in the same Pakistani city where Osama bin Laden was killed

Jakarta, Indonesia (CNN) -- A high-profile terrorism trial for an Indonesian man accused of assembling the bombs used in the 2002 Bali attack got under way Monday in Jakarta.
The defendant, Umar Patek, faces charges including premeditated murder, and a maximum penalty of death if convicted. The bombings on the Indonesian resort island of Bali killed 202 people, including foreign tourists.
Patek also faces charges of bringing in illegal weapons; giving weapons and explosives training; and planning and assembling explosives for church bombings in Jakarta in 2000.
The 44-year-old Patek was one of Indonesia's most wanted terrorists, with a $1 million bounty on his head from the U.S. government's "Rewards for Justice" program.
After almost a decade on the run, Patek was arrested on January 25, 2011, in Abbottabad, Pakistan. A few months after his capture, U.S. Navy SEALs found and killed al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden in the Pakistani city. Patek was extradited to Indonesia in August.
Abbottabad: The military town where bin Laden hid in plain sight
He arrived at the court building Monday in an armored vehicle at the start of a trial that is expected to last months. He smiled as he descended from the vehicle in handcuffs and walked past cameramen and photographers into a holding cell.
The court session Monday lasted less than two hours after Patek's lawyers asked for another week to respond to the charges.
The defense team criticized the charges as being vague.
"In many ways, how he was linked to terrorism, and how it was classified as premeditated murder -- I think for the defense team, the charges are disproportionate and too far from the truth," said Husni Syaifuddin, one of the defense lawyers.
Indonesian authorities allege that Patek admitted his role in the Bali attacks to investigators, saying he helped assemble the explosives.
Noor Huda Ismail, an Indonesian terrorism expert, told CNN that Patek's detention and trial "should go beyond the Bali bombings."
"Umar Patek is a gold mine of information for security authorities, not only here in Indonesia, but also in Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines. He has valuable information about the extent of the network, who are the people moving from one place to another and how they're doing it," Ismail said.
Ismail said Patek also may give clues on the ties between the region's militants and international terror networks such as al Qaeda.
"It may be no coincidence that Patek was found in the same village where bin Laden was living," Ismail said.
Patek is one of the last figures associated with a splinter group of the terror network Jemaah Islamiyah, responsible for the Bali bombings and other major attacks on Indonesian soil.
Many in that group, like Patek, trained and fought in Pakistan and Afghanistan in the early 1990s and were deeply influenced by bin Laden's teachings.
Three of the masterminds of the Bali bombings -- Imam Samudra, Amrozi bin Nurhasyim and Ali Ghufron -- were executed in 2008.
Patek fled to Mindanao in the southern Philippines with several other Indonesian militants. One of them was Dulmatin, another former JI member, who returned to Indonesia and helped set up a military-style training camp in province of Aceh. He was killed in a police raid, just outside Jakarta in October 2010.
Patek is also charged with failing to disclose knowledge he had about the militant training camp. According to Ismail, Patek refused an offer to train at the camp and instead chose to leave for Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Indonesian authorities have tried and convicted hundreds of terrorists since the 2002 bombing. The arrests of senior militants with combat experience have weakened the terror network and its capability to launch major attacks.
According to recent reports by the International Crisis Group, the terror threat in the country remains but has shifted to attacks on Indonesian authorities, with smaller groups or radicalized individuals targeting the police.

Stricken Japan nuclear plant 'heating up'

By Hilary Whiteman, CNN

February 13, 2012 -- Updated 1103 GMT (1903 HKT)

The crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power station is seen through a bus window in Okuma on November 12, 2011

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

TEPCO says a faulty temperature gauge may be behind higher readings
Temperatures in Unit 2 at the Fukushima plant have been steadily rising
The plant was declared to be in "cold shutdown" on December 16
Earthquake and tsunami caused nuclear chaos in Japan last March

Hong Kong (CNN) -- A faulty thermometer is likely to blame for rising temperatures inside a stricken nuclear reactor at the Fukushima-Daiichi plant, authorities said Monday, as Japan prepares to mark one year since a devastating earthquake and tsunami triggered a nuclear meltdown.
The plant's operators, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said temperatures inside the Reactor Pressure Vessel of Unit 2 have been gradually increasing since February 2 and on Monday hit a high of 89.2 degrees Celsius.
The reading is significant because an error margin of 20 degrees Celsius for the gauges takes the temperature well above 100 degrees Celsius, one of the pre-conditions for a "cold shutdown."
Japan declared the shattered plant was in "cold shutdown" last December, a welcome milestone in a fraught battle to contain one of the world's worst nuclear disasters.
Should we be concerned?
A nuclear expert agreed that a faulty temperature gauge inside the Unit 2 reactor is the most likely cause for the higher heat reading.

Tokyo mega-quake prediction

Inside the Japan nuclear exclusion zone

Japan considers restarting two reactors

Japan exclusion zone's lone resident

Michael Friedlander, a former senior operator at U.S. nuclear power plants, told CNN that the prospect of another catastrophic explosion at the Fukushima-Daiichi is "virtually zero."
Scientists warn of Tokyo quake threat
"If the reactor was going to become critical it would have become critical in March of last year, not now," he said.
Another possible, though less likely, explanation, according to Friedlander, is that re-routing of pipe work in the last month or so has inadvertently taken cooling water away from where it was needed.
How has TEPCO responded?
Under Japanese nuclear safety regulations, operators are obliged to begin cooling methods when temperatures rise above 80 degrees Celsius.
Authorities at the Fukushima plant have been pumping more water and boric acid into the feed water system and into the core spray system in attempt to bring the temperature down. Boric acid is included in the water to mop up stray neutrons.
TEPCO said the higher reading is at odds with temperatures taken at other points within the reactor which indicates that it's probably faulty.
"Following our cooling efforts temperatures at the two other locations are declining steadily while that at the location in question keeps rising. This leads us to think that the thermometer at the location in question is not functioning properly, rather than the actual temperature rising," Junichi Matsumoto, TEPCO spokesman, said Monday.
The company said it has also been analyzing gas levels within the building and says there's been no increase in radiation, or any other reading that would indicate that the reactor is heating up.
TEPCO said it was continuing to monitor the situation.
What happens if the temperature gauge is correct and the reactor is heating up?
According to Friedland, one year on from the accident the amount of residual heat and radioactivity inside all three stricken reactors is relatively low.
"In the worst case scenario, if they were to completely lose injection and lose the cooling impact, the water in there would heat up and at some point it would begin to boil. And at some point they would have to get rid of that heat, but we're talking about something that would transpire in a matter of days and weeks, not in a matter of minutes and hours," he said.
He said the greatest risks the reactors now pose are to the environment, and that any threats to the surrounding area pale in comparison to the devastation already delivered.
"The biggest real risk is that a pipe breaks and that hundreds of thousands of gallons of highly radioactive water ends up underground or ends up leeching back into the ocean or something like that. That's the real bottom line."
What is the state of the stricken reactors?
It's been almost one year since an 8.9-magnitude earthquake sent a tsunami on a collision course with the Japanese coast killing more than 15,000 people, wiping out whole villages and industries and threatening nuclear mayhem.
A hydrogen explosion then fire at the Fukushima-Daiichi plant triggered a nuclear emergency on a scale not seen since the Chernobyl disaster in the Ukraine in 1986.
Amid criticism that it was acting too slowly and indecisively in the face of disaster, TEPCO flooded three of its unstable reactors with water. It continues to do so while efforts continue towards long-term recovery.
"The reactors are no more or no less stable than they were in April of last year. They fundamentally continue to be reliant on a feed-and-bleed cooling mechanism," Friedland said.
The other three reactors at the plant weren't operational at the time of the disaster but they've since been shutdown, as have nuclear installations across the country.
Where to now?
It's a long road ahead, and one that the Japanese have acknowledged could take decades to navigate.
"They have to get the spent fuel pools stabilized and that's largely done," Friedland said. "The next issue is going to be getting the fuel out of the reactors, the fuel that was in the reactors when the accident occurred. That's probably going to be four or five years in the making, maybe even longer," he said.
The disaster displaced more than 100,000 people as faraway as 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the plant. The levels of radiation in the area closest to the plant are still dangerously high.

We recommend

From around the web

Who Made That Rubik’s Cube? (New York Times)
15 Mind-Blowing Unsolved Mysteries (ChaCha)
Treasure hunter says he found $3B WWII wreck (The Mesh Report)
7 inventors killed by their inventions (Mother Nature Network)
What Not to Wear When Traveling (Frommer's)
The World's Friendliest Countries (Money and Business)

[what's this]

Add New Comment

CNN welcomes a lively and courteous discussion here, so we do not pre-screen comments before they post. See our Community Guidelines for the rules of the road. Also note that anything you post may be used, along with your name and profile picture, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and the license you have granted pursuant to our Terms of Service.

Real-time updating is enabled. (Pause)

Showing 5 comments

samjag

exposure to radiation == superman
- Like
- Reply
- 9 minutes ago
stoneman07

exposure to radiation = Chuck Norris getting a tan
- Like
Tukker Rekkut

And more lies from the japanese.
""If the reactor was going to become critical it would have become critical in March of last year, not now,"
Well, it did got crititcal, in all reactors, we all have seen that.
And the temperature is likely to rise as those fuelrods will keep emitting heat for many, many years to come.
This accident is going to become bigger then Chernobyl, slower but more deadlier.
- Like
- Reply
Varen

They have no clue where the corium is, not only in unit 2 but also in units 1 and 3, the so called "cold shutdown" is a joke...
- Like
- Reply
PeekAb00

Before all the anti nuclear clowns start posting, Japans alternatives are importing more Iranian oil or sitting in the dark. They have little or no resources of their own (coal, gas etc) and renewables can't generate anyway near enough power to keep up the whole country. Bottom line, Japan is stuck with nuclear energy whether they like it or not.

Yes TEPCO is a corrupt, negligent company and yes they should be punished.
- Like
- Reply

Reading(Baca)

Monday, 13 February 2012

Athens clashes in Greece over Greece Eurozone austerity deal

Global Economy

Analysis

Fisrt moving of northen lights from space..

Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi cheered by crowds in Kawhmu

Burma: Battle for Democracy

REFORM IN BURMA

Syria unrest: Arab League 'seeks peacekeeping mission'

Syria Crisis

Analysis

Whitney Houston: No foul play, says coroner

Whitney Houston 1963-2012

Car bombs 'target Israel envoys' in India and Georgia

“Start Quote

At the scene

Myanmar authorities release detained monk

7 officials in Tibet sacked for 'neglect of duties,' state media report

Trial set for Bali bombing suspect

Indian baby's case opens doors into a dark world

Groups: Young nun latest to self-immolate in Tibet

Thousands cheer Suu Kyi on campaign trail

Writer extradited over tweets on Prophet Mohammed

Japan's GDP shrinks 2.3% in fourth quarter

Trial of Bali bombing suspect begins in Indonesia