D6 RED DEER ADVOCATE Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014
U.S. airstrike kills an al-Shabab leader BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Boy, 2, accidentally shoots and kills woman inside U.S. Wal-Mart HAYDEN, Idaho — A 2-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed a woman after he reached into her purse at an Idaho Wal-Mart and her concealed gun fired, authorities said Tuesday. The woman was shopping with several children, and it is unclear how they are related, sheriff’s spokesman Stu Miller said. Authorities originally said the boy was the woman’s son. The woman, whose identity was not released, had a concealed weapons permit. Miller said the shooting was accidental and occurred in the Wal-Mart in Hayden, Idaho, a town about 64 kilometres northeast of Spokane, Washington.
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AIRASIA: Cause of crash unknown “I have apologized profusely for what they are going through,” he said of his contact with relatives. “I am the leader of this company, and I have to take responsibility. That is why I’m here. I’m not running away from my obligations.” It is not clear what brought the plane down.
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Police officers detain a protester during an unsanctioned protest in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday. The unsanctioned protest came hours after Alexei Navalny was found guilty of fraud and given a suspended sentence. Navalny, who has been under house arrest since February, is accused of breaking the terms of his house arrest to attend the rally and was detained by police as he approached the site of the protest.
Putin foe found guilty of fraud MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin’s chief political foe was convicted along with his brother on Tuesday in a fraud case widely seen as a political vendetta by the Kremlin, triggering one of Russia’s boldest anti-government demonstrations in years. Police allowed a few thousand protesters to gather just outside Red Square for about two hours — a show of relative restraint for Russian authorities, who have little tolerance for dissent — before moving in to break up the unsanctioned rally by pushing the demonstrators toward subway entrances. The rally came hours after anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny was found guilty of what activists said were trumped-up charges and given a suspended sentence of 3 ½ years. His younger brother was sent to prison, a move that drew comparisons to the Stalin-era practice of punishing family members of enemies of the state. The 38-year old Navalny, a lawyer and popular blogger, rose to prominence with his investigations of official corruption and played a leading role in organizing anti-Putin demonstrations in Moscow in 2011 and 2012 that drew hundreds of thousands. Navalny, who has been under house arrest since February, violated its terms to attend the rally and was rounded up by police as he approached the site. He later tweeted that police drove him home and blocked him from leaving his apartment. The protesters, who gathered on the Manezh Square outside the Kremlin, chanted: “We are the power!” and “Russia without Putin!” Some shouted slogans of support for Ukraine, which saw its Crimean Peninsula annexed by Russia in March and has faced a pro-Russia insurgency in the east. Scuffles erupted between the protesters and proPutin activists shouting, “Those who don’t like Russia should go to the United States!” — the chants reflecting the Kremlin’s depiction of opposition sup-
porters as Western stooges. The Russian authorities usually move quickly to break up opposition protests, and the unusual delay this time may reflect Kremlin concerns about fueling public anger amid the country’s economic woes. The ruble has lost about half its value this year, and the economy is heading into recession under the combined weight of Western sanctions and slumping oil prices. Police said they detained about 100 protesters, while activists claimed up to 250 were rounded up. Russian law requires demonstrators to get official clearance for rallies. Violators can face prison sentences and heavy fines. Tuesday’s verdict was not scheduled to come down until next month, but the court session was abruptly moved up to the day before New Year’s Eve, the main holiday in Russia, in what was widely seen as an attempt to head off protests. Russia’s main statecontrolled TV stations all but avoided the story. In Washington, State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke said the U.S. government was troubled by the verdict, which “appears to be another example of the Russian government’s growing crackdown on independent voices.” European Union spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic said the charges hadn’t been substantiated and the verdict “appeared to be politically motivated.” Navalny and his brother Oleg were convicted of cheating a French cosmetics company and given the same 3 ½-year sentence, but only Navalny’s was suspended. The court also fined each man 500,000 rubles (about $8,800) and ordered them to pay a total of about 4 million rubles ($77,000) in damages. Oleg Navalny, the father of two small children and a former executive of the state-owned postal service, has never played a role in the Russian opposition movement. Alexei Navalny and his supporters portrayed the brother’s prison sentence as a means of punishing Navalny himself.
The last communication indicated the pilots were worried about bad weather. They sought permission to climb above threatening clouds but were denied due to heavy air traffic. Four minutes later, the jet disappeared from the radar without issuing a distress signal. The plane’s cockpit voice and flight data recorders, or black boxes, have yet to be recovered. Scott Hamilton, managing director of aviation consultancy Leeham Co., said in a post on his website that autopsies may provide some of the earliest clues about what happened. “If death was due to blunt-force trauma, this could suggest passengers were alive upon impact with the
water,” he wrote. “If death came from other circumstances, this could suggest an explosive decompression and in-flight break up occurred.” Several countries rushed to Indonesia to help with search and recovery efforts. The United States said it was sending the USS Sampson destroyer, joining at least 30 ships, 15 aircraft and seven helicopters in the search for the jet. A Chinese frigate was on the way. Singapore said it was sending two underwater beacon detectors to try to pick up pings from the plane’s all-important cockpit voice and flight-data recorders. Malaysia, Australia and Thailand are also involved in the search.
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NAIROBI, Kenya — A U.S. airstrike killed the intelligence chief of Somali terror group al-Shabab, Somalia’s intelligence service said Tuesday. Abdishakur is the name of the slain leader, who is also known as Tahlil, a statement from the spy agency said, adding that the operation also killed two other al-Shabab militants. The Pentagon said the airstrike took place Monday in the vicinity of Saakow, Somalia. The statement from the pentagon provided no details, beyond saying it did not believe the attack caused any civilian or bystander casualties. A senior defence official said the strike did not target Ahmad Umar, who took over as the top leader of al-Shabab when its previous leader, Ahmed Abdi Godane, was killed in a U.S. airstrike in Somalia on Sept. 1. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss details of the attack by name Al-Shabab is an ultra-conservative Islamic militant group that is linked to the al-Qaida terrorist network and wants to run Somalia by its strict interpretation of Shariah law. Despite militants suffering huge losses in recent years, including the killing of their leader in a U.S. airstrike earlier this year, alShabab remains a threat. Al-Shabab leader Ahmed Godane was killed in a U.S. airstrike in September. African Union troops supporting Somalia’s weak army have pushed al-Shabab from major strongholds, including the capital, Mogadishu, in 2011. However, al-Shabab fighters still carry out terror attacks in Somalia’s capital and in neighbouring countries that have contributed troops to the African Union Mission to Somalia. On Christmas day al-Shabab gunmen attacked the main African Union base in Mogadishu. The A.U. base hosts U.N. offices and embassies. Al-Shabab leader Zakariya Ismail Hersi, who had a $3 million bounty on his head, surrendered to Somali authorities three days ago.