Iraqi cafe owners taught how to stop suicide bombers

An iraqi cafe owner injured in an bomb attack attends a seminar for owners of coffee shops suggesting measures to stop a suicide bomber. Source: AFP

AS VIOLENCE in Iraq has worsened with attacks hitting a wider array of targets, security officials have held an unusual seminar for cafe owners - how to stop a suicide bomber.

From employing private security guards to reducing the number of open entrances, officials gave tips on spotting and deterring militants, hoping to curb the country's worst wave of violence since 2008.

Shootings and bombings have struck all manner of targets in Baghdad and elsewhere, but cafes - where football-mad Iraqis often gather to watch the latest European games - have been badly hit.

Nearly 50 cafes have been bombed nationwide since unrest surged in April - 25 in Baghdad alone. The most recent - a suicide bombing in the southwestern neighbourhood of Bayaa - killed 15 people on November 21.

"The security situation faced by cafes means they should appoint one or two guards and close all but one entrance to control the flow of people and stop terrorists who wear explosives belts and want to kill people in cold blood," said Major General Saad Jaafar, deputy chief of Baghdad's security command centre.

Mr Jaafar also suggested that cafe proprietors instal security cameras.

"The security forces need help from Iraqi citizens," he said, adding quickly: "This does not mean the security forces are unable to protect the citizens."

Civilians inspect the aftermath of a suicide bomb attack in June, at a Baghdad cafe packed with young people.

The violence has hit wide swathes of the population, from security forces and government officials to civilians visiting cafes, mosques and football pitches, with people killed at all times of day and night.

In all, more than 6,000 have been killed this year nationwide and nearly 950 in November alone, according to an AFP tally of reports from security and medical officials.

Measures to tackle the bloodshed include essentially barring half of the cars from Baghdad's streets on any given day, to trumpeting operations against militants that officials say have led to hundreds of arrests and the killing of dozens more.

But the violence has not ceased, hurting trade for cafe owners whose businesses are typically packed for matches ranging from Spain's La Liga to Britain's Premier League, as well as the exploits of Iraq's national team.

"Our work has fallen off a lot as a result of the terrorist attacks of recent months," said Mousa Mohammed, the owner of a cafe in Amil neighbourhood, which itself suffered a twin bombing on October 20 that killed 40 people.

Mr Mohammed attended the seminar and said he was unlikely to follow all of the suggested measures.

"Appointing security guards at the entrance of the cafe and closing all the doors except for one will mean people will be completely unwilling to visit our cafes.

"They are the sources of our livelihoods," Mr Mohammed said.

Some owners, including Mohammed Mustafa whose cafe is in Bayaa where the November 21 attack happened, took the advice to heart but also urged the security forces to increase patrols, especially in areas frequented by large numbers.

One suggestion from security officials was roundly rejected - that cafe owners close at 8:00pm to prevent increasingly frequent evening attacks that have rocked the capital.

"After the terrorist attacks on cafes, the security forces in our neighbourhood asked us to close, especially when Real Madrid is playing Barcelona and the cafes are packed," said Abdelaziz Youssif, whose cafe is in the Jamiyah district.

He was referring to the fierce following that any clash between the Spanish football rivals, known as the Clasico, engenders in Iraq.

"Is there any cafe in the world that closes its doors when Real Madrid and Barcelona are playing?" Mr Youssif asked incredulously.

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Scotland mourns helicopter crash victims, search for bodies continues at Glasgow pub

SCOTTISH rescuers continued the search for bodies inside the wreckage of a Glasgow pub on Sunday as the nation said prayers for the eight killed in a freak police helicopter accident.

Fourteen people remained in hospital with serious injuries after the helicopter came crashing through the roof of The Clutha, a popular live music bar in Scotland's biggest city.

Well over 100 people were watching a local ska band play on a busy Friday night in the city centre pub by the River Clyde when the unexplained disaster struck.

A memorial service was held at Glasgow Cathedral on what was supposed to be a weekend of festivities for Saint Andrew's Day, Scotland's patron saint.

"We will pause to mark those who have been injured, those who have lost their lives and all of the members of the public and emergency services who have worked so tirelessly, and continue to assist in the rescue operation," the Church of Scotland cathedral said.

Scotland's Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was among those attending the service, along with ambulance workers in uniform.

Other churches across the country remembered the dead in their services.

Deputy First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon (2R) and Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill (R) attend a service at Glasgow Cathedral in memory of the eight people who lost their lives when a police helicopter crashed into The Clutha bar in Glasgow, Scotland.

Three people on board the helicopter - two officers and a civilian pilot - and five people in the bar are so far known to have been killed.

The first victim whose body was recovered from the scene was named as Gary Arthur, 48, from the Paisley area of Glasgow, whose daughter Chloe plays football for Scotland and Celtic under-19s.

"RIP dad. you'll always mean the world to me, I promise to do you proud, I love you with all my heart," she tweeted.
A minute's silence will be held ahead of the Scottish Cup football match between hosts Hearts and league champions Celtic in Edinburgh.

While Arthur is the only victim officially identified, reports have also named helicopter pilot David Traill and police officer Kirsty Nelis as among the dead.

Fire and rescue officers worked through a second night to free the wreckage of the Eurocopter EC135.

A few dozen police officers were standing on duty at the site, while more than 30 bunches of flowers were lined up against a nearby wall.

Rescue workers remove part of the wreckage from The Clutha bar, which the police helicopter crashed into.

In the crisp morning daylight, two cranes could be seen at the site, one with its arm buried in the building.

Men in hard hats and high-visibility jackets were standing on the remains of the roof.

The BBC said straps had been attached to the helicopter ahead of an attempt to lift it clear.

The emergency teams want to ensure that everyone who might have been trapped inside is located, and recover as much of the helicopter as possible to work out what happened.

Britain's Air Accidents Investigation Branch has sent a team to the scene.

Newspapers speculated as to what might have triggered the accident, from a loss of power or fuel, to an attempted emergency landing on the one-storey bar's flat roof.

A police officer lays flowers near the scene where a police helicopter crashed into a pub in Glasgow, Scotland.

Police appealed for anyone with video footage of the incident to send it to them, saying it "may be of help to the team as they investigate the cause of the crash".

People inside said they heard a heavy thud before the roof caved in and the air filled with dust and screams. Most were not aware until later that a helicopter had crashed on to the building.

Afterwards pubgoers and passers-by formed a "human chain" to help the wounded in the minutes before the emergency services arrived.

Thirty-two people were taken to hospital by ambulance, of whom 18 were later discharged.

The remaining 14 are suffering from "chest injuries, head injuries, long-bone fractures and lacerations", said Jennifer Armstrong, medical director of the Greater Glasgow Health Board.

Queen Elizabeth II said her prayers were with the victims, while British Prime Minister David Cameron and Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond have offered their condolences.

Helicopter crashes into pub roof

Chopper 'dropped like a stone'

On Sunday, witnesses described confusion, terror and then bravery after the accident.

Grace MacLean, who was inside the pub at the time of the crash, told the BBC that the revellers were listening to a ska band.

"We were all just having a nice time and then there was like a 'whoosh' noise - there was no bang, there was no explosion," she said.

"And then there was some smoke, what seemed like smoke. The band were laughing and we were all joking that the band had made the roof come down.

"They carried on playing and then it started to come down more and someone started screaming and then the whole pub just filled with dust. You couldn't see anything, you couldn't breathe."

The nine-piece band, Esperanza, said on their Facebook page that they were all well.

"Despite the situation everyone was so helpful and caring of each other. The police, ambulances, firefighters all did a stellar job," they said.

Britain's former Europe minister Jim Murphy told the BBC he was driving through the area shortly after the incident.

"I jumped out and tried to help. There were people with injuries. Bad gashes to the head. Some were unconscious. I don't know how many," he said, his shirt bloodied.

Mr Murphy, who is the opposition Labour Party's international development spokesman, said he and others formed a human chain to get survivors out of the bar.

"The helicopter was inside the pub. It's a mess. I could only get a yard or two inside. I helped carry people out."

Gordon Smart, who edits the Scottish edition of The Sun newspaper, said he saw the helicopter coming down.

"It looked like it was dropping from a great height at a great speed," he told Sky News television.

"There was no fireball and I did not hear an explosion. It fell like a stone. The engine seemed to be spluttering."

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Brekkie Wrap: Mum whose baby died leads rescue; fatal train derailment in New York City

This image provided Saturday Nov. 30, 2013, courtesy of Alaska State Troopers shows the wreckage of a plane that crashed on Friday near St Marys, Alaska. Source: AP

AFTER phoning for help in resuscitating her baby, a 25-year-old woman on a plane that crashed in remote southwest Alaska led searchers hampered by cold and fog to the crash site.

The single-engine aircraft carrying 10 people went down on Friday night near the village of Saint Marys, killing four people and injured six. After her child died, Melanie Coffee walked more than a kilometre toward lights in the village to meet rescuers. "I believe she's the real hero in this," said Saint Marys Village Police Officer Fred Lamont Jr. Ms Coffee, who suffered chest trauma, tried whistling to alert searchers. She considered starting a fire to get their attention but eventually decided to start walking toward village lights.

Meanwhile, a passenger train has derailed just metres from the Hudson River in New York City with at least four dead and over 60 injured. The Metro-North passenger train came off the tracks at 7.20am (11.20pm AEDT) on Sunday near the Spuyten Duyvil station in The Bronx. "I was asleep and I woke up when the car started rolling several times. Then I saw the gravel coming at me, and I heard people screaming. There was smoke everywhere and debris. People were thrown to the other side of the train,'' one survivor said.

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China launches its lunar rover Jade Rabbit into space

The Long March 3B rocket carrying the Chang'e-3 lunar probe is prepared for launch at the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre. Source: AP

CHINA has launched its first moon rover mission, state TV showed, the latest step in an ambitious space program seen as a symbol of its rising global stature.

The Chang'e-3 rocket carrying the Jade Rabbit rover blasted off around 1:30 am (4.30am AEDT) into the dark sky, the CCTV official broadcaster showed in live footage from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in the southwest of the country.

The probe is due to land on the moon in mid-December to explore its surface and look for natural resources.

It is the world's third lunar rover mission following those by the United States and former Soviet Union decades earlier.

China's military-led space program aims to establish a permanent space station by 2020 and eventually send someone to the moon.

Since 2003 it has sent 10 astronauts into space and launched an orbiting space module, Tiangong-1. It also sent probes to orbit the moon in 2007 and 2010.

The rover's name Jade Rabbit, or "Yutu", was chosen in an online poll of 3.4 million voters.

It comes from an ancient Chinese myth about a rabbit living on the moon as the pet of Chang'e, a lunar goddess who swallowed an immortality pill.

State television showed the rocket shooting into the sky, and mission observers could be heard reporting at regular intervals that things were proceeding "normally".

The lunar probe held "great scientific and economic significance", the Xinhua state news agency paraphrased Sun Zezhou, the chief designer of the lunar probe, as saying.

"The mission has contributed to the development of a number of space technologies and some of them can be applied in civilian sector," it paraphrased Sun as saying.

The mission had gathered attention in recent days, with users of Sina Weibo, China's version of Twitter, vowing to stay up to watch the live coverage.

"The news on TV about Chang'e 3 has made me incredibly proud," one commenter said ahead of the launch.

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Dial 00000000 for armageddon

A mushroom cloud rises from the detonation of a nuclear device bomb' in the 1950s. Picture: Supplied Source:Supplied

FOR nearly 20 years, the secret code authorising the launch of US nuclear missiles was terrifyingly simple. Just dial 00000000.

The code was in use between 1962, when John F Kennedy required the use of Permissive Action Link (PAL) security encoding on nuclear weapons, until 1977, the UK's Daily Mail reported.

In fact, Strategic Air Command chose the numbers to make the weapons quick and easy to launch.

There was concern that command centres or communication lines could be destroyed in war, preventing soldiers from getting the codes to launch missiles. Hence the easy code of eight zeros.

A paper written by Dr. Bruce Blair, who worked as a Minuteman launch officer in the 1970s, detailed how Strategic Air Command: "remained far less concerned about unauthorised launches than about the potential of these safeguards to interfere with the implementation of wartime launch orders."

The code was even written down on a checklist for officials.

"Our launch checklist in fact instructed us, the firing crew, to double-check the locking panel in our underground launch bunker to ensure that no digits other than zero had been inadvertently dialled into the panel."

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Online petitions support stricken Newtown police officer

NEWTOWN -- Support is growing online for Newtown Police Officer Thomas Bean, who is facing the loss of his job because he has been unable to work since responding to the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School last Dec. 14.

Since his case was publicized several weeks ago, two Internet petitions have been set up urging the town not to fire Bean, who is considered 100 percent disabled by post-traumatic stress disorder, and to allow him to continue to collect his disability pay.

The petitions have drawn more than 6,300 signatures from people across the country.

A third website has been set up to raise money for Bean, his wife and their two sons.

"I do appreciate the support and want to thank everyone," the 38-year-old, 12-year department veteran said. "It's great to see the message is getting out, and it's an affirmation that I'm doing the right thing by speaking out."

Bean is now collecting half of his salary under the long-term disability policy negotiated between the police union and the town.

Union officials say the contract calls for him to receive the payments until he is eligible for retirement, another 13 years.

But several months ago, in a meeting with ChiefMichael Kehoe, he was given the choice of resigning, retiring with just a fraction of the money he would otherwise be entitled to, or being fired, because under the existing policy the disability payments will end after two years.

Kehoe, who has recommended Bean's termination to the Police Commission, said last week he couldn't talk about the case. First Selectman Pat Llodra previously declined comment, saying the proper forum for any agreement is through negotiations with the town attorney.

But people who posted their thoughts on the two online petitions had plenty to say.

"He needs and deserves support, not to be dismissed during this terrible time. Sandy Hook is still grieving, we will never forget the victims and the heroes who helped in that horrific tragedy," wrote Newtown resident Karen Dryer, who started the Change.org petition that has so far attracted more than 1,200 signers.

"The healing process is unique to each individual, and Officer Thomas Bean needs our support," Dryer continued.

"As a first responder who spent over a month at ground zero in 2001, I know PTSD is a true diagnosis that should be treated like a true medical condition. This man is being treated like a piece of trash," said Michael Torino, of East Haven.

A second petition, started by former Marine Jack Cunningham at www.causes.com, has drawn over 5,100 signatures, more than halfway toward its goal of 10,000.

Cunningham's petition also calls on the state of Connecticut to change its workers compensation law to allow first responders diagnosed with PTSD to receive disability payments.

A third site has been set up by Bethel resident Aune Mitchell, with the goal of raising $750,000 for Bean and his family. As of last week, though, less than $200 had been contributed.

"He is a husband, a father, and a hero -- let's give him the respect he deserves," Mitchell said.

"We're aware of the petitions and we think it's great," Newtown Police Union president Scott Ruszczyk said. "I think its a great thing for people to get involved."

Bean is uncertain whether the petitions will have any impact on his situation.

"I don't know if it will help, but it can't hurt," he said.

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AMA journal article suggests mandating participation in experimental vaccine trials 'for the greater good'

Some of the most deranged and sociopathic individuals on the planet hold respected positions of authority in medicine and at institutions of higher learning, and a recent journal article in the American Medical Association (AMA)'s Journal of Ethics serves as a reminder of this disturbing reality. In the article, two doctors from Oxford University in the UK advocate forcibly injecting individuals with experimental vaccines "for the greater good of society."

PrisonPlanet.com reports that Oxford's Susanne Sheehy, BM BCh, MRCP, DTM&H, and Joel Meyer, BM BCh, MRCP, together authored the paper, entitled Should Participation in Vaccine Clinical Trials be Mandated?. In it, the duo recommends "[c]ompulsory involvement in vaccine studies" in response to a general lack of willing volunteers, many of whom are not exactly comfortable sacrificing their bodies and their health to have a toxic brew of untested chemicals injected into them.

The totalitarian viewpoint of Sheehy and Meyer, both of whom are members of the UK's Royal College of Physicians, is nothing short of frightening. That any human being is capable of convincing himself that forcibly injecting another human being with chemicals, live viral components, and other toxins is a good idea, is a shocking anomaly in and of itself. But this scenario becomes especially disturbing when those in positions of power adopt this psychopathic viewpoint.

Clearly stated in their paper, Sheehy and Meyer believe mandatory participation in vaccine trials is no different than requiring individuals to serve on jury duty, for instance, or to serve in the military. They also believe that forcing people to take experimental vaccines, even when such vaccines come with obvious "inherent risks," is an individual's required duty to give back to society.

Perhaps the most disturbing element of the paper, though, is its suggestion that "increas[ing] the severity" of diseases will help to facilitate "compulsory recruitment" into experimental vaccine trials. Deliberately creating more deadly strains of disease in order to scare people into vaccine programs, in other words, is apparently considered to be a valid approach by Sheehy and Meyer, whose passionate worship of vaccines have led them to such a preposterous notion.

A little bit of history on vaccine trials -- it was revealed back in 2008 that at least 14 Argentinian children died as part of an experimental vaccine trial conducted by British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/88922/gsk-lab-fined-$1m-over-tests-that-killed-14--babies). Also in 2008, 21 homeless individuals in Poland died during an avian flu vaccine experiment.
Sources for this article include:

http://news-oline.blogspot.com/
http://www.prisonplanet.com/ama-journal-make-participation-in-vaccine-trials-mandatory.html

http://virtualmentor.ama-assn.org/2012/01/pfor1-1201.html

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NYC train derailment kills 4, hurts more than 60

Cars from a Metro-North passenger train are scattered after the train derailed in the Bronx neighborhood of New York, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2013. The Fire Department of New York says there are "multiple injuries" in the train derailment, and 130 firefighters are on the scene. Metropolitan Transportation Authority police say the train derailed near the Spuyten Duyvil station. Photo: Edwin Valero, AP

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City commuter train rounding a riverside curve derailed Sunday, killing four people, injuring more than 60 and sending a chain of toppled cars trailing off the track just inches from the water, authorities said.

Some of the 100 to 150 passengers on the early morning Metro-North train from suburban Poughkeepsie to Manhattan were jolted from sleep around 7:20 a.m. to screams and the frightening sensation of their compartment rolling over on a bend where the Hudson and Harlem rivers meet in the Bronx. When the motion stopped, four or five of the seven cars were off the rails in the latest, and deadliest, example of this year's troubles for the nation's second-biggest commuter railroad.

"Four people lost their lives today in the holiday season, right after Thanksgiving," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at a news conference. Eleven of the injured were believed to be critically injured and another six seriously hurt, according to the Fire Department.

The train operator was among the injured, Cuomo said.

Cuomo said the track did not appear to be faulty, leaving speed as a possible culprit for the crash, but he noted that the National Transportation Safety Boardwould determine what happened.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority ChairmanThomas F. Prendergast said investigators would look at numerous factors, including the train, the track and signal system, the operators and speed.

The speed limit on the curve is 30 mph, compared with 70 mph in the area before the curve, MTA spokeswoman Marjorie Anders said. The train's data recorders should be able to tell how fast it was traveling, she said.

One passenger, Frank Tatulli, told WABC-TV that the train appeared to be going "a lot faster" than usual as it approached the sharp curve near the Spuyten Duyvil station. The station's name comes from a Dutch word for a local waterway, sometimes translated as "Devil's whirlpool."

While some passengers were headed to work, others aboard the train were probably going to New York for holiday shopping — and many more might have joined them had the train been later in the morning.

Joel Zaritsky was dozing as he traveled to the city for a dental convention.

"I woke up when the car started rolling several times. Then I saw the gravel coming at me, and I heard people screaming," he told The Associated Press, holding his bloody right hand. "There was smoke everywhere and debris. People were thrown to the other side of the train."

Nearby residents awoke to a building-shaking boom. Angel Gonzalez was in bed in his high-rise apartment overlooking the rail curve when he heard the roar.

"I thought it was a plane that crashed," he said.

Mike Gallo heard the same noise as he was walking his dog. He looked down at the tracks and "knew it was a tragedy right away. I saw injured people climbing out of the train."

Within minutes, dozens of emergency crews arrived and carried passengers away on stretchers, some wearing neck braces. Firefighters shattered windows of the toppled train cars to reach injured passengers.

Police divers searched the waters to make sure no passenger had been thrown in. Other emergency crews scoured the surrounding woods.

Dazed passengers were given ice to apply to their wounds, and in some cases, bodies covered with yellow blankets could be seen.

Three of the dead were found outside the train, and one was found inside, authorities said. Their families had not yet been notified.

Passengers were taken off the derailed train, with dozens of them bloodied and scratched, holding ice packs to their heads.

Victims with a spinal cord injury, an open leg fracture and other broken bones were being treated at St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx, one of the medical facilities that took patients, spokesman Steven Clark said.

Edwin Valero was in an apartment building above the accident. At first, he said, he didn't notice that the train had flipped over.

"I didn't realize it had been turned over until I saw a firefighter walking on the window," he said.

To Cuomo, "it looked like a toy train set that was mangled by some super-powerful force," the governor said in a phone interview with CNN.

Amtrak Empire service was halted between New York City and Albany after the derailment. Amtrak said its Northeast Corridor service between Boston and Washington was unaffected.

When the NTSB gives the go-ahead, the MTA will begin efforts to restore service, Prendergast said.

Sunday's accident is the second passenger train derailment in six months for Metro-North — and the first passenger death in an accident in its nearly 31-year history, Anders said.

On May 17, an eastbound train derailed in Bridgeport, Conn., and was struck by a westbound train. The crash injured 73 passengers, two engineers and a conductor. Eleven days later, track foreman Robert Luden was struck and killed by a train in West Haven, Conn.

In July, a freight train full of garbage derailed on the same Metro-North line on another curve, about a half-mile away. This fall, service on Metro-North's line between New York City and Connecticut was hobbled for days after a high-voltage feeder line failed.

Earlier this month, Metro-North's chief engineer, Robert Puciloski, told members of the NTSB investigating the May derailment and Luden's death that the railroad is "behind in several areas," including a five-year schedule of cyclical maintenance that had not been conducted in the area of the Bridgeport derailment since 2005.

The NTSB issued an urgent recommendation to Metro-North that it use "redundant protection," such as a procedure known as "shunting" in which crews attach a device to the rail in a work zone alerting the dispatcher to inform approaching trains to stop.

SOUrce:NEWS

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