Helicopter crashes in Iran, all 10 on board die

A helicopter carrying victims of a car accident to a hospital in northeastern Iran crashed on Wednesday and all 10 people on board died, state TV said.

The helicopter was en route to the northeastern city of Mashhad when it went down, according to Mohammad Reza Vafainejad, a local official.

Vafainejad was quoted by the semiofficial Mehr news agency as saying that the helicopter was flying at low altitude due to bad weather and hit a power cable on the way.

Those who died included four members of the helicopter crew, five people who had been wounded in the minibus crash and a medic from the emergency services.

"Eight people were killed on the spot and two people wounded in the crash died later in hospital," local emergency medical services official Reza Vafaeenejad told the ISNA news agency.

The report quoted an emergency services official in Mashhad as saying the rescue chopper was taking people wounded in a vehicle accident to hospital in the city when it hit high voltage power lines in thick fog.

The "helicopter belonged to the air force and was on lease to the emergency services," the official said.

Iran is subject to harsh sanctions from Western countries over its disputed nuclear programme, with spare parts for its military aircraft fleet as well as for civilian planes affected.

Wednesday 14 November 2012

http://news.yahoo.com/helicopter-crashes-iran-10-board-die-103056742.html

Deadly fall rainstorms add to misery in Haiti

The rain has tapered off and floodwaters no longer claw at houses, but the situation across much of Haiti remained grim on Tuesday following an autumn of punishing rains that have killed scores of people and that threaten to cause even more hunger across the impoverished nation.

In places such as Croix-des-Missions, on the northeastern edge of the Haitian capital, the walls of dozens of homes along a pale brown river have been broken or ripped away, exposing clothes, bedding and everything else to the repeated downpours.

Heavy rains began falling in southern Haiti even before Hurricane Sandy passed just west of the country's southern peninsula the night of Oct. 24, dropping more than 20 inches of rain within a 24-hour period.

"It took away my whole home. Now I don't have anything," said Solange Calixte, a 56-year-old mother of two whose home in Croix-des-Missions was largely destroyed by floodwaters of the nearby Gray River.

One of 21,000 people the U.N. says were left homeless by Sandy, Calixte was forced to move with her belongings beneath a tarp at a neighbor's home.

And the rains have kept coming. Another front soaked much of the north late last week, causing more flooding and leaving at least a dozen dead.

So far the back-to-back storms have killed up to 66 people and the crisis is likely to worsen in coming months. Humanitarian workers anticipate a food shortage brought on by the massive flooding that destroyed yam and corn fields.

The United Nations says that as much as 90 percent of Haiti's current harvest season, much of it in the south, was lost in Sandy's floods, and the next harvest season won't begin until March. The World Food Program estimates that more than 1.5 million people are now at risk of malnutrition because they were either displaced or lost crops, forcing Haitians to rely heavily on more-expensive imports.

"This means massive inflation, hunger for a lot of people and acute malnutrition," said Johan Peleman, head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Haiti. "Basically, the cushion is gone."

Soaring food costs have rattled Haiti before. In 2008 a jump in prices sparked more than a week of deadly rioting and ended in the ouster of the prime minister and his Cabinet.

The U.N. and Haitian government are now launching an emergency appeal to raise $39 million in hopes of stemming what they foresee as Haiti's next humanitarian crisis. This money is supposed to help 1.2 million people by providing shelter and food, repairing water, sanitation systems and schools.

Calixte, who sells clothes on the street for a living, had seen flood waters seep into her concrete house before. It sits at the edge of a wide river that cuts through the northern side of Haiti's capital. But Sandy did more. The storm led the caramel-colored river to claw away at the banks, and it ripped apart the home she had lived in since 1999.

The river has since receded and people can safely walk across through the water.

But Calixte, wearing a black T-shirt with the letters NYC in white, said life is anything but normal.

"I'm at the mercy of other people," she said, her eyes tearing up.

In the north, just outside Cap-Haitien, night-long rains from a cold front caused a river to burst its bank Thursday night. The U.N. base in town was flooded, but the real damage was at the edge of ravine where floodwaters swept away cinderblock homes and the people inside them. City Hall asked aid groups for body bags.

The rains pounded the northern coast of the country through the night. The bodies of five children and a woman in her 30s were found in a village on the outskirts of Cap-Haitien and laid out in a tight row the next day.

The country's civil protection office counted 10 dead that morning, and added two more several days later. But officials such as the mayor of Cap-Haitien believe the toll could rise now that floodwaters are receding to reveal bodies trapped in thrashed homes.

"Every few hours they will call you and say, 'We found a body and need you to come collect the body,'" Jean Cherenfant said. "That's the way it has been happening the past few days: The bodies keep surfacing."

The government and foreign aid groups have responded by handing out hot meals but humanitarian workers fear it may be hard to find food down the road.

For some, the search for food is already underway.

"I'm waiting for the government to help me," Calixte said. "If they don't, I have to go out and beg for food."

Wednesday 14 november 2012

http://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2012/11/13/fall-rain-storms-floods-haiti/1702931/

Forensic anthropologist explains the 'CSI effect,' difficulty of breaking into profession

Forensic anthropologist Laura Fulginiti has had bodies in her office for over 20 years.

Fulginiti, who is an adjunct professor, was featured at ASU’s School of Criminology and Criminal Justice on Tuesday evening to discuss the realities encompassing forensic anthropology and what is known as the “CSI effect.”

Fulginiti is a board-certified forensic anthropologist who works with the Maricopa County Medical Examiner and the Forensic Science Center. She has responded to many catastrophic and fatal events including airline crashes in Colorado and Guam; the Sept. 11 crash in Pennsylvania; the Tri-State Crematory incident in Georgia; and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

She said many people are under what is called the “CSI effect,” meaning they believe that DNA identification can be performed instantly and that cases can be solved in hours.

Fulginiti said that the problem with the phenomenon is jurors will expect the case to be just like CSI or other crime TV shows and let their preconceived notions determine how they will go forward with deciding the case.

She cited a study of 300 prosecutors who said 61 percent of jurors believe the sciences in TV crime shows are true and they have to explain to jurors the differences.

In comparison to TV shows, laser beams don’t come out of the ceiling, Fulginiti said

“I have a lazy Susan and a couple of knitting needles,” Fulginiti said.

The body-identification process is much longer than depicted on television and she said that she just recently identified a body in a case from 1988.

Exploratory major freshman Yasmeine Abbassi learned that anthropologists “don’t give up on people.”

Often, people glamorize forensic anthropology, but Fulginiti said in reality, it’s an “unglamorous profession.”

Fulginiti said that she feels the biggest difference between shows like “CSI” and reality is the emotional aspect. She said people do not understand the toll it takes on one’s personality.

“It eats the heart right out of you,” Fulginiti said.

Criminology and psychology major Mario Melendez toured Fulginiti’s office a few weeks before the lecture and wanted to meet her in person.

He said the lecture gave him more realistic knowledge about the forensics seen on TV and what actually happens.

Fulginiti said that for students looking to get into the field, they must be persistent, proactive and find a mentor.

“It’s a difficult, difficult field to get into,” Fulginiti said. She added many students will contact her about pursuing a career in forensic anthropology, but very few follow through.

Criminology and criminal justice junior Chris Erickson said he found Fulginiti’s lecture interesting, but it also helped reinforce that forensic anthropology is “difficult and demanding.”

Wednesday 14 November 2012

http://downtowndevil.com/2012/11/13/34829/forensic-anthropologist-csi-effect/

Baldia factory fire case: SHC seeks reports on DNA tests, compensation money

The Sindh High Court (SHC) has directed authorities to furnish progress reports on DNA tests of unidentifiable Baldia factory fire victims and disbursement of compensation cheques among families of the deceased, Express News reported on Tuesday.

The country’s worst fire incident had claimed the lives of over 250 people in September. Many workers died of suffocation, others still were burnt alive at the Ali Enterprises garment factory in Baldia town, which made ready-to-wear clothing for Western export.

The SHC had earlier given the provincial government a week to complete the DNA matching process to identify the remaining victims so that their bodies can be handed over to their families.

During Tuesday’s hearing, the court was informed that the ill-fated factory was not registered.

The court ordered registration of all the unregistered factories across the province and also sought a detailed report on them.

The hearing was adjourned till December 3.

Wednesday 14 november 2012

http://tribune.com.pk/story/465085/baldia-factory-fire-case-shc-seeks-reports-on-dna-tests-compensation-money/

UN refugee agency concerned over boat tragedies in Bay of Bengal

The U.N. refugee agency is calling on countries in Southeast Asia to open their borders to people fleeing insecurity and violence in Burma. The UNHCR said it is seriously concerned by the recent drowning of Rohingya Muslims who fled by boat from Burma’s Rakhine state in search of a safe haven.

In the last two weeks, two boats reportedly sank in the Bay of Bengal with an estimated 240 people aboard. The U.N. refugee agency said Rohingyas from Burma’s Rakhine state were among them.

UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming saida Bangladeshi naval patrol and fishermen reportedly rescued 40 people from the sinking vessels. “People saw bodies floating in the water, so that does lead us to believe that the fate of those remaining 200 is not good," said Fleming.

"These two incidents mark an alarming start to the traditional sailing season … boating season in the Bay of Bengal, when a mix of asylum seekers and irregular migrants risk their lives on fishing boats in the hope of seeking safety and a better life in Southeast Asia,” she added.

An estimated 7,000-8,000 people left Burma via the Bay of Bengal during the previous sailing season from October 2011 to March 2012. The UNHCR said it fears many more could follow in the coming weeks because of escalating tension between the Buddhist-majority Rakhine and minority Muslim Rohingyas in Rakhine State.

Inter-communal violence broke out in June. This was exacerbated in October by renewed ethnic fighting, which killed dozens of people, destroyed thousands of homes and displaced more than 110,000 people.

Fleming said the UNHCR fears that many Rohingyas, driven by desperation, hopelessness and fear, could risk their lives by crossing the Bay of Bengal in un-seaworthy craft.

“UNHCR is urging the government of Myanmar to take urgent action to address some of the main, what we call, push-factors - the factors that are driving people [to flee]," Fleming said.

"These issues are also connected with the problem of citizenship and statelessness in relation to the Rohingyas. … There is a fragile calm that has returned, but tensions remain very high and there is lots of fear that the violence could explode again,” she added.

The Muslim Rohingyas have lived in Burma for generations, but have never been granted citizenship. They remain stateless and deprived of all rights and benefits available to Burmese citizens.

UNHCR’s Fleming calls this situation unsustainable. Burma is in the world’s spotlight right now, she says, and with the advent of a new government and the engagement of Nobel laureate Aung San Su Kyi, there is now a sense of hope that this long-standing issue could finally be resolved.

Wednesday 14 November 2012

http://www.voanews.com/content/un-asks-asian-states-to-accept-burma-refugees/1544895.html

The River of Death Eats Zimbabwean Youth Alive

Zimbabwean youth continue to leave their country for seemingly greener pastures in South Africa. Many of them illegally enter the neighbouring country, where they are threatened by gang violence, human trafficking and, ultimately, deportation. However, some border-jumping Zimbabweans face an even more gruesome deadly risk before reaching the other side: the crocodiles of the Limpopo River.

One day this past June, when the river waters were still high, 27-year-old Thulani Sibanda and two former classmates met up in their village of Ntumbamayi, in the northern province of Matabeleland. Their plan was to travel to South Africa to look for jobs. Leaving home and heading to South Africa has long been a tradition among the Ndebele people of western Zimbabwe. Plus, if you're a youth but you have never worked in South Africa, you are not considered a man.

So Thulani and his friends agreed that now was their time to head to the Rainbow Nation. Because none had passports, the three planned to enter illegally. And that meant having to use a dangerous form of entry: jumping the Limpopo River that separates Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Border jumpers

It's bad enough that gangs present a threat to border jumpers who reach the other side and that the females among them are vulnerable to rape. But that's not what gave the Limpopo its nickname. The River of Death, it is called, because so many people who try to cross these waters have been killed by vicious crocodiles.

According to police on both sides, the reptiles are responsible for the deaths of hundreds of young people trying to enter South Africa illegally. Zimbabwe police in the border town of Beitbridge have long warned youth to stop risking their lives by crossing the Limpopo. Yet the river offers the only real option for jumpers; it's close to the checkpoint and provides easy access to collection points on the other side, where human traffickers can pick up the migrants and, for a fee, transport them to Johannesburg.

Lucky charms?

Before boarding a bus from Bulawayo to Beitbridge, the three youth visited a sangoma, a traditional healer. Friends of theirs who had managed to cross the river without incident had told them about a sangoma protection ritual, which cost 200 South African rand (about 18 euro).

Thulani says the healer gave them a charm potion, a muti, as traditional medicine is called in Ndebele, that was mixed with crocodile blood and dried leaves. "The sangoma told us the charms were to protect us from crocodiles, and we believed him," he recalls.

The Limpopo River crocodiles are among the world's largest and arguably the most dangerous. Experts say saltwater crocodiles are responsible for more human fatalities per year than any other predator. They are strong swimmers that are well adapted to the water, which is where they do nearly all their hunting.

The youth were told to wear the charms around their heads, like necklaces, and smear their bodies and faces with the blood before crossing the river. Thulani says he used the charms, but was - to say the least - disappointed.

Taking the plunge

Thulani and his classmates waited until it was dark. At that point, guards don't usually patrol areas along the fence and some guards get dismissed as others reported for duty.

"When we got to the river, we met others who were also trying to cross into South Africa," Thulani tells RNW, referring to the other border jumpers he met from different districts of Matabeleland. "My two friends decided we cross with them, but I chose to wait for them to go first and then follow if there is no danger."

Usually, the crocodiles lie by the river's banks and spring into action when they see people or animals jumping into the water. According to Thulani, when the group of jumpers reached a deep part in the river, sure enough, crocodiles appeared from nowhere. Stunned, the young man could not get a good look at just how many there were.

"I watched in horror as the crocodiles grabbed the youths and threw them deeper into the waters," Thulani recalls.

Shock silenced the victims, who did not even scream, he says. In the water, the youth were no match for the crocodiles of the Limpopo River. Thulani's classmates were among those killed.

That day

In shock himself, Thulani retreated from the river and went straight to the Beitbridge police camp, where he filed a report of the attacks.

Two days later, after a joint search by Zimbabwe and South Africa police, some remains of his friends and other youth were discovered on the banks of the Limpopo.

"I will never forget that day," says Thulani. "The images keep coming back to me, especially when I close my eyes at night."

The young man has since applied for a passport and successfully reached South Africa. Here in Johannesburg, he is still looking for employment, though feels confident he will find something before Christmas.

Wednesday 14 november 2012

http://allafrica.com/stories/201211140669.html?page=2