Virginia Tech gunman named as Ross Truett Ashley

watches now enjoy ross Truett Ashley, the Virginia Tech gunman who shot police officer Deriek W Crouse. Photograph: Virginia state police/AP

Police have named the Virginia Tech gunman who shot dead a policeman and then himself as Ross Truett Ashley, a part-time student from nearby Radford University.

The day before Thursday's shootings, 22-year-old Ashley stole a sport utility vehicle at gunpoint from a real estate office in nearby Radford. The car was found on the Virginia Tech campus.

Police said Ashley walked up to the police officer and fired, then took off for the campus greenhouses, dropping his pullover, wool cap and backpack. He made his way to a nearby parking lot and when a deputy spotted him he shot himself.

Deriek W Crouse, 39, was the police officer killed. He had been on the Virginia Tech force for four years, joining about six months after 33 people were killed in a classroom building and dorm on 16 April 2007.

Crouse pulled over a student on Thursday and was shot while sitting in his unmarked cruiser. The student didn't have any link to the gunman, state police spokeswoman Corrine Geller said.

Shortly before 12.30pm police received a call from a witness who said an officer had been shot. About six minutes later the first campus-wide alert was sent by email, text message and electronic signs in university buildings. Many students on campus were preparing for exams and they were told to stay indoors.

Fifteen minutes after the witness called police a deputy sheriff noticed a man at the back of another parking lot nearby. The man was by himself, looking around furtively and acting "a little suspicious" according to Geller.

The deputy drove up and down the rows of the parking lot and lost sight of the man for a moment. The deputy then found the man lying on the pavement, shot dead. The handgun was nearby. Police said nobody witnessed the suicide.

The shootings unfolded on the same day Virginia Tech officials were in Washington fighting a federal government fine over their handling of the 2007 massacre. About 150 students gathered silently Thursday night for a candlelit vigil on a field facing the memorial for the 2007 victims.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/10/virginia-tech-ros-truett-ashley

Coppied by 

Watches this Honduras: Ousted President Manuel Zelaya return

We are see tis Honduras: Ousted President Manuel Zelaya return


Manuel Zelaya urged his supporters to carry out only "peaceful resistance"


Former Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, who was ousted from office in 2009, has returned to Honduras.

Mr Zelaya was forced into exile by the military after he failed to abide by a Supreme Court order to cancel a non-binding vote on changing the constitution.

Thousands of supporters greeted him at the airport in Tegucigalpa.

A deal signed by Mr Zelaya and current President Porfirio Lobo on Monday helped pave the way for his return.

Mr Zelaya arrived on board a private plane from Nicaragua.

Speaking to his cheering supporters in Tegucigalpa, he urged an end to "coups" in Honduras, saying that resistance should be "peaceful".

"The problem of poverty, of corruption, of the great challenges of Latin American societies won't be resolved through violence, but through more democracy," the former president said.

Earlier, he admitted that his exile had been "torture".

His wife, Xiomara Castro, said: "Today we begin the true reconciliation in Honduras."

A larger crowd of Mr Zelaya's supporters is expected in the capital later on Saturday.

Mr Zelaya's return became possible after Mr Zelaya signed an agreement with his successor, Mr Lobo, in Colombia on Monday.

The accord, negotiated by the Venezuelan and the Colombian presidents, also prepares the way for Honduras's re-entry in the Organisation of American States.

Honduras had been expelled from the regional body after Mr Zelaya's forced departure.

Coppied by http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-13586991

Watches Afghanistan: Suicide blast kills top police commander

We are understand this Afghanistan: Suicide blast kills top police commande



General Daud was attending a meeting with other officials when the bomber struck, reports say

The police commander for northern Afghanistan has been killed in a suicide bomb attack on the provincial governor's compound in Takhar.

Gen Mohammad Daud Daud is one of at least six people killed in the attack, claimed by the Taliban.

Two German soldiers were killed and Gen Markus Kneip, commander of foreign troops in north Afghanistan, wounded.

Afghanistan has seen a series of attacks in recent months by militants on police and military targets.

Takhar provincial Governor Abdul Jabar Taqwa is among those wounded, officials said.

Gen Daud was former military commander of the Northern Alliance, the Afghan forces who fought the Taliban.

Police uniform
The latest attack will be seen as significant because it has struck an area of the country's north which has been seen as relatively secure.

Continue reading the main story
Analysis


Lyse Doucet
BBC News
Powerful, charismatic, controversial - General Daud played a critical role as Afghan forces prepare to take over from Isaf in key cities this year.

When I last saw him in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif in March, he was calm and confident as he organised a major security operation during Nawroz (New Year) celebrations.

Despite reports of suicide bombers in the city, there were no attacks. But he came under criticism weeks later when the UN compound was stormed by a violent mob.

There were persistent allegations he played a key role in the drugs trade he was meant to stop. But his charm and capabilities won him allies among foreign forces - although some expressed suspicion there was an "agenda" of greater autonomy for the North.

The attack will heighten concerns over the Taliban's campaign to assassinate key Afghan figures.

One intelligence official who survived the attack in Taloqan told the BBC's Bilal Sarwary that Gen Daud had left a meeting and was heading to the second floor of the building when there was a huge explosion.

"There was fire. Daud and the police chief of Takhar province were laying on the ground. There were shouts and crying. There was chaos all over the place," the official said.

Intelligence officials said Gen Daud had been warned about a threat to his life and that security was extremely tight.

However, the attacker was wearing a police uniform and passed several security checks.

Gen Daud was in charge of all interior ministry forces in northern Afghanistan and is the most senior figure to be killed so far in a Taliban "spring offensive".

coppied by http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13585242

Special news Obama thanks special forces for daring bin Laden raid

Watches Obama thanks special forces for daring bin Laden raid


FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — President Obama on Friday privately thanked some of the special military operators who killed Osama bin Laden. "Job well done," he said of their daring raid.

In a series of closed-door meetings, Obama and Vice President Joseph Biden met with some of the special-operations forces who went on Monday's raid in Pakistan and with members of the broader assault force that supported the mission.

"I came here for a simple reason: to say thank you on behalf of America," Obama told soldiers at Fort Campbell, the home of the 101st Airborne Division, after his private meetings.

"Thanks to the incredible skill and courage of countless individuals, intelligence, military, over many years, the terrorist leader who struck our nation on 9/11 will never threaten America again," he said.

The president said he had visited New York the day before to pay homage to the victims of bin Laden's 2001 terrorist attacks, as well as to the firefighters and police who responded to the catastrophe.

"I promised that our nation will never forget those we lost that dark September day," he told about 2,000 troops in a steamy hangar. "And today, here at Fort Campbell, I had the privilege of meeting the extraordinary special-ops folks who honored that promise," he said. "It was a chance for me to say, on behalf of all Americans and people around the world, job well done. Job well done."

The commandos — Army helicopter pilots and Navy SEALs — briefed Obama about the raid, administration aides said, and he gave each of the groups the Presidential Unit Citation, the highest honor he can give a military unit.

The extraordinary sessions were kept private to protect the identities of those involved.

Obama also met Cairo, a dog used to help alert the special-operations teams to hidden threats. Cairo is the only member of the raid team to be identified
Coppied by http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2014986679_obama07.html

Watches this sincere Army tanks enter Syrian flashpoint city Banias, say activists

Army tanks enter Syrian flashpoint city Banias, say activists



SYRIAN troops backed by tanks swept today into Banias, a hub of anti-regime protests, as residents formed human chains in a bid to halt the military operation.

Electricity and communications were cut as the tanks entered along three axes heading towards the southern sector of the city on the Mediterranean coast, the bastion of the protesters.

An army boat patrolled offshore, the activists said, reached by telephone from Nicosia.

The violence followed an agreement by the European Union to impose sanctions on 13 Syrian officials involved in the regime's brutal crackdown on protests. The EU will meet Monday to discuss whether to target Syrian President Bashar al Assad as well, diplomats said.

The US has also warned it would take "additional steps" against Syria if it continues its crackdown on protests, a week afhttp://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/army-tanks-enter-syrian-flash-point-city-banias-say-activists/story-fn3dxity-1226051661323ter imposing tough sanctions on the Arab nation.
Coppied by

Watches this sincere Army tanks enter Syrian flashpoint city Banias, say activists

Army tanks enter Syrian flashpoint city Banias, say activists

Watches Libyan tribal support for Gaddafi unclear due to media spin

Libyan tribal support for Gaddafi unclear due to media spin




Media outlets from around the world provided inconsistent characterizations of Friday’s National Conference for Libyan Tribes – some saying the tribes support Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi while others claim the tribes called for Gaddafi to cede power. Common among the news reports was the assertion that the tribes wanted the civil war to end and amnesty for those who fought in it.

French news outlet Agence France-Presse reported that the tribes called the rebels "traitors" and pledged not to "abandon" or "forsake" Gaddafi in a statement issued by the conference. The statement also supposedly called for marches to "liberate" rebel-held towns:

"The conference also calls all Libyan tribes neighbouring the towns and cities hijacked by armed groups to move peacefully in popular marches to liberate those highjacked towns, disarming the armed rebels.”

Italy’s Agenzia Giornalistica Italia claimed that “The National Conference for Libyan tribes organized by the regime said they were clearly for Muammar Gaddafi”.

A Euronews article stated that the tribes “…called for national unity, urged the rebels to disarm and demanded NATO end its bombing campaign.” Pakistan’s International News quoted Mahmud Mohammed Ali, the representative for the southern tribes as saying during his speech:



Continue reading on Examiner.com: Libyan tribal support for Gaddafi unclear due to media spin - National Geopolitics | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/geopolitics-in-national/libyan-tribal-support-for-gaddafi-unclear-due-to-media-spin#ixzz1LkiC2Q4t
Coppied by http://www.examiner.com/geopolitics-in-national/libyan-tribal-support-for-gaddafi-unclear-due-to-media-spin