Mali jihadists in custody say tortured by military

A man suspected of being a Jihadist, arrested by Malian forces in Lere, sits at the police station where he is being held in Timbuktu, Mali, Friday Feb. 1, 2013. French President Francois Hollande is scheduled to visit the fabled city Saturday. (AP Photo/Harouna Traore)

A man suspected of being a Jihadist, arrested by Malian forces in Lere, sits at the police station where he is being held in Timbuktu, Mali, Friday Feb. 1, 2013. French President Francois Hollande is scheduled to visit the fabled city Saturday. (AP Photo/Harouna Traore)

A local man, Abdoulaye Cisse holds a book for photographers at the Hamed Baba book depository centre in Timbuktu, Mali, Friday Feb. 1, 2013, where Jihadists claimed they burned most of the holy books. French President Francois Hollande is scheduled to visit the fabled city of Tumbuktu on upcoming Saturday. (AP Photo/Harouna Traore)

Men walk in Timbuktu, Mali, Friday Feb. 1, 2013. French President Francois Hollande is scheduled to arrive in Timbuktu Saturday for a short visit.(AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

Malian soldiers patrol the streets of Timbuktu, Mali, Friday Feb. 1, 2013. French President Francois Hollande is scheduled to arrive in Timbuktu Saturday for a short visit.(AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

A French soldiers stands guard outside Djigarey Ber mosque during friday prayers in Timbuktu, Mali, Friday Feb. 1, 2013. French President Francois Hollande is scheduled to visit the fabled city Saturday. (AP Photo/Harouna Traore)

TIMBUKTU, Mali (AP) ? Three suspected jihadists arrested in the days since the liberation of Timbuktu said Friday that Malian soldiers were torturing them with a method similar to waterboarding.

The three are being held in an earthen cell in what remains of the military camp in the town, which was freed this week by French and Malian soldiers after nearly 10 months under radical Islamist rule.

Their allegations came as French President Francois Hollande prepared to fly to Mali on Saturday, nearly four weeks after the French-led operation began in the vast West African country.

The three suspects, who were tied together with a turban and one handcuff, all acknowledged to The Associated Press having been members of the al-Qaida-linked group known as Ansar Dine, or Defenders of the Faith.

"To force me to talk they poured 40 liters (85 pints) of water in my mouth and over my nostrils which made it so that I could not breathe anymore. For a moment I thought I was even going to die," said one of the men, who gave his name as Ali Guindo and said he was from a village near the central Malian town of Niono.

"I sleep in the cold and every night they come pour freezing water over me. "

All three prisoners described similar treatment. Their account could not be independently verified. Soldiers holding the three asked reporters to leave after initially allowing journalists to speak with them.

Army Col. Mamary Camara told reporters that the three were arrested by Malian forces in the town of Lere. He said one of the men was from Libya and was caught wearing a foreign military uniform.

The Libyan jihadist was visibly frightened, crouching in a corner of his cell. He gave the AP contradictory information about his background, first saying he was born in a Malian village but of Libyan descent.

Later, he said he was from Tripoli but has lived for years in Mali. He initially denied being part of Ansar Dine but later confirmed that he belonged to the movement though he denied having an important role.

The Malian military said that when he was arrested he was wearing a watch with a memory card inside that they said was used to communicate with other foreign jihadists.

The allegations of torture came as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International released reports outlining other allegations of misconduct by the Malian military and Islamists over the last month.

Both groups said they had documented cases of Malian soldiers killing suspected Islamist supporters in Sevare on the eve of the French-led intervention. Human Rights Watch cited at least 13 killings, while Amnesty said the number could be two dozen.

Human Rights Watch said the witnesses described seeing soldiers at a bus station in Sevare interrogate passengers suspected of links to extremist groups. Those without proper identification were taken away, the witnesses said.

"Before the soldiers marched them off, many of the detained men frantically tried to find someone in the crowd at the bus station who could vouch for them and verify their identity," the HRW report said. "They were driven or marched to a nearby field, where they were shot and their bodies dumped into one of four wells."

The Associated Press had earlier reported killings of civilians by the Malian army in Sevare, with bodies dumped into a well.

The Malian government has promised to investigate allegations of human rights abuses by its soldiers.

Friday's reports also alleged abuses by the Islamists. Human Rights Watch said Islamist rebels had killed at least seven Malian soldiers.

"One begged for his life saying, 'Please, in the name of God.' But they held him down and slit his throat," a witness told HRW. "Two days later, as we picked up the dead soldiers to bury them, the Islamists saw that five of them were still living. Most were gravely wounded, but they were still breathing and should have been given a chance to live. Instead the Islamists killed them ? one after the other."

Meanwhile, back in France, Hollande told reporters the purpose of his trip is to boost troop morale, encourage Africans to join an international force for the area, and push Malian leaders to enter a political dialogue. France has said that it eventually wants to hand over responsibility for the mission to the Malian army and other African counterparts.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-02-01-Mali-Fighting/id-ac4e8e831dd844979d4a6cfa80d2f27e

Javon Belcher express kindle fire Jenny Johnson olivier martinez ny lottery Ohio Lottery

The Effects of the Decline of Physical Activity :: Angel Heart Foundation

At one time kids spent their free time riding bikes and playing outdoors in the fresh air and sunshine. But these days games of tag and hide-and-go-seek have been replaced with video games and other ?sports? kids can play while sitting in a chair. These games may stimulate kids mentally, but it does little to stem the rising tide of childhood obesity. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the rate of childhood obesity has doubled in the past 30 years, and lack of physical activity plays a major role. Simply put, kids are not?getting enough exercise.

Childhood Activity is on the Decline
What are the reasons that little Suzy and John are not active enough these days? Technology, parents and schools all share the blame for the lack of physical fitness and the rapid rise in childhood obesity. Like adults, kids are more sedentary thanks to advances in technology.

The rise of computers and video games has made it easy for kids to be entertained without ever leaving the comfort of their easy chair. With the exception of some of the new video games where kids exercise while playing them, computer games don?t burn many calories or increase physical fitness.?

Kids don?t even have to walk to each other?s house to socialize these days; they can send text messages instead. Then there?s the allure of the television set. The first things some kids do when they come home from school is to park themselves in front of the ?boob tube? where they?re glued until dinnertime, snacking while they watch their favorite television shows.

Kids are walking to school less these days too, and there are some good reasons for that. Many parents are concerned about their kids? safety. Kids also live further from school than they did 30 years ago. The calories children burn walking to school add up. According to one study, kids between the ages of 6 and 8 who walked to school lowered their BMI (body mass index) significantly over a 3 year period.

Schools play a role in the rise of childhood obesity too. School physical education programs in many areas have been cut due to lack of funding. According to the National Association for Sport and Physical Education, 75% of high school students don?t participate in physical education classes. This lack of emphasis on P.E. encourages kids to be less active, a habit they?ll carry into adulthood.

How Lack of Physical Activity Affects Kids
Kids who are inactive have a greater risk of being overweight or obese. Overweight and obese kids are more likely to have health problems that were once almost exclusively the domain of adults. Type 2 diabetes, a disease once uncommon in kids, is now diagnosed with increasing frequency among inactive and overweight kids of today. Obese and overweight kids are also at higher risk for heart disease, fatty liver disease and depression. This pattern of inactivity often follows them into adulthood and increases their risk for chronic health problems. Is this a burden we want our children to deal with?

What Can Parents and Schools Do to Help Kids Be More Active?
Parents need to take a more active role in keeping kids moving. Parents should restrict the amount of television and computer time kids have access to and encourage them to participate in sports and other calorie-burning activities. One way to do this is to require kids to participate in the sport of their choosing, whether it be swimming, tennis, soccer, gymnastic or some other activity. Parents can also lobby schools to add more physical education to the curriculum.

Parents can motivate kids to be more active by staying active themselves. Activities such as family walks and bike rides help the whole family be more healthy and active. Parents can find little ways to keep kids moving by encouraging them to walk the dog or run household errands. Other ideas are to give kids ?activity points? they can redeem for things they enjoy.

Keeping kids active is important not only for their short-term health but for establishing a life-long pattern of health living. Get them off of the couch and out into the yard where they can enjoy the sunshine ? and better healthy.

References:
CNN Health. ?Who?s Walking to School??
CDC. ?Physical Activity among Children Ages 9 to 13?
Medscape J Med. 2008; 10(6): 145.

Dr. Kristie is a medical doctor with a concentration in family practice. She has an undergraduate degree in both Biology and Psychology, as well Master?s Degree in Clinical Pathology. She is a frequent contributor to the Angel Heart Foundation.

Source: http://www.nextgenerationparenting.org/health-and-nutrition/children-and-activity?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=children-and-activity

superbowl halftime madonna madonna papa johns guacamole recipe ufc 143 results kickoff time super bowl 2012

2 Wounded in Shooting at Atlanta Middle School (Voice Of America)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/281807779?client_source=feed&format=rss

pirate bay Psalms 91 once upon a time once upon a time bachelor RG3 Monsters University

Twitter: The Best Flu Tracker There Is?

Tweeting just got a lot more serious. In addition to giving you the latest on who just got Catfished or what Gaga?s wearing today, Twitter is proving to be a fairly accurate and useful gauge of flu trends.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University realized a couple of years ago that they could track flu trends by analyzing tweets. Public Health experts loved the idea since the traditional method of tracking the spread of flu ? via reports to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ? is time-consuming. The information from the CDC lags several weeks behind what's really happening.

Knowing where the flu is and how many cases are occurring helps health officials to spot potentially severe flu seasons and make plans for the distribution of vaccine and other medical resources.

Now, the same team at Johns Hopkins has tweaked their invention to make it more accurate. They've found a way to distinguish between tweets that reflect someone who has flu from someone who's just talking about flu.

Flu is Packing a Punch Across the Nation

"We've gone back and asked 'How accurate is the data?" Mark Dredze, an assistant research professor in the department of computer science at Johns Hopkins, told TakePart. "We started to notice that a lot of things in it didn't make sense. It was giving us flu-related messages that clearly were infection. It was chatter."

Ignoring those later tweets is important. For example, one recent surge of tweets concerned L.A. Lakers basketball star Kobe Bryant's flu-like symptoms. "There was no change in the infection rate," in the population, Dredze says. "That was a tip-off that something was going on here." The computer model uses statistical methods based on language processing technologies. But Dredze and his team were able to alter the program to recognize that statements such as "I have the flu" are different from "I'm worried about getting the flu."

How to Avoid the Flu: 8 Easy Ways Not to Get Sick

They recently tested the results of their new method by comparing it to CDC data on flu from November and December and found it tracked closely with the official statistics. Adds Dredze, "We're trying to understand the meaning of what people are trying to say. What we have now is a more accurate curve."

How a Virus Changes the World

The researchers believe they can continue to refine the algorithm to make it even more accurate and detect flu trends even earlier in the season. "I think when we started working on this we didn't know what to expect. We were asking then, what can this be used for? What are the possibilities?" he says. "As we've gotten to know more about it, I think it has a potential to be a fantastic tool, and I don't think we've hit the limit for that. We can continue to make this better."

Flu Near You: Help Track the Flu In Your Area

Research is now underway to look at how the program can be used to identify or track other public health trends. "I fully expect it's going to get better," he says. "I'm looking forward more to the implications this has for other problems. There are many areas of public health where we have no information or little information. I think that is where Twitter can be real exciting."

In the meantime, Twitter users have nothing to fear by the scientific use of their tweets. Dredze points out that the tweets are analyzed with computers to look at the populations ? not private individuals. "These are all publicly available tweets," he says. "Nothing here is using any information that is not freely available and shared by people. . .We're looking for how many thousands of people are tweeting about flu."

Would you trust a flu prediction based on tweets? When you're ill do you tweet about it??

Related Stories on TakePart.com

? Researchers Are Closing In On a Method to Predict Flu Outbreaks

? Is Swine Flu the Next Pandemic Threat?

? Going Viral: Flu Pandemics Through History

---

Shari Roan is an award-winning health writer based in Southern California. She is the author of three books on health and science subjects.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/twitter-best-flu-tracker-171957249.html

beltane capitals john edwards conocophillips octomom dan savage new world trade center

Dutch state nationalizes SNS Reaal bank

AMSTERDAM (AP) ? The Netherlands nationalized its fourth-largest bank on Friday, injecting ?2.2 billion ($3 billion) to recapitalize SNS Reaal NV and head off any chance of a messy collapse that would threaten the country's fragile economy and financial system.

The total cost to the Dutch government will be at least ?3.7 billion, Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem told a press conference. That's enough to ensure that the Netherlands' budget deficit in 2013 will be higher than the 3 percent allowed under EU rules, unless the Cabinet ? which has already taken a series of unpopular tax hikes and spending cuts ? comes up with further austerity measures.

"This isn't what we wanted," Dijsselbloem said. But he added that, without the nationalization, SNS "would have gone irrevocably bankrupt," with dire consequences.

Although the bank's failure had been long-coming, it carries the added embarrassment for Dijsselbloem that he has recently been chosen President of the "Eurogroup," the regular meetings of eurozone finance ministers. The Netherlands has been among the loudest in demanding that other countries adhere to the 3 percent rule.

Costs from the nationalization "must not lead to new spending cuts that will hurt the taxpayer further," said Carola Schouten of the opposition Christian Union Party. "Dijsselbloem must go directly to Brussels to ask for an exemption" to the 3 percent limit.

SNS has insurance and banking operations, including about 10 percent of Dutch retail deposits. Its total balance sheet was around ?134 billion. Its decline and fall happened over a period of years, rather than as a result of any acute crisis, as falling property values in the Netherlands and Spain continually eroded its portfolio of real estate loans month after month.

SNS Depositors and senior creditors won't lose any money in the nationalization, the Finance Ministry said.

However, SNS shareholders will be wiped out, along with some junior creditors, including the state itself. SNS owed the government ?800 million, including interest, left over from a 2008 bailout. Other junior creditors will lose around ?1 billion, the ministry said. The three biggest Dutch banks, ING Groep NV, ABN Amro, and Rabobank will contribute a combined ?1 billion to help save SNS .

The nationalization shows the damage the crisis has wrought on the oversize Dutch financial sector and means that three of the five biggest banks in the country have now come under state control since the start of the crisis: ABN Amro was merged with the former Fortis and both were nationalized back in 2008. In addition, ING received several bailouts which have still not been fully repaid. Only Rabobank, a banking cooperative, has not yet needed state aid.

In July, SNS began warning that its equity ? or net worth ? was sinking below legally permissible levels and it would likely need some kind of restructuring. In November it acknowledged its survival was uncertain. Efforts to find an investor willing to take over the bank continued up until Thursday afternoon but proved fruitless.

Documents released by the Dutch government showed that while SNS had made provisions of ?700 million for bad loans on its ?9 billion real estate loan portfolio, the bank said the portfolio was worth only ?6.2 billion in a worst-case scenario. External auditors Cushman & Wakefield, hired by regulators, found the real worst-case scenario value was ?4.9 billion.

SNS paid ABN Amro ?840 million in 2006 to take over the loan portfolio.

SNS's own banking and insurance operations remained profitable throughout the crisis and Dijsselbloem said they will continue ? under new management. Executives resigned Friday, rather than waiting to be dismissed.

Jan Sijbrand, the head of regulatory operations at the Netherlands' Central Bank, said there was no full-fledged run on the bank, but "there was a continual flow of money going out, of varying intensity" in January. That was greatly influenced by news articles in the Dutch press speculating on whether the bank would survive, he said. Depositors pulled around ?1.4 billion in the second half of the month, he said.

Unlike the decisions made during the crisis of 2008, Friday's nationalization came only after the bank, regulators, and external investors considered various other scenarios.

"This is a unique situation and we have prevented worse outcomes with this solution, but it is nothing to be satisfied about," Sijbrand said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/dutch-state-nationalizes-sns-reaal-bank-132758347--finance.html

lyrid meteor shower hippocrates andrew breitbart red wings penguins the band colton dixon

Jude Law, Channing Tatum share Super Bowl plans

NEW YORK (AP) ? British actor Jude Law says he'll be taking part in a time-honored American tradition this weekend: Super Bowl Sunday.

"I follow most sports, so of course I'm aware of it and I'll probably watch it, but I live in London and so I don't follow it that closely. It's more than just a game here, though, right? It's like have a party. Have a dip. Drink some beer," said Law.

When asked if he'll be participating in any tailgate parties when the Baltimore Ravens face off against the San Francisco 49ers, Law admitted he had no clue what "tailgating" meant.

"Really? OK. I believe you. I don't know what you're talking about. I'm not even gonna say," he said, laughing.

Luckily his "Side Effects" co-star, Channing Tatum, said he'd teach Law about Americans football traditions. He said he was heading to his New Orleans bar, Saints and Sinners for the weekend and was hoping for a good game.

"I really kind of want Baltimore to pull it out for Ray (Lewis) because it's a sweet story but I really like San Francisco's quarterback and whatnot so I think it's gonna be a really good game," said Tatum.

The actors joined their castmates, including Catherine Zeta-Jones and Rooney Mara, at the New York premiere of their psychological thriller "Side Effects" on Thursday. The film opens in U.S. theaters next Friday.

Turns out Law and Tatum have more in common than Steven Soderbergh's latest film: They've both been named People's Sexiest Man Alive.

"Yeah, there's a complete handshake and like a password and whatnot. I can't tell you any of those. I know what your next question is. It's not gonna happen. They come and kill you ? all of them. All of them together come and actually murder you. Yeah, everybody. They come and take you in the night and you disappear if you explain any of those secrets," joked Tatum, the current title holder.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/jude-law-channing-tatum-share-super-bowl-plans-194140002.html

chicago news golden girls robert e lee golden globe winners the express zappos hacked jane fonda

Mexico blast kills at least 32, flagging Pemex safety woes

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Rescue workers pulled out more bodies from debris at the headquarters of Mexican state oil giant Pemex on Friday after a powerful explosion killed at least 32 people and threw a spotlight back onto the state-run company's poor safety record.

Scenes of confusion and chaos outside the downtown tower block in Mexico City have dealt another blow to Pemex's image, just as Mexico's new president is seeking to court outside investment for the 75-year-old monopoly.

Thursday's blast occurred at a Pemex building next to the 50-story skyscraper, and chief executive officer Emilio Lozoya said the number of confirmed dead now stood at 32, up from 25 overnight. A further 121 were injured, he added.

Officials have been unable to say how many people may still be trapped within the wreckage of the office block. A military paramedic at the scene said there were likely many, and that he expected the death toll to continue increasing.

Lozoya said it was not clear what caused the mid-afternoon explosion, which has been the subject of speculation ranging from a bomb attack, to a gas leak, to a boiler blowing up.

"A fatal incident like yesterday's cannot be explained in two hours, we are working with the best teams in Mexico and from overseas, we will not speculate," he told a news conference.

Pemex, both a symbol of Mexican self-sufficiency and a byword for security glitches, oil theft and frequent accidents, has been hamstrung by inefficiency, union corruption and a series of safety failures costing hundreds of lives.

President Enrique Pena Nieto has said overhauling the company is a top priority, and investors have been closely following how far he will go in enticing private capital to boost flagging oil output in a country that is the world's number seven producer.

"This incident speaks very poorly of the image of Pemex management, and that's interpreted as additional risk in the market," said Miriam Grunstein, an energy researcher at Mexico's CIDE think tank.

COLLAPSE

One government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a preliminary line of inquiry suggested a gas boiler had blown up in the building to the side of the main Pemex tower, which houses administrative offices.

However, he stressed nothing had been determined for sure.

Investigators have cordoned off the blast site, and a local Red Cross official, Isaac Oxenhaut, said the ceiling had collapsed in three lower stories of the building.

Lozoya said the four floors worst affected by the explosion normally had about 200 to 250 people working on them. That compared with about 10,000 staff in the entire Pemex complex.

The blast followed a September fire at a Pemex gas facility near the northern city of Reynosa which killed 30 people. More than 300 were killed when a Pemex natural gas plant on the outskirts of Mexico City blew up in 1984.

Eight years later, about 200 people were killed and 1,500 injured after a series of underground gas explosions in Guadalajara, Mexico's second biggest city. An official investigation found Pemex was partly to blame.

"NO PRIVATIZATION"

Shortly after Thursday's the blast, Pena Nieto was at the scene, vowing to discover how it happened and to punish any individuals found to be responsible.

Whatever caused the explosion, the deaths and destruction will put the spotlight back on safety at Pemex, which only a couple of hours earlier had issued a statement on Twitter saying it had managed to improve its record on accidents.

"I suspect this was a bomb," said David Shields, an independent Mexico City-based oil analyst. "There are clandestine armies across Mexico, not just the (drug) cartels."

Shields pointed to the bombing of several Pemex pipelines in the eastern state of Veracruz in 2007. A shadowy Marxist rebel movement took credit for some of the blasts.

Meanwhile, George Baker, director of Energia.com, a Houston-based energy research center, says that past history suggested the government could seek to exploit the incident.

He pointed to the 1992 Guadalajara blast and the subsequent deal that followed to overhaul the Pemex administration led by then-President Carlos Salinas, like Pena Nieto a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI.

"Salinas said he wanted a response from Pemex, and months later Pemex announced a restructuring. The restructuring had nothing to do with the Guadalajara accident, but it was used as a pivot to do something," Baker said.

Pena Nieto has yet to reveal details of his Pemex reform plan, which already faces opposition from the left.

Both Pena Nieto and his finance minister were this week at pains to stress the company will not be privatized.

(Writing by Dave Graham; Editing by Louise Ireland, Vicki Allen and David Brunnstrom)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/explosion-rocks-mexican-oil-giant-pemexs-offices-one-001146719.html

Ashton Eaton London 2012 basketball London 2012 Slalom Canoe Alex Morgan Misty May Treanor Lolo Jones Aly Raisman