SHAFAQNA

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) –  One person has been killed and at least 26 injured in clashes between anti-government protesters and Egyptian police.

On Friday, thousands of Egyptians held demonstrations against and in support of the government of President Mohamed Morsi in the capital.

Clashes broke out outside the presidential palace after anti-government demonstrators attacked the building with stones and petrol bombs on Friday night, and 13 people were injured.

In response, police used tear gas and water cannon to turn back hundreds of people from the president’s residence.

Another 13 people were injured in clashes in other parts of Cairo.

The death occurred in Gharbiya governorate, which is located 80 kilometers north of Cairo.

“One was killed in Gharbiya governorate when a vehicle hit him during an anti-government protest,” Egyptian Health Ministry spokesman Ahmed Omar said.

Anti-government protesters also attacked security forces in the country's second largest city, Alexandria, on the same day.

They demanded that Morsi make efforts to realize the goals of the revolution that toppled dictator Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

Thousands of Egyptians also staged demonstrations in Suez, Port Said, and many other cities and towns to call on Morsi, who took office in June 2012, to fulfill his election promises.

Earlier in the day, about 5,000 Egyptians staged a demonstration in Cairo in support of Morsi.

The demonstrators gathered in front of Cairo University for the event, which they dubbed the "No to violence" march. Some of the protesters carried banners that read "Yes to Islamic law" while others chanted: "People want the law of God to be implemented."

They condemned the recent wave of violent anti-government demonstrations that broke out three weeks ago around the second anniversary of the beginning of the revolution.

Many Morsi supporters said that the opposition's incessant demonstrations calling for reform have hurt the economy and have seriously undermined the campaign for change.

The Egyptians launched the revolution against the pro-Israeli regime on January 25, 2011, which eventually brought an end to the 30-year dictatorship of Mubarak on February 11, 2011. -www.shfaqna.com/English

Source: Press TV

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – At least one protester was killed and 50 others were injured in clashes Friday between Egyptian protesters and security forces near the presidential palace, Egyptian media reported.

In several other provinces, police fired volleys of tear gas at protesters, as thousands took to the streets to demand Islamist President Mohamed Mursi fulfill the goals of the revolt that brought him to power.

Protesters lobbed petrol bombs and set off fireworks, as security vans charged towards demonstrators who fled down the large avenue flanking the presidential palace in Cairo.

Clashes also erupted in several cities and towns in the Nile Delta province of Gharbiya, where the health ministry said 28 people had been injured, suffering mainly from tear gas inhalation.

In the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, five people were hurt in sporadic clashes between police and protesters.

The confrontations came after a day that saw thousands take to the streets across Egypt after opposition groups called “Friday of dignity” rallies.

In recent months, Egypt has witnessed regular, often bloody, protests against Mursi who is accused of betraying the revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak.

Opponents have accused him of using his power to promote the interests of his Muslim Brotherhood, long banned under his predecessor.

The country has been deeply divided between Mursi’s mainly Islamist supporters and an opposition of liberals, leftists, Christians but also deeply religious Muslims calling for rights and the separation of religion and state.

Shortly after Muslim noon prayers, marchers set off from several locations in Cairo to Tahrir Square and the presidential palace, banging on drums, waving flags and clapping in unison.

“The people want the downfall of the regime,” the protesters chanted while others slammed interior ministry officials as “thugs.”

In Tahrir, several thousand protesters carried aloft a huge Egyptian flag as they listened to speeches and music from the stage.

Several hundred protesters also gathered outside the presidential palace chanting “Freedom, where are you? Brotherhood rule stands between us,” in reference to the Muslim Brotherhood movement from which Mursi hails.

The protests come after several incidents of police violence last week that caused public outrage and sparked angry demonstrations.

Protests against the Islamist president also took place after the weekly Friday Muslim main prayers in several of Egypt’s 27 provinces.

In the Nile Delta city of Kafr el-Sheikh, police fired tear gas to disperse a crowd outside a government building, as protesters hurled stones at the security forces, the official MENA news agency reported.

In Tanta, police clashed with protesters who tried to break into the municipal council building, MENA added.

Thirty-eight opposition parties and movements had joined together to call for the rallies, demanding a new unity government, amendments to the Islamist-drafted constitution and guarantees that the independence of the judiciary be maintained.

Earlier this week, the death of a pro-democracy activist following days in police custody sparked fury and reignited calls for police reform -- a key demand of the uprising that toppled Mubarak in 2011.

His death came just days after footage was aired live on television of a man stripped naked and beaten by riot police during demonstrations near the presidential palace.

The two incidents confronted Mursi with uncomfortable parallels with the old regime.

Friday’s protests come just days after clerics issued fatwas to justify killing opposition leaders.

Radical cleric Mahmud Shaaban, a professor at Sunni Islam’s main seat of learning al-Azhar, gave the green light to kill opposition leaders including former U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei and ex-presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabbahi, during a talk show on a satellite channel.

Another hardline cleric, Wagdi Ghoneim, also called on Muslims to “kill the thugs, criminals, and thieves who burn the country,” state media reported.

Security was stepped up outside the homes of ElBaradei and Sabbahi ahead of the protests, witnesses told AFP, following orders from the interior minister.

The presidency condemned the fatwas as “terrorism.”

“Some are promoting and inciting political violence while others who claim to speak in the name of religion are permitting ‘killing’ based on political differences and this is terrorism,” the presidency said.-www.shfaqna.com/English

Source: Al Arabiya

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – A charter bus carrying 32 members of a church group hit a concrete overpass at Miami International Airport after the driver got lost Saturday, killing two men on board and leaving three others critically injured, officials said.

The large, white bus was too tall for the 8-foot-6-inch entrance to the arrivals area, said airport spokesman Greg Chin. Buses are supposed to go through the departures area, which has a higher clearance, he said.

Police said that one man, Serafin Castillo, 86, of Miami, died at the scene. A second man, Francisco Urana, 56, also of Miami, died later at a hospital.

Chin said passengers told him they were part of a group of Jehovah's Witnesses headed to West Palm Beach. Police said in a news release that the group had chartered the bus to take them to a church convention there.

The group was made up of congregation members of Sweetwater's Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, said Sweetwater Mayor Manny Maro

"This is a tragic accident that has affected many families, as well as, our Sweetwater family," Maro said in a press release. "I am pursuing all avenues to get in touch with the appropriate persons to officially extend our help to the congregation and those who were hurt."

A phone number listed for the center in Sweetwater went unanswered.

At the airport, two large signs warn drivers of large vehicles not to pass beneath the concrete overpass. One attached to the top of the concrete barrier reads: "High Vehicle STOP Turn Left." The other, placed to the left of the driveway and several feet in front of the barrier, says all vehicles higher than the 8-foot-6 threshold must turn left.

Three people were at hospitals in critical condition. The other 27 surviving passengers were hurt, but their injuries were less extensive, authorities said.

Eight of the 14 patients taken to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital were in stable condition while two others were in critical, said hospital spokeswoman Lidia Amoretti. Three others were expected to be discharged later Saturday.

A majority of the injuries were facial due to the frontal impact, said Miami-Dade Police spokesman Det. Alvaro Zabaleta.

"People that are passengers on a chartered bus, you are putting total confidence on the driver and they're high back chairs," he said. "It's just like sitting on a plane. You really don't get to see anything in front of you until of course they felt the impact – the force takes them forward and a lot of them, the majority of them, were facial injuries."

Zabaleta said the driver was not familiar with the airport area and it was too early to say if charges would be filed.

"The preliminary info tells us that he wasn't too familiar with the area surrounding the airport, and that's what led him to take perhaps the wrong ramp that led him onto the property of the airport, and because of not being familiar with the airport, did not know or really see the height requirement in order for that bus to clear the overpass," he said. "Unfortunately, we all know, he misjudged it and that's what obviously caused the accident."

Osvaldo Lopez, an officer with the Miami-Dade Aviation Department, said he first heard a loud noise Saturday morning and was certain it was some sort of car wreck.

He said he went inside the bus to help and found several passengers thrown into the center aisle. He said the passengers, many of whom were elderly, remained calm after the wreck.

"It was just very bloody," he said of the scene.

After helping the passengers, Lopez suffered some injuries of his own – his left arm and a finger on his right hand were both bandaged.

Fire trucks and police cars swarmed the area around 7:30 a.m. Saturday, and the bus was blocked off by yellow police tape. A white cooler that had been filled with water bottles was on its side behind the bus, the front of which remained wedged beneath the overpass for hours before it was towed away.

The bus was privately owned and typically used for tours, though police believe all the passengers were local residents, said Miami-Dade police Lt. Rosanna Cordero-Stutz. The driver was unfamiliar with the area near the airport and did not intend to wind up at the arrivals area, Cordero-Stutz said. Investigators were interviewing the driver, who suffered minor injuries.

The bus was going about 20 mph when it struck the overpass Saturday morning, Chin said.

The bus model is commonly used for charters and tours, with the driver seated low to the ground and passenger seats in an elevated area behind the driver's seat.

Markings on the bus show it was owned by Miami Bus Service Corp.

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration records found online show the company has had no violations for unsafe driving or controlled substances and alcohol. It also had not reported any crashes in the two years before Oct. 26, 2012.

The records show it did receive three citations related to driver fatigue in April 2011.

The company owns three motor coaches, according to the records. Miami Bus Service Corp. officials did not immediately respond to a phone message Saturday.- www.shfaqna.com/English

Source: huffingtonpost

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – One person has been killed and dozens injured as anti-government protesters attacked a provincial capital's Muslim Brotherhood office. Meanwhile in Cairo, police taken to tear gas in an attempt to remove protesters from a sit-in on Tahrir Square.

The clashes at the Freedom and Justice Party headquarters in the Nile Delta town of Damanhour follows widespread Egyptian rage over President Mohamed Morsi's move to grant himself absolute power.

"Brotherhood member Islam Fathy Masoud, 15, was killed and 60 were injured after thugs attacked the Muslim Brotherhood's headquarters in Damanhour in the total absence of police forces," the party's website said.

The incident happened as some 1,500 Muslim Brotherhood members organized in support of President Mohamed Morsi's controversial Constitutional Declaration at the group’s headquarters.

Morsi’s opponents then reportedly clashed with the rally, throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails amid an utter absence of security forces.

Meanwhile, angry rioters in Cairo who accuse Morsi of betraying the revolution have clashed with police for a third consecutive day, in Tahrir Square, birthplace of the revolution.

Protesters staging a sit-in in Tahrir, vowing not to leave before Morsi annuls his decrees, have been driven back by police tear gas.

Since Thursday’s announcement by the president, a number of Freedom and Justice Party and Muslim Brotherhood offices throughout the country have been torched – while more than 500 people have been injured in violent protests.

Yet, President Morsi insists that his power seizure is "temporary," and has called for political dialogue. He has agreed to meet the country's judges on Monday to negotiate a solution to the crisis.

"The presidency reiterates the temporary nature of these measures, which are not intended to concentrate power," Morsi stated. "The presidency stresses its firm commitment to engage all political forces in an inclusive democratic dialogue to reach a common ground."- www.shfaqna.com/English

Source: RT

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – Attack on Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood (MB) headquarters in a northern town has killed a member of the Brotherhood and injured 60.

The incident took place in the town of Damanhour on Sunday when clashes erupted between supporters and opponents of President Mohamed Morsi, who were protesting against a constitutional declaration that recently gave him unlimited powers, leading to the death of the 15-year-old.

“Islam Fathi Masoud was martyred and 60 were injured in an attack on the Muslim Brotherhood’s headquarters with no presence from police forces,” Egyptian news website Ahram Online quoted the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the MB's political arm, as saying.

On November 22, the Egyptian president issued a new declaration, under which no judicial body can dissolve Egypt’s Constituent Assembly that is currently writing a new constitution, allowing the president to take "any decision or measure to protect the revolution."

Several offices belonging to FJP have been set ablaze since the announcement of the controversial declaration. On Friday, angry protesters torched FJP offices in the northeastern cities of Suez, Ismailiya, and Port Said.

Sunday saw continued protest in Cairo's Liberation Square against the decree. Anti-riot police used teargas canisters to disperse the demonstrators.

On Saturday, Egypt’s highest judicial authority, the Supreme Judicial Council, issued a statement, saying that the decree is "an unprecedented attack on the independence of the judiciary and its rulings."– www.shfaqna.com/English

Source: Press TV

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – Funerals in Gaza as Israel announces it may be escalating this madness. As per usual mainstream narrative Israel acts 'in response', but who started this latest round of violence and when?

This summary from the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights gives details on all that have been killed so far, and clarifies that this recent round of violence began when 13-year-old Ahmed Younis Khader Abu Daqqa was killed on Thursday:

Over the past 72 hours, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have escalated their aerial and ground attacks against the Gaza Strip. Five Palestinian civilians, including 3 children, have been killed, and 52 others, including 6 women and 12 children, have been wounded. Four of these deaths and 38 of the injuries resulted from an Israeli attack on a football playground in al-Shoja’iya neighborhood east of Gaza City. Additionally, 2 members of the Palestinian resistance were killed, and some civilian facilities were destroyed or damaged.

According to investigations conducted by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), at approximately 15:30 on Saturday, 10 November 2012, Israeli military vehicles stationed at the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel fired an artillery shell at a number of Palestinian children who were playing football at al-Mentar Hill east of al-Shoja’iya neighborhood, which is east of Gaza City and nearly 1,500 meters away from the border. As a result, 2 children were instantly killed:

1- Mohammed Ussama Hassan Harara (16); and

2- Ahmed Mustafa Khaled Harara (17).

Following this attack, a number of Palestinian civilians, who were in the consolation house of the Harara family, rushed to the area, where the IOF immediately fired another 3 shells. As a result, 2 Palestinian civilians were instantly killed:

1- Ahmed Kamel Al- Dirdissawi (18); and

2- Matar ‘Emad ‘Abdul Rahman Abu al-‘Ata (19).

Additionally, 38 civilians, including 8 children, were wounded; the wounding of 10 of these civilians was described by medical crews as being serious.

Earlier, on Thursday evening, 08 November 2012, the IOF killed a Palestinian child during an incursion in the ‘Abassan village, east of the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Yunis. According to investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately 16:30 on Thursday, as a result of the indiscriminate shooting by IOF military vehicles that had moved into the ‘Abassan village, 13-year-old Ahmed Younis Khader Abu Daqqa was seriously wounded by a bullet to the abdomen. At the time he was shot, Ahmed had been playing football with his friends in front of his family’s house, located nearly 1,200 meters away from the area where the IOF were present. He was evacuated to the European Gaza Hospital in Khan Yunis, but he was pronounced dead 15 minutes later.

Ma'an News reported on Abu Daqqa's death on November 8th:

Hamid Younis Abu Daqqa died after Israeli forces targeted houses and farms east of Khan Younis, according to Ashraf al-Qidra, a medical spokesman in Gaza.

Medics said the boy was hit by machine gun fire, either from Israeli helicopters or tanks that took part in the incident.

Israeli military vehicles briefly penetrated the southern Gaza Strip earlier Thursday morning, leading to clashes with Palestinian militants.

The Popular Resistance Committees said its gunmen had confronted an Israeli force of four tanks and a bulldozer involved in a short-range incursion beyond Israel's border fence with the Gaza Strip.

"Terrorists opened fire at IDF (Israeli army) soldiers while they were performing routine activity adjacent to the security fence," an Israeli military spokeswoman said in Jerusalem. She said reports of Palestinians injuries were being checked.

Routine activity with tanks and bulldozers inside of Gaza? Just because Israel calls it 'routine' doesn't justify they initiated this madness. Why did Israel invade Gaza at dawn on Thursday with eight tanks and four bulldozers?

The Palestine News Network (PNN) reported that eight Israeli tanks and four armored military bulldozers invaded, on Thursday at dawn, Abasan town, east of Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, and fired smoke bombs and rounds of live ammunition.— www.shafaqna.com/English

Source: mondoweiss

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) — At least eight people have been killed and more than 78 others injured in a bomb explosion in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, reports say.

According to Lebanese media, a car bomb caused the powerful explosion in Sassine Square, a busy part of Beirut's eastern Ashrafiya district. Ashrafiya is a predominantly Christian district.

The intended target is unclear. The explosion occurred near the headquarters of the the Phalange, a Maronite Christian party. Several buildings were damaged and many cars were set on fire as a result of the blast.

Meanwhile, Lebanon's Health Minister Ali Hassan Khalil has said that at least three people have been killed and 96 others injured in the blast, which took place during rush hour as parents were picking up their children from school.

The intelligence chief of Lebanon's Internal Security Forces, General Wissam al-Hassan, is reported to be among those killed in the explosion. He had recently dismantled an Israeli spy cell in Lebanon.

Lebanese protesters took to the streets shortly after the explosion to condemn Hassan's assassination.

Meanwhile, the government of Syria has issued a statement condemning the terrorist attack as a 'cowardly' move.

It is the first major bomb attack in Beirut since 2008. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said the government was trying to identify the perpetrators and that they would be punished.— www.shafaqna.com/English

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) — Violent protests outside the U.S. Embassy in Tunis against an anti-Muslim film were met with tear gas and gunshots Friday, leaving two people dead, around 40 others injured and plumes of black smoke wafting over the city.

Several dozen protesters briefly stormed the U.S. Embassy compound in Tunisia's capital, tearing down the American flag and raising a flag with the Muslim profession of faith on it as part of the protests. Protesters also set fire to and looted an American school adjacent to the embassy compound and prevented firefighters from approaching it. The school appeared to be empty and no injuries were reported.

Earlier, several thousand demonstrators had gathered outside the U.S. Embassy, including stone-throwing protesters who clashed with police, according to an Associated Press reporter on the scene. Police responded with gunshots and tear gas. Police and protesters held running battles in the streets of Tunis. Amid the unrest, youths set fire to cars in the embassy parking lot and pillaged businesses nearby.

The state news agency TAP, citing the health ministry, said both of those killed were demonstrators, while the injured included protesters and police. Two of the injured were in critical condition, the health ministry said.

A Tunisian employee of the U.S. Embassy who had an injured leg was taken out on a stretcher to an ambulance. It wasn't immediately clear if there were any other injuries. Embassy officials did not respond to calls and emails.

The group that breached the U.S. Embassy's outer wall was eventually pushed back outside by a huge deployment of police and special forces. As night fell, the crowd of protesters outside the embassy dwindled to a handful.

The al-Wataniya 1 television station said the presidential guard also intervened and escorted the U.S. ambassador and about 80 embassy personnel away from the site to safety.

Crowds angry over an anti-Muslim film ridiculing the Prophet Muhammad have assaulted U.S. embassies across the Middle East.

The degree of violence in Tunisia surprised many and raised new questions about the direction of the country, where an uprising last year forced out its longtime president and set off pro-democracy revolts across the Arab world. A once-banned Islamist party came to power in elections last year, but the moderate government has struggled to quell protests by increasingly vocal ultraconservative Muslims known as Salafis.—www.shafaqna.com/English

Source: AP

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) — A series of apparently coordinated bombings targeting Shia places of worship, or husseiniyahs, in north Iraq killed at least eight people and wounded 33 on Friday, a medical official said.

A car bomb targeted the Khezal al-Tamimi husseiniyah ( Imam Bargah ) in central Kirkuk at about 12:55 pm (0955 GMT), followed by a bombing at Imam Ali husseiniyah ( Imam Bargah )in the city’s northeast, and three bombings at Al-Mustafa husseiniyah ( Imam Bargah ) in south Kirkuk, security and medical officials said.

Sadiq Omar Rasul, the head of Kirkuk health department, told AFP that eight people were killed and 33 wounded in the attacks.

An AFP correspondent saw the burned bodies of two children and dozens of burned-out cars at Al-Mustafa husseiniyah.

Hadi Qanbar, who had been praying at Al-Mustafa husseiniyah, said that worshippers were told about the attack on Khezal al-Tamimi and began to leave.

“But when we left, explosions happened one after another,” he said. “We do not know why we were targeted.”

Azhar Kamal, who was also at Al-Mustafa husseiniyah, said: “We put the blood of the victims on the hands of the prime minister, and we ask him to protect the people of Kirkuk.”

Hassan Hussein, who was at Khezal al-Tamimi at the time of the attack, said the explosion happened behind the husseiniyah.

“We saw our brothers and friends killed and wounded by this explosion,” he said.

Khezal al-Tamimi husseiniyah is the site of powerful Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s main office in Kirkuk.

Violence in Iraq is down dramatically from its peak between 2006 and 2008, but attacks remain common with 278 people killed in August, according to an AFP tally based on reports from security officials and medics. —www.shafaqna.com/English

Source: Jafarianews

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) — Three members of the Shia Hazara community in Quetta were Martyred and four others injured, including a two-year-old passerby, when terrorist of Jaish e Islam  opened fire on the yellow cab they were travelling in on Spiny Road in the Killi Mubarak area.

Talking to Our correspondent , SHO Saddar police station Mohammad Anwar said the attack was a case of “targeted sectarian killing”.

Police identified the deceased as Mohammad Ali, Habibullah and Mustafa.

In an immediate reaction to the assault, enraged crowds belonging to the Hazara community blocked the Eastern Bypass and Brewery Road, burning tyres and chanting slogans against the government condemning the targeted killings. Meanwhile, the Hazra Democratic Party (HDP) staged a demonstration outside the Quetta Press Club.

The protesters demanded immediate government action to halt sectarian violence in the provincial capital.

According to reports Jaish-e-Islam, a little known group, has claimed responsibility for the attack , which is another splinter groups of Tehrik e Taliban Pakistan as this and other groups are emerging in routine , while the LEA’s of Pakistan has lost their Practical Writ , it looks that the all the LEA’s either have become so weak that they are unable to deal with the gruesome scenario , or they are not interested in taking action against these criminals , which shows a dangerous pattern , as when the Security Providers started to become victim of the terrorist activities , or become the mere spectators of terrorism , then practically  the state has gone to its downfall , to such a limit that revival of Prosperity and Economy becomes impossible , and if it continues , then any debacle can occur , whether the disintegration of the State or the Invasion of the Foreign forces —www.shafaqna.com/English

Source: Jafarianews