News briefs
BY Wire reports
Saturday, January 05, 2013
1/05/13 at 3:15 AM
New Delhi : Friend of India gang-rape victim recounts attack
The companion of a woman who was gang-raped aboard a moving bus in India's capital said Friday that after being attacked for 2 1/2 hours, the pair was thrown on the side of the road, where passersby ignored them and police debated jurisdiction issues before helping them.
The male companion, who has not been named, made the comments in a TV interview, the first time he had recounted details of the Dec. 16 attack in New Delhi.
The 23-year-old woman died last weekend from massive internal injuries suffered during the attack. Authorities charged five men with her murder and rape and were holding a sixth suspect believed to be a juvenile. A hearing in the case was scheduled for Saturday.
''I gave a tough fight to three of them," the companion said in the interview. "I punched them hard. But then two others hit me with an iron rod." The woman tried to call the police using her mobile phone, but the men took it away from her, he said. They then took her to the rear seats of the bus and raped her.
''The attack was so brutal I can't even tell you ... even animals don't behave like that," the man said.
Laiza, Myanmar: Myanmar refugees are fearful of rise in attacks
Ethnic Kachins living in makeshift camps in Myanmar described their terror at the army's use of air power during fighting with Kachin rebels seeking more autonomy, as the government said it has exercised maximum restraint.
The escalation of attacks has made the lives of a claimed 100,000 Kachin displaced since fighting began more than 19 months ago even more perilous. Many are in camps in or near Laiza, the Kachin guerrilla-held town right by the border with China.
"We are really afraid and can't sleep well at nights," said Dashi Lu, 60, from Daw Hpun Yang village, about a day's walk from the Laiza camp where she has lived for a year.
The government said in a statement Friday that the army had been given orders to cease all offensives against Kachin Independence Army guerrillas but that it had to protect its soldiers.
Sydney: Australia fires destroy homes, buildings
Australian officials battled a series of wildfires amid scorching temperatures across the country Saturday, with one blaze destroying dozens of homes in the island state of Tasmania.
Tasmania police said Saturday that around 80 buildings were destroyed in and around the small town of Dunalley, east of the Tasmanian capital of Hobart, including the town's school, police station and bakery.
Officials had been investigating a report that one person died in the blaze Friday, but Saturday, police said there were no confirmed deaths or injuries from the fire.
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: S. Sudan proposes binding arbitration to Sudan
A South Sudan official says the country's president is going to propose the use of binding international arbitration to resolve a border dispute with Sudan.
Leaders from Sudan and South Sudan arrived in Ethiopia on Friday to revive stalled deals signed in September. The deals paved the way for South Sudan to restart oil exports through Sudan's pipelines, but so far exports have not resumed.
South Sudan chief negotiator Pagan Amum said South Sudan President Salva Kiir and Sudan President Omar al-Bashir were expected to meet late Friday.
Las Vegas : Saudi Arabian sergeant accused of child rape
A sergeant in Saudi Arabia's air force was jailed in Las Vegas on charges that he pulled a boy into a hotel room and sexually assaulted him the morning of a New Year's Eve fireworks extravaganza.
Mazen Alotaibi, 23, faces charges including kidnapping, sexual assault with a minor and felony coercion that could get him decades in state prison, according to police and charging documents obtained Friday.
The boy, who is younger than 14, told police the man forced him into a room at the Circus Circus hotel on the Las Vegas Strip and raped him.
Police arrested Alotaibi after being called to the hotel before 9:30 a.m. Dec. 31.
Associated Images:
A young Bangladeshi boy walks past aluminum buckets displayed for sale on a street in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Friday. The buckets are kept for use in case of fire at garment factories. A.M. AHAD/Associated Press
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