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State TV says 168 people were killed when a passenger plane crashed Wednesday in northwest Iran. Iranian Civil Aviation Organization spokesman Reza Jafarzadeh had told state television that 153 passengers and 15 crewmembers were on the Russian-made Caspian Airlines jet that had been headed from Tehran to the Armenian capital yerevan. Footage from the scene on state-run Press TV shows a deep trench smashed into an agricultural field by the impact, littered with smoking wreckage. It showed a large chunk of a wing, but much of the wreckage appeared to be in small pieces. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE....

CAIRO – Several dozen families camp outside Iran's daunting Evin prison, trying to learn the fate of loved ones who vanished in post-election turmoil. A month into the government crackdown, the number of killed and arrested remains unknown, but human rights groups believe the death toll is far higher than the official figure of 20. Many of at least 500 known to have been arrested have disappeared in prisons, held in secret locations and barred from contact with families.

Car bomb explodes outside Iraqi church, kills 4 Attack comes as military predicts violence could continue for years BAGHDAD - A car bomb exploded near a church as worshippers left Sunday Mass, killing at least four civilians and injuring 18 in one of several attacks on Iraq's beleaguered Christian minority. The coordinated assault came as the Iraqi military predicted that insurgent attacks, though declining, could continue for a few years, raising the prospect of militant violence after the scheduled withdrawal of all U.S. troops by the end of 2011. Three Christians and one Muslim died in the bombing at around...

WASHINGTON, D.C., July 10, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - About one out of four children aborted early in America are killed by the abortion pill rather than a surgical procedure, according to an Associated Press report.The report concerns a Planned Parenthood study published in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine touting the improved safety of a drug used in abortions that is now dissolved orally instead of vaginally - the latter being a technique that is more prone to causing severe and sometimes fatal infections.The chemical abortion method consists of first distributing mifepristone, also known as RU-486, which kills the child...

CANTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (July 9) - An Amtrak passenger train carrying about 170 people struck a car that had skirted a gate at a road crossing near Detroit on Thursday, killing all five people in the sedan, authorities said. The crossing has a gate and flashing lights that apparently were working when the car approached, said Sgt. Mark Gajeski, a police spokesman. Based on witness accounts, "it looks like they probably did go around the arm. They went around the gate," Gajeski said.

A car bomb exploded in a crowded outdoor market in the northern city of Kirkuk on Tuesday, killing at least 27 people, police said, a deadly reminder of the challenges facing the Iraqi government even as it celebrated the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from cities. The bombing marred what had otherwise been a festive day as Iraqis commemorated the newly declared National Sovereignty Day with military parades and marching bands. It also came hours after four U.S. soldiers were killed in combat Monday in Baghdad. Although there were no immediate claims of responsibility, the bombing and the way it...

BAGHDAD – A car bomb exploded in a crowded outdoor market in the northern city of Kirkuk on Tuesday, killing at least 27 people, police said, a deadly reminder of the challenges facing the Iraqi government even as it celebrated the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from cities. The bombing marred what had otherwise been a festive day as Iraqis commemorated the newly declared National Sovereignty Day with military parades and marching bands. It also came hours after four U.S. soldiers were killed in combat Monday in Baghdad. Although there were no immediate claims of responsibility, the bombing and the...

At least 10 people were killed and more than 100 wounded when police clashed with "terrorists" in Tehran on Saturday, state TV says. It said "rioters" set two petrol stations and a mosque on fire and attacked a military post, during protests over disputed elections. State TV earlier said 13 had died, but the toll was then reduced. The reports cannot be verified as foreign media in Iran are being severely restricted. State media said calm had returned to Tehran on Sunday. It was unclear whether fresh protests would go ahead, after official demands for them to stop.

CNN on Saturday night reported that at least 19 people had died as a result of gunfire from government forces during the demonstrations in Teheran, Shiraz and Isfehan. The news network based the report on eyewitness accounts of medical officials in Teheran's hospitals. CNN also quoted unconfirmed reports that put the actual death toll at 150. A week of massive street protests over the results of Iran's presidential elections escalated into open defiance of the entire regime on Saturday, when thousands took to the streets of Teheran chanting "Death to the Dictatorship." Ignoring the Friday warning by Iran's Supreme Leader...

The latest update from the Iranian election protests. State radio: 7 killed in Tehran clashes TEHRAN, Iran – Iran's state radio says seven people died in clashes in Tehran after an "unauthorized gathering" following a mass rally over alleged election fraud.

TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) – Seven people were killed when a military post was attacked near a rally held a day ago in Tehran to protest the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, radio Payam announced. "Several thugs wanted to attack a military post and vandalise public property in the vicinity of Azadi Square," the radio said referring to the site of the rally held on Monday. "Unfortunately seven people were killed and several others wounded in the incident." However, a source told AFP that the emergency services department had information that eight people were killed and several wounded in the incident.

Twenty people were killed at rallies across Iran on Tuesday, as opposition activists demontrated against the disputed results of last week's presidential elections, according to various media reports. Meanwhile, Iran's top legislative body said Tuesday it was ready to recount the votes in the election won by hardline incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Iran's Guardian Council said a recount of disputed ballot boxes may lead to changes in candidates' tally, according to the television report. Defeated candidate Mirhossein Mousavi has appealed to the council for the election to be annulled, but has said he was not optimistic about its verdict. Also on...

Iranian state radio says seven people were killed during Monday's protests in Tehran over the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The reports said the deaths came after "thugs" attacked a military post. The BBC's Jon Leyne says that in light of what he saw of the vast and largely peaceful protests this seems an unlikely version of events. Meanwhile, the country's Guardian Council has now described the results of the disputed poll as "provisional". Our correspondent says the authorities appear to be weakening in their support for President Ahmadinejad. ...

An Air France passenger jet traveling from Rio de Janeiro to Paris disappeared and was presumed to have crashed after its electrical systems malfunctioned during a violent electric storm on Sunday evening. Officials said Monday that a search had begun for the wreckage in a vast swath of the Atlantic Ocean. Experts were at a loss to explain fatal damage to a modern jetliner from either lightning or turbulence, even that of a tropical storm. “Air France is extremely distraught and the whole team of Air France is suffering,” Pierre Henri Gourgeon, the chief executive of Air France-KLM, told reporters...

5-2009 5-2009 21 0 0 21 28 0.75 4-2009 4-2009 19 0 0 19 30 0.63 3-2009 3-2009 9 0 0 9 31 0.29

Pakistan should implement already existing anti-tobacco laws to protect people from the tobacco epidemic, especially as the country has signed the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control — requiring signatories to post ‘health warnings describing the harmful effects of tobacco use’ on cigarette packets and recommending that pictures form part of the warnings. This is what experts recommended at a seminar organised by Aga Khan University (AKU) in collaboration with the Pakistan Chest Society, the National Alliance for Tobacco Control and Pakistan Islamic Medical Association (PIMA) to commemorate World No Tobacco Day and its 2009 theme ‘Tobacco Health Warnings,’ APP...

Five years of research into one of mankind's darkest episodes has convinced a French Catholic priest that the death toll in the Holocaust is far higher than the generally accepted figure of 6 million. Father Patrick Desbois has identified 800 of the estimated 2,000 gravesites of Jews who were rounded up and shot across the Ukraine. Documenting these graves is certain to boost the current estimate of 1.7 million Jews murdered in the Ukraine, he says. He expects similar work elsewhere in eastern Europe will raise the death toll even further. "Surely, at the end of it all, the numbers...

The Obama administration’s proposed mileage standards that will be announced today may kill more Americans at a faster rate than the Iraq War — his signature issue in the 2008 presidential campaign. Obama’s standards will require automakers to meet a 35 miles-per-gallon standard by 2016 — four years earlier than the same standard imposed by the Energy Security and Independence Act of 2007. As discussed in my new book “Green Hell,” the only way for carmakers to meet these standards is to make smaller, lighter and deadlier cars. The National Academy of Sciences has linked mileage standards with about 2,000...

* Taliban plant roadside bombs in populated streets, destroy two schools, kill prayer leader * Troops secure Shangla top, key townsThe security forces said on Sunday they had killed up to 200 Taliban in 24 hours during the on-going operation in Swat as they secured the Shangla top and important towns and ridges in Dir and Buner. Troops engaged the Taliban in their Peochar headquarters and at hideouts in Kanju, Mingora, Banai Baba, Namal, Qambar, Fizagath, Tiligram and Chamtalai, the Inter-Services Public Relations directorate said in an update. Taliban’s indiscriminate mortar fire and roadside bombs planted in populated areas killed...

In the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan... Just in case you forgot, Americans are STILL fighting and dying in two overseas wars, and innocent civilians continue to die in horrible ways. I can see how this could slip your mind, as you will no longer see ANY mention of these, AT ALL, on any alphabet network evening news shows. The "Daily Death Count Update's!" on the 30 minute network news broadcasts ENDED on Nov 4, the day Obama was elected. With a Democrat in the White House, American Soldier Deaths are no longer even WORTH reporting, as they now have...

WASHINGTON, April 29 (Reuters) - A government official confirmed the first U.S. death from the new H1N1 swine flu on Wednesday, a 23-month-old child who died in Texas.

The suspected death toll from the outbreak of swine flu in Mexico rose Monday to 149 people as health authorities cancelled all schools across the country until May 6. Mexican cabinet officials led by Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova gave a press conference today in Mexico City with the latest information they have gathered about the outbreak of a deadly new strain of swine flu that has halted many aspects of public life here and appears to continue to be spreading. Since the first case of swine flu was reported, 1,995 people have been hospitalized with serious cases of pneumonia,...

Mexico canceled school nationwide Monday and warned the death toll from a swine flu epidemic believed to have killed 149 people would keep rising before it can be contained. Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova said 20 of the deaths have been confirmed to be from swine flu and the government was awaiting results on the others. "We are the most critical moment of the epidemic. The number of cases will keep rising so we have to reinforce preventive measures," Cordova said at a news conference that was briefly shaken by an earthquake centered in southern Mexico.

Note: The following text is a quote: April 26, 2009 Taliban bombs kill 16 children To which a Pakistani minister asserts, "The Taliban have exposed their real face by killing innocent children." His point, apparently, is that by killing children, the Taliban have proven that they are behaving un-Islamicly: after all, did the prophet himself not say that women and children should not be killed (only enslaved)? Yet, when jihadis asked Muhammad if it was permissible to attack infidel villages indiscriminately even if women and children were there, he flatly said, "They are from among them," which jurists have long...

Mexico City - The death toll from a spreading wave of influenza in Mexico has climbed to 81, Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova Villalobos said Saturday evening. Twenty of the lethal infections have been definitively linked to the newly emerging strain of swine flu, he said. All told, 1,324 people have been admitted to hospital for examination. In the United States, 11 non-lethal cases of a similar strain of influenza have been identified by the Centres for Disease Control, with tests pending on another 10 cases. The Geneva-based World Health Organization declared the outbreak of swine flu in Mexico and...

The number of deaths linked to the swine flu outbreak in Mexico has risen to 81, the country's government has announced.

Peru's Shining Path have rebels killed 13 soldiers in two separate ambushes in the south-east of the country. The defence minister, Antero Flores Araoz, said the rebels attacked a military patrol with grenades and dynamite killing a captain and 11 soldiers in one of the most deadliest attacks by the guerrillas in the past decade. Both attacks took place in the Ayacucho region, 340 miles from the capital, Lima.

SNIP "I've never seen such a large number [of killings] over such a short period of time involving so many victims," said Jack Levin, a noted criminologist at Northeastern University who has authored or co-authored eight books on mass murder. The simple fact, criminologist James Alan Fox said, is that more Americans are struggling. "The American dream to them is a nightmare, and the land of opportunity is but a cruel joke," said Fox, also of Northeastern, who has been dubbed the "dean of death" for his analysis of mass murders. "The economic pie is shrinking to the point where...

At least 92 people are dead and 50,000 homeless in an earthquake which has flattened parts of central Italy. A firefighter searches through the rubble in L'Aquila Rescuers have been digging bodies out from the collapsed ruins of dozens of houses and emergency services said the death toll was "bound to rise". Gianfranco Fini, speaker of Italy's lower house of parliament, said entire towns have been "virtually destroyed" with 15,000 buildings off limits. The tremor struck at just after 3.30am local time this morning and measured 6.3 on the Richter scale. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has declared a state of...

At Least 6 Dead as Buildings Fall in Quake in Italy By RACHEL DONADIO Published: April 6, 2009 ROME — At least six people, four of them children, died and others were injured when an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3 shook central Italy early Monday morning, seriously damaging buildings in the mountainous Abruzzo Region east of Rome, officials told Italian news media. The New York Times Related Times Topics: Earthquakes The epicenter was in L’Aquila, a picturesque Medieval fortress hill town, where a number of people were trapped under rubble, officials said. The situation is “extremely critical, as many...

ROME, April 6 (UPI) -- At least six people were killed when a strong earthquake struck Monday in Italy, 60 miles northeast of Rome, officials said. Four of the dead were said to be children, The New York Times reported. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake measured 6.3 on the Richter scale, but ANSA said it was a 5.8 quake, centered at L'Aquila. The quake was felt in Rome and elsewhere in central Italy, ANSA said. The Italian news agency said there were reports of other injuries, and a report that firefighters were trying to get some people out...

A gunman invaded an immigration services center in downtown Binghamton, N.Y., during citizenship classes on Friday and shot 13 people to death and critically wounded 4 others before killing himself in a paroxysm of violence that turned a quiet civic setting into scenes of carnage and chaos. The killing began around 10:30 a.m. and was over in minutes, witnesses said, but the ordeal lasted up to three hours for those trapped inside the American Civic Association as heavily armed police officers, sheriff’s deputies and state troopers threw up a cordon of firepower outside and waited in a silence of uncertainty....

(Binghamton, N.Y. / ABC News) -- As many as 13 people have been shot dead and wounded dozens in a shooting rampage inside an upstate New York civic association building that caters to immigrants, according to federal and state authorities. The gunman, Jiverly Voong, allegedly held dozens of people hostage for several hours before shooting himself to death, police said. According to multiple state law enforcement officials, the gunman entered the one-story American Civic Association in downtown Binghamton about 10 a.m. today and began his shooting spree. A senior law enforcement official told ABC News that 13 people were shot...

Over one million, empty, red envelopes have poured into the White House mail room, symbolizing the empty promise of lives snuffed out in abortion; and with Red Envelope Day planned for tomorrow, coordinators estimate that number could more than double. The Red Envelope Project is an idea sparked in the mind and prayers of a Massachusetts man, Christ Otto, who envisioned in January thousands of red envelopes sent to the White House, a visual expression of moral outrage over the president's position on abortion. On the backs of the envelopes, senders write a message Otto composed: "This envelope represents one...

AT least 15 people have been killed in the past 24 hours in northern Chihuahua state, local officials said, hours after US President Barack Obama said violence in Mexico has "gotten out of hand". The bodies of five men were found on Saturday in an irrigation ditch outside of Rosales, in the central part of the state, the local prosecutor's office said, adding that the bodies were apparently dumped from a pick-up truck. In Chihuahua capital, another four bodies were dumped by gunmen from a car near a petrol station, the office added. Late Saturday, three people were murdered in...

With the recent arrest of a Salvadoran national for the murder of missing intern Chandra Levy, the issue of crime attributed to illegal aliens is and should be on the minds of millions of Americans. Ingmar Guandiqua who was is in this country illegally, is currently in prison for the assault of two other women in Washington D.C. He was actually arrested only a few days after Levy’s disappearance on burglary charges, though law enforcement was aware of his illegal status, Immigration and Customs Enforcement was not notified due to the District’s sanctuary policy. While Chandra Levy may be the...

Early reports indicate between 5 and 8 people have been shot to death in Geneva County after a gunman went on a killing spree. Details are hard to come by at this time. A suspect opened fire in several Wiregrass cities as he fled from authorities. News 4 report says that at a house the shooter killed several members of his family.

NINE people have died after a plane crashed in Amsterdam today. The Turkish Airlines carrier slammed into a field and split into three pieces after missing the runway at the country's Schipol Airport by just two miles. More than 50 of the 134 passengers on board were injured, 25 were said to be in a serious condition. The Turkish Airlines 737-800 was not on fire, but "definitely sliced in half" a spokesman said. Eyewitnesses said Flight 1951 landed at "massive speed" in the field by the A9 motorway. Dutch television showed what appeared to be covered bodies on the...

THE death toll from the Victoria fires catastrophe leapt to 173 overnight as authorities found bodies clustered together where people fleeing the flames or trying to save their homes had been overwhelmed. Twenty-four fires were still burning early this morning and towns remained under threat as authorities moved deeper into the ruins of those communities hit in the fire's first wave, when more than 700 homes were lost. The death toll from the bushfires is certain to rise further. Bushfire relief funds were receiving $1 million in donations per hour yesterday, with $15 million pledged by last night. Victorian Premier...

HEALESVILLE, Australia – The deadliest wildfires in Australia's history burned people in their homes and cars and wiped out entire towns, officials discovered Sunday as they reached farther into the fire zone. The death toll rose to 130 by Monday. Blazes have been burning for weeks in the southeastern state of Victoria but turned deadly Saturday when searing temperatures and wind blasts created a firestorm that swept across a swath of the region. A long-running drought in the south — the worst in a century — had left forests extra dry and Saturday's fire conditions were said to be the...

THE DEATH toll from the nation's worst bushfires is expected to more than double, with the Victorian Government being advised to prepare for 230 fatalities.

PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd said arsonists in Victoria had committed mass murder as the death toll in Australia's worst ever bushfires rose to 108 this morning. The final toll was expected to rise further and fires were still burning out of control and putting towns at risk in the Beechworth and Yackandandah regions in the state's northeast. Amid speculation some of the fires were deliberately lit - and with reports yesterday that people were returning to relight blazes after fire crews had left an area - Mr Rudd said: "There are no words to describe it other than mass murder."...

THE death toll in Australia's worst bushfires has hit 108, with TV veteran Brian Naylor among the dead. Firefighters have worked through the night to battle 31 fires across scorched Victoria. A total of 108 people have been confirmed dead in Australia's deadliest bushfires, with fears the death toll may rise sharply. According to police figures, another 11 people were found dead at Kinglake West, north of Melbourne, taking that community's toll to 20 while another four bodies were found at Marysville taking that town's toll to eight. Only one building was left standing at Marysville after the inferno swept...

THE death toll from Victoria's bushfires has risen to 84, amid grave fears for towns in the state's northeast as fires continue to rage out of control. Five people died at Flowerdale, two people at Hazeldene and three at Taggerty, while two more people were confirmed dead at Kinglake and a further person died at St Andrews. A person from Yea died in hospital. The toll already surpasses the 28 in South Australia and the 47 Victorians that died in the 1983 Ash Wednesday bushfires, while the Black Friday blaze in 1939 claimed 71 lives. ...Hundreds of homes have already...

FIFTY people are confirmed dead in bushfires that have devastated several Victorian communities. Police have just confirmed the new figure. 640 houses have been destroyed. While firebugs are being blamed for several blazes ravaging Victoria, the Country Fire Authority has confirmed that several fires are being deliberately relit by arsonists. CFA deputy chief Steve Warrington said an arsonist is hampering firefighters’ efforts in Churchill with an intense blaze taking hold. "We know we do have someone who is lighting fires in this community. While we often think it's spotting, we also know that there are people lighting fires deliberately," he...

An overturned gasoline tanker exploded as hundreds of people were trying to scoop up free fuel, killing at least 111 people and wounding 200 in one of Kenya's deadliest accidents, officials said Sunday. Hundreds of people were surrounding the overturned truck and blocking a road in the town of Molo on Saturday night when the petrol ignited in a blast that was felt for miles, said Charles Kamau, 22, who ran from his car as flames shot into the air. Everybody was screaming and most of them were running with fire on their bodies, they were just running into the...

People across much of the country are battling a slippery mix of snow and ice today as a storm that stretches 1,400 miles across 26 states continues to leave its mark, causing at least 19 deaths. The winter weather that lingered in Oklahoma and the Plains states earlier this week moved into the Northeast overnight, leaving countless commuters hammered by icy roads. Cars have slid off roads. Power lines have collapsed under the weight of the ice. In some places, three inches of ice have piled up. Many schools are closed from Maryland to Maine as the storm travels east....

For the first time since the dawn of the jet age, two consecutive years have passed without a single airline passenger death on a U.S. carrier. No passengers died in crashes in 2007 and 2008, a period in which 1.5 billion people took scheduled airline flights. One major accident occurred during that time, last month's crash of a Continental Airlines jet in Denver. Going without a crash fatality for a full year has been rare. Only four years since 1958 have passed without a passenger fatality, the analysis found. That makes the two-year string even more impressive, aviation safety experts...

Indonesia (AP) - High tides hindered rescuers Monday as they searched for nearly 250 people missing and feared dead after a ferry capsized off Indonesia's Sulawesi island. About 250 passengers and 17 crew were believed to have been aboard the 700-ton Teratai Prima when it sank Sunday morning as it traveled from the western port of Parepare to Samarinda on the Indonesian half of Borneo island. At least 22 people, including four crew members, were pulled from the sea by fishermen Sunday before the military launched an operation at daybreak Monday. Indonesians generally don't know how to swim, and the...

JAKARTA, Indonesia – A ferry capsized in a severe storm and crashing waves in central Indonesia on Sunday and officials said around 250 people were feared dead. Eighteen survivors were rescued by fishing boats, but the fate of the others remained unclear, said Taufik, a port official at Parepare on the island of Sulawesi, where the ferry began its journey. Taufik uses one name, as is common in Indonesia.