Srebrenica: Dutch Liable For 300 Deaths

Srebrenica: Dutch Blamed For Three Deaths

Updated: 2:51pm UK, Wednesday 06 July 2011

An appeal court in the Netherlands has ruled the Dutch state is responsible for the deaths of three Muslim men during the 1995 Srebrenica massacre.

The ruling could pave the way for other compensation claims by victims who say their male relatives should have been protected by the Dutch UN peacekeepers in charge of the UN's "safe zone" near Srebrenica during Bosnia's 1992-1995 war.

The case was brought by Hasan Nuhanovic, an interpreter who lost his brother and father, and relatives of Rizo Mustafic, an electrician who was killed.

They argued that the men should have been protected by Dutch peacekeepers. Mustafic and Nuhanovic were employed by the Dutch peacekeepers, but Nuhanovic's father and brother were not.

One of the relatives, Damir Mustafic, said outside court that the ruling came just days before he was to bury his father's remains in a Srebrenica cemetery.

Some 600 bodies exhumed from mass graves around the town in the past year have been identified using DNA tests, and they will be interred on Monday as part of commemorations for the 16th anniversary of Europe's worst massacre since World War II.

"I am very happy, finally," Mr Mustafic said. "It has been a long case and it feels especially good because on the 11th, I have to bury my father."

The victims were among thousands of Muslims who took shelter in the UN compound as Bosnian Serb forces commanded by General Ratko Mladic invaded Srebrenica in what was to become the bloody climax to the 1992-95 Bosnian war that claimed 100,000 lives.

The outnumbered Dutch peacekeepers eventually gave in to pressure from Mladic's troops, forcing thousands of Muslim families out of the compound.

Bosnian Serb forces then sorted the Muslims by gender, taking the males away and executing some 8,000 Muslim men and boys.

In 2010, the same appeals court dismissed a class action suit filed by victims' families who belong to a group - The Mothers Of Srebrenica - ruling that UN peacekeepers had immunity from prosecution, as laid down in the UN charter.

But the latest ruling said that despite the fact the Dutch soldiers were operating under a UN mandate, in the confusion of the moment they were under the "effective control" of Dutch military and government officials in The Hague when they ordered the men out of the compound.

The three men were among the last to leave, and, the ruling said, the peacekeepers had already seen Bosnian Serb troops abusing Muslim men and boys and should have known what was in store for the men.

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Sollecito Uses Murdered Kercher For Uni Essay

By Nick Pisa, Sky News Reporter

Convicted killer Raffaele Sollecito has graduated from university by writing a thesis describing how he is innocent of the murder of Meredith Kercher.

Sollecito, 30, who was convicted along with former girlfriend Amanda Knox, 26, wrote in his computer studies masters paper that online networks showing his name and commenting on the brutal knife murder were more often linked to the word "innocent" than "guilty".

Both were initially found guilty before the verdict was overturned, only for an appeal court to rule earlier this year that they were guilty.

Knox sentenced to 28 years in prison and Sollecito 25 years, although both are free as the Italian judicial system allows for another appeal, with no decision expected until next spring at the earliest.

Meredith was in Italy as part of her degree course at Leeds University

On his Facebook page, Sollecito posted several pictures of himself smiling and celebrating with his family and girlfriend Greta, as he received his degree from professors at Verona University. One picture shows an iced cake with a congratulations message.

The message in Italian reads: ''Engineer Raffaele Sollecito crosses one of the most important thresholds of his life.''

His thesis, which was written in English and Italian, was called Social Network Analysis and Semantic Proximity and he passed with top marks.

He said: ''It was a sort of experiment on myself ... I'm delighted that I have graduated and now look forward to the future. I've got some more exams to do then I am working on a secret project for a company but I need funds to finance it.''

Amanda Knox insists she is innocent

Sollecito has had to surrender his passport since he was found guilty in January, while Knox has remained at home in Seattle and vowed never to return to Italy, she - like him - protesting her innocence.

During the next few months, their legal teams will prepare their appeal case which means further agony for the Kercher family, who have been through three court cases since the murder in the Italian hilltop town of Perugia in 2007.

A source close to the family said: ''The pain for them goes on. They will never experience the joy of Meredith graduating, but Sollecito and Knox are carrying on with their lives.''

Meredith, 20, was found dead in her bedroom in the house she shared with Knox, just two months after moving to Italy as part of her own degree course.

Judges initially ruled in the first trial in 2009 she had been killed as part of a drug-fuelled sex game that had gone wrong.

Then, two years later, Knox and Sollecito were cleared, only for the appeal court to reinstate the verdicts - this time saying Meredith was killed due to a domestic argument that had spun out of control.

Earlier this month, Sollecito gave a press conference in Rome in which he appeared to distance himself from his co-accused and said he was ''not a guarantor'' for Knox.

He added that he could not be sure if she was with him the whole night when the murder took place.

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Palestinians Urged To Leave Homes As Truce Fails

Four Palestinian children have allegedly been killed after a shell fired from an Israeli ship landed on a beach in Gaza.

Reports of the attack, described by the Gaza Health Ministry as "cowardly", are being investigated by officials in Israel.

Earlier, the country dropped thousands of leaflets, urging Palestinians living in northern and eastern parts of the territory to leave their homes.

People carry their belongings among building debris in Gaza

It comes amid continuing airstrikes on both sides of the border.

Palestinian militants fired dozens of rockets in the first six hours of an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire plan.

That led to fresh strikes on Gaza, home to 1.7 million people, with the homes of four senior Hamas leaders reportedly among the targets.

Leaflets were dropped warning of IDF strikes in Gaza

Five people were killed in raids on Gaza City, southern Khan Younis, Rafah and central Johr al Deeq, according to the AFP news agency.

Israel, which has said it will "expand and intensify" its offensive, also confirmed its first death of the week-long conflict.

A man who was delivering food to soldiers suffered fatal wounds when a Hamas rocket struck the Erez crossing on the Gaza border.

Hamas was told it would "pay the price" for rejecting the ceasefire plan but officials for the group said they had not been consulted on the proposals and would not halt violence without a fully-fledged deal including Israeli concessions.

In automated phone calls to residents of Beit Lahiya and the neighbourhoods of Shijaiyah and Zeitoun in Gaza City, the Israeli military told people to leave.

But Sami Wadiya, who lives in one of the areas likely to be targeted, said he would not leave his home.

"We know it's risky but there are no secure places to go to," he said.

The raids have already prompted around 17,000 people to flee their homes, with many taking refuge in UN schools.

More than 200 Palestinians, many of them civilians, have been killed over the last week.

Israeli aircraft have struck close to 1,700 times in raids the country claims are designed to stop rocket fire from Gaza.

Palestinians flee their homes amid continuing airstrikes on Gaza City

Since July 8, Gaza militants have fired more than 1,200 rockets at Israel, hundreds of which have been intercepted by the Iron Dome air defence system.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: "It would have been preferable to have solved this diplomatically ... but Hamas leaves us no choice but to expand and intensify the campaign against it.

"Hamas chose to continue fighting and will pay the price for that decision. When there is no ceasefire, our answer is fire."

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Sami Abu Zuhri, a spokesman for Hamas, said: "We didn't get to see the Egyptian proposal except through the media.

"The idea of halting fire before there is any agreement on the conditions laid out by the resistance is unacceptable and we reject it."

Hamas has said it wants an end to Israel's blockade of Gaza and the opening of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt as part of a truce deal.

It also wants Israel to free Palestinians it re-arrested after releasing them in a 2011 exchange for an Israeli soldier held by Gaza militants for more than five years.

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450 Children Rescued From Rat-Infested Refuge

More than 450 children have been rescued from a rat-infested refuge for abandoned boys and girls, authorities in Mexico have confirmed.

The attorney general's office said police and army troops raided the home, known as La Gran Familia, in Zamora, on Tuesday and that officials suspect some of the youngsters were sexually abused.

Investigators had received at least 50 complaints about the home and were confronted by rats, bedbugs and fleas when they arrived to question owner Rosa Verduzco.

Attorney General Jesus Murillo said: "We found that there were around 500 children in truly terrible conditions."

The refuge housed around 278 boys, 174 girls and six infants as well as adults aged up to 40, the government said.

Officials said the children were forced to beg for money on the streets, eat unsanitary food and sleep on the floor among vermin.

The authorities acted after five complaints from parents that the home would not return their children - even after one desperate parent offered Verduzco 10,000 pesos (£449).

Tomas Zeron, director of the attorney general's criminal investigation unit said babies born in the refuge were registered as Verduzco's children and their parents were given no say in their upbringing.

The home's Facebook page says it was founded in 1947 and provides shelter and schooling to children abandoned by troubled parents - funded by charitable donations and government money.

The rescued children are being treated for psychological and sexual abuse while officials seek new homes for them.

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More Than 600 Paedophile Suspects Arrested

An operation by the National Crime Agency involving 45 police forces has seen 660 suspected paedophiles arrested across the UK.

Thirty-nine of the 660 were registered sex offenders but the vast majority had not come to the authorities' attention before. More than 800 properties were searched.

One arrested man had access to 17 grandchildren - two of them had already made allegations against him.

Two men, one of whom is a doctor, had between them more than a million indecent images of children on their phones and computers.

Care workers and former police officers were also among the hundreds arrested.

As a result of the six-month investigation across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland - which has only now been revealed - more than 400 children have been safeguarded, the NCA said.

A total of 431 children now under official protection had been in the "care, custody or control" of suspects, 127 of those children were considered to be at immediate risk of harm, the agency revealed.

None of those arrested is a serving or former MP or member of the Government, it said.

Charging decisions are still due in most cases because of continuing inquiries, but charges brought so far range from possessing indecent images of children to serious sexual assault.

The NCA's deputy director general, Phil Gormley, said: "This is the first time the UK has had the capability to coordinate a single targeted operation of this nature.

The undercover operation involved 45 police forces

"Over the past six months we have seen unprecedented levels of cooperation to deliver this result.

"Our aim was to protect children who were victims of, or might be at risk of, sexual exploitation. A child is victimised not only when they are abused and an image is taken. They are re-victimised every time that image is viewed by someone.

"Some of the people who start by accessing indecent images online go on to abuse children directly. So the operation is not only about catching people who have already offended - it is about influencing potential offenders before they cross that line.

"We want those offenders to know that the internet is not a safe anonymous space for accessing indecent images, that they leave a digital footprint, and that law enforcement will find it."

Mr Gormley said he was "profoundly disappointed" at the scale of the problem and the number of arrests police were forced to make.

It was necessary, he said, to take a harder look at the amount of people looking at child abuse images on the internet.

"The alternative," he said, "is not to look under the stone, and we cannot afford not to look under this stone."

Claire Lilley, Head of Online Safety at the NSPCC said: "This is an important two-pronged operation which has rescued children from abuse and also identified many previously unknown sex offenders.

"Direct action like this sends a strong message to those who subject children to harrowing sexual assaults that they can and will be traced and prosecuted."

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Hair Salon Killer Jailed For At Least 24 Years

Asher Maslin, who stabbed his ex-girlfriend Hollie Gazzard to death at the hair salon where she worked, has been jailed for life.

Maslin, 22, was told he would have to serve a minimum of 24 years in prison.

The former security guard attacked his 20-year-old ex-girlfriend at the Fringe Benefits & La Bella Beauty salon in Gloucester on February 18.

Staff and customers tried to protect her, but Maslin cornered her and stabbed her 14 times with a £3 knife he had bought on the way to confront her. She had recently ended their relationship.

Hollie Gazzard had asked colleagues to phone police if Maslin turned up

Police were already on their way to the salon as Ms Gazzard had asked colleagues to phone 999 immediately if Maslin turned up.

She was pronounced dead just over an hour after the attack at the Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.

Maslin was arrested the following day and later admitted a charge of murder.

Sentencing him at Gloucester Crown Court, Mr Justice Teare said: "The number of stab wounds on a defenceless young woman show that this was a merciless killing.

Maslin went to the salon to confront Ms Gazzard

"It was carried out in public, witnessed by customers of the salon, colleagues of Hollie Gazzard and by passers-by.

"Hollie Gazzard was 20 years of age and at the start of her adult life. As her father said, 'the world was at her feet'.

"Hollie's father and sister have described the devastating effect Hollie's death has had on them and on other members of the family."

The judge added that Maslin had taken cocaine and crack cocaine in the days before the killing.

As he was taken away, Maslin nodded to members of his family, who were weeping in the public gallery, and said: "Sorry."

Miss Gazzard was stabbed 14 times in front of colleagues

Miss Gazzard suffered multiple wounds in the attack and died as a result of massive blood loss.

The court heard she was killed days after ending their relationship. Maslin also sent her threatening text messages before carrying out the attack.

Hollie's father Nick Gazzard said: "She was a character, she would keep you on your toes. She used to light up the room when she came home from work.

"It is such a loss now not to have her around. It was like a light bulb going on when she came in."

The family, from Churchdown, near Gloucester, have launched a foundation - the Hollie Gazzard Trust - in her memory, to protect young people from knife crime and domestic violence.

Solicitor Steven Young read a statement on behalf of Maslin's mother Sam outside the court.

It said: "Hollie's death has been a tragedy. She was a beautiful young woman and there was a time that she and Asher loved each other.

"Asher cannot explain whey he did what he did. All he can now do is express through us his deeply felt sorrow for the pain which he has caused to so many people."

Detective Chief Inspector Steve Bean said: "This horrific and violent attack was a spiteful and cowardly reaction by a self-obsessed individual who couldn't handle rejection."

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Tulisa 'Brokered Drug Deal For Film Role'

Former X Factor judge Tulisa Contostavlos helped to supply drugs to an undercover reporter who told her he could help her become a movie star, a court has heard.

Mazher Mahmood, dubbed the "fake sheikh", posed as a film producer and met the star in Las Vegas and at a luxury hotel in London.

He promised the 26-year-old he could get her a part in a film with Leonardo DiCaprio as her possible co-star and she was keen to be "in his good books", prosecutor Tim Cray told Southwark Crown Court.

Contostavlos then allegedly boasted that she could "sort out" drugs for a boys' night out at a London strip club she was arranging for him.

The former N-Dubz star put Mr Mahmood in touch with her rapper friend, Mike GLC, who supplied the cocaine during a late-night rendezvous at London's five-star Dorchester Hotel, jurors heard.

Mike GLC, whose real name is Michael Coombs, 36, pleaded guilty on Monday to supplying half an ounce (13.9g) of cocaine for £820.

Coombs has pleaded guilty to supplying the cocaine

Contostavlos also allegedly bragged that she used to be part of a gang who sold crack cocaine and that her ex-boyfriend was a cocaine dealer.

But the illicit drug deal was taped and exposed in a front-page story in the Sun on Sunday newspaper last May, the court heard.

Contostavlos denies helping to broker the deal in May last year.

Mr Mahmood entered the witness box and gave evidence from behind a screen to protect his identity.

He said he was playing the role of a film producer from India when he met Contostavlos with another undercover reporter in Las Vegas and at London's Metropolitan hotel last year.

Mr Mahmood said Contostavlos brought up the topic of drugs during their meeting in London on May 10.

"She brought it up with words to the effect that she would go home tonight and have a drink and she might have cannabis to go to sleep," he told the court.

They discussed drugs again later at the hotel bar when the singer said she was not a cocaine user but did smoke cannabis, Mr Mahmood said.

It was then that she spoke about being being able to get "white sweets" - a slang for cocaine - and "green sweets", meaning cannabis, he added.

Opening the case, Mr Cray told jurors: "When the defendant had got involved in this drugs supply, she believed that Samir Khan was a film producer, a movie producer, a big shot.

"She thought he could get her a part in a big movie that was coming up and it seems that she was keen to be in his good books and be friendly with him."

But Mr Cray said that rather than endear herself to a powerful film producer, Contostavlos had her face splashed across a national newspaper.

He said: "She was part of a sting by The Sun newspaper. She fell for it.

"It certainly made for a good newspaper story, because the defendant had been a member of a pop group, a judge on a TV talent show, and is generally well known in the world of entertainment."

The trial continues.

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Brooks Gigs Compensation: Lawyers Consulted

Garth Brooks' concert promoter has said he is considering legal action for compensation, claiming he and the country music star have lost millions after five shows were cancelled.

Peter Aiken is consulting lawyers about potentially suing those he blames for the collapse of the concerts at Dublin's Croke Park.

Thousands of fans were left devastated after council chiefs refused a licence for all of the shows, which were scheduled for later this month.

Brooks turned down a deal which would have seen him play three evening shows and two matinees.

The singer said he was "crushed" after making the decision.

Brooks said he was 'crushed' by not getting to play at Croke Park

"I'm taking legal advice over that," Mr Aiken told a parliamentary hearing into the fiasco. "It's all very raw at the moment."

Dismissing suggestions he earned a significant sum from interest on the ticket sales, Mr Aiken said he has paid out deposits for equipment and accommodation for a massive entourage.

"I'm down a seven figure (sum) on this," he said. "And Garth Brooks is going to be out millions."

Also hauled before the parliamentary watchdog, Croke Park chief Peter McKenna insisted he was assured five gigs would get the go-ahead after a private telephone call with city manager Owen Keegan.

Senator Eamonn Coghan told the hearing that if an "an element of money and greed" did not come into it, everybody would have been happy with three concerts.

However, Mr Aiken denied it was anything to do with greed and said it was about making history.

Dublin City Council chiefs have claimed they were willing to look at compromises on three separate occasions after initially blocking two of the five planned shows.

This included a four-night run, an option to stage three concerts at Croke Park and two elsewhere in the capital or a third idea for two matinees and three night-time shows over the same weekend.

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New Video From Inside Costa Concordia Wreck

New video has emerged showing the inside of the Costa Concordia cruise ship which has been refloated after sinking two and a half years ago.

Tables and chairs can be seen remarkably intact in what was once a bar and an atrium onboard the luxury liner.

On Monday, the 114,500-ton ship was successfully raised from the under-sea platform that it had been resting on for the last year.

Compressed air was pumped into 30 tanks attached to the sides of the vessel to force out seawater for one of the largest salvage operations in history.

Tables and chairs that were part of the bar area

Technicians then moved the liner 30 metres from shore, as the coastguard monitored the £1bn operation, including the quality of water and sea pollution that could be generated by the removal process.

Thirty-two people died when the huge ship, which was twice as large as The Titanic, slammed into rocks off the Italian island of Giglio in January 2012 and part of the ship's 290-metre-long hull sank beneath the water.

The ship was recently refloated more than two years after it sank

Having been hauled into an upright position after a 19-hour operation last September, the wreckage of the liner will be towed in the next few days to the port of Genoa 200 miles away to be broken up and sold as scrap.

Search teams will scour the wreck in an attempt to find the body of the only victim still missing, an Indian waiter called Russel Rebello.

In an interview with Sky News last January, Mr Rebello's brother, Kevin, who has made regular trips to Giglio from his home in Milan, said: "More than anything we would just like to find Russel's body so we can bury him and draw a line on what happened.''

Mr Rebello, second left, is the only victim whose body is still missing

Eerie video footage shot by divers and released by police earlier this month showed twisted metalwork, broken furniture and discarded belongings left by the 4,200 people who were on board the Costa Concordia when it crashed.

Francesco Schettino, the ship's captain, is on trial on several counts, including manslaughter. He is fighting the charges.

Schettino is accused of deliberately altering the course of the Concordia in order to carry out a sail-by salute of the island in order to impress local residents and passengers.

The 53-year-old, who was allegedly on the bridge with his Moldovan lover Domnica Cemortan, claimed it was ''too dark to see anything'' and told investigators he had not fled but had ''tripped and fell into a lifeboat".

He was dubbed Captain Coward by some tabloid newspapers after reportedly refusing orders from the coastguard to return to the ship to help with the rescue operation.

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Heatwave Warning Issued For Rest Of Week

Heatwave conditions will affect parts of England later this week, with officials warning people to take precautions as the mercury hits 30C.

The warning comes as the Met Office issued a Level 2 heat alert for parts of the South East, London, east of England and the Midlands.

Thursday is forecast to be the country's hottest day so far this year, with temperatures of up to 30C, while Friday is expected to be nearly as hot.

A Level 2 warning is triggered when the Met Office forecasts a 60% or higher chance of consecutive daily temperatures having a significant impact on health.

People have been told to avoid the hottest part of the day and use suncream

Health experts at Public Health England, which issued a heatwave alert, urged people to be careful remaining outdoors in the hottest part of the day and avert dehydration by drinking cool liquids.

Older people and those with long-term illnesses are particularly vulnerable to the higher temperatures, so even indoors they should remain in cool areas.

Chris England, Sky News weather producer, said: "It'll turn hotter in the south over the next couple of days as humid air moves in from the very warm continent, with temperatures of over 30C (86F) likely in parts of the south by Friday.

"The humidity will make it uncomfortable for many, and there is a health risk, so people should take care to keep cool."

Some areas are expecting thunderstorms at the end of the heatwave

The heatwave warning is due to take effect late on Thursday and carry through until Saturday, when heavy rain is expected.

A warning was also issued for members of the Muslim community fasting during the current period of Ramadan to drink enough water.

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