10 dead, over 70 wounded in Nairobi blasts |
- 10 dead, over 70 wounded in Nairobi blasts
- How Google Glass is hoping to become a traveller’s constant companion
- Two US men arrested for burying woman alive
- US death row inmate wants execution taped
- AFP Video: Disney’s Cinderella official teaser trailer
| 10 dead, over 70 wounded in Nairobi blasts Posted: 16 May 2014 05:59 PM PDT
The twin bombings came as hundreds of British tourists were being evacuated from beach resorts near the port city of Mombasa after Britain's Foreign Office and other nations issued new travel warnings. The National Disaster Operation Centre (NDOC) said the first blast in the capital occurred next to a 14-seater matatu, or public minibus, and the second was inside a shop in Gikomba Market close to Nairobi's central business district. A spokesman at the Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi's main hospital, said eight bodies had brought in and "more than 70" people admitted for treatment, many of them in a serious condition. The NDOC then revised the death toll up to 10, while another hospital said it had received around 14 patients. "Many of the injured are bleeding profusely. We need a lot of blood," spokesman Simon Ithae told AFP as the hospital issued an appeal for donors. Nairobi police chief Benson Kibue confirmed that two bombs had been used, and the area was littered with debris including clothing hurled into overhead power and telephone lines. "Two IEDs were detonated simultaneously," Nairobi police chief Benson Kibue told reporters at the scene, trying to reassure an increasingly sceptical public that the security forces are in control. "Don't panic. We are on top of things," he said. Police also said two suspects had been arrested. The United States condemned the "latest in a series of cowardly attacks on innocent civilians in Kenya" as "despicable." "As we have for half a century, the United States stands with our Kenyan friends and partners who continue to face adversity with courage and resolve," said National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden. "We support them in their efforts to confront terrorism in all of its forms." Earlier this month, three people were killed and 86 wounded in twin bus blasts in Nairobi that were blamed on militant cells connected with Somalia's Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab rebels. The previous day, twin attacks left four dead in Mombasa. Kenya has been targeted by the Shebab since sending troops to war-torn Somalia in 2011. Kenyan soldiers are still posted in southern Somalia as part of an African Union force supporting the country's fragile internationally-backed government. Tourists evacuated On Thursday and yesterday, hundreds of British tourists were evacuated from beach resorts near Mombasa following new warnings of terror attacks from Britain's Foreign Office. Australia, France and the United States also issued similar warnings this week to avoid Mombasa, and in some cases Nairobi. Thomson and First Choice, which are owned by London-listed TUI Travel, Europe's biggest tour operator, said they had also decided to cancel all flights to the coastal city until November. "As a precautionary measure, we have also taken the decision to repatriate all customers currently on holiday in Kenya back to the UK," Thomson and First Choice said in a statement. The evacuation, which continued Friday, involved nearly 450 holidaymakers, company sources said. The Kenyan government has expressed "disappointment" and has accused countries that are telling tourists to stay away of "unfriendly acts." "Issuance of such travel advisories only plays to the whims of bad elements in society whose aim is to spread fear and panic," the government said. Sam Ikwaye of the Kenya Association of Hotelkeepers and Caterers, said the evacuations were a "huge blow" to tourism, which directly or indirectly accounts for 14 per cent of Kenya's economic output and roughly 12 per cent of the workforce. He said beach hotels in the region were now facing a drop in revenue of up to 70 per cent, and that he feared that "the decision by the British is likely to influence other countries to do the same." Last month, Kenya confirmed that the number of foreign visitors to the country ― a top safari and beach destination ― slumped by 11 per cent in 2013, when the country was gripped by fears of election-related political violence. The current year is expected to also see a massive drop, particularly in the wake of the Shebab's high-profile attack on Nairobi's Westgate shopping mall last September in which at least 67 people were killed. ― AFP  |
| How Google Glass is hoping to become a traveller’s constant companion Posted: 16 May 2014 05:48 PM PDT
Geolocating service Foursquare, travel organizing app TripIt and restaurant reservation service OpenTable, for instance, have all released 'Glassware' editions of their mobile apps for early adopters. Glassware is the name coined for Google Glass apps. Developers are hoping that the idea of hands-free, wireless smartwear technology will appeal to travellers: Instead of carrying heavy travel guides and disorderly itineraries in their bags, globetrotters can ask Glass to book a table for two and pull up their flight details with a few simple voice commands and head movements. "Whether you're trying to find your gate at the airport, the best coffee shop in Austin or a reservation for 2 in New York City, Glass has you covered," reads a post by Google Glass. For users of TripIt, the Glass technology will display travel itineraries ranging from real-time flight status notifications, check-in reminders, gate changes, car rental and hotel reservations — a service that could come in handy when juggling carry-on and laptop bags. For users of translation service Word Lens, that means translating signs and menus in real-time. Google Glass hit the US market this week and retails for US$1,500 (about RM4840). — AFP-Relaxnews |
| Two US men arrested for burying woman alive Posted: 16 May 2014 05:47 PM PDT
One of the two men, a 36-year-old landscaper, knew the victim, 41-year-old mother of two Fatima Perez, who was reported missing on Monday evening in Camden, New Jersey. According to Camden police, Perez went out on Monday to buy a car with US$8,000 (RM25,600) in cash. The landscaper, Carlos Alicea-Antonetti, had agreed to drive her to where she was to make the purchase. But the two had an argument in the course of which Perez fell from the van, Alicea-Antonetti told police, according to court documents. She got back in, at which point Alicea-Antonetti went to pick up his employee Ramon Ortiz, 57. The two men gave different accounts of the events that followed, but both have admitted the young woman was buried alive in a wooded area south of Camden, in an improvised grave dug by Ortiz. They pulled her out of the back of the van, where she was tied up and her mouth and eyes covered by duct tape. Ortiz led police to her body on Wednesday, in a grave hidden under branches near Monroe Township. Police found nearly US$7,000 in cash with Alicea-Antonetti when he was arrested. The autopsy confirmed that the woman suffocated to death. The two men, charged on Thursday, have been jailed, with bail set at US$5 million. Camden, home to 77,000 residents, is one of the poorest and most violent cities in the United States. ― AFP |
| US death row inmate wants execution taped Posted: 16 May 2014 05:41 PM PDT
Russell Bucklew is set to be executed on May 21 in Bonne Terre for the murder of a love rival and the rape of his former girlfriend, in what would be the first execution in the United States since a botched lethal injection last month in Oklahoma. Bucklew's attorneys have filed a complaint alleging that the secrecy surrounding Missouri's lethal injection drugs, combined with a rare medical condition that leaves the inmate with growths on his head and neck, create significant risk that he will die a "tortuous" death. Such treatment would be in violation of the Constitution's Eighth Amendment prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment. "If Missouri officials are confident enough to execute Russell Bucklew, they should be confident enough to videotape it. It is time to raise the curtain on lethal injections," said Bucklew attorney Cheryl Pilate. On Monday, Emory University School of Medicine professor Joel Zivot examined Bucklew. "During execution, Bucklew will be at risk of choking and suffocating because of his partially obstructed airway and complications caused by his hemangiomas (noncancerous growths)," Zivot said in an affidavit. "To my knowledge, Missouri's execution protocol provides no contingency for a failed execution, or a situation in which the prisoner starts gasping for air or experiences hemorrhaging." The lawsuit, which is pending in the US District Court for the Western District of Missouri, says that Missouri's use of unregulated, compounded drugs further increase the risk that Bucklew will suffer a prolonged death. "Missouri has cloaked its lethal injection protocol in extreme secrecy, refusing to disclose the source of the drugs and preventing complete access to information about the drugs planned for Mr Bucklew's execution," Pilate said. "All we know is that the drug is compounded pentobarbital, not manufactured. We know nothing about its safety, potency of efficacy, and we have no information about where it's from, how it's made, whether the facility or pharmacist is licensed or even if the drug is tested." Last month, convicted killer and rapist Clayton Lockett was executed in Oklahoma and died 43 minutes after the start of a lethal injection process that should have taken little over 10 minutes, prompting accusations of torture and renewing debate in the US about the death penalty. ― AFP |
| AFP Video: Disney’s Cinderella official teaser trailer Posted: 16 May 2014 05:35 PM PDT Putting a modern spin on the classic fairytale, Disney's 'Cinderella' will hit cinemas in March 2015, and stars Cate Blanchett, Lily James and and Holliday Grainger among others. ― AFP-Relaxnews Related Articles |
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