[sunnykerr]

"Joker" creche killings stun Belgium
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[sunnykerr]

Turkish Airlines crash kills 9 in Amsterdam A Turkish Airlines plane crashed into a muddy field near Amsterdam's main airport early Wednesday morning, killing nine people and injuring more than 50 others, officials confirmed. The Boeing 737-800 aircraft, carrying 135 passengers, crashed around 4:30 a.m. EST about three kilometres from the runway at Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam's main airport. At a press conference, officials said nine were dead, including two pilots and an apprentice pilot, and six critically injured. "We can't say whether they'll survive or not, they're in critical condition," one official told reporters. In total, the official said 84 passengers on the plane had been taken to hospital. Of those hospitalized, 25 passengers were "severely wounded" and 24 had "light injuries." Details of the injuries to the remaining passengers were not immediately available, said the official. Turkish Transport Minister Binali Yildirim said it was a "miracle" that the crash did not lead to more casualties. Turkey's ambassador to the Netherlands, Selahattin Alpar, said there were 72 Turks on board the plane and 32 Dutch citizens. There was no immediate word on the nationalities of the other passengers. Neals Erkens, a journalist with Radio Netherlands, told CTV Newsnet that there were no reports of any Canadians being on the plane. Fred Sanders, of the Dutch Safety Board, confirmed that the plane's recording equipment had been found and was being sent to Paris for analysis. Initial reports said one person on Flight TK1951 was killed in the crash and then Candan Karlitekin, head of the board for Turkish Airlines, said all on board had survived. Shortly thereafter, local officials confirmed the nine deaths. There was also confusion Wednesday about how many people were actually on the plane, with figures from various officials ranging from 134 to 143. Details of the crash Both of the plane's engines tore off during the crash. One of the engines was lying almost intact near the wreckage while the second engine, which was more heavily damaged, rested about 200 metres from the plane. Also, the fuselage ripped in two and the plane's tail broke off. Survivor Huseyin Sumer told Turkish NTV television that he crawled out of the plane through a crack in the fuselage. "We were about to land, we could not understand what was happening, some passengers screamed in panic but it happened so fast," Sumer said, adding that the crash was over in five to 10 seconds. Officials said the muddy field may have helped cushion the plane's impact, preventing an even worse disaster. The soft field may have also helped avert a fire from breaking out as the plane's fuel lines and tanks were badly ruptured. Officials could not immediately say what caused the crash. The head of Turkish Airlines, Temel Kotil, said the captain, Hasan Tahsin, was a former air force pilot who had a great deal of experience. Investigators will look at a number of possible causes, from weather or bird strikes to pilot fatigue or navigational errors. It was cloudy and drizzling at the time of the crash, but Karlitekin told reporters that visibility was good. "Visibility was clear and around 4,500 metres. Some 500 metres before landing, the plane landed on a field instead of the runway," he said. Airline officials said they have checked the plane's documents, which indicate that there were no maintenance concerns. The plane was built in 2002 and underwent maintenance on Dec. 22. A spokesperson from Boeing said it will send a team to provide technical help to Dutch officials who are investigating the crash. The 737-800 is known for its "very good safety record," Bill Voss, president of the independent Flight Safety Foundation in Alexandria, Va., told the Associated Press. "It has been involved in a couple of accidents, but nothing that relates directly back to the aircraft," he said, adding that the plane had the best flight data recorders. Turkish Airlines has had a number of serious crashes since 1974, when 360 people were killed after a DC-10 crashed near Paris after a cargo door came off the plane. In 2003, 75 people died when an RJ-100 missed the runway in heavy fog in the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir. Locals helped survivors At the scene, Dutch television images showed police and rescue crews working to help passengers out of the wreckage. Radio Netherlands reporter Maurice Laparliere told CTV Newsnet that some passengers waited 15 minutes inside the plane before being rescued. "We do have stories of farmers working in the fields who got in, opened the door and saw quite terrible scenes... especially at the rear of the plane," he said. Laparliere said the plane's tail crashed down on the ground first. Schiphol airport is the third largest European airport in terms of cargo and the fourth largest European airport in terms of passenger numbers (47.8 million passengers in 2007), according to the Amsterdam Airport Area website.

CTV.ca | Turkish Airlines crash kills 9 in Amsterdam

I saw this on the news this morning and couldn't believe my eyes. It's pretty lucky that more people weren't killed or seriously injured. I mean, I suppose that remains to be seen as a lot of the injuries are said to be important. But, to see that plane and the way it was completely mangled (at least, the bottom part of the fuselage), I would have assumed there were more fatalities.

Altimeter 'Had Role' in Air Crash Investigators have said a faulty altimeter played a role in the plane crash near Amsterdam's Schiphol airport last week that killed nine people. Dutch Safety Board chairman Pieter van Vollenhoven said the plane was landing on automatic pilot and the problem with the altimeter led to a loss of speed. He said the aeroplane had twice before reported problems with its altimeter. The Turkish Airlines plane crashed just short of the runway. It hit the ground tail-first and broke into three pieces. The Boeing 737-800 had been carrying 127 passengers and seven crew. Four Americans and five Turks died, including the captain and two other members of the crew. Dozens were injured, many critically. At a news conference in The Hague, Mr Van Vollenhoven said the plane had been at an altitude of 595m (1950ft) when making its landing approach to Schiphol airport. But the altimeter recorded an altitude of around ground level. The plane was on autopilot and its systems believed the plane was already touching down, he said. The automatic throttle controlling the two engines was closed and they powered down. This led to the plane losing speed, and stalling. Mr Van Vollenhoven said Boeing had been instructed to warn its clients about possible problems with altimeters on similar aircraft. Warning alarm Mr Van Vollenhoven said that a conversation recorded between the captain and two first officers in the cockpit showed they had noticed the faulty altimeter but did not consider it to be a problem, the Associated Press reported. "The crew initially did not react to these events, he said, but when a warning system sounded, they tried to restart the engines. "But the plane was too low at 150m. As a consequence the plane crashed 1km before the runway," said Mr Van Vollenhoven. BBC Transport correspondent Tom Symonds says that while it is not unusual for a plane's approach and descent to be controlled by autopilot, the crew normally take over at a few hundred feet. The plane came down in ploughed fields several hundred yards (metres) short of the runway, having left Istanbul's Ataturk Airport at 0622 GMT. Witnesses described seeing it appear to glide through the air, having lost all propulsion, before hitting the ground. Passengers on board said the crew gave a landing announcement, then the plane dropped suddenly. An exchange between air traffic controllers and the crew recorded minutes before the crash gave no indication of any technical trouble. Last week, Turkish Airlines said that the plane had undergone repairs for a systems malfunction two days before the crash, briefly being taken out of operation after the pilot reported a problem with the Master Caution Light programme, which checks the aircraft is functioning correctly. But the airline said it should not be seen as a potential cause of the crash.

BBC NEWS | Europe | Altimeter 'had role' in air crash

So now we know that faulty parts were to blame, I wonder if this will change anything in terms of the requirements to determine the air-readiness of aircraft.

[fetch]

Is the Middle East going to be considered Europe or Asia? Or is there going to be a separate thread?

[sunnykerr]

I have no idea. My reflex would be to put it in Asia, but that's just based on the fact that it's got the word East in it.

These "topical" threads are meant to make life easier, so it's not like we're gonna come down on people if it's they plug a story under the "wrong" heading. Besides, we'll figure these things out as we go along.

[sunnykerr]

Italy Revives Sicily Bridge Plan Italy's government has revived plans to build a controversial bridge linking the island of Sicily to the mainland. The Messina bridge, whose centre span of 3.3km (two miles) would make it the longest in the world, has been a pet project of Italy's Silvio Berlusconi. His 2001-2006 government backed it, before the succeeding administration scrapped it. It is part of a massive 17.8bn-euro (£15.9bn) public works programme to create new jobs and boost the economy. The programme was announced on Friday after being approved by the cabinet and various government departments. Funding for the programme is a mix of public and private resources, the Italian news agency Ansa says. Besides the bridge, it includes new urban rail networks, motorway expansion, prison and school construction, and a flood barrier system in Venice. Critics said it was merely a "reshuffling of funding", and that the government's priorities were wrong. Mafia fears Work on the construction of the road and rail bridge linking Calabria and Sicily over the Straits of Messina is now due to begin later this year. The project was put on hold by the previous, short-lived centre-left government. It was strongly criticised for two reasons, says the BBC's David Willey in Rome. The first was on the grounds of safety. The bridge will span a busy shipping lane and will have to withstand high winds. Secondly, many feared that huge amounts of taxpayers' money would be siphoned off by the Sicilian and Calabrian mafias, which control most public works projects in the south of Italy. The government pledged 1.3bn euros towards the bridge as a contribution to its estimated cost of some 6.1 billion euros. The opposition Democratic Party criticised the bridge project, saying it should not be a priority in the current economic climate. The Italy of Values party said: "What we are seeing is a reshuffling of funding already approved by the previous centre-left government and the shifting of funds from projects like a high-speed rail link to the Messina bridge."

BBC NEWS | Europe | Italy revives Sicily bridge plan

A bridge to Sicily has been the pet project of Italian leaders one way or another since the days of the Roman Emperor. There's a reason it hasn't been done before, of course. Too long, too expensive, and too dangerous. Not a bad idea inasmuch as fostering economic growth goes, but where are you going to find the funding indeed?

[sunnykerr]

Northern Ireland Leaders Pledge Unity After 3rd Killing BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- The Catholic and Protestant leaders of Northern Ireland's coalition government jointly pledged to crush Irish Republican Army dissidents in an exceptional show of unity Tuesday after the third killing in two days claimed by an IRA splinter group. The Continuity IRA said in a message to Belfast media that it carried out the fatal shooting of a policeman Monday night in a religiously divided town southwest of Belfast - 48 hours after the killing of two British soldiers claimed by the Real IRA. The killings appeared designed to undermine the unity government as its leaders prepared to leave for a high-profile U.S. tour capped by their first meeting with President Barack Obama at the White House on St. Patrick's Day, March 17. The leaders, First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, postponed that trip for the second time and appeared shoulder to shoulder at a press conference alongside Northern Ireland's police commander, Chief Const. Hugh Orde. McGuinness, a former IRA commander whose Sinn Fein party represents the Irish Catholic minority, decried the dissidents as "traitors to the island of Ireland." He called for supporters to break their traditional code of silence and pass tips to the police. "I want to join with Peter to wholeheartedly appeal to everyone, and anyone, who has any information whatsoever about these killings, to pass that information to the police, north and south," said McGuinness, who throughout the IRA's 1970-97 campaign supported the killing of police. Until two years ago he withheld public statements of support for law-enforcement officials. "We need to pledge our support to Hugh Orde," McGuinness said as the Englishman stood beside him. The Continuity IRA said in a message using a prearranged code word that it killed Const. Stephen Carroll, 48, as he sat in his patrol car Monday night in Craigavon. The breakaway group threatened to keep targeting police "as long as there is British involvement in Ireland." The Real IRA fatally shot two soldiers and wounded four other people Saturday in an attack on a British army base west of Belfast. They were the first killings of British security forces in Northern Ireland since 1998 - the year Protestant and Catholic politicians struck a peace deal designed to leave behind decades of bloodshed and promote a future based on co-operation and compromise. For more than a decade IRA dissidents have been trying to mount attacks in hopes of reversing the results of ongoing political negotiations, which also delivered IRA disarmament in 2005, the rise of the Catholic-Protestant administration in May 2007 and the withdrawal of British troops from security duties two months later. Analysts and anti-terrorist agencies say the Real IRA and Continuity IRA share identical aims and, despite their competitive rivalry, have co-operated in the past on planning and carrying out attacks. But Orde said he believed they were operating independently at the moment - and could be motivated by a desire to outdo the other. "I'm confident that we do not have some concerted effort by one group," he said. Orde said his officers were on their guard for dissident ambushes before Monday night's attack, which looked like "a deliberate setup." He said police had received a call from a terrified woman who reported that a street gang had shattered her window. He said the officers "stood off for a sensible period of time" to check for any signs of a trap. Then two carloads of police drove in to the area. Carroll, a 23-year veteran, was sitting in the car providing cover to the other unit when he was shot in the head through the car's rear window. A lone man was seen running away, police said. Officers raided two homes Tuesday in a Catholic district that overlooks the spot where the policeman was killed. Forensic specialists seized documents, clothing and other materials but no arrests were reported.

CTV.ca | N. Ireland leaders pledge unity after 3rd killing

I hope they catch the people responsible for these attacks. Mostly, though, I hope the people of Northern Ireland rise up against these really disgusting attempts at destroying the peace that has been so long in coming and which has followed such loss.

[san fran]

Shooting rampage in Germany, Winnenden

A 17-year-old former student dressed in military gear killed at least 10 people when he opened fire at a school in southwest Germany on Wednesday morning, police said. Citing police sources, German media reports said the gunman was later killed by police. Many others were wounded in the shooting in the small town of Winnenden, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) northeast of Stuttgart. The exact number of casualties was still not known, police said. The shooting, which lasted about two minutes, happened at the Albertville-Realschule Winnenden school, a junior high school, about 9:30 a.m. About 1,000 students attend the school. Authorities had sealed the town off and launched an intense manhunt for the man they described as 1.80m (5'11") and heavily armed. "It is a small town, an idyllic town," said Frank Nipkau, the editor in chief of local Winnenden Zeitung newspaper. "The town people are devastated and they can't understand why this is happening in this town." "Police are coming through the whole time. They're obviously looking all over town for him," said Roberto Seifert, who works at a company next to the school. "We've never had anything like this," he told Reuters.com by phone. Security at German schools has been an issue in the past. In November 2006, an 18-year-old former student strapped explosives to his body and went on a rampage at a middle school in western Germany, shooting and wounding six people -- most of them students -- before killing himself. In July 2003, a 16-year-old student shot a teacher before taking his own life at a school in the southern German town of Coburg. A year earlier, 18 people were killed when an expelled student went on a shooting spree at his school in eastern Germany. Another European country, Finland, is planning to toughen firearms laws after two school shootings there left 20 people dead. Those incidents occurred in November 2007 and September 2008. Finnish news reports on Wednesday said an Interior Ministry working group has issued a proposal calling for age 20 as the minimum age for handgun ownership and 18 as the minimum for rifles. The proposal will be circulated among legislators. "Under the proposal, a firearm license applicant would be required to provide a certificate from a shooting club instructor to certify that the applicant has practiced shooting at a gun club for two years prior to applying for a permit. "The ministry also wants applicants' health and behavior to come under closer scrutiny and has suggested adopting aptitude tests used by the Defense Forces," according to yla.fi.

- CNN

[sunnykerr]

It's scary how school shootings have started to spread everywhere. I do think legislating an minimum age for gun ownership is a good idea, but I'm not sure it'll solve anything. As long as parents have guns, their kids will have access to them, so the fact that they themselves can't buy any will be pretty much moot.

Meanwhile, and speaking of CNN...

DNA Proves Bolsheviks Killed All of Russian Czar's Children (CNN) -- One of the most enduring mysteries of the 20th century has been put to rest: DNA analysis of bone fragments has proven that two of Czar Nicholas' children believed to have escaped were killed with their royal family during the Russian Revolution. The chemically damaged and burnt remains were found in the Romanov family's makeshift grave outside the city of Yekaterinburg, Russia, in 2007. In 2008, scientists used bone and tooth fragments to identify the remains as those of the two missing children of Czar Nicholas II: 13-year-old Crown Prince Alexei, the emperor's only son and heir to the throne, and his sister Grand Duchess Maria, about 19. Researchers wanted to confirm their findings by comparing DNA from the remains with that of living Romanov relatives. The results of the DNA analysis were published online Tuesday in the journal PloS One. The Romanov family, the last Russian monarchy, was executed in 1918 by Bolsheviks in the basement of a home in Yekaterinburg, about 900 miles (1,448 kilometers) east of Moscow. Several of their staff members and servants also were killed. Nicholas' reign had ended when he abdicated the throne in 1917 at the time of the Russian Revolution. The remains of the family were discovered in 1991, during the last days of the Soviet Union. In 1998, those remains -- of Nicholas, his wife, Alexandra, and three daughters -- were interred in a cathedral in St. Petersburg that contains the crypts of other Russian royalty. At the time, many thought that Alexei and Maria might have escaped -- leading to hopes among royal supporters that one or both Romanovs were still alive. But clues left by one of the family's assassins led investigators to the grave where the remains of Alexei and Maria were unearthed in 2007. The drama surrounding the Romanovs has been the subject of many books, movies and documentaries. Several women have claimed that they were Anastasia, Nicholas' youngest daughter, contending that they escaped the executions. The body of one impostor, Anna Anderson, was cremated when she died in 1984. DNA tests showed she was not related to the Romanov family.

DNA proves Bolsheviks killed all of Russian czar's children - CNN.com

I don't know how interested people are in finding out about this, but I have to admit that it's a story that has always, always fascinated me to no end. I'm not sure why, probably because I have some misguided romantic ideas about doomed princes and princesses...

Anyway, it always seemed rather logical that they would have all been killed. After all, how could the guards possibly not see one (even two!) get away. Plus, Alexei was a hemophiliac. He would have died very quickly.

But then they could never actually prove that all the Romanovs had been found. And you heard the the accounts of how it all went down. How the women had the family jewels sown into their corsets, so that their fusillade didn't actually kill them all immediately, what with the poor quality of munitions back then and the fact that they were essentially wearing a version of bulletproof vests. And how the guards kept having to step out of the room because the smoke (from firing the guns) was overwhelming. And how, in the end, they had to resort to stabbing them...

I'm glad we can give the story a conclusion but, at the same time, it does lose some of its mystique now.

[sunnykerr]

France Ends Four-Decade NATO Rift French President Nicolas Sarkozy has announced his country is to return to Nato's military command, reversing four decades of self-imposed exile. Mr Sarkozy confirmed the decision in a speech to defence experts at the Ecole Militaire staff college in Paris. President Charles de Gaulle pulled France out of Nato's integrated military command in 1966, saying it undermined France's sovereignty. Critics say France will now be no more than "a clone of Great Britain". But Mr Sarkozy said there was no sense in France - a founder member of Nato - having no say in the organisation's decisions on military strategy. "This rapprochement with Nato ensures our national independence," said Mr Sarkozy. "To distance ourselves would limit our independence and our room for manoeuvre. He went on: "We have to be progressive. A solitary nation is a nation that has no influence whatsoever. "We need strong diplomacy, a strong defence and a strong Europe." He said Nato remained a central element of France's security and defence policies, but stressed that he would not give up the country's independent nuclear deterrent. Mr Sarkozy is expected to formalise the move with a letter to Nato before the alliance celebrates its 60th anniversary next month with a summit in the French city of Strasbourg. Military action Nato Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer warmly welcomed Mr Sarkozy's announcement. "[France's] full participation in all the civil and military decision-making and planning processes cannot but strengthen the alliance further," he said. Correspondents say France's "independence" from Nato is dearly treasured by many French, and Mr Sarkozy's move has provoked a furore among those who worry it will now have to bow to US dominance. The great fear, says the BBC's Emma Jane Kirby in Paris, is that France will now be at the beck and call of the US, and may well be dragged into conflicts in which it did not want to be involved. "Nothing today justifies returning to Nato military command," said the leader of the opposition Socialists, Martine Aubry. "There's no hurry, no fundamental need, except for this Atlanticism that's becoming an ideology." But Defence Minister Herve Morin rejected claims France would now be forced to go along with the US on issues like the war with Iraq, which it vehemently opposed. Germany, he noted, has remained fully integrated in Nato yet opposed the war. Renewing France's relations with Nato "will benefit the alliance, benefit Europe and benefit France", Mr Morin said. "It will be done without calling into question the independence of France." Indeed, it would allow France to take a greater role in shaping military strategy, he argued. Javier Solana, the European Union's foreign policy chief, said France's re-entry into NATO would benefit security in Europe. "I think it's very important that France returns to the alliance completely," he said. "I think for those who believe, as myself, that there is a need of having a capacity, a military capacity, within the European Union, it's a very important decision that France is going to take." The US also reacted positively to Mr Sarkozy's announcement. "We are delighted that after a 43-year absence, France is back where it belongs, in the command structure of the alliance it helped found," said Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell. "Although their troops have been bravely fighting alongside ours in Afghanistan, it is welcome news to have them fully re-integrated in all Nato military matters." While in 1966 France withdrew from Nato's decision-making core, its nuclear weapons structure and planning committee, it never left the alliance itself. Indeed, it has been one of the most active members, supplying troops under allied command in Bosnia, Kosovo and in Afghanistan, where it has suffered significant losses. Analysts say France has actually been gradually moving closer to the heart of Nato since the end of the Cold War.

BBC NEWS | Europe | France ends four-decade Nato rift

Well, I never thought I'd see the day where I'd agree with anything Mr Sarkozy has to say, but I guess that day has come. It's about time that France joined the rest of the global community. Not that the rest of the global community is part of NATO. But, you know, it's all well and good to have your sovereignty and your independence, and I fully believe that Mr Sarkozy should work very hard towards maintaining that, but you can't have as much a say on international affairs when you don't have a stake in their outcomes.

Hopefully, this will lead to greater international collaboration just as, hopefully, everyone now opposing this move will realize that working together does not mean we all have to always do what the United States want us to do. Though, I have to say that nobody's going to be tremendously shocked that the U.S. are happy to hear this news. No kidding, right?

All in all, though, I do think this is a step in the right direction. So long as Mr Sarkozy remembers that France is not American.

[sunnykerr]

Fritzl Daughter Testifies in Incest Case ST. POELTEN, Austria (CNN) -- The daughter of Josef Fritzl, the Austrian man accused of keeping her in a cellar for decades and fathering her seven children, testified against him by video at his trial Tuesday. One of Elisabeth Fritzl's brothers, Harald, also testified by video, a court spokesman said. The media and public have been barred from the courtroom for sensitive parts of the trial. Fritzl has pleaded guilty to incest and other charges, but denied murder and enslavement. He pleaded "partly guilty" -- an option in Austrian court -- to multiple charges of raping his daughter, Franz Cutka, a spokesman for the court in Landesgericht St. Poelten, said. A verdict is expected on Thursday, Cutka said. Elisabeth testified on an 11-hour videotape. Portions of the tape were played Monday, and Fritzl was asked about it. The remainder of the tape was played Tuesday, officials said. Authorities have said Elisabeth and her children were given new identities and are in a secret location. Details of her testimony were not made clear at the daily afternoon news conference. Asked at the news conference why other family members have not testified, officials said they did not wish to do so. The murder charge relates to an infant named Michael Fritzl who died soon after birth, allegedly from lack of medical care, State Prosecutor Gerhard Sedlacek says. A neo-natal expert gave evidence Tuesday in relation to the murder charge. As he had Monday when the trial opened, Fritzl concealed his face behind a file binder as he arrived in court to shield himself from reporters, television cameras and photographers and escorted by a phalanx of police officers. Later Tuesday he dropped his guard and was pictured with the binder by his side, talking to security guards. During the trial, prosecutors have painted a chilling picture of the more than two decades Elisabeth spent in the cellar of the family home in Amstetten with three of her children. Fritzl took three other children upstairs, authorities have said, telling his wife and other relatives that the missing Elisabeth had dropped them at the house. The woman and the remaining children never saw daylight, prosecutors said, and Fritzl went away for long periods of time, causing them to go hungry when he did not bring them food. To punish them, prosecutors said, Fritzl sometimes turned the power off in the cellar for up to 10 days. In addition, they alleged, Elisabeth was often sexually assaulted in front of the children. The case first came to light in April 2008 when Elisabeth's then-19-year-old daughter, Kerstin, became seriously ill with convulsions, and Elisabeth persuaded her father to allow the girl to be taken to a hospital. Hospital staff became suspicious and alerted police, who discovered the family members in the cellar. Police said Fritzl confessed to them that he had sex with his daughter, kept her and their children in captivity, and burned the body of the infant in an oven in the house. Elisabeth told police the infant was one of twins, and died a few days after birth. When Elisabeth gained her freedom, she told police her father began sexually abusing her at age 11. Seven years later, she said, he drugged, handcuffed and locked her in the cellar. To back up his story that she had run away, Fritzl forced Elisabeth to write letters, authorities have said. Defense attorney Rudolph Mayer has said his client, 73, expects to spend the rest of his life in prison. Under Austrian law, if Fritzl is convicted on several offenses, he will be given the sentence linked to the worst crime. The charges he faces are: • Murder: The infant who died in 1996 died from a lack of medical care, the state prosecutor said. The charge carries a sentence of life in prison. • Involvement in slave trade: From 1984 until 2008, prosecutors allege, Fritzl held his daughter, Elisabeth, captive in a dungeon, abused her sexually and treated her as if she were his personal property -- in a situation similar to slavery. If he is convicted, the sentence could range from 10 to 20 years in prison. • Rape: Between August 30, 1984, and June 30, 1989, Fritzl "regularly sexually abused Elisabeth," according to the prosecutor. The sentence could be from five to 15 years in prison. • Incest: Parallel to the rape charge. It carries a sentence of up to one year. • Withdrawal of liberty: Three of the children Fritzl had with Elisabeth were illegally held captive in a dungeon with no daylight or fresh air, according to prosecutors. That charge carries a sentence of one to 10 years. • Assault: Between August 28, 1984, and April 26, 2006, Fritzl repeatedly threatened Elisabeth and their three children with gas and booby traps as warnings in case they tried to escape, authorities allege. The sentence would range from six months to five years.

Fritzl daughter testifies in incest case - CNN.com

This story is so disturbing. I hope they give that rotten excuse for a human being the biggest, baddest sentence possible.

[sunnykerr]

Sarkozy Survives Vote Over NATO The French parliament has backed President Nicolas Sarkozy's decision to take France fully back into Nato, rejecting a no-confidence motion. Opposition critics and some among Mr Sarkozy's UMP party say the move will weaken French independence from the US. But France's national assembly voted by 329 votes to 238 in favour of Mr Sarkozy's government. The policy reverses a 1966 decision by the late President Charles de Gaulle to pull out of Nato's military command. France is already among the top five contributors to Nato operations and currently has some 3,000 troops in Afghanistan, where it has suffered significant losses. 'Deep misgivings' The outcome of the vote was never in doubt, the BBC's Alasdair Sandford reports from Paris. The fact that this was a vote of confidence in the government ensured that dissenting voices within its ranks came on board in the end, our correspondent adds. Conservative Prime Minister Francois Fillon proposed the no-confidence motion two weeks ago amid heavy opposition to boosting ties with Nato. No fewer than four former French prime ministers came out against the move. One of them, senior Socialist Laurent Fabius, questioned whether in 2003 France would have taken a lead in opposing the invasion of Iraq, had it been a full Nato player. But Prime Minister Fillon told the national assembly in a pre-debate session that the decision to re-join was "simply an adjustment" rather than a break from the past. He rejected criticism that Paris would be forced to bow to US interests, saying France was always an ally to the United States, but never subordinate. President Sarkozy formally announced in a speech last Thursday that he wanted France to rejoin Nato's military command. The move reversed a decades-old decision by President de Gaulle to pull France out of the Nato command and evict the alliance's headquarters from French soil to affirm France's independence and its rise as a nuclear power in the Cold War world. Mr Sarkozy said there was no sense in France - a founder member of Nato - having no say in the organisation's decisions on military strategy. The return to the military command is now expected to become official at Nato's 60th anniversary summit that will be jointly hosted by France and Germany in Strasbourg next month.

BBC NEWS | Europe | Sarkozy survives vote over Nato

Well, thank god for small mercies. This was the stupidest thing I have ever heard of. Non-confidence over joining other countries? It's not like the US is the only country in NATO. And it's not like joining an organization where the US is a member automatically robs the French of their free will or their leaders from doing what their constituents want them to.

[Callace]

As to the Fritzl-case i am glad we dont know any of the details. That the court, at least, has respect for privacy. This is a private trauma, which should not be entertainment for the world to gorge ourselves on. I have read that the press were hiding in the bushes to get photographs of that family in the health care institution, so that they couldnt enjoy life outdoors there either

[sunnykerr]

That's a good point. I guess the Austrian government is better at protecting the privacy of its citizen than ours are. If something like that happened on this side of the Atlantic, you just know that someone would leak the information or that it would get out somehow.

However, considering they only serve concurrent sentences, I really, really hope they convict him of murder. It would make sense, considering that poor baby died from lack of medical attention. It would even qualify as first-quality murder, or whatever the Austrian equivalent of it is, since that poor little child died because of a lack of medical attention and that happened because of this man's sick and twisted actions.

[4N6 DNA]

Banner and related threads for the OP.

"Joker" creche killings stun Belgium
Close British borders to immigration for 10 years

[sunnykerr]

Austrian Fritzl Sentenced to Life Austrian Josef Fritzl, who kept his daughter in a cellar and fathered her seven children, has been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. Fritzl, 73, was found guilty of all charges against him, including rape, incest, murder and enslavement. He showed no obvious emotion at the verdict, telling the court that he accepted it and would not appeal. The court ordered that Fritzl should serve his life sentence in a secure psychiatric facility. The judge said he could speak to his lawyer but he shook his head. Then he was led out of court with an impassive face. Fritzl's lawyer, Rudolf Mayer, said outside the court after the verdict: "I would say that the verdict was a logical consequence of a confession. "Of course if you have 3,000 cases of rape and 24 years of being kept in a cellar, it is evident that there can only be a punishment or verdict like this one." The life sentence was handed down for the murder by neglect of one of the children, who died soon after birth. The jury unanimously accepted prosecutors' arguments that the child could have survived if it had received medical care denied by Fritzl. The defendant first denied murder and enslavement but changed his plea to guilty after seeing testimony from his daughter. The verdict is final and irreversible, as neither the defence nor the prosecution is contesting it. Co-ordination centre The BBC's Bethany Bell at the court says there has been a huge amount of media interest in the trial, and its twists and turns have been enormous. At the time of the first details of this case, no-one could grasp the extent of this man's crimes, she says, and Austria still has to come to terms with it. Court officials said Fritzl would initially return to St Poelten jail, where he has been held in custody. Justice Ministry spokeswoman Katharina Swoboda told AFP news agency that he would remain there in the coming weeks. The prison's deputy warden, Erich Huber-Guensthofer, said he would be kept under suicide watch. He will then be sent to a co-ordination centre, where it will be determined how dangerous he is and whether he is able to undergo therapy, before going on to the psychiatric facility. He could in theory be released from the facility if he is deemed to be cured of his illness and would serve the remainder of his sentence in a normal prison. In this case he will be eligible for release after 15 years. Court spokesman Franz Cutka said Fritzl's daughter could also bring a civil case against her father, adding that there was no limit to the damages she could request. Regrets The Austrian imprisoned his daughter in a cellar under his house for 24 years and repeatedly raped her. The daughter and three of the children were kept captive in the cellar until the case came to light in April last year, when one of them became seriously ill and was taken to hospital. In his surprise confession on Wednesday, Fritzl admitted murdering by neglect one of newborn twin boys his daughter gave birth to in 1996, having failed to arrange medical care for the ailing infant. The other three children were raised in the family home by Fritzl and his wife, after he told people that his daughter had abandoned them and joined a sect. The daughter and her six surviving children have been recovering from their ordeal in a psychiatric clinic and at a secret location. Addressing the jury before the verdict, Fritzl said: "I regret from the bottom of my heart what I've done to my family." "Unfortunately I cannot undo what I did. I can only try to limit the damage done as best as I can," he said. FRITZL'S CRIMES Murder by neglect Enslavement Deprivation of liberty Rape Incest Coercion

BBC NEWS | Europe | Austrian Fritzl sentenced to life

Well, that's a relief, I have to say.