'Raped' Delhi five-year-old in a critical condition

A five-year-old girl is battling for her life after being allegedly kidnapped and repeatedly raped by a neighbour in the Indian capital, Delhi.

The girl was taken hostage on Monday and attacked in a locked room for over 48 hours, police said.

Reports say she was rescued by a passer-by who heard her cries on Wednesday. No arrests have been made.

The issue of sexual violence against women and
girls has been under intense scrutiny in India

The gang rape and murder of a student on a Delhi bus in December sparked protests across India.

In a separate development, police in Delhi say they are also looking for a group of men who allegedly gang-raped a 19-year-old woman on Wednesday night.

Reports say the woman, who works as a domestic helper, was offered a lift in a vehicle by the men and then allegedly sedated and raped.

'Traumatised'

The five-year-old girl has been admitted to a city hospital in a critical condition.

"The girl was traumatised when she was brought to us. There were injuries to her lips, cheeks and chest wall. There were bruises on her neck," RN Bansal, chief of Swami Dayanand hospital, told the NDTV news channel.

Delhi police spokesman Rajan Bhagat told the AFP news agency that police had launched a probe into the rape and "attempted murder" of the girl.

There have been protests outside the hospital where the girl is being treated.

Mr Bhagat said a case of rape had been registered in connection with the attack on the 19-year-old girl, who was found semi-naked by pedestrians on a road early on Thursday.

Doctors at the city's Safdarjung Hospital said she that although she was suffering from trauma, there were no signs of external injuries.

Reports said the woman, who is married and comes from from Nepal, was on the way to her brother's house from her employer's residence in the up-market Defence Colony neighbourhood when a car carrying the men stopped to ask her for directions and offered to drop her near her home.

The issue of sexual violence against women and girls has been under intense scrutiny in India after the rape and murder of a student on a Delhi bus in December led to widespread protests.

Six people have been charged over the case which shocked the nation.

Five of them are on trial in a specially convened fast-track court and face the death penalty.

The sixth accused, a minor, is being tried in a juvenile court.

All six accused have pleaded not guilty.

Last month India passed a new bill containing harsher punishments, including the death penalty, for rapists.

Source BBC

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Posted in: Society

Boston marathon bombs suspect captured

The teenage suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings is in custody after being found hiding in a boat in a suburban homeowner's backyard.

Police said they exchanged gunfire with Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, after cornering him in Watertown, near Boston.

He had escaped on foot early on Friday, apparently wounded, after a police shootout that claimed the life of his elder brother, an alleged accomplice.

Three people died and more than 170 were hurt in Monday's bombings.

At a Friday night press conference, US President Barack Obama promised to seek answers on what had motivated the bombers and whether they had help.

Col Timothy Alben of the Massachusetts State Police:
 "We're exhausted... but have a victory"

He spoke just after state police told journalists that the suspect was being treated at a Massachusetts hospital, bleeding and seriously injured with gunshot wounds to the neck and leg.

'Captured!'

The breakthrough came less than an hour after authorities lifted a city-wide order for residents to stay indoors, and reopened the transport system, as the trail appeared to have gone cold.

Authorities captured the suspect following a tip from a resident of Franklin Street, Watertown, who emerged from his home after the lockdown was lifted and noticed blood near the boat.

Upon opening the top of the boat and finding a man covered in blood, the resident called police.

Bomb-squad vans and ambulances surrounded the house, while helicopters buzzed overhead.

Police said they exchanged gunfire with the suspect for about an hour before moving in and seizing him.

The authorities said they also tossed flash-bang grenades into the boat to disorient the fugitive.

A crowd gathered near the scene cheered as the suspect was taken into custody.

Boston Police Department tweeted: "CAPTURED!!! The hunt is over. The search is done. The terror is over. And justice has won. Suspect in custody."

Thousands of Swat team officers had earlier scoured the streets all day in a manhunt that virtually shut down the city.

Massachusetts officials had shut down all mass transit and warned close to one million people in Boston and some of its suburbs not to leave their homes.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, a college student, had fled on foot following a gun battle that left 200 spent rounds and a car chase in which he and his brother, 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev, hurled explosives at police, authorities said.

The pair also shot and killed a university policeman and severely wounded another officer late on Thursday, authorities said, hours after the FBI released images of the marathon-bombing suspects.

Russian warning?

Law enforcement officials and family members have identified the Tsarnaev brothers as ethnic Chechens who had been living in America for about a decade.

The FBI interviewed Tamerlan Tsarnaev in 2011 after a request from a foreign government, US law enforcements officials have confirmed. But agents closed the case after finding no cause for concern.

In an interview on Russian television, the mother of the two suspects said the FBI was in contact with her son for several years.

It is not known which country made the request, but the BBC's Paul Adams in Washington says it is likely to have come from the Russians.

Our correspondent says now that the manhunt in Boston is over, the extent of the FBI's prior knowledge of Tamerlan Tsarnaev's activities is likely to be examined.

Monday's attack killed Martin Richard, aged eight, Krystle Campbell, 29, and Lu Lingzi, 23, a postgraduate student from China.

Earlier on Friday, the father of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev said his son was a second-year medical student in the US and was hoping to be a brain surgeon.

Anzor Tsarnaev told the BBC he believed the secret services had framed his sons.

"It was a terrorist attack carefully organised by secret services - I don't know which ones. My son used to go to a mosque, so they once paid us a visit to ask why he is doing that.

"Yes, there was such an episode. So they put all the blame on him and shot him. That's it."

But Ruslan Tsarni, an uncle of the suspects who lives in Maryland, said he was "ashamed" his nephews' alleged role in the bombings.

Asked what the bombers' motives may have been, he replied: "Being losers, hating everyone around them."

Also on Friday, investigators removed a computer and other evidence from the New Jersey home of the Tsarnaev brothers' sister, police said.

Ailina Tsarnaeva, who lives in the town of West New York, is said to have told FBI agents she had had no contact with her brothers for some time.

Source BBC

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Posted in: USA,violence

Rumor of ‘ninja robbers/rapists’ worries residents

V.T.N, a local in a residential quarter in Long Hai Town, had to have 11 stitches on the wounds on her right hand after being sexually attacked by a man on April 11

Locals in a district in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province are worried about a rumor that a robbery gang can break into houses from the roof to rob residents and rape women.

The information has been provided to Tuoi Tre by residents of Long Hai town in Long Dien district, who said they and other locals were very anxious about their safety, although police rejected the rumor.

On April 17, Tuoi Tre reporters arrived in Long Hai and Duong Van Chia, a local, said many families were very anxious about the risk of being attacked by a robbery gang.

“The rumor says these robbers are so tactical that they can ‘make themselves invisible' when they move from one rooftop to another without being detected,” Chia said.

Since April 10, locals have set up watch teams to guard and detect any suspicious strangers trying to enter their residential quarters.

Hoang Thi Dung, head of a residential quarter, said that on the night of April 13, watchmen saw some people moving on the rooftops but could not track them down.

Tran Van Vinh, a local, said he heard loud noises coming from his roof and the roof, tiled with metal roofing sheets, later sank a bit.

Two days later, local guards found a stranger entering their residential area and seized him. The man, who said he is a native of Quang Binh province and homeless, was handed over to police, who later sent the man to a social center.

There have been no robbers or thieves arrested so far.

Rape?

It seems that the rumor is based on real cases that have recently occurred to two local women, many residents said.

The first case is of V.T.N., a woman who reported she had attacked by a robber at 2 am on April 11.

N. said that a man used a knife to threaten her when she found him breaking into her house. The men used a pair of scissors to cut her net-mosquito and said, “Keep silent or I will kill you!”

The man then asked where she kept her money and after she said she had no money, he covered her face with a blanket and searched the house for money.

After failing to find money, he forced N. to use her hands to stimulate his penis. N. then managed to grasp the pair of scissors and tried to get away from the man while shouting loudly for help.

The man ran away with the scissors, while N. suffered many cuts on her hands. She later had to have 11 stitches on the wounds.

The second case happened to C.T.N., who lost a mobile phone and VND60,000 (US$2.8) to a robber who threatened and launched a sexual attack on her before she managed to escape from him early on the morning of April 9.

Local authorities have calmed down residents and advised them not to be excessively worried by rumors while awaiting investigation and conclusions by police, said Nguyen Van Son, chairman of the town People’s Committee.

Police will boost their patrols in many areas in the town, Son added.
source tuoitrenews.vn

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Posted in: Society,Vietnam

Texas fertiliser plant blast leaves scores injured

The blast at the West Fertilizer plant was reported at 19:50 (00:50 GMT)

Scores of people are reported injured and others are trapped in burning buildings after a huge explosion at a fertiliser plant near Waco in the US state of Texas.

Firefighters, ambulances and six helicopters have been mobilised to deal with the situation.
Several buildings are still on fire, after the blast at the West Fertilizer plant about 19:50 (00:50 GMT).
An official confirmed there were deaths, but could not give a figure.

"It was like being in a tornado. Stuff was flying everywhere. It blew out my windshield. It was like the whole earth shook.”Debby Marak, witness

Dean Wilson, of the Texas Department of Public Safety, told a news conference that they were still conducting house to house searches.

He said the fire was still smouldering and that no firefighters were tackling it as there was the risk of further explosions.
Half the town had been evacuated, he added.

Local emergency workers were mobilised to the scene

The Waco Tribune-Herald reported that firefighters had been trying to put out a fire at the plant when the explosion happened, and that some were among those injured.

The blast happened in West, a town of about 2,700 people some 20 miles (32km) north of Waco.
TV images showed streams of emergency vehicles descending on the site and ambulance crews using a nearby sports field as an emergency treatment area.
Glenn A Robinson, chief executive of Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center in Waco, told CNN that his hospital had received 66 injured people including 38 who were seriously hurt.
He said the hospital was seeing "everything from orthopaedic injuries to patients that are experiencing serious blood loss".
McLennan County Sheriff Parnell McNamara said: "It's a lot of devastation. I've never seen anything like this. It looks like a war zone with all the debris."
Unconfirmed reports said a nursing home had collapsed in the explosion and some people were believed trapped inside.

The massive blast was heard from miles around

Witness Debby Marak told the Associated Press news agency that she had seen smoke coming from the area near the plant and had driven over to see what was happening.
She said that when she arrived, two boys ran toward her screaming that the authorities had told them to leave because the fertiliser plant was going to explode.
 She said she drove a short distance before the blast happened.
"It was like being in a tornado," she said. "Stuff was flying everywhere. It blew out my windshield. It was like the whole earth shook."
Another resident told KWTX-TV that she heard several explosions from 13 miles (20km) away.
"It sounded like three bombs going off very close to us,'' said Lydia Zimmerman.
The air in town was still covered in acrid smoke more than two hours after the explosion.
The area around the site was littered with shards of wood, bricks and glass.
Texas Governor Rick Perry said in a statement: "We are monitoring developments and gathering information as details continue to emerge about this incident.
"We have also mobilised state resources to help local authorities. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of West, and the first responders on the scene."

Source BBC

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Posted in: USA,violence

Tevez goal keeps Man City title hopes alive

Carlos Tevez scored a late winner to maintain Manchester City's slim title hopes with victory over Wigan.
City struggled at the Etihad Stadium and were grateful for a fine Joe Hart save from Wigan striker Franco Di Santo in the first half.

By Graham Chase BBC Sport

But Tevez slipped past Paul Scharner and Jordi Gomez before hitting a shot into Joel Robles' top corner.
City moved to within 13 points of leaders Manchester United, while Wigan remain three points from safety.
Following their impressive form of recent weeks, this was a return to the listlessness that saw City's Premier League title defence fall away in the middle phase of the season.
Argentine striker Sergio Aguero was withdrawn at half-time and there had been little spark from Yaya Toure, Samir Nasri or Tevez, with manager Roberto Mancini blaming tiredness after Sunday's 2-1 FA Cup semi-final win over Chelsea for his team's underwhelming display.
But Tevez finally struck in the 83rd minute to secure an eighth win in nine league and cup matches.
Wigan ultimately came away with nothing, but this was a performance suggesting both that it is folly to write off the Latics' hopes against City in next month's FA Cup final, and that Roberto Martinez's team must have confidence they can once again avoid relegation.
They trail Sunderland, Stoke and Aston Villa by three points and still have a game in hand over all three going into their trip to West Ham at the weekend.

After a ponderous opening, it took news that West Ham had taken the lead against United to galvanise the crowd but Wigan had the better opportunities in the first half.

For the hosts, Aguero skipped infield past Emmerson Boyce and Scharner and bent a shot just beyond the far post.
But the visitors passed up two clear chances to take the lead in the space of a minute.
A long ball from Di Santo caught out Joleon Lescott, and Arouna Kone failed to control when he would have been clean through on Hart.
And after Shaun Maloney flicked a Kone pass into Di Santo's path, the Argentina international drifted past Lescott and Gareth Barry before a low save from Hart denied him.
Wigan goalkeeper Robles was worked for the first time when he tipped a mis-hit cross from Aleksandar Kolarov around the post.
Mancini brought Edin Dzeko on for Aguero but it was Wigan who continued to carry the greater threat.
Maloney eased past Richards and hit a bending shot that beat Hart but was hacked away by Lescott, before Kone also sliced wide after a quick break.
An impressive sliding challenge from Vincent Kompany then blocked Kone's close-range effort after passes from Maloney and Di Santo had cut the City defence open.
Tevez dragged a shot wide as City's desperation mounted but Hart was worked again when he pushed away a Callum McManaman effort.
Home frustration was finally ended when Kolarov picked out Tevez and the Argentine beat two Wigan defenders on the edge of the area before steering a shot into the top corner for his 11th league goal of the season.
The goalscorer then missed narrowly with a free kick in added time, but his solitary strike was enough to earn City's seventh straight win over the Latics.

 Source BBC

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Posted in: Sport

New Zealand legalises same-sex marriage

New Zealand's parliament has legalised same-sex marriage, the first country in the Asia-Pacific region to do so.

The moment same-sex marriage became legal in New Zealand

Lawmakers approved the bill, amending the 1955 marriage act, despite opposition from Christian lobby groups.
The bill was passed with a wide majority, with 77 votes in favour and 44 against.
Hundreds of jubilant gay-rights advocates celebrated outside parliament after the bill was passed, calling it a milestone for equality.
People watching from the public gallery and some lawmakers immediately broke into song, singing the New Zealand love song "Pokarekare Ana", AP news agency reported.
Some opinion polls have suggested that about two-thirds of New Zealanders support the reform, although others polls suggest the public are more divided.
Parliamentarians were allowed a conscience vote, and, crucially, the reform had the backing of both the Prime Minister John Key and leader of the opposition David Shearer, the BBC's Phil Mercer in Sydney reports.
Celebrations have been held in pubs and clubs in the capital Wellington, our correspondent adds.
Same-sex civil unions have been legal in New Zealand since 2005.
'Human rights' "In our society, the meaning of marriage is universal - it's a declaration of love and commitment to a special person," Labour MP Louisa Wall, who introduced the legislation, said.

"Nothing could make me more proud to be a New Zealander than passing this bill," she added.

Drag artist Jake Andrew said he learned of the news at a club in Hamilton.
"We cheered, yelled, cried and sang - it was just amazing," he told the BBC.
"I am so happy, not only because I can now marry the person I love, but because New Zealand has moved a step further towards gay and lesbian people becoming completely equal with the rest of our society."
Tania Bermudez and Sonja Fry, a same-sex couple, said the bill was about human rights.
"It means that we can actually call each other wife," Ms Fry said.
However, Conservative Party leader Colin Craig said there were many people who disagreed with the bill.

People gathered in bars and pubs to watch the vote and celebrate the results

"We're seeing the politicians make a decision tonight that the people of this country wouldn't make," he said.
Bob McCoskrie, founder of the lobby group Family First, said the bill undermined the traditional concept of marriage.
"Historically and culturally, marriage is about man and a woman, and it shouldn't be touched," he said.
New Zealand becomes the 13th country to legalise same-sex marriage.
Other countries include the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Canada, South Africa, Argentina and Uruguay.
French and British lawmakers have also voted in favour of legislation allowing gay marriage, although the bills have not yet been passed into law.
No other country in the Asia-Pacific region allows gay marriage.
Australian members of parliament overwhelmingly voted against a bill that would have legalised same-sex marriages in September. However, some states allow civil unions for same-sex couples.
China does not allow gay marriage. However, transsexuals who have undergone surgery are able to marry someone of the opposite sex, provided their new gender is verified by the local public security authorities.

Source: BBC

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Posted in: Entertainment,Society

Obama 'ricin' letter suspect arrested

 An arrest has been made after letters containing suspected ricin were sent to US President Barack Obama and a US senator.

The alleged sender is a resident of Mississippi, US media report.

Jay Carney, White House spokesman: "They will be conducting further tests"

Initial tests on the letters, identified at remote facilities, showed the presence of the lethal toxin.
The FBI has said there is "no indication of a connection" between the letters and Monday's deadly attack in Boston.
The letters addressed to the president and Republican Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker were both postmarked Memphis, Tennessee, and dated 8 April.
The letters read: "To see a wrong and not expose it, is to become a silent partner to its continuance," according to US media citing intelligence sources.
They were reportedly signed: "I am KC and I approve this message."
The contents of the letter intended for President Obama were being sent to an accredited laboratory for further analysis, the FBI said, with results expected in 24 to 48 hours.

Earlier, police questioned a man in the area who had a backpack containing sealed envelopes, but he was not taken into custody.

Reports of suspicious packages and envelopes also led to areas within two Senate office buildings being cleared temporarily.
Meanwhile Democratic Senator Carl Levin said an aide had received a suspicious-looking letter and that the authorities were investigating.
All congressional mail has been sorted and tested off-site since letters laced with anthrax were posted to two senators in 2001.
A spokesman for the Secret Service, which protects the US president and his family, said it was liaising with the US Capitol Police and the FBI to trace the origins of the letters.
Ricin, extracted from castor beans, is 1,000 times more toxic than cyanide.
It can be fatal when inhaled, swallowed or injected, although it is possible to recover from exposure.
Source BBC

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Posted in: Politics,USA,violence

Boston Marathon bombing: FBI reveals pressure cooker clues

Bombs that targeted the Boston Marathon on Monday may have been packed in pressure cookers, investigators say.

The bombs apparently involved pressure cookers stuffed with metal shards

Images from a joint Homeland Security and FBI bulletin show the remains of a dark backpack, a detonation device and mangled pieces of metal.

Three people were killed and more than 170 injured when two bombs exploded near the finish line of Monday's race.

Those who died were an eight-year-old boy, a woman aged 29 and a postgraduate student from China.

The BBC's Paul Adams, in Boston, says vigils for the victims were held across the city on Tuesday night as Bostonians still wrestled with why anyone would want to attack their much-loved marathon.

President Barack Obama will travel to Boston on Thursday for a memorial.

'Someone knows'

FBI Special Agent Richard DesLauriers told a news conference that pieces of nylon had been recovered from the scene, along with fragments of ball bearings and nails that were "possibly contained in a pressure-cooker device".

He said they were being sent to the agency's laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, where experts would reconstruct the devices to determine their make-up and components.

He added: "The investigation is in its infancy. There are no claims of responsibility and the range of suspects and motives remains wide open."

Mr DesLauriers urged people to report anyone they had seen acting suspiciously.

"Someone knows who did this," he said.

Associated Press quoted a source close to the investigation as saying that the bombs consisted of explosives placed in 1.6-gallon pressure cookers, one with shards of metal and ball bearings, the other with nails.

The bombs were put into black bags and left on the ground, the source said.

Our correspondent says it has also been reported that a circuit board and battery pack - parts of a triggering mechanism - were also recovered.

Doctors treating the wounded say their injuries indicate that the bombs contained metal shards and other shrapnel. A number of victims have had limbs amputated.

Speaking at the same news conference, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick said the Boston community would "recover and heal" from the attack.

"This is one community. We are all in this together," he said.

President Obama will address an interfaith service in Boston for the victims on Thursday morning.

The White House said Mr Obama had cancelled a planned trip to Kansas to speak.

Earlier, President Obama condemned the bombings as a terrorist act.

He said the attack was "heinous and cowardly" but stressed it was not yet known whether an organisation - either domestic or foreign - or a "malevolent individual" was responsible, nor what the motive might have been.

"Everything else at this point is speculation," he said.

FBI Special Agent Richard DesLauriers gives
details of possible bomb components

"It will take time... but we will find whoever harmed our citizens and we will bring them to justice."

One of those who died has been named as eight-year-old Martin Richard, from the Dorchester area of Boston.

He was at the finishing line with his mother and sister, who were both seriously injured.

"They were looking in the crowd as the runners were coming to see if they could identify some of their friends when the bomb hit," Congressman Stephen Lynch, a friend of the Richard family, told Associated Press.

Flowers and tributes were being placed outside the family's home on Tuesday.

A second victim was named as Krystle Campbell, a 29-year-old restaurant manager.

Her mother, Patty, shaking with emotion, told reporters that "you couldn't ask for a better daughter".

"Everybody who knew her loved her... she had a heart of gold. This doesn't make any sense."

Boston University said the third person who died was a graduate student.In a statement on Tuesday,

The Chinese consulate in New York confirmed that the student who died was a Chinese national. "At the request of her family, the victim's personal information will not be disclosed," said a statement from the consulate.

She has been identified, however, by a Hong Kong TV channel which said she was from Shenyang in north-east China.

The university said she was with two friends watching the race near the finish line. One of the friends, named as Zhou Danling by Chinese TV, was said to be in a stable condition in hospital.

The consulate said it was providing "all necessary assistance" to the two families.

The first explosion went off close to the finish line at about 14:50 local time (18:50 GMT) on Monday.

Seconds later, as rescuers were rushing to help the injured, another explosion went off nearby.

Speaking at an earlier press conference, Mr DesLauriers moved to reassure the public, saying there was no longer any "known imminent physical threat" to Boston.

"We will go to the ends of the Earth to identify the subject or subjects who are responsible for this despicable crime, and we will do everything we can to bring them to justice," he said.

Police have asked the public to send in any videos or photographs they may have from the day.

The London Marathon - the next major international marathon - is to go ahead on Sunday, with police saying they have well-rehearsed security plans.

Organisers have said they will hold a 30-second silence at the start as a mark of respect.

Source BBC

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Posted in: Tội phạm,USA,violence

Kịch bản dối lừa trong vụ 'nho Big C gắn cờ Trung Quốc'

Thiên Minh - Hoàng Thắng (Petrotimes) - Ngày 15/4, bà Nguyễn Thị Như Mai – Trưởng Chi cục quản lý thị trường (QLTT) Hà Nội đã thông báo kết quả xử lý vụ "nho Big C gắn cờ Trung Quốc". Tuy nhiên, kết quả này đã nhanh chóng vấp phải sự phản ứng mạnh mẽ từ dư luận. Và một kịch bản dối lừa đã được phanh phui.

Đảo chiều: Nho Big C có nguồn gốc từ chợ Long Biên 

Ngày 15/4 Chi cục QLTT Hà Nội đã cung cấp thông tin cho rằng nho xanh bán tại Big C có dán cờ Trung Quốc có xuất xứ từ Ninh Thuận. Tuy nhiên, "tình tiết lạ" đã xuất hiện: Nhà cung cấp nho cho Big C được "đá" ra mãi chợ Long Biên chứ không phải là công ty Minh Quang như Big C tuyên bố lúc đầu. 

Theo đó, ngày 15/3, một khách hàng đến siêu thị Big C The Garden mua nho và phát hiện những khay nho xanh bày bán tại siêu thị có dán cờ Trung Quốc nhưng tem nhãn lại ghi "nho xanh Việt Nam". Big C tuyên bố đây là nho do công ty Minh Quang cung cấp. 

 Trong lần làm việc với PV Petrotimes, bà Bùi Thị Dung, Giám đốc Công ty Minh Quang cũng khẳng định: Nho xanh bán ở Big C là do công ty của bà cung cấp. Chúng tôi đưa ra một khay nho vừa mua ở Big C, bà Dung nhận ngay là nho của công ty mình. 

Cả Big C và Minh Quang đều khẳng định nho gắn cờ Trung Quốc là của Minh Quang cung cấp nhưng sau hơn 1 tháng "điều tra", số nho này lại được "đá" ra mãi chợ Long Biên. 

Một kịch bản hợp thức hóa tài tình được công bố chiều 15/4 như sau: 

1. Sau nhiều lần làm việc, công ty Minh Quang nhận là: Từ ngày 22/3 mới cung cấp nho cho Big C còn lô sản phẩm nho trước đó không liên quan. Vậy nên nho mà khách hàng bắt gặp trong Big C không phải là nho của Minh Quang. 

Vừa nhìn thấy khay nho, bà Dung đã
khẳng định đó là nho của mình cung cấp. 

 Mặc dù, trong buổi trả lời PV Petrotimes sáng 26/3, Bùi Thị Dung - giám đốc công ty Minh Quang khẳng định: "Mỗi ngày công ty Minh Quang cung cấp khoảng 50-70 kg nho xanh cho hai siêu thị là Big C The Garden và Big C Thăng Long. Tất cả số nho được đóng vào hộp nhựa lớn 10kg. Việc đóng gói và dán tem mác lên sản phẩm là do phía siêu thị đảm nhận." 

Theo lời bà Dung, công ty Minh Quang ký hợp đồng cung cấp hoa quả cho Big C từ nhiều năm nay và đây là lần đầu tiên sản phẩm do công ty Quang Minh cung cấp gặp sự cố. 

Bà Dung cũng khá thật thà thổ lộ: Không biết địa chỉ, số điện thoại hay liên hệ của người bà con ở cung cấp nho ở Ninh Thuận... 

2. Big C The Garden lên tiếng thừa nhận do sơ suất trong công tác quản lý giấy tờ nên nhầm lẫn và cho biết số nho gắn cờ Trung Quốc không phải mua của Minh Quang mà là từ... chợ Long Biên. 

Cụ thể là mua của bà Phạm Thị Hảo ở kiot 83 – 84 chợ Long Biên. Bà Hảo có hóa đơn chứng từ cấp cho Big C và khai nhận mua lại nho của bà Cao Thị Vượng - một hộ kinh doanh tại cổng chợ Long Biên. Bà Vượng nhận là mua nho từ Ninh Thuận. 

3. Đội quản lý thị trường số 3 làm việc với Ban quản lý chợ Long Biên và cho rằng bà Nguyễn Thị Ánh Thịnh, Phó ban quản lý chợ khẳng định trong tháng 3, chợ Long Biên không có nho xanh Trung Quốc; nho Trung Quốc chỉ có ở chợ Long Biên vào tháng 6 và 7. 

Thế nhưng, trong ngày 26/3, phóng viên Petrotimes đã ra chợ Long Biên, mua được nho Trung Quốc (tiểu thương thừa nhận nhập từ cửa khẩu Cốc Lếu, Lào Cai) để về so sánh. Độc giả có thể xem bức ảnh dưới đây (Ảnh đã được đăng trong bài viết "Có một 'trung gian ảo' vụ 'nho Việt Nam gắn cờ Trung Quốc?" vào ngày 26/3). 

Nho xanh Trung Quốc (bên phải) nhập từ cửa khẩu Lào Cai 

mà phóng viên Petrotimes mua tại chợ Long Biên vào ngày 26/3. 

Thế mà có người hồn nhiên tuyên bố là tháng 3 không có nho xanh Trung Quốc ở chợ Long Biên! 

4. Big C cũng nhanh chóng kiếm được một văn bản xác nhận từ Chủ tịch Hiệp hội nho Ninh Thuận cho rằng trong tháng 3 có một số lượng nho Ninh Thuận được đưa ra thị trường phía Bắc tiêu thụ. 

Tuy nhiên, trước đó, ông Nguyễn Văn Mọi - Phó chủ tịch Hiệp hội nho Ninh Thuận tuyên bố chắc chắn rằng: Nho Ninh Thuận chỉ cung cấp cho địa chỉ duy nhất ở quận Hai Bà Trưng, Hà Nội. Ông Mọi thậm chí còn cử chuyên gia Trần Mạnh Chiến đi xác minh. Kết quả là ông Chiến bị nhà cung cấp Minh Quang "tránh mặt". 

Một số nguồn tin riêng của Petrotimes cho biết, trong những ngày xảy ra sự cố, nhân viên của Minh Quang chạy như con thoi ra vào Ninh Thuận. Đúng như dự đoán của ông Trần Mạnh Chiến "Đợt này nho Ninh Thuận đang vào mùa, sản lượng lớn nên nếu các đơn vị ngoài Hà Nội vào đặt vấn đề mua nho. Đồng thời họ có thể xin thêm giấy tờ hợp thức hóa việc mua bán từ trước tới nay. Nếu họ giở trò này thì mọi hoài nghi coi như đi vào ngõ cụt" 

Và trên thực tế, đã có 1 văn bản được thu xếp ra đời, mặc dù nó cũng khá mù mờ, không khẳng định được nho ở Big C là nho Ninh Thuận nhưng cũng đủ làm cho dư luận hiểu sang một hướng khác. 

5. Big C im lặng để "câu giờ", có đủ thời gian hợp thức hóa.

Lúc đầu Big C tuyên bố hùng hồn: “Đây là nho xanh được trồng ở vùng Ninh Thuận, do doanh nghiệp Minh Quang có trụ sở ở Đan Phượng cung cấp và đầy đủ giấy tờ theo quy định. Việc xuất hiện cờ Trung Quốc trên nho chỉ là nhầm lẫn trong khâu đóng gói sản phẩm”. 

Đến khi không thể trốn tránh mãi trước những bằng chứng do Petrotimes phanh phui, Big C lại phủ nhận tuyên bố này và "đổ thẳng" ra chợ Long Biên. Một động thái hợp thức hóa tài tình và bất ngờ với tất cả. 

Cuối cùng là một kết luận làm an lòng dư luận được đưa ra: 

Siêu thị Big C thừa nhận dùng cờ các nước dán vào sản phẩm là vi phạm khoản 7 điều 30, Nghị định 75 về quy định xử phạt hành chính trong lĩnh vực văn hóa trong đó có nội dung quảng cáo tại Luật Quảng cáo. Với lỗi này, lực lượng quản lý thị trường xử phạt Big C The Garden 35 triệu đồng. Trong quá trình kiểm tra, lực lượng chức năng phát hiện một số sản phẩm nho có in nhãn hàng hóa không rõ ràng. 

Vụ việc được hợp thức hóa đúng như dự đoán của ông Trần Mạnh Chiến và phóng viên Petrotimes. 

Vậy là nghi án "gian thương", "gián điệp" trong vụ dán cờ Trung Quốc lên nho Việt Nam của Big C đã chuyển hóa một cách tài tình như vậy. 

Thiên Minh - Hoàng Thắng

http://petrotimes.vn/news/vn/phong-su-dieu-tra/kich-ban-doi-lua-trong-vu-nho-big-c-gan-co-trung-quoc.html

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Posted in: Business,Society,Vietnam,xã hội

The Price of Gold Is Crashing. Here's Why

By Peter Coy

A chart of the crashing price of gold looks like a wedding ring rolling off a table. Gold futures for June delivery closed at $1,361 an ounce on the Comex in New York today, a drop of more than $200 in two sessions. Gold’s fall of 13 percent since April 11 was the biggest two-session decline since 1980.

Why is gold plunging? The most important factor is that global inflation is falling, reducing gold’s value as a hedge against rising prices. Gold bugs who were betting on an outburst of inflation are scrambling to reverse their bets and exit their gold positions at any price.

For consumers struggling to make ends meet, it may seem hard to believe that inflation is falling. But the evidence is clear from JPMorgan Chase’s (JPM) global consumer price index, which covers more than 30 countries that collectively represent more than 90 percent of world economic output.

According to the JPMorgan index, global inflation peaked at 4 percent in 2011 and has fallen steadily since. Global prices in February were up only about 2.5 percent from a year earlier, the bank’s index says.

JPMorgan has two scenarios for what happens next. Its main one is based on a “bottom-up” collection of analysts’ forecasted price trends sector by sector around the world. That shows inflation rising very slightly from its current level for the rest of 2013. In contrast, JPMorgan’s “top-down” analysis, which is prepared by the banks’ economists and takes into account prices of commodity futures contracts, among other factors, shows inflation moving down closer to 2 percent in the second half of 2013.

The headline on JPMorgan’s report: “The slide in global inflation may not be over.”

Joseph Lupton, a senior global economist at JPMorgan Chase, said in an interview that the inflation decline is partly a matter of supply bottlenecks easing, which is a good thing, and demand growth slowing, which is not so good. Lupton said he’s not in the business of forecasting gold prices, which tend to be whipsawed by speculation more than other commodity prices are. Says Lupton: “Gold is an animal in and of itself.”

Last week Goldman Sachs (GS) warned that the retreat in gold was accelerating after the longest rally in nine decades.

“Anybody who did some buying before this big drop is probably in some pain,” Donald Selkin, who helps manage about $3 billion of assets as chief market strategist at National Securities Corp. in New York, told Bloomberg News. “The perception is that gold is not really needed as a safe haven. People are looking at the stock market, and they’re stunned, and there’s no inflation. So people are saying, ‘What do we need gold for?’”

source: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-04-15/the-price-of-gold-is-crashing-dot-heres-why#r=rss

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Posted in: Business

Công nhận VNCH vì biển đảo ngày nay?

Dương Danh Huy và cộng sự

Quỹ Nghiên cứu Biển Đông

Những định nghĩa pháp lý cho các chính thể Việt trong cuộc chiến chấm dứt ngày 30/4/1975 có vai trò quan trọng cho lập luận của Việt Nam về chủ quyền trên hai quần đảo Hoàng Sa và Trường Sa.

Tưởng niệm các quân nhân Việt Nam từ cả
hai phía hy sinh ở Hoàng Sa - Trường Sa

Sự quan trọng này không chỉ vì công hàm 1958 của Thủ tướng Việt Nam Dân Chủ Cộng Hòa (VNDCCH) Phạm Văn Đồng, mà còn vì Hà Nội đã không khẳng định chủ quyền đối với Hoàng Sa, Trường Sa từ năm 1954 đến 1975-1976.

Quốc gia duy trì chủ quyền

Trong phán quyết năm 2008 về tranh chấp cụm đảo Pedra Branca giữa Malaysia và Singapore, Tòa án Công lý Quốc tế cho rằng ban đầu Malaysia có chủ quyền đối với đảo Pedra Branca.

Tòa nói công hàm 1953 của Johor, nay là một tiểu bang của Malaysia, trả lời Singapore rằng Johor không đòi chủ quyền trên đảo này, không có hệ quả pháp lý mang tính quyết định và không có tính chất ràng buộc cho Johor.

Nhưng Tòa lại dựa vào việc trước và sau đó Johor và Malaysia không khẳng định chủ quyền và dùng công hàm 1953 của Johor như một trong những chứng cớ quan trọng cho việc Malaysia không đòi chủ quyền, để kết luận rằng tới năm 1980 chủ quyền đã rơi vào tay Singapore.

Bài học cho Việt Nam là: bất kể ban đầu Hoàng Sa, Trường Sa là của Việt Nam, và dù cho chúng ta có biện luận thành công rằng công hàm của Thủ tướng VNDCCH Phạm Văn Đồng không có tính ràng buộc về hai quần đảo này đi nữa, việc VNDCCH không khẳng định chủ quyền trong hơn 20 năm, trong khi các quốc gia khác làm điều đó, có khả năng sẽ làm cho VNDCCH không còn cơ sở để đòi chủ quyền nữa.

Vì vậy, trong lập luận pháp lý của Việt Nam phải có sự khẳng định chủ quyền đối với hai quần đảo này từ một chính phủ khác, lúc đó là đại diện hợp pháp cho một quốc gia Việt nào đó.

Trên lý thuyết, nếu chứng minh được từ năm 1954 đến 1975 chỉ có một quốc gia, và chính phủ Việt Nam Cộng Hòa (VNCH) là đại diện hợp pháp duy nhất của quốc gia đó, thì điều đó cũng đủ là cơ sở cho lập luận pháp lý của Việt Nam về Hoàng Sa, Trường Sa.

Trên thực tế, thứ nhất, chưa chắc chúng ta sẽ chứng minh được điều đó; thứ nhì, chính phủ Việt Nam ngày nay sẽ khó chấp nhận một chiến lược pháp lý dựa trên giả thuyết này.

Vì vậy, chiến lược khả thi hơn cho lập luận pháp lý của Việt Nam cần dựa trên điểm then chốt là từ năm 1958 đến 1976 có hai quốc gia khác nhau trên đất nước Việt Nam.

Phân tích này sử dụng ba khái niệm sau.

Đất nước, là một khái niệm địa lý, bao gồm một vùng lãnh thổ với dân cư. Chính phủ, là cơ quan hành pháp và đại diện. Quốc gia (trong bài này từ “quốc gia” được dùng với nghĩa State/État), là một chủ thể chính trị và pháp lý.

Trong Công ước Montevideo 1933, một quốc gia phải có lãnh thổ, dân cư, chính phủ, và khả năng có quan hệ ngoại giao với các quốc gia khác.

Thực chất, trong công pháp quốc tế chỉ có định nghĩa quốc gia như một chủ thể có năng lực pháp lý và năng lực hành vi (tức là có các quyền và nghĩa vụ phát sinh trực tiếp từ luật quốc tế) và chính phủ là thành phần của chủ thể đó, chứ không có khái niệm đất nước.

Một lãnh thổ - hai quốc gia

Hiệp định Genève 1954 chia đôi Việt Nam thành hai vùng tập kết quân sự. Mặc dù không chia Việt Nam thành hai quốc gia, Hiệp định đã tạo ra một ranh giới tại vĩ tuyến 17 giữa hai chính phủ đang tranh giành quyền lực, và ranh giới đó đã tạo điều kiện cho sự hiện hữu của hai quốc gia.

Một cơ sở của Trung Quốc ở quần đảo
 Trường Sa mà họ gọi là Nam Sa

Việc VNCH không chấp nhận thực hiện tổng tuyển cử vào năm 1956 đã làm cho ranh giới đó trở thành vô hạn định.

Sự hiện hữu của hai chính phủ hai bên một ranh giới vô hạn định ngày càng củng cố sự hình thành và hiện hữu trên thực tế của hai quốc gia trên lãnh thổ đó.

Điều có thể gây nghi vấn về sự hiện hữu của hai quốc gia là hiến pháp của VNDCCH và VNCH có vẻ như mâu thuẫn với sự hiện hữu đó.

Tới năm 1956, Hiến Pháp VNDCCH viết “Đất nước Việt Nam là một khối thống nhất Trung Nam Bắc không thể phân chia”, và Hiến Pháp VNCH viết “Ý thức rằng Hiến pháp phải thực hiện nguyện vọng của nhân dân, từ Mũi Cà Mâu đến Ải Nam Quan” và “Việt Nam là một nước Cộng hòa, Độc lập, Thống nhất, lãnh thổ bất khả phân.”

Nhưng sự mâu thuẫn đó không có nghĩa không thể có hai quốc gia.

Hiến pháp của Bắc Triều Tiên viết Cộng Hòa Dân Chủ Nhân Dân Triều Tiên là đại diện cho dân tộc Cao Ly, hiến pháp của Nam Hàn viết lãnh thổ của Đại Hàn Dân Quốc là bán đảo Cao Ly và các hải đảo, nhưng Bắc Triều Tiên và Nam Hàn vẫn là hai quốc gia.

Như vậy, có thể cho rằng từ năm 1956 hay sớm hơn đã có hai quốc gia, trên lãnh thổ Việt Nam, với vĩ tuyến 17 là biên giới trên thực tế giữa hai quốc gia đó.

Việc có hai quốc gia là cơ sở để cho rằng VNCH có thẩm quyền để khẳng định chủ quyền đối với Hoàng Sa, Trường Sa; VNDCCH không có thẩm quyền lãnh thổ gì đối với hai quần đảo đó.

Khi Chính Phủ Cách Mạng Lâm Thời Cộng Hòa Miền Nam Việt Nam (CPCMLT) ra đời ngày 8/6/1969, có thể cho rằng trong quốc gia với tên VNCH, về mặt pháp lý, có hai chính phủ cạnh tranh quyền lực với nhau: chính phủ VNCH và CPCMLT.

Khi VNDCCH công nhận CPCMLT là đại diện hợp pháp cho phía nam vĩ tuyến 17 thì có nghĩa VNDCCH công nhận trên diện pháp lý rằng phía nam vĩ tuyến 17 là một quốc gia khác.

Nhưng tới năm 1969 CPCMLT mới ra đời, và cho tới năm 1974 mới có một tuyên bố chung chung về các nước liên quan cần xem xét vấn đề biên giới lãnh thổ trên tinh thần bình đẳng, vv, và phải giải quyết bằng thương lượng.

Vì vậy, nếu chỉ công nhận CPCMLT thì cũng không đủ cho việc khẳng định chủ quyền đối với Hoàng Sa, Trường Sa từ thập niên 1950.

Quá trình thống nhất

Ngày 30/4/75, VNCH sụp đổ, còn lại duy nhất CPCMLT trong quốc gia phía nam vĩ tuyến 17. CPCMLT đổi tên quốc gia đó thành Cộng Hòa Miền Nam Việt Nam (CHMNVN), nhưng đó chỉ là sự thay đổi chính phủ và đổi tên, không phải là sự ra đời của một quốc gia mới.

Năm 1976, trên diện pháp lý, hai quốc gia trên thống nhất lại thành một, và từ đó Việt Nam lại là một quốc gia với một chính phủ trên một đất nước (lãnh thổ).

Sự thống nhất này đã không bị Liên Hiệp Quốc hay quốc gia nào lên tiếng phản đối.

Năm 1977, Cộng hòa Xã hội Chủ nghĩa Việt Nam được chấp nhận tham gia Liên Hiệp Quốc.

CHXHCNVN kế thừa vai trò của hai quốc gia VNDCCH và VNCH/CHMNVN trong các hiệp định và các tổ chức quốc tế, kế thừa lãnh thổ và thềm lục địa của VNCH/CHMNVN trong các tranh chấp với Campuchia, Thái Lan, Malaysia và Indonesia, và mặc nhiên có quyền kế thừa Hoàng Sa, Trường Sa từ VNCH/CHMNVN.

Lịch sử pháp lý trên nghe có vẻ sách vở, nhưng thực tế của nó là bom đạn, xương máu, và nhiều cảnh huynh đệ tương tàn.

Mặc dù lịch sử pháp lý đó đã kết thúc bằng một quốc gia trên đất nước (lãnh thổ) Việt Nam thống nhất, nó là một cuộc bể dâu làm đổ nhiều xương máu.

Nhưng quá khứ thì không ai thay đổi được, và tương lai thì không ai nên muốn đất nước Việt Nam lại bị chia đôi thành hai quốc gia lần nữa.

Việt Nam Cộng Hòa từng là một quốc gia
 có chủ quyền với Hoàng Sa và Trường Sa

Cuộc bể dâu đó cũng đã góp phần làm cho Hoàng Sa bị Trung Quốc chiếm đóng, và để lại cho Trung Quốc một lập luận lợi hại, rằng trước 1975 Việt Nam không tuyên bố chủ quyền trên hai quần đảo Hoàng Sa, Trường Sa, và đã công nhận chủ quyền Trung Quốc trên hai quần đảo này.

Nhưng việc đã từng có hai quốc gia trên một đất nước (lãnh thổ) Việt Nam trong giai đoạn 1956 đến 1976, và việc, vào năm 1976, hai quốc gia đó thống nhất thành một một cách hợp pháp, là một yếu tố quan trọng trong lập luận về Hoàng Sa, Trường Sa.

Ngày nay, chính phủ Việt Nam một mặt viện dẫn các tuyên bố và hành động chủ quyền của Việt Nam Cộng Hòa về Hoàng Sa, Trường Sa, nhưng mặt kia vẫn e ngại việc công nhận cụ thể và rộng rãi rằng Việt Nam Cộng Hòa từng là một quốc gia, mặc dù trong quá khứ Hà Nội đã công nhận rằng Cộng hòa miền Nam Việt Nam là một quốc gia.

Việc không công nhận cụ thể và rộng rãi rằng VNCH đã từng là một quốc gia làm giảm đi tính thuyết phục của việc viện dẫn các tuyên bố và hành động chủ quyền của VNCH về Hoàng Sa, Trường Sa, vì các tuyên bố và hành động chủ quyền phải là của một quốc gia thì mới có giá trị pháp lý.

Vì vậy, chính phủ Việt Nam cần phải bỏ sự e ngại này.

Mặt khác, Việt Nam cũng cần phải hạn chế tối đa những gì Trung Quốc có thể lợi dụng để tuyên truyền rằng CHXHCNVN ngày nay chỉ là VNDCCH, chẳng hạn như không nên đổi tên nước thành VNDCCH.

Bài viết thể hiện quan điểm riêng của Dương Danh Huy, Phạm Thanh Vân và Nguyễn Thái Linh từ Quỹ Nghiên cứu Biển Đông. Các tác giả cảm ơn GS Phạm Quang Tuấn đã góp ý cho bài.

Theo BBC

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Posted in: China,Politics,Society,Vietnam,xã hội

Local leader airlifted to HCMC by military helicopter

Nguyen Thanh Son, chairman of the southern Can Tho City Peoples Committee, speaking at a press conference on April 12, two days before he was air-lifted from Can Tho to HCMC for emergency treatment

Chairman of the southern Can Tho City People’s Committee has been taken to Ho Chi Minh City by a Defense Ministry helicopter for emergency treatment.

The official, Nguyen Thanh Son, 56, who is also deputy secretary of Can Tho City’s Party Committee, boarded a helicopter at 6 am yesterday and, after the vehicle landed at the airport, was taken by ambulance to Cho Ray Hospital.

By yesterday night, he was still in a coma in critical condition, doctors said.

Earlier that morning, when Son was riding a bicycle for exercise about four kilometers from his home, he suddenly fell off the vehicle to the ground.    

Locals who witnessed his accident took him to Can Tho General Hospital, where a CT imaging test showed that he had suffered a cerebral hemorrhage. Doctors later asked for assistance from their counterparts at Cho Ray Hospital, who came and performed minor surgery on the patient before the helicopter was mobilized to take him to HCMC for further treatment.

According to Major General Vu Cao Quan, commander of the Can Tho Military Command, it would take much more time to transport Son to HCMC by road than by air, while Son’s condition was very serious and needed medical intervention as soon as possible.

Quan said he consulted the Ministry of Defense and the ministry’s leader allowed for a helicopter to be used in transporting Son to HCMC.

Doctors at Cho Ray said Son was hospitalized and in a coma that could be a result of the cerebral hemorrhage that had been caused by the burst of a brain aneurysm. 

Son has a history of hypertension and high liver enzyme levels, according to the Can Tho authorities.

In talking with Tuoi Tre yesterday, Nguyen Quoc Trieu, head of the Central Healthcare Committee, said in recent times a number of high-ranking officials, including two Party Central Committee members,  have been transported by helicopter for medical treatment in emergency cases.

At the central level, officials ranking from deputy minister upwards, and at the provincial level, officials belonging to the provincial Standing Committee are eligible to enjoy specific standards of healthcare and medical treatment.

At present, there is no regulation on using helicopters to transport officials in case they need to be transported in such way for emergency medical treatment. However, if such a case occurs, provincial and municipal authorities will report the case to the Prime Minister for consideration and resolution, Trieu said.

Source tuoitrenews.vn

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Posted in: Society,Vietnam

Obama Vows to Solve Bombings as Investigators Comb Video Files

President Barack Obama committed the full resources of the federal government to the investigation of the deadly twin bombings at the Boston Marathon and he pledged to hold the perpetrators accountable.

“We still do not know who did this or why,” Obama said in a televised statement from the White House just over three hours after the explosions that killed three people and injured more than 100. “But make no mistake: we will get to the bottom of this. And we will find out who did this.” Whoever is responsible “will feel the full weight of justice.”

In this handout provided by the White House, U.S. President Barack Obama, left,
 talks on the phone with FBI Director Robert Mueller to receive an update
 on the explosions that occurred in Boston, in the Oval Office on April 15, 2013.
Photographer: Pete Souza/The White House via Getty Images

U.S. spy agencies had no advance warning of an impending attack, said Senate Intelligence Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein and two other intelligence officials, who asked for anonymity to discuss the investigation.

The blasts were the first mass-casualty bombing in the U.S. since the Sept. 11 attacks. Federal investigators were immediately dispatched to the scene to begin combing through video of the scene from multiple cameras and examine debris from the explosion for forensic clues. Police were examining other potential devices found in the area. They were not believed to be explosives, according to two federal law enforcement officials.

Several people were being questioned, including a foreign national in the country on an expired student visa who is not classified as a suspect at this point, according to a federal law enforcement official. Boston police have no suspect in custody, Commissioner Ed Davis said at a news briefing.

Terrorist Attack

The attack is being treated as a terrorist act because it involved multiple explosive devices, though investigators have not yet found any link to an organized terror group, foreign or domestic, said a White House official who asked for anonymity. Obama did not use the term terrorism in his televised remarks.

Federal law defines terrorism as violence to “intimidate or coerce” either the government or members of the public, according to the FBI website. The site chosen for the explosions, near the finish line of the race, provided maximum opportunity for television exposure.

Local police confiscated mobile phones from people in the area of the explosion, said Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican who is chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security. Insurgents in Iraq sometimes use cellphone signals to detonate bombs.

Obama cautioned that people “shouldn’t jump to conclusions before we have all the facts.”

Intelligence Agencies

U.S. intelligence agencies had no prior indications that any foreign group was planning an attack in the U.S. today, said two U.S. officials with access to classified reports of international communications, satellite imagery and other material that sometimes provides warnings of possible foreign terrorist acts.

A third official, who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly, said among the considerations is the timing of the attack. It came on the day when federal income taxes customarily are due and Patriots’ Day in Massachusetts, celebrating the opening shots of the American Revolution against the British Crown, which might point to a domestic extremist group.

Obama said security across the country would be stepped up “as necessary” in response to the attack. The Secret Service restricted pedestrian access in front of the White House “out of an abundance of caution,” said Edwin Donovan, a spokesman for the Secret Service.

Earlier Attempts

The blasts at the race, which attracts about 25,000 runners and 500,000 spectators each year, follow several bombing attempts since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001.

Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis, a 21-year-old man from Bangladesh, pleaded guilty in February to planning to bomb the New York Federal Reserve last year.

In 2010, Faisal Shahzad was sentenced to life in prison for driving a car containing an explosive into New York’s Times Square, and Najibullah Zazi pleaded guilty to supporting al- Qaeda and plotting in 2009 to attack New York subways.

Nor was yesterday’s attack the first bombing of a major U.S. sporting event.

A blast at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, Georgia, on July 26, 1996, killed one and injured more than 100 people. Eric Robert Rudolph, an anti-abortion activist, admitted detonating the 40-pound pipe bomb.

Task Force

Investigations into bombings like the pair of explosions near the finish line of the Boston Marathon are typically run by a Joint Terrorism Task Force, a partnership of law enforcement and investigative agencies ranging from state and local police departments to the FBI to the US. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to former government officials involved in such probes.

The oldest task forces, commonly referred to by their initials, JTTF, date back to the 1980s and currently number more than 100 nationwide, including one in the Boston area, according to Shawn Henry, a former executive assistant director of the FBI.

“It’ll be all hands on deck. Everybody working their areas of responsibility,” said Henry, referring to the initial effort to collect evidence and interview witnesses in the bombings.

“Investigators will be checking with their sources, looking at video feeds that might be available, talking to people who set up the course, seeing if they might have noticed something unusual,” said Henry, president of CrowdStrike Services, an Irvine, California-based security consultant. Authorities can’t automatically assume the bombings are the work of Islamist terrorists, who have been linked to several bomb plots since the Sept. 11 attacks, Henry said.

Seeking Motives

“It could be somebody who’s got a grievance,” Henry said, adding that yesterday was the day federal taxes are due. “It could be someone who doesn’t like paying taxes.”

Philip Mudd, former deputy director of the CIA’s Counterterrorist Center and a former senior intelligence adviser to the FBI, said investigators will be studying the style of the bombings, which based on what currently is publicly known, do not bear the classic marks of al Qaeda-inspired attack plots.

Those efforts have sought to inflict maximum casualties in crowded iconic locations, like New York’s Times Square, or its subway system, Mudd, director of global risk at SouthernSun Asset Management in Memphis, Tennessee, said.

“Here you have what appears to be a relatively small bomb in a public place that’s not iconic,” Mudd said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Mike Dorning in Washington atmdorning@bloomberg.net; Phil Mattingly in Washington at pmattingly@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steven Komarow at skomarow1@bloomberg.net

source bloomberg

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Posted in: Tội phạm,USA,violence