Silvio Berlusconi sentence: Is this the end for 'Il Cavaliere'?

After 25 years and nearly 30 trials, Italy's former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has for the first time been handed a definitive sentence by the country's highest court.

Berlusconi, who served three times as premier, was found guilty of tax fraud and given a four-year sentence, of which he will serve only one year due to an amnesty aimed at cutting down on prison overcrowding.

The high court also ordered a lower court to reconsider whether Berlusconi should be banned from public office. Prosecutors had been seeking a five-year ban, but the lower court will have to review this part of the sentence, and will probably issue a three-year ban.

So what happens next? Once the sentence goes into effect in a few days, Berlusconi will have 30 days to decide how he wants to serve the one-year sentence. Jail isn't an option given that the former premier is aged 76, so the choice is between house arrest, and more likely, community service.

Then there is the question of whether Berlusconi, a member of Italy's Senate, is eligible for public office, now that he's been convicted of a crime. According to Italy's anti-corruption law, which was passed by Mario Monti's government in late 2012, Berlusconi will be ineligible to hold public office after he serves this sentence, independent of the outcome of the review by the lower court.

The Italian Senate will need to decide when Berlusconi's ineligibility begins. Does it apply immediately, which would result in him stepping down as a senator? Or does it apply after the current parliamentary term? Either way, as things stand, Berlusconi cannot run for parliament for six years.

Once the public office ban is reviewed and completes its judicial journey, which will take months, it too would need a Senate vote for immediate enforcement, which could ban Berlusconi from holding public office for the duration of the sentence.

So what political implications does all this have on Enrico Letta's government and Italy's immediate political future?

The Senate vote will be the first critical step and is bound to lead to a ferocious divide in Letta's delicate "grand coalition" government, which is comprised of center-left parties and Berlusconi's center-right PdL party.

Even if Berlusconi was ineligible for office, there is technically nothing to stop him leading the center-right in an election campaign without running for office. The latest example of this in Italy is Beppe Grillo, the comedian turned politician, who leads his Five Star Movement despite being banned from public office due to a conviction over a road accident.

If the center-right won an election, the political office ban could be changed with a simple majority in parliament -- and with ineligibility out of the way, Berlusconi could at least technically become prime minister for a fourth time once the law is abolished.

Simply put, Silvio Berlusconi is down but definitely not out. A video statement he released Thursday confirmed this and read like a call to battle and the beginning of yet another very long election campaign.

We're in uncharted territory, and what happens next politically is nearly impossible to predict. But the possible outcomes include the downfall of the government.

What is certain is that in both the center-left and the center-right there will now be immense internal pressure.

With some pushing for an early election as a "referendum on Berlusconi" -- 43% of voters in one SWG poll released Friday believe Berlusconi is being persecuted by magistrates -- and others trying to maintain calm in order to keep the government alive in the name of national interest, it will be a question of who blinks first.

Read More

Yemeni girl from YouTube wants education, not marriage

A young Yemeni girl stares defiantly into the camera. Her question is a shocking one, coming from an 11-year-old:

"Would it make you happy to marry me off?" asks Nada Al-Ahdal.

In the nearly two-and-a-half-minute video, which was uploaded to YouTube and quickly went viral, Nada accuses her parents of trying to get her married off in exchange for money. She explains how she doesn't want to be one of Yemen's child brides.

"Death would be a better option for me," she declares.

Nada also speaks on behalf of other Yemeni girls: "What about the innocence of childhood? What have the children done wrong so that you would marry them off like that?"

The video, which been seen by millions of people around the world, has put a spotlight once more on Yemen's child marriages.

It has also made Nada an online sensation, although questions have been raised: Did her story add up? Was she really being pressured to get married?

Nada's parents have repeatedly stressed they have no intention to marry her off. And Seyaj, Yemen's leading child-rights organization, said they believed portions of Nada's story were fabricated.

Child brides: No sanctuary for Syria's female refugees

Yemen's history with child marriage

In deeply tribal Yemen, the issue of child marriage is extremely complicated.

In 2008, 10-year-old Nujood Ali shocked the world when she went to a court in Sanaa and asked a judge for a divorce.

After a highly publicized trial, she was granted one. She became a heroine to those trying to raise awareness about Yemen, where more than half of all young girls are married before age 18, according to Human Rights Watch.

In 2009, Yemen's parliament passed legislation raising the minimum age of marriage to 17. But conservative parliamentarians argued the bill violated Islamic law, which does not stipulate a minimum age of marriage, and the bill was never signed. Activist groups and politicians are still trying change the law, but more than 100 leading religious clerics have said restricting the age of marriage is "un-Islamic."

"The consequences of child marriage are devastating and long-lasting -- girls are removed from school, their education permanently disrupted, and many suffer chronic health problems as a result of having too many children too soon," said Liesl Gerntholtz, director of the Women's Rights Division at Human Rights Watch. "It is critical that Yemen takes immediate and concrete steps to protect girls from these abuses, including setting a minimum age of marriage."

Yemeni journalist Hind Aleryani, who interviewed Nada after the release of her video, says child marriage is a terrible problem in Yemen.

"It's common more in the poorer communities," Aleryani said. "There is a proverb, a Yemeni saying: 'Marry an 8-year-old girl, she's guaranteed,' which means the 8-year-old girl is surely a virgin. It's a disgusting saying and inhumane, but it's said by everyone and it's very well-known."

Aleryani adds, however, that there's reason for hope -- explaining how the fact there's been such a huge reaction to Nada's video proves attitudes are beginning to shift there.

"Things changed a lot after the revolution, and now people are more aware of the problem," she said. "Before we used to feel like there's no hope -- you can't do anything about it. Those conservative parties used to be stronger than us, but lately they are not."

Child bride turned scholar: Education is the road out of poverty

Talking to Nada

CNN found Nada a few weeks after the video's release, and she was living with her uncle in Sanaa.

She said it wasn't just her immediate family that she ran away from in her hometown of Hodeida.

"I ran away from marriage," she said. "I ran away from ignorance. I ran away from being bought and sold."

Seeming relaxed and happy, Nada showed off Facebook pages featuring her singing, and she talked about the singing group she's a part of -- an unusual sight in conservative, rural Yemen.

She said she asked a friend to make the YouTube video so she could tell the world how tough it is for girls there.

"I'd rather commit suicide than get engaged," she said.

Days later, Yemen's interior ministry, acting with Seyaj, took Nada from her uncle and placed her in a women's shelter. Ramzia Al-Eryani, one of Yemen's leading women's rights activists and president of the Yemen Women's Union, was appointed Nada's temporary legal guardian until the dispute could be settled.

Married at 13 to a man in his 70s

The drama came to a head this past weekend, and CNN gained exclusive access as the parties came face to face.

Before Nada entered the room, Al-Eryani spoke with both of Nada's parents and her uncle.

"If you love her, save her childhood. ... You all are adults -- you all know what's best for her -- but we need to protect this child," Al-Eryani said.

Nada entered the room a short time later. Facing her parents, she answered allegations that her story may have been made up.

At one point, she asked Al-Eryani, "Why do you believe them and don't believe me?" before breaking down in tears.

"I don't care about what's best for the mom or dad or uncle," Al-Eryani explained later, "just what's best for the girl."

Where the truth lies has been hard to determine.

In an extraordinary moment during the proceedings, Nada asked for something few in the room were expecting.

"In the countryside, there's no English classes, there's no computer classes," she said, talking about her hometown. "Please let me stay in Sanaa and study here."

All she wants, apparently, is a chance at a better life.

And she might get it: At the end of session, they made an agreement: The entire family -- parents and uncle included, are going to move into the house of another relative in Sanaa, to see if they can work it all out together.

 

Read More

A day and a night in Luanda, the world's most expensive city

You can almost smell the money in Luanda ... once again ranked most expensive city in the world for expats

For the second time in three years, the African city of Luanda has been declared the most expensive city in the world for expats by Mercer, a human resources consulting firm.

While it's true that most of the Angolan capital's population lives in poverty on the outskirts of the city, in the center, Porsche Cayennes share the road with Cadillac Escalades and the latest Range Rovers.

Hugo Boss makes such a killing here that it opened a second store within walking distance of the first.

For those not familiar with Luanda, however, the ranking may come as a surprise.

Tokyo (which took top spot in Mercer's survey last year) makes sense as the world's most expensive expat city.

So might Moscow or New York.

But Luanda?

What's it like to visit?

So, what's this scandalously expensive place -- where a mid-level expat professional might earn $10,000 a month -- like to visit?

First, some context.

Luanda is the capital of Africa's second largest oil producer, Angola (Nigeria beats it), a rising political and economic powerhouse.

Yet the country also suffered a destructive and violent 27-year civil war, ending only in 2002, which crippled its infrastructure and decimated its ability to produce its own food.

As a consequence, almost everything in Luanda has to be imported.

Heavy import duties, along with high taxes and monopolized supply chains linked to the powerful political elite further drive up the price of goods and services to astronomical levels.

Then there's institutional corruption, which creates high prices through price fixing and price collusion.

Sky-high hotel bills

Hotels are the visitor's biggest expense.

Despite more opening in recent years, prices have remained stuck at about $500 a night for five-star hotels, $350-400 for four-stars and $300-350 for mid-level lodging.

A meal at Luanda's smartest restaurants will easily top $100 per person, including appetizers and drinks.

Such prices can be supported only by expats working for multinational companies and wealthy Angolans who work for the country's burgeoning oil and banking sectors.

Most Luandans, by contrast, live on the city's periphery and make vastly inferior incomes.

While a mid-level banking professional might take home $8,000-$10,000 a month, a driver or housemaid makes $500 a month, if the boss is feeling generous.

Luxury car traffic jams may be a common sight in the capital, but the roads are appalling and public services -- from driver's license renewal to the post -- are horrendous.

(Perhaps send your postcards after leaving the country.)

Still keen to go?

Luanda is a dynamic, albeit challenging, place to visit and one you're unlikely to forget.

But it doesn't have to be prohibitively expensive -- if you know where to look.

A 'cheap' day and a night

Boats docked in Luanda marina.

Say you're in Luanda for a day and a night.

You'll need a hotel: Epic Sana Luanda (Rua da Missão, Mutamba; +244 222 642 600; from $500 a night) is considered the best in the city, with prices to match, while Executive Hotel Samba (Rua da Samba s/n, Samba, Luanda; +244 915407117; from $300), offers rare decent value, all things considered.

As soon as you step out of the hotel door, the only way to avoid a cash hemorrhage is to follow the age-old expat line and start living like a local.

The city doesn't have much in the way of museums and public parks, but it's worth walking along the recently refurbished Marginal, the seafood promenade that stretches from the local port to the Ilha, the peninsula jutting into Luanda Bay.

If you do, keep an eye on the imposing, whitewashed Portuguese fort perched on a hill overlooking the city; once you get close, take a left, go up the hill and you'll find an armed forces museum (+244 222 373 623) located inside the structure.

Beach life ... free in Luanda.

Beach life

Beaches are a must in Angola in summer.

Near Luanda, Mussulo Island is a spit of land with thatch-roofed restaurants and hotel bungalows on one side and miles of deserted beach, with fantastic waves, on the other.

You can catch water taxis out to Mussulo at the Embarcadouro dock ($5) and spend the day there.

Another option is to get out of Luanda altogether and head 40 kilometers south to the Miradouro da Lua, a beautiful landscape of cliffs, pinnacles and valleys stretching toward the horizon.

Dotted with baobab trees, the long, empty savanna will make you question why everyone stays crammed in the city.

At Cabo Ledo, about 150 kilometers south of Luanda, you'll find some of the country's finest beaches, excellent for surfing.

Angolan cuisine

Angolan cuisine takes advantage of more than a thousand kilometers of coastline . Presumably these fish don't know how much they'll end up costing.

Angola has a culinary tradition influenced by 500 years of Portuguese colonization and seafood from more than a thousand kilometers of coastline.

In the Mutamba, Luanda's central business district, a good spot for lunch is Tendinha (Rua da Missão 16, Mutamba; +244 923 542 868), a friendly Angolan bistro where the beer is cold and the food is cheap. It's within walking distance of some of the city's most popular hotels and the average check is $20.

At Ilha, where many of the city's best restaurants are located, two low-key favorites are Casa do Peixa da Gabela (Rua Massano de Amorim, Chicala) and Restaurante da Dona Bela (Rua Massano de Amorim, after Poupalá on your left side; it has blue walls and white bars on the outside).

At both places you can eat a feast -- featuring excellent mufete, a local delicacy of beans stewed in palm oil, grilled tilapia, onion vinaigrette, boiled plantains, sweet potatoes and yucca -- for about $17.

For dinner, on the fringes of central Luanda in the Bairro Popular you can try the excellent cuisine of Angolan master chef Rui Sá at his Restaurante & Bar 688 (Rua da Janela Aberta, Bairro Popular, Luanda; +244 943 256 193).

Entrees here rarely top the $30 mark, and if they do it's because you're getting enough food for two.

Splurge time

And if you want to splurge -- this is the world's most expensive city, after all -- Lookal Mar (Rua Murtala Mohamed 15, Ilha do Cabo, Luanda; +244 936 000 018/9) is the king of Luanda restaurants.

Entrees here can cost $150 -- seafood is flown in from Portugal three times a week.

You're spoiled for choice if you want to prolong your night in Luanda.

The city's new nightlife darling is the Switch Supper Club, in the bowels of the Epic Sana Hotel.

But you could skip the $40 minimum spend there and experience true Luanda nightlife at the W Club -- where there's all kinds of music, a welcoming crowd and the $20 cover includes three drinks.

Read More

Zimbabwe election praised by African Union, sidesteps rigging claims

The African Union on Friday applauded Zimbabwe for holding peaceful elections, and made no mention of rigging accusations by the main opposition candidate.

However, its observers added that they noted several shortcomings.

Problems included voters getting turned away, late publication of polling stations and media taking sides, the African Union observers said in a statement released Friday.

Even so, the continent-wide body said, "The Mission observes generally, that from a historical perspective and in comparison to the 2008 elections, Zimbabwe has made an important transition in the conduct of its elections."

Wednesday's vote pitted President Robert Mugabe against his prime minister, Morgan Tsvangirai.

Mugabe's party declared victory a day later even though the electoral commission has not released official results. The opposition dismissed the vote as a "huge farce."

Tsvangirai' called the vote "null and void," alleging widespread fraud.

Mugabe, 89, has been at the helm since 1980, the first seven years as prime minister. He is the only ruler the nation has known since it gained independence. A win would extend his time in power to 38 years.

The election marks an end to an uneasy coalition government between the two leaders. It was formed after violence marred the last balloting. At least 200 people were killed and thousands were injured in post-election violence in 2008.

The election commission has until Monday to announce the official results.

Read More

Ariel Castro's captives kept Diaries paint picture of torment, trauma

Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus weren't in the Cleveland courtroom Thursday for the sentencing of their captor, Ariel Castro. But their words, recorded in diaries, gave authorities a window into the horror they suffered for a decade.

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty wrote about the diaries in a sentencing memo. Berry, DeJesus and Michelle Knight did "everything humanly possible to retain a sense of normalcy" McGinty said, including marking the passage of time through written diaries.

The diaries provide further details of the women's life and torment. McGinty reveals that one diary's descriptions of abuse provided evidence his office used for many of the specific counts against Castro.

Castro has pleaded guilty to 937 counts of kidnapping, rape and murder. Diaries kept by the women contain descriptions of these crimes, including sexual abuse, being locked in a dark room and being chained to a wall. McGinty says other entries contain anticipation of abuse yet to come, including Castro's death threats. But the diaries also showed traces of hope, including "the dreams of someday escaping and being reunited with family."

Amanda Berry's entries focused on her mother, according to psychiatrist Frank Ochberg's assessment of the women's captivity as part of the sentencing statement. Ochberg, an expert in trauma, wrote that the diaries showed the women's "will to prevail."

According to Ochberg, Berry addressed almost every entry in her diary to her mother. Berry's mother, Louwanna Miller, worked tirelessly to find her daughter. Miller died of heart failure in 2006; those who knew her said it was more like a broken heart.

After Berry learned of her mother's death, she began addressing her entries to "her mother in heaven." The entries show Berry at once seeking to "soothe her mother as she prayed for her own deliverance and the health of her little girl."

Berry's daughter, fathered by Castro, was born on Christmas Day of 2006. McGinty writes that "when the baby was born she was not breathing. Michelle Knight breathed into the baby's mouth in an effort to save her." A difficult endeavor, made more intense by Castro's threat to kill Knight should the baby die. "Miraculously," McGinty writes, "the baby survived."

The sentencing memo provides other descriptions of heroism. Ochberg says that Knight, in addition to serving as a de facto doctor to Berry, also "interceded when Castro sought to abuse Gina." An action, Ochberg says, that resulted in further physical and sexual trauma for Knight.

Ochberg said that "on rare occasions all four captives were allowed to be together and they managed to share faith and friendship." He also noted that Berry managed to pass on knowledge and values to her daughter, something the other two women supported "when possible."

But Ochberg says the bright moments, the remarkable and inspiring ones, should not "paint a rosy picture for normalcy or quick recovery." Castro, Ochberg writes, "turned truth and commonsense on its head and fed that to his captives." The beatings, the repeated rapes, the forced miscarriages and the deprivation of basic human sanitation led to complex post-traumatic stress disorder.

"It is the result of victimization over a long period of time," Ochberg says, "or in the years when personality and character are being formed."

Castro "appeared to be evolving in an ever more dangerous direction," Ochberg writes, "capturing younger and younger women, telling his captives he was hunting for replacements."

The women must have known that any new captives would not have meant freedom -- rather they must have known, Ochberg concludes, "replacement meant death."

Read More

Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus weren't in the Cleveland courtroom Thursday for the sentencing of their captor, Ariel Castro. But their words, recorded in diaries, gave authorities a window into the horror they suffered for a decade.

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty wrote about the diaries in a sentencing memo. Berry, DeJesus and Michelle Knight did "everything humanly possible to retain a sense of normalcy" McGinty said, including marking the passage of time through written diaries.

The diaries provide further details of the women's life and torment. McGinty reveals that one diary's descriptions of abuse provided evidence his office used for many of the specific counts against Castro.

Castro has pleaded guilty to 937 counts of kidnapping, rape and murder. Diaries kept by the women contain descriptions of these crimes, including sexual abuse, being locked in a dark room and being chained to a wall. McGinty says other entries contain anticipation of abuse yet to come, including Castro's death threats. But the diaries also showed traces of hope, including "the dreams of someday escaping and being reunited with family."

Amanda Berry's entries focused on her mother, according to psychiatrist Frank Ochberg's assessment of the women's captivity as part of the sentencing statement. Ochberg, an expert in trauma, wrote that the diaries showed the women's "will to prevail."

According to Ochberg, Berry addressed almost every entry in her diary to her mother. Berry's mother, Louwanna Miller, worked tirelessly to find her daughter. Miller died of heart failure in 2006; those who knew her said it was more like a broken heart.

After Berry learned of her mother's death, she began addressing her entries to "her mother in heaven." The entries show Berry at once seeking to "soothe her mother as she prayed for her own deliverance and the health of her little girl."

Berry's daughter, fathered by Castro, was born on Christmas Day of 2006. McGinty writes that "when the baby was born she was not breathing. Michelle Knight breathed into the baby's mouth in an effort to save her." A difficult endeavor, made more intense by Castro's threat to kill Knight should the baby die. "Miraculously," McGinty writes, "the baby survived."

The sentencing memo provides other descriptions of heroism. Ochberg says that Knight, in addition to serving as a de facto doctor to Berry, also "interceded when Castro sought to abuse Gina." An action, Ochberg says, that resulted in further physical and sexual trauma for Knight.

Ochberg said that "on rare occasions all four captives were allowed to be together and they managed to share faith and friendship." He also noted that Berry managed to pass on knowledge and values to her daughter, something the other two women supported "when possible."

But Ochberg says the bright moments, the remarkable and inspiring ones, should not "paint a rosy picture for normalcy or quick recovery." Castro, Ochberg writes, "turned truth and commonsense on its head and fed that to his captives." The beatings, the repeated rapes, the forced miscarriages and the deprivation of basic human sanitation led to complex post-traumatic stress disorder.

"It is the result of victimization over a long period of time," Ochberg says, "or in the years when personality and character are being formed."

Castro "appeared to be evolving in an ever more dangerous direction," Ochberg writes, "capturing younger and younger women, telling his captives he was hunting for replacements."

The women must have known that any new captives would not have meant freedom -- rather they must have known, Ochberg concludes, "replacement meant death."

 

Read More

Castro's victims resilient after years of abuse

They were living in hell, and Ariel Castro did all he could to make sure they'd never escape it.

He tied and chained them up, removed handles from doors and replaced them with padlocks. He rigged entrances to the house with makeshift alarms, threatened them with a gun and fed them only once a day.

He covered windows to keep them out of view and sunlight out of their rooms.

But Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus focused on the light at the end of the long, dark tunnel.

They nurtured the faith that they would one day be free. They clung to each other. They persevered and emerged from years of hell to find new life.

In their rare public appearances since, people have expressed surprise over how intact and at times cheerful they appear after all they have been through.

Frank Ochberg, a pioneer in trauma research who testified in the case Thursday, lauded the three women's survival and coping skills as "marvelous, compelling examples of resilience."

Ochberg testified when Castro was sentenced to multiple lifetimes behind bars.

Resilience. It's that state of mind that allows people to survive natural disasters, wars, the loss of whole families, even torture, and keep on living and eventually, hopefully, thrive.

"It means bouncing back," says the American Psychological Association

.

 Knight's ordeal

On Thursday, Knight took a brave step in that direction.

She endured Castro's torment the longest. It has been said that, of the three women, she has had the roughest recovery so far. The accounts of the abuse Castro doled out to her were some of the most shocking.

 When he made her pregnant, he pounded her belly, the women have said, until she miscarried. He has steadily denied the accusation.

She bravely walked into a Cleveland, Ohio, courtroom Thursday to face her tormenter, cast off the shackles of 11 years of his torture and sexual abuse, and wish him a life in hell.

Castro kidnapped her in 2002, when she was 21. He tore her away from her little boy, who was age 2 at the time, for what felt like forever.

"Days never got shorter. Days turned into nights. Nights turned into days. Years turned into eternity," she sobbed.

As she read her prepared solemn sendoff to Castro, tears drenched her face, filling one handkerchief after the next.

But she kept on. She let him know that while he descended into the depths of life in prison, she would emerge from this.

"I spent 11 years in hell, and now your hell is just beginning. I will overcome all of this that happened. From this moment on, I will not let you define me or affect who I am."

Taking hold of the situation and defining it for oneself is an important part of resilience, psychologist Rebecca Bailey told CNN's Anderson Cooper Thursday.

Knight and the others are developing "an understanding that you can move forward past these events," she said. They need to, so they can let go.

Resilience is "ordinary"

The strength in the face of their suffering may make Berry, DeJesus and Knight seem exceptional. But most of us are capable of the same spirit, the APA says.

"Research has shown that resilience is ordinary, not extraordinary." It points as an example to the large number of Americans who lost loved ones in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and how they rebuilt their lives.

"Resilience is not a trait that people either have or do not have," the APA says. "It involves behaviors, thoughts and actions that can be learned and developed in anyone."

Some of what Knight said Thursday indicates that the three did that together.

Caring relationships

The most important part of resilience is to develop caring relationships, the APA says.

In court Thursday, Knight credited DeJesus -- whom she shared a dark room measuring about 7 feet by 11½ feet -- for saving her life.

"I never let her fall, and she never let me fall," Knight said. "She nursed me back to health when I was dying from his abuse. My friendship with Gina is the only good thing to come from this situation."

She returned the favor, at a cost to herself.

She placed herself in between Castro and DeJesus, taking on physical and sexual abuse herself to protect her friend, Ochberg testified.

Being the oldest, Knight often served as doctor, nurse and pediatrician for Berry and her young child. She acted as the midwife, when it was born, delivering Berry's baby in a plastic swimming pool.

Look to the future

It is important to see a horrible situation as something you will get out of, the APA says.

Somehow, Knight, Berry and DeJesus kept hope. As Knight said, "We said we'll all get out alive some day and we did."

She has said that she wants to make a life helping others who have been in her situation. She wants them to "know that there is someone out there to lean on and to talk to."

"I'm looking forward to my brand new life," she said in a statement.

Keep processing

The pain does not simply disappear, the APA says. It recommends writing about the feelings and thoughts attached to the trauma. The women kept diaries on their torments.

It also recommends spiritual practice. Knight has turned to her belief in God to find comfort.

"Emotional pain and sadness are common in people who have suffered major adversity or trauma in their lives. In fact, the road to resilience is likely to involve considerable emotional distress," it advises.

"They have life sentences," said Ochberg of the girls' emotional state.

"I think they will -- with the love and support of the whole community -- they have a good chance to live a good life. But that doesn't mean that they'll ever be free of the damage that was done," he said.

While they're no longer locked up in the hell Castro built for them, it is still inside of them, and they may need to let some of it out.

 

via cnn

Read More

Jihadists focus on prison breaks

In an attack orchestrated by a Pakistani Taliban commander, around 250 prisoners, most of them militants, were freed this week at the central prison in Dera Ismail Khan in northwestern Pakistan.

The commander, Ahmed Rashid, had been freed a year earlier, this time at the central jail in Bannu, where 150 Taliban fighters stormed the facility and released nearly 400 prisoners -- Pakistan's largest jailbreak.

Both prison breaks happened in the stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders North and South Waziristan, and both were conducted with a high degree of sophistication.

A police officer is hospitalized after being hurt in this week's deadly Taliban attack on a Pakistani prison.

This week's attack unfolded in multiple stages, beginning with cutting the prison's electricity, detonating bombs that had been planted around the facility to breach its external wall, and ambushing the security forces that rushed to the scene.

Once the militants overwhelmed the guards, they used loudspeakers to contact and locate specific prisoners, freeing them from their cells with hand grenades. At least 13 people died in the attack. Pakistani authorities launched a search operation for the missing prisoners, but few have been recaptured. The others have simply melted away into the mountains.

Jihadist militants have been breaking people out of prison across the Middle East and South Asia for years, some with significant consequences for the United States and its allies.

Militant group claims responsibility for Iraq prison attacks

A 2006 prison break in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, led to the creation of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, one of al Qaeda's most virulent affiliates, the one that recruited the "underwear bomber" who nearly brought down Northwest Airlines Flight 253 over Detroit on Christmas Day 2009.

During the 2006 prison break, 23 inmates escaped through a 460-foot tunnel into a nearby mosque. Two of the escapees went on to become the leader and deputy leader of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

In 2008 and again in 2011, the Afghan Taliban led attacks on the Sarposa prison in Kandahar in southern Afghanistan that freed an astounding number of militants, around 1,700.

Like the prison attacks by the Taliban in Pakistan, the Kandahar plots showed sophisticated planning. In the aftermath of the 2011 breach, Afghan officials discovered an intricate network of tunnels under the jail, equipped with electrical and ventilation systems.

But perhaps no group has made prison breaks an organizational focus more than al Qaeda in Iraq. On July 21, 2012, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, al Qaeda in Iraq's leader, announced the "Breaking the Walls" campaign, a yearlong effort to release his group's prisoners.

Taliban pens letter to Malala

Are the Taliban in Syria?

According to a count by the Institute for the Study of War, since al-Baghdadi's announcement, al Qaeda in Iraq has conducted assaults on seven major prisons.

Earlier this month, hundreds of prisoners, including senior members of al Qaeda, escaped from Iraq's Abu Ghraib jail on the outskirts of Baghdad following a military-style assault on the prison. Al Qaeda's Iraqi affiliate claimed responsibility for that attack.

Elsewhere in the Middle East, a prison riot and an attack launched from outside Al-Kuifiya prison in Benghazi, Libya, freed more than 1,000 inmates Saturday.

Although it doesn't appear that groups such as the Taliban and al Qaeda are coordinating strategies in freeing their fellow militants, it is likely that they are inspiring each other with every successful, and well-publicized, prison break.

The attacks are generally well-organized and often free significant numbers of inmates, refreshing the militant groups' ranks, and each successful prison break is a propaganda coup.

Insiders assist in varying degrees in these different prison breaks, but the militants are also exploiting the countries' inadequate correctional systems. Many of these prison facilities where convicts have escaped en masse were meant to house criminals, not terrorists, and they often lack the fortification needed to fend off armed assaults.

1,200 inmates break out of Benghazi prison

Security concerns regarding prison facilities are part of the reason that 86 Guantanamo Bay detainees who were cleared for transfer into the custody of their home countries three years ago still remain in jail at Guantanamo.

Fifty-six of those men are from Yemen, which has a notoriously porous prison system. The recent prison breaks in Pakistan, Iraq and Libya are reminders that the United States needs to do more to strengthen high security prisons in countries such as Yemen if there is any hope that prisoners who are cleared for transfer -- but have been languishing at Guantanamo for many years -- are ever to return home.

via cnn

Read More

Justin Bieber’s Shirtless Stunts Are Part Of His ‘Master Plan,’ Expert Says

Justin Bieber seems to enjoy showing off his bare chest, so we had to ask an expert — what does this mean? Is it a publicity stunt? HollywoodLife.com was exclusively told that this is part of Justin’s ‘master plan’!

When it comes to having six pack abs, Justin Bieber may have the best of the best. His workouts have definitely paid off, but we have to ask — why does Justin, 19, feel so compelled to always take his shirt off in public? Our expert weighs in!

Justin Bieber Shirtless In New York City — All A Publicity Stunt? ‘Master Plan’

“Justin Bieber is not only a singer, a performer and a celebrity, but he’s a master at marketing himself and getting noticed. After all, he was discovered on YouTube. He knows what he is doing,” Dr. Phil Dembo, Santa Monica based therapist & parenting coach, tells HollywoodLife.com EXCLUSIVELY.
“We have seen him recently deliberately alter his image from the youthful cute kid to the ‘bad boy’ image he is now creating,” explains Dr. Dembo. “It’s important for him to continue to make headlines and keep himself in the public eye.”
We can certainly appreciate Justin’s motives. After all, we do love seeing Justin half naked. And the same plan seems to be working for another sexy pop star.

Justin Bieber: Is He Copying Miley Cyrus?

“As we have seen with Miley Cyrus, when she began wearing revealing, more provocative outfits for the cameras to pick up, we now see Justin finding himself without a shirt,” says Dr. Dembo. ”It’s ‘bad boy’-ish, it’s provacative, and it’s skin. All the right ingredients for his master plan.”
What do YOU think, HollywoodLifers? Does Justin look super sexy or super silly when he doesn’t wear a shirt in public? And more importantly, how do you think Selena Gomez feels about Justin’s shirtless ways?



via Hollywood life

Read More

Young money Rapper 'Bow Wow' Kisses Super-Model Tyra Banks, On Live TV (PHOTO)

Every man wants to kiss a supermodel, especially if her name is Tyra Banks.

Bow Wow’s dream came true for the second time when he kissed Tyra Banks while hosting BET’s 106 & Park music video show.
See photo below....



via bet

READ MORE:  http://news.naij.com/42260.html

Read More

Flavoured Condoms, Kids' Underwear: How A Cross-Dressing Paedophile Was Caught

UK -- A paedophile drag queen who arranged to have sex with a father and his two young children has been jailed today. Robert Clothier, 37, who also goes by the name Lady James, turned up for a liaison with 'Mark' and his eight and 11-year-olds, but it was a police sting.
Clothier was arrested at Wimbledon train station in south-west London with a box of chocolate-flavoured glow-in-the-dark condoms and pink children's underwear from Primark.
He also had an Easter egg for each child, heart-shaped hairbands and a Lego toy, Southwark Crown Court heard.
In a series of online chats last March, Clothier confessed to having 'naughty thoughts' about his own nieces and nephews, but had never acted upon them as he did not want to 'hurt his family'.
He said he was 'turned on' while purchasing the pink underwear and had chosen a particular set because it was 'sexy'. The entertainer, who is based in Brighton, said he had stocked up on condoms as it was 'best to be prepared'.
He described being constantly aroused while thinking about the children and how he was excited and honoured to meet them, adding that, if everything went well, it would not be 'just a one off', prosecutor Mervyn Burton told the court.
Following Clothier's arrest police raided his Brighton home and found a string of child porn images, including 18 cartoon images of fathers abusing their sons. He also shared an image of a naked teenage boy bending over, Mr Burton said.
Sentencing Clothier to a total of 26 months in prison, Judge Deborah Taylor said: 'It's clear from the chat room logs that you were expressing an interest to engage in sexual activity with the children.
'You arranged to meet Mark, having said you bring protection, including condoms which were chocolate flavoured and glowed in the dark.
'You also bought underwear for the daughter, who you believed to be 11, and other presents to make yourself more acceptable to the children.
'I take into account that you are of previous good character and all the indications are you have not involved yourself in previous offences of this kind. ‘But these are serious offences and ones which the courts take very seriously indeed.'
Gareth Morgan, defending Clothier, said he had a 'troubled background' which led to him developing an interest in 'liaisons with what he considers father figures'.
'He has been candid from the outset and fully accepts his guilt. His intentions lay towards 'Mark' and had he been faced with the children he very much doubts he would have done anything with them. He has never been before the courts before and has led a blameless life to date.'
Clothier has also been involved in charity work for the Brighton Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transsexual (LGBT) Pride association. He admitted arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence, making indecent images of children, distributing images of children and possessing prohibited images of children.
Judge Taylor also order that Clothier's computer and the indecent images should be forfeited and destroyed. He will also be subject to a Sexual Offences Prevention Order restricting his access to children under 16 and internet use and must also sign the Sex Offenders' Register.



READ MORE:  http://news.naij.com/42175.html

Read More

Kim Kardashian Makes Her First Post-Baby Appearance On ‘Kris’

Hi, Kim! We’ve been waiting forever for the new mommy to show up on Kris’ show and it finally happened on August 2 when Kim left an adorable video message! Read on.

We’ll admit it, we’ve been missing Kim Kardashian. So August 2 was a real treat, because the new mom made her first appearance on her mom’s show, Kris.

Kim Kardashian Makes Her Debut On ‘Kris’

Just as the show was winding down, Kris Jenner’s co-host, Diddy told the audience that he had one more surprise. And with that a video was shown of Kim!
Though North West was nowhere to be seen, Kim delivered a heartwarming, emotional message to her mom, who is still finding her way as a talk show host:

Hi Mom, I just wanted to say congratulations on your new show. I sorry I couldn’t be there in person but I’m just loving life at home too much right now. I watch you every single day. You are so amazing, you really are were born to do this. I just wanted to say I love you and have an amazing show.

First of all, we have to note that Kim was looking great — being a new mother clearly looks good on her. Kris meanwhile started bawling because of her daughter’s sweet message. So touching!

Kim Kardashian: Loving Life As A Mother

It’s great to hear that Kim is loving her home life — she, Kanye West, and North make such a great family and they’re obviously adjusting well. This video is just another sign that Kim is and will be a great mother.
Now that Kim has made her first appearance on Kris, we have to ask — when is North going to show up!?
What did you think of her lovely video, HollyMoms? Is Kim looking great post-baby?

courtesy ; Hollywood life

Read More