Shafia murder trial enters final phase

Shafia murder trial enters final phase

Mohammad Shafia, Tooba Yahya and Hamed Shafia are led into the Frontenac courthouse in Kingston, Ont.

The first-degree murder trial of three members of the Shafia family is moving into its final phase before a jury is left to deliberate on the fate of the accused.

The Kingston, Ont., trial, which started in October, was adjourned for three weeks to observe the holidays.

It was scheduled to recommence Monday morning, launching what was expected to be the final two weeks of arguments.

Tooba Yahya, 42, and her husband Mohammad Shafia, 59, are charged alongside their eldest son, Hamed, 20, with four counts each of first-degree murder. They have all pleaded not guilty and have been in custody since their arrests in 2009.

They’re charged in the deaths of the Shafia sisters, Zainab, 19, Sahar, 17, and Geeti, 13, along with Rona Amir Mohammad, 52, Shafia's other wife in a polygamous marriage.

The family moved to Montreal in 2007 after fleeing Afghanistan several years earlier.

The Crown contends the victims were killed because of the girls' behaviour and boyfriends brought shame on the family in the eyes of the accused.

The defence has maintained the deaths were an accident and happened after the oldest daughter, Zainab, took the keys to her father’s car and drove it into the Rideau Canal at the Kingston Mill Locks in June 2009.

The bodies of the four victims were found submerged in the car. Their cause of death was determined to be drowning.

The family was returning to Montreal after a trip to Niagara Falls when they stopped for the night in Kingston.

Since the trial started in October, court has heard testimony from dozens of witnesses, including family members, teachers, social workers, police officers and technical experts.

Jury members have also heard a series of wiretap conversations between the accused recorded secretly by the Kingston police.

Witnesses for the defence are expected to take the stand Monday when the hearing begins at 11 a.m. ET.

Iran sentences American to death in spy case

Iran sentences American to death in spy case

A video grab from official Iranian state TV on December 18 shows a card identifying the bearer as Amir Hekmati.

(CNN) -- American Amir Mirzaei Hekmati, on trial in Iran for espionage, has been sentenced to death nearly five months after he was arrested, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported Monday.

A court convicted Hekmati of "working for an enemy country ... for membership in the CIA and also for his efforts to accuse Iran of involvement in terrorism," according to Fars.

Ahead of the verdict, his family and the United States denied the accusations against him.

"We are deeply concerned that Amir is not receiving a fair trial and has not been afforded due process," a family statement released last week said. "We have struggled to provide Amir with an attorney in Iran. We have sought to hire at least 10 different attorneys in Tehran to no avail."

The family said their son was being represented by a government-appointment lawyer.

"Under any standard, this is not acceptable due process of law," the statement said. " We will not stop hoping and praying for justice, for peaceful dialogue with Iran, and for Amir's safe return home."

Hekmati, a former U.S. Marine, was arrested in August while visiting his grandmother and other relatives, his family in Michigan said last month.

The Hekmatis said their son served in the Marines from 2001 to 2005. Later, he started his own linguistics company and contracted his services to the military as well as civilian businesses.

His military contracts included cultural competency training. He worked with troops at military bases to promote understanding of, and positive communication, with people of other cultures, his family said.

Fars reported that Hekmati said he worked for the U.S. Army for four years and later the CIA, where he was sent to Afghanistan and had access to secret documents.

Hekmati was supposed to give his information to the Iranians in two parts -- the first part for free, and if they liked it he would ask for $500,000 for the second part, the news agency said.

Hekmati said he was to get a receipt from the intelligence ministry for the money, Fars reported. The judge speculated whether the receipt would later be used as evidence linking Iran to terrorist activities, the news agency said.

If Iran had paid, Hekmati told the judge, he would have kept the money and lived in Iran, according to Fars.

HS2: High-speed rail link 'being seriously considered'

HS2: High-speed rail link 'being seriously considered'

Ministers are "considering very seriously" building a controversial new high-speed rail line between London and Birmingham, the BBC understands.

A source said a Network Rail review of the two main alternatives favoured by opponents concluded they could not "generate the capacity" needed.

The government is due to make its final decision on the £17bn HS2 scheme next week.

The 100-mile connection would be built between 2016 and 2026.

It aims to cut the journey time between London and Birmingham to 49 minutes. It would mark the first phase of HS2, with extensions further north later.

A Y-shaped section taking branches to Manchester, Leeds and possibly further north could be finished by 2033.

The entire cost of the project is expected to be £32bn.
'Fewer benefits'

A government source told the BBC: "Groups opposed to high speed rail claim there are alternative packages of railway improvements that can bring similar benefits without making any sacrifices.

"This independent Network Rail report shows that the main alternatives cited by opponents cannot in fact generate the capacity and connectivity boost that a new high-speed rail line could deliver.

"This is why the government is in the process of considering very seriously the question of building such a line."

The project - introduced by Labour and continued by the coalition government - has proved highly controversial.

Opponents say the planned route crosses an area of outstanding natural beauty and it will damage the environment. It also passes through Conservative heartlands and some Tory MPs have strongly objected to the proposal.

Critics have argued that overcrowding can be eased by improving the existing line, running longer trains and having fewer first-class carriages.

This latest review by Network Rail looked at two alternative schemes which suggest a series of improvements to the existing West Coast Main Line (WCML).

It found that neither would provide enough capacity to meet the predicted passenger demand and both would result in long delays during work on the infrastructure.

The report also found that while cost estimates for the two alternatives were "realistic", other factors such as remodelling work at London's Euston station had not been taken into account and the cost of disruption had been underestimated.

It concluded they would "deliver considerably fewer benefits than a new line".

A Network Rail spokesman said: "The capacity case for a new high-speed line is clear. In just over a decade the WCML, Britain's busiest and most economically vital rail artery, will be full with no more space to accommodate the predicted growth in demand.

"Alternative schemes to HS2 have been put forward which would deliver some short-term capacity benefits, but they would come at a heavy price in terms of disruption to passengers and the wider economy."

Lucy James, from the Campaign for High Speed Rail, said: "This report is just the latest piece of evidence to show that HS2 is the only game in town when it comes to solving the capacity crisis on Britain's railways."

Penny Gaines, from the Stop HS2 campaign, said it was difficult to understand how Network Rail could claim that the alternative plans would cause too much disruption.

"A low-risk series of incremental improvements will bring more benefits to more people more quickly for less money," she said.

Under the current proposal, London's Euston station would need rebuilt and that would take seven or eight years, she added.

Grenada police charged in Toronto man's death get bail

Grenada police charged in Toronto man's death get bail

Oscar Bartholomew, seen in this undated photo, died Dec. 27 in Grenada. Five police officers face manslaughter charges.

Five police officers charged with manslaughter in the death of a Toronto man in Grenada have been granted bail after a court appearance Friday.

The officers applied for bail in the island town of St. David's, where it's alleged they beat Oscar Bartholomew into a coma on Boxing Day. He died the following day in hospital.

A judge ordered the accused to surrender their passports, report daily to authorities and avoid visiting the police station where they worked.

None of the officers had posted the $37,000 bond as of late Friday morning.
Bartholomew, who was from Grenada but had permanent resident status in Canada, was visiting relatives in the Caribbean country over the Christmas holidays. He and his Canadian wife had arrived in Grenada on Dec. 23.

Relatives say he had stopped at the police station in St. David's on Dec. 26 because his wife needed to use the restroom. They say he hugged a plainclothes policewoman whom he had mistaken for a friend and lifted her off the ground before realizing his error.

Bartholomew's family said an independent autopsy found he died of trauma to the head and multiple injuries to the body. A state autopsy report came to similar but less-detailed conclusions.

The case has caused outrage and protests in Grenada. Since the manslaughter charges were announced, demonstrators have taken to the streets of the island nation to denounce what they say is endemic police brutality.

Earlier in the week, a lawyer for the dead man's family said he would be suing the police force employing the officers who are charged in the case for wrongful death.

Derick Sylvester said he would be seeking damages for Bartholomew's widow and his three children.

Prosecutor seeks death sentence for Mubarak

Prosecutor seeks death sentence for Mubarak

Could Mubarak be sentenced to death?

Cairo (CNN) -- Prosecutors in the trial of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak formally requested a penalty of death by hanging for Mubarak and several of his fellow defendants Thursday, an attorney at the court said.

Mubarak is accused of ordering protesters killed during the country's uprising last year, and of corruption. He denies the charges.

Khaled Abu Bakr, a civil rights lawyer representing the families of victims at the trial, told CNN that prosecutors requested death by hanging for Mubarak, former Egyptian Interior Minister Habib El Adly and four of his six aides.

They asked for the maximum jail sentence for the two other aides on trial, Abu Bakr said.

The prosecutors' request came on the last of three days of prosecution arguments in a Cairo courtroom.

The hearing will resume Monday, when civil rights lawyers will present their case against the defendants.

Two of Mubarak's sons are also on trial on a variety of charges. The sons, Gamal and Alaa, also have pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors also presented evidence Thursday in the corruption case against Mubarak, Abu Bakr said.

Mubarak allegedly broke the law by allowing a friend, businessman Hussein Salem, to export gas to Israel by way of a private company Salem owned without offering the bid to a public tender, Abu Bakr cited prosecutors as saying. That resulted in huge losses of money to Egypt, they said.

Salem is also accused in the case. He was arrested by Interpol in Spain several months ago but has not yet been extradited to Egypt.

Abu Bakr has said he expects a verdict in Mubarak's trial before January 25, the date on which the uprising began last year. It brought Mubarak's 30-year rule to an end in February.

Many Egyptians have criticized the court proceedings and some worry that Mubarak may be acquitted of the murder charges. Five police officers accused of killing protesters were acquitted last week.

Mubarak's health has been in question since his detention began in April, as reports of cancer and heart problems surfaced in the news media.

He has been wheeled in on a stretcher for his court appearances.

Adel Saeed, a spokesman for prosecutor Mustapha Suleiman, said Wednesday the prosecution has evidence that the regime used "thugs" against the protesters.

"The defendants before you in the cage are the actual instigators and are the ones who gave police officers the order to shoot," Suleiman said, according to Saeed.

The defendants are accused of killing 225 protesters and injuring more than 1,300, Saeed said.

Amnesty International had estimated more than 840 protesters were killed and 6,000 injured. Saeed said the prosecutor's estimate is lower "because there has been a differentiation between those killed outside police stations while attacking the precinct and those shot while protesting."

Indian anti-corruption activist hospitalized

Indian anti-corruption activist hospitalized

Anna Hazare breaks his fast with a glass of juice Wednesday but pledged a renewed campaign.

(CNN) -- Indian anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare was hospitalized Saturday night, days after ending a hunger strike aiming at drawing attention to his cause, a top hospital official told CNN's sister network.

Hazare was taken to the Sancheti Institute, a hospital in Pune, because of a severe cold and chest congestion, hospital chairman Dr. Parag Sancheti told CNN-IBN.

"So he has been admitted, and we have sent him for blood tests and an EKG," Sancheti said. "No major problems but he requires rest. He has been given antibiotics, and we are sure that his condition will stabilize in four to five days time."

Hazare had launched a three-day hunger strike to coincide with a special three-day parliamentary session as it considered a landmark anti-corruption bill. But the 74-year-old fell ill and, on the advice of doctors, abandoned the fast Wednesday.

Dr. Daulat Pote, who then examined Hazare, said the activist's blood pressure was up and he was running a fever. He was coughing on stage and appeared tired but remained determined in his cause.

"Our fight is for the common man," said Hazare, who has fashioned his protest actions after Mahatma Gandhi. "We want justice for him."

Ultimately, time ran out on the bill, which would have created a citizen ombudsman or Lokpal committee with powers to investigate politicians. This lack of action followed a raucous debate and high drama in the Rajya Sabha, or India's upper house of parliament, with the floor at one point disintegrating into utter chaos when an opposition lawmaker ripped apart documents and tossed them on the floor.

Hazare is chief among those credited with shining a spotlight on India's chronic corruption. He and other critics of the government said that the version of the legislation approved by India's lower house of parliament -- which ultimately stalled in the higher chamber -- was watered down to the point where it would not make much of a difference.

Corruption has been a part of daily life in India for many years. The first time a Lokpal bill was introduced in Parliament was over four decades ago.

But a series of high-profile scandals that rocked the current administration brought the issue to the fore.

In April, former telecommunication minister Andimuthu Raja was among a dozen defendants charged in a multibillion-dollar telecom scheme involving the underselling of cell phone licenses.

Investigators also probed complaints of financial malfeasance in the Commonwealth Games that India hosted in October last year.

Earlier this week, Hazare told a crowd in Mumbai that he would tour five states holding elections early next year to help defeat politicians who opposed his proposed anti-graft measures.

But he postponed a planned civil disobedience action at the homes of politicians.

Syrian opposition group: More than 5,800 died in 2011

Syrian opposition group: More than 5,800 died in 2011

Supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad carry his image through Damascus during a demonstration in October 2011.

(CNN) -- More than 5,800 people, including 395 children, died in 2011 during the crackdown on protests in Syria, according to an opposition activist group.

The grim tally of "martyrs" from the Local Coordination Committees of Syria totaled 5,862, including 287 prisoners it said were tortured to death. The LCC said 19 doctors and 146 women were among those killed.

The first death in 2012 was an individual who died due to the lack of blood plasma platelets at a hospital, the group said.

The LCC has a network of contacts across Syria.

President Bashar al-Assad in mid-March began the crackdown on anti-government protesters calling for his ouster. The Syrian government blames "armed terrorist groups" for violence during the uprising.

CNN cannot independently verify opposition accounts of violence or reports of deaths and injuries in Syria. Al-Assad's government has restricted access by international journalists.

Two major Syrian opposition groups, meanwhile, have forged a deal that charts a course for democracy if President al-Assad's regime crumbles.

Representatives of the Syrian National Council and the National Coordination Body for Democratic Change in Syria signed an agreement late Friday in Cairo for a transition in a post-Assad era, the NCB said on its Facebook page.

Protesters turned out on Saturday for anti-regime rallies in restive cities, including Homs, Idlib, and Hama, activists said. They occurred as an Arab League fact-finding mission continued its work to determine whether the Syrian government is abiding by a peace agreement to end a brutal crackdown on protesters.

The LCC said at least 13 people died Saturday amid gunfire, a bolstered police presence and massive demonstrations. Seven were killed in Homs. One each was killed in Hama in the west, Banias and Idlib in the northwest, Abu Kamal in the east, Kafar Soseh in Damascus province, and Daraa in the south.

In Douma, outside Damascus, security forces and shabiha, opposition activists' term for people they say are pro-government "thugs," attacked mourners, raided the town's main square and made many arrests, the LCC said.

Security forces in Aleppo province arrested Moussa Al-Moussa, a senior municipal official in the town of Marea. He was charged with protesting and inciting others to protest, the group said.

Several shabiha dressed like the Arab League delegates in Latakia Friday, the LCC said. When a 14-year-old boy approached them to tell them what is happening in the city, he was "brutally beaten."

The opposition groups hope to end such violence, the al-Assad regime's push against demonstrators and the still well-entrenched government's tenacious efforts to maintain its power across the country.

The NCB is a coalition of 15 functioning parties operating in Syria and in exile dominated by pro-democracy liberal, Marxist and Kurdish parties. The SNC has broad support, with a strong Sunni Muslim component and is backed by the Turkish government. Syria is nearly 75 percent Sunni Muslim. Alawites, who dominate in the al-Assad government, number at least 10 percent, according to estimates.

Their efforts to shape Syria's future signals a maturation and a strengthening of the anti-regime forces.

"This is a key step on a road to building an effective opposition that can not only win the support of foreign governments but build a unified military machine that's going to be able to take on a major power," said Joshua Landis, an associate professor and director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma.

"What we are watching today is nation building. Major factions within the Syrian political community coming together and agreeing on strategy."

A Syrian National Council official said the deal still has to be signed off by its board.

"This is a political agreement for the transitional phase that ends with true democratic process and ultimately with elections," said council executive board member Walid Buni. "The preliminary points have been agreed upon but it will be presented to the board of the SNC tonight or tomorrow for final approval. An SNC committee will then present it to the Arab League."

The NCB says the agreement is final.

In a statement on its Facebook page, the NCB said the "agreed text sets out the political and democratic rules for the transitional period, and determines the important parameters for Syria's future which aspire to ensure that the homeland and every citizen's rights are treated with dignity, and for the foundation of a civil democratic state,"

The talks between the two groups lasted more than a month. The agreement will be "deposited as an official document" with the Arab League on Sunday in the presence of league Secretary-General Nabil el-Araby, the NCB said.

Khalaf Dahowd, a senior NCB member based in the United Kingdom, said the agreement was signed by the SNC's Burhan Ghalioun and the NCB's Haytham Manna in the presence of people from both groups.

"The reason the SNC has not called it final yet may have to do with internal politics. But the agreement is final," he said.

Dahowd said the agreement serves to unify ranks and create a post-Assad political framework.

He said the agreement calls for the refusal of any non-Arab foreign intervention, an important issue because some Syrians want international intervention to overthrow the al-Assad regime. At present, the Free Syrian Army, a rebel force composed of military defectors who've taken some actions against regime targets, is on the scene.

The deal calls for "protection of civilians with all legitimate means within international law for human rights" and "honors all soldiers who refused to act on orders to kill civilians," Dahowd said.

The agreement also recognizes the suffering, language and history of the country's Kurdish minority and paves the way for a "democratic, parliamentary, pluralistic and power-sharing system."

"It is also a message to friends of the regime, the Russians and the Chinese who have been raising fears that once the Syrian regime falls there will be a civil war and chaos. So in the agreement we say do not have any of these fears. This will also make it easy to gain political (international) recognition," Dahowd said.

Ahmed Hamoudi, general coordinator of a small Egypt-based opposition group called the Syrian Revolution Coordination, said there are "certain reservations" from some opposition people about the agreement's failure to mention putting al-Assad on trial and forbidding military intervention "while the Syrians on the ground are calling for a no-fly zone."

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based opposition activist network, said it supports and encourages "any agreement or decision" that would forge unity, promote democracy and end the bloodshed and suffering.

The Arab League, the United States, the European Union and Turkey have deplored the al-Assad regime's crackdown and initiated sanctions. But Russia and China have stood in the way of a strong U.N. Security Council resolution toward the Syrian government.

Earlier this month, al-Assad agreed to a peace initiative with the Arab League that calls for security forces to withdraw from cities, release detainees and end violence. Part of the agreement calls for Arab League observers to monitor whether the government abides by the initiative.