admin, Author at The Lafete Magazine | Page 326 of 398
close

admin

News & Announcements

Body Of Woman Missing During Japan Tsunami In 2011 Finally Identified

The remains of a woman who went missing in the devastating 2011 Japan tsunami have been found and identified, police said on Friday, days before the 10th anniversary of the disaster.

“Skeletal remains including a skull were found on February 17 on a beach in the northeastern region of Miyagi, a local police spokesman told the AFP news agency.

Forensic dental and DNA analysis this week revealed her to be Natsuko Okuyama, a 61-year-old from Higashimatsushima who disappeared as the wave of black water swept ashore on March 11, 2011, he said.

The confirmed death toll in the 2011 quake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown stood at 15,899 in December 2020, according to Japan’s national police agency.

But more than 2,500 are officially still considered missing 10 years after the disaster.

That has left many families in limbo, feeling unable to fully process the loss of loved ones whose bodies have never been retrieved.

Local media quoted Okuyama’s son as thanking the person who found the remains.

“I’m extremely happy that my mother was found as the 10th anniversary is coming up,” the Kyodo news agency quoted him as saying.

“This will allow me to get my emotions in order and move forward.”

read more
News & Announcements

Khashoggi: Fiancée Of Late Saudi Journalist Wants Crown Prince Punished

The fiancée of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi is calling for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to be punished after the US intelligence report found that the kingdom’s de facto ruler played a role in the murder of the journalist in 2018.

Khashoggi, a columnist for the Washington Post newspaper who was critical of Saudi policies under bin Salman, was killed and dismembered by a hit squad in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

 “It is essential that the crown prince… should be punished without delay,” Hatice Cengiz said on Twitter.

“If the crown prince is not punished, it will forever signal that the main culprit can get away with murder which will endanger us all and be a stain on our humanity.”

The US intelligence report on Friday found that the prince, popularly known as MBS, had approved the operation that led to the killing of Khashoggi. Former US President Donald Trump’s administration had held back the long-awaited report.

The report also cited MBS’s “support for violent measures to silence dissidents abroad, including Khashoggi” among the factors the assessment was based on.

“Since 2017, the Crown Prince has had absolute control of the Kingdom’s security and intelligence organizations, making it highly unlikely that Saudi officials would have carried out an operation of this nature without the Crown Prince’s authorization,” the report said.

The four-page report names 21 individuals who participated in or were otherwise complicit in Khashoggi’s murder.

Washington has imposed sanctions on some of those involved, but not Prince Mohammed himself.

The Saudi government, which has denied any involvement by the crown prince rejected the report’s findings.

US President Joe Biden’s administration on Friday imposed a visa ban on some Saudi officials believed to be involved in Khashoggi’s killing and placed sanctions on others that would freeze their US assets and generally bar Americans from dealing with them.

Asked about criticism of Washington for not sanctioning MBS directly, Biden said an announcement would be made on Monday but did not provide details, while a White House official suggested no new steps were expected.

Last month, the US ended its support to Saudi’s devastating war in Yemen as part of the new Biden administration’s efforts to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for its human rights violations.

In his first call since becoming president, Biden spoke to Saudi King Salman last week during which he “affirmed the importance the United States place on universal human rights and the rule of law”.

“Starting with the Biden administration, it is vital for all world leaders to ask themselves if they are prepared to shake hands with a person whose culpability as a murderer has been proven,” said Cengiz, who has been campaigning to get justice for her slain fiancé.

The Saudi government, which initially said it had no information on Khashoggi later accepted responsibility for the killing but said it was a rogue operation that did not involve the prince.

Cengiz said that “following this report, there is no longer any political legitimacy for the crown prince”.

 “The truth – that was already known – has been revealed one more time, and it is now confirmed.”

But she said the US report did not go far enough.

“Yet this is not enough,” she warned, “since the truth can only be meaningful when it serves justice being achieved.”

read more
1 324 325 326 327 328 398
Page 326 of 398