Saudi prince says Turkey part of ‘triangle of evil’: Egyptian media

FILE PHOTO: Saudi Arabia's then Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman reacts upon his arrival at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, June 24, 2015. REUTERS/Charles Platiau/File Photo

CAIRO (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has described Turkey as part of a “triangle of evil” along with Iran and hardline Islamist groups, Egypt’s Al-Shorouk newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The Saudi prince also accused Turkey of trying to reinstate the Islamic Caliphate, abolished nearly a century ago when the Ottoman Empire collapsed.

His reported comments reflect Saudi Arabia’s deep suspicion of President Tayyip Erdogan, whose ruling AK Party has its roots in Islamist politics and who has allied his country with Qatar in its dispute with Saudi Arabia and some other Gulf states.

Turkey has also worked with Iran, Saudi Arabia’s arch-rival in the Middle East, to try to reduce fighting in northern Syria in recent months, and Iranian and Turkish military chiefs exchanged visits last year.

Al-Shorouk quoted Prince Mohammed as saying “the contemporary triangle of evil comprises Iran, Turkey and extremist religious groups.”

The prince spoke to Egyptian newspaper editors during a visit to Cairo, on his first foreign trip since becoming heir to the oil exporting giant last year.

He said the dispute with Qatar could be long-lasting, comparing it to the U.S. embargo of Cuba imposed 60 years ago, but played down its impact, dismissing the Gulf emirate as “smaller than a Cairo street”.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain cut diplomatic and trade links with Qatar last June, suspending air and shipping routes with the world’s biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas, which is home to the region’s biggest U.S. military base.

However, Prince Salman said Qatar would not be barred from attending an Arab summit hosted by Saudi Arabia later this month.

(Writing by Dominic Evans, Editing by William Maclean)

Mass killer, cult leader Charles Manson dies at 83

Charles Manson during a 1989 interview.

By Diane Bartz and Steve Gorman

(Reuters) – Charles Manson, the wild-eyed cult leader who orchestrated a string of gruesome killings in Southern California by his “family” of young followers, shattering the peace-and-love ethos of the late 1960s, died on Sunday, prison officials said. He was 83.

Manson died of natural causes Sunday evening at a Kern County hospital, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said in a statement. It gave no further details of the circumstances surrounding his death.

He had been serving a life sentence at the nearby Corcoran State Prison for ordering the murders of nine people, including actress Sharon Tate.

Long after Manson had largely faded from headlines, he loomed large as a symbol of the terror he unleashed in the summer of 1969.

“The very name Manson has become a metaphor for evil,” the late Vincent Bugliosi, who prosecuted Manson, told the Los Angeles Times in 1994.

A recent photograph showed the gray-bearded killer’s face still bearing the scar of a swastika he carved into his forehead decades earlier.

Manson became one of the 20th century’s most notorious criminals when he directed his mostly young, female followers to murder seven people in what prosecutors said was part of a plan to incite a race war.

 

GRAFFITI WITH VICTIMS’ BLOOD

Tate, aged 26 and eight months pregnant, was stabbed 16 times in the early morning hours of Aug. 9, 1969, by members of Manson’s cult at the rented hillside house she shared with her husband, filmmaker Roman Polanski, in the Benedict Canyon area of Los Angeles.

Four friends of the celebrity couple, including coffee heiress Abigail Folger and hairstylist Jay Sebring, were also stabbed or shot to death that night by Manson followers, who scrawled the word “Pig” in blood on the home’s front door before leaving. Polanski was away in Europe at the time.

The following night, members of Manson’s group stabbed grocery owner Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary to death, using their blood to write, “Death to Pigs” and “Healter Skelter” – a misspelled reference to the Beatles song “Helter Skelter” – on the walls and refrigerator door.

Although Manson did not personally kill any of the seven victims, he was found guilty of ordering their murders.

He was later convicted of ordering the murders of music teacher Gary Hinman, stabbed to death in July 1969, and stuntman Donald “Shorty” Shea, stabbed and bludgeoned that August.

Manson was sentenced to death for the Tate-LaBianca murders, but his sentence was commuted to life in prison after the California Supreme Court abolished capital punishment in the state in 1972.

Born Charles Milles Maddox on Nov. 12, 1934, in Cincinnati to a 16-year-old girl, Manson spent much of his youth shuttled between relatives and juvenile detention halls. By age 13, he had been convicted of armed robbery.

Newly paroled from prison in 1967, he began attracting members of his “family” in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district, which had become a haven for the hippie youth culture.

The group moved with his followers to the Los Angeles area, eventually settling at Spahn Ranch, site of an outdoor movie location used for Western films and TV shows. Communal sex and drug use were a way of life as Manson became a messiah to the runaways, outcasts and criminals drawn by his charisma, intimidation and twisted spiritualism.

One follower told authorities she had seen Manson bring a bird back to life by breathing on it. Another said he could see and hear everything she did and said.

Manson aspired to be a rock star, and through one of his followers befriended Dennis Wilson, drummer of the Beach Boys, who would go on base their 1969 song “Never Learn Not to Love” on a Manson composition.

Wilson introduced Manson to music producer Terry Melcher, who later snubbed him. Melcher, along with his then-girlfriend, actress Candice Bergen, had previously rented the Benedict Canyon house.

The brutality of the killings stunned the nation.

“There was a lot of fear,” Bugliosi, author of the chilling book about the murders, “Helter Skelter,” told the Times in 1994. “The words printed in blood made it especially frightening for the Hollywood crowd.”

 

SENSATIONAL TRIAL

Denied his request to represent himself during his 9-1/2 month trial, Manson showed up in court with an “X” carved into his forehead, and would later alter it into a swastika.

Co-defendants Susan Atkins, Leslie Van Houten and Patricia Krenwinkel cut “X”s in their foreheads, shaved their scalps, sang Manson-written songs and giggled through chilling testimony.

At one point, Manson tried to leap over the defense table at the judge, snarling: “In the name of Christian justice, someone should cut your head off.” The judge began carrying a gun afterward.

Manson ultimately was brought down by his followers. Atkins told two inmates about the Tate-LaBianca murders while she was jailed in an unrelated killing, then testified to a grand jury before recanting. Prosecutors then persuaded another follower, Linda Kasabian, to testify against the rest of the group in exchange for immunity.

Convicted along with Manson, his three co-defendants, Atkins, Van Houten and Krenwinkel, also had their death sentences reduced to life terms.

Manson long maintained his innocence, telling Rolling Stone magazine that follower Charles “Tex” Watson was responsible for the Tate-LaBianca killings. Watson was tried separately and is serving a life term for his role in those killings.

Still, Manson seemed resigned to a life of incarceration, ceasing to even attend his parole review hearings after 1997.

“What would I want out for?” he said in a telephone interview with the Los Angeles Times. “This beats an old folks home.”

In April 2012, Manson was quoted by parole officials as having told a prison psychologist the previous fall: “I have put five people in the grave. I’ve been in prison most of my life. I’m a very dangerous man.”

 

(Writing by Diane Bartz, Bill Trott and Steve Gorman; Editing by Jonathan Oatis, Diane Craft and Nick Macfie)

 

ISIS Selling Church Artifacts On Black Market

A British publication has conducted an undercover investigation that shows terrorist group ISIS is selling artifacts from Christian churches on the black market as a way to fund their actions.

Oliver Moody of The Times published an article showing ISIS taking antiquities worth millions of dollars and selling them to western buyers.

“Willy Bruggeman, a former deputy director of Europol who is now president of the Belgian federal police council, said that some of the artefacts had almost certainly been sold illegally to buyers in the UK, although none had yet been traced to Britain,” Moody wrote.

“Iraqi Intelligence Service confirmed earlier this year that ISIS was able to collect 23 million pounds from the sale of artifacts from the Syrian city of Nabaq, which is full with Christian Collectibles.”

In addition to selling the artifacts, the group has been using a bulldozer to destroy Christian churches so they can sell the gypsum inside the walls.

The United Nations has stated in multiple hearings that the cultural heritage of Iraq is in danger from the terrorist group.

ISIS Says Torture and Slavery Part of Islam

A German journalist has emerged from an investigative mission inside ISIS and has brought out a surprising story about life under the terrorist regime.

Juergen Todenhoefer visited a mosque in Mosul where the leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi made his only public speech.  He wanted to capture the daily activities of ISIS and said that despite the cruelty of ISIS, there is a “sense of normalcy” in Mosul.

“130,000 Christians have been evicted from the city, the Shia have fled, many people have been murdered and yet the city is functioning and people actually like the stability that the Islamic State has brought them,” Todenhoefer wrote.

The author says despite the feeling of normalcy, there is a layer of fear.

“Of course many of the them are quite scared, because the punishment for breaking the Islamic State’s strict rules is very severe.”

Todenhoefer said that ISIS fighters told him their goal is to take over the world.

“We will conquer Europe one day,” one terrorist said. “It is not a question of if we will conquer Europe, just a matter of when that will happen. But it is certain … For us, there is no such thing as borders. There are only front lines.

“Our expansion will be perpetual … And the Europeans need to know that when we come, it will not be in a nice way. It will be with our weapons. And those who do not convert to Islam or pay the Islamic tax will be killed.”

When asked about Shia Muslims around the world who do not believe in the ISIS version of the faith, the response was short and brutal.

“150 million, 200 million or 500 million, it does not matter to us,” the fighter answered. “We will kill them all.”

Part of the interview quoted by CNN showed ISIS endorses slavery:

“So do you seriously think that beheadings and enslavement actually signal progress for humanity?” Todenhoefer asked.

“Slavery absolutely signals progress,” the man said. “Only ignorant people believe that there is no slavery among the Christians and the Jews. Of course there are woman who are forced into prostitution under the worst circumstances.

“I would say that slavery is a great help to us and we will continue to have slavery and beheadings, it is part of our religion … many slaves have converted to Islam and have then been freed.”

Teen Girls In Slenderman Attack Deemed Competent For Trial

Two teenage girls who attempted to kill a third teen girl as a tribute to the fictional character “Slenderman” have been found competent to stand trial.

A spokeswoman for the Waukesha County Circuit Court told CNN that Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier will face trial on charges of attempted murder.  The two girls stabbed a classmate 19 times in May and left her body in the woods as a “sacrifice” to the “Slenderman.”

All three were 12 years old at the time of the attack.  The victim was able to crawl out of the woods where a cyclist noticed her laying along the road.  She spent weeks in the hospital in critical condition.

One of the accused girls told police that Slenderman is the leader of the “Creepypasta” website and the only way for someone to “reach his realm” is to kill someone.

The two girls are being tried as adults and their first preliminary hearing is set for February 18.

Islamic Terror Groups Condemn Pakistani Taliban

In a rare break among Islamic terrorist groups and countries that support them, the Pakistani Taliban has been roundly denounced for their attack on a school  that left 132 children dead.

The Pakistani Taliban has been attempting to justify their attack by saying that the assault was revenge against the army for an offensive against the terrorist organization.  The terrorists said their families had suffered losses, so it was right to kill the children of army members.

The spokesman for the Afghanistan branch of the Taliban condemned the attack as being against the basics of Islam.

“The intentional killing of innocent people, children and women is against the basics of Islam and this criteria has to be considered by every Islamic party and government,” Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement, according to Reuters.

The Iranian government also released a statement strongly condemning the terrorist action.

“This is a totally un-Islamic and inhumane act. Terrorism, extremism and endangering the lives of innocent people, in any form and with any objective, is condemned,” Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham told reporters.

Pakistan’s prime minister Nawaz Sharif says the government had tried to negotiate with the terror group but the talks broke down, leading to a military offensive against the group.

Man Convicted Of Murder Of Girl Who Refused Abortion

A young girl’s decision to give life to her unborn child resulted in her losing her own.

Now a New York man will be going to prison for her killing.

A jury deliberated about an hour before convicting 22-year-old Christian Ferdinand on a second degree murder charge in the death of 14-year-old Shaniesha Forbes.  Ferdinand met the girl on Facebook in 2012 and met up with her for sex.  She text messaged him a few months later saying she was pregnant with his child and would not abort the baby.

“Are you serious? Kill that [expletive],” Ferdinand texted back to her.  He then killed the teen when she met him at his cousin’s house by smothering her with a pillow.  He then stuffed the girl’s body into a suitcase, burned it and then threw it into lake.

“He intentionally smothered a 14-year-old girl to death and burned her body to get rid of the evidence,” prosecutor Robert Walsh told jurors on Monday. “He had a problem that needed solving. He didn’t want to pay child support, and Shaniesha got in the way.”

Ferdinand actually told investigators he didn’t think the killing was a big deal.  He asked them if they could just give him community service for the murder.

He faces 25 years in prison.  Ironically, the medical examiner said it was likely the girl was not pregnant in the first place.

Minnesota Court Frees Nurse Who Encouraged Suicides

In Minnesota, if you want to coach someone through killing themselves, you’re now legally and Constitutionally protected to do it.

The Minnesota Supreme Court on Wednesday reverses the convictions of a former nurse who had been convicted under the state’s law that bans assisting suicide.   He had been convicted of encouraging and providing advice to a 32-year-old man and 18-year-old woman.

The sentence for William Melchert-Dinkel had been suspended pending his appeal.  His lawyers had argued that he had free speech rights to share methods and encouragement to those planning suicides and that it was impossible to prove his words were the deciding factor in the victims ending their lives.

The prosecution noted that Melchert-Dinkel sought out depressed people online for the sake of encouraging them into suicide.  He posed as a female nurse and then after showing compassion gave instructions on the best way to kill themselves.

Melchert-Dinkel admitted that he did it for the “thrill” and entered into fake suicide pacts with at least 5 people with whom he is sure ended their own lives with his encouragement.

North Korean Leader Forcing Women To Kill Babies

A new report from a United Nations investigative panel has found atrocities in North Korea that the panel compared to crimes committed by Nazi Germany.

The report said that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered women kidnapped from China to be strapped to a table and injected with abortion drugs.  He also ordered women who had infants to drown them or smother them in his presence if there was any possibility the children were fathered by Chinese nationals.

“The gravity, scale and nature of these violations reveal a state that does not have any parallel in the contemporary world,” the U.N. Commission on Inquiry wrote in a 372-page report.

The Commission took the unprecedented step of warning the North Korean leader that he could be tried for crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court for his actions.

The forced abortions were part of a campaign by Kim Jong Un to create a “pure Korean race” and that any child which is not purely North Korean is “contamination of ‘pureness’.”

The report also found multiple “secret” prison camps where hundreds of thousands of North Koreans and kidnapped people from South Korea or Japan were executed.