Mother of 'I Am Bomb, Jihad' T-Shirt Boy Appears in French Court

The mother and uncle of a three-year-old boy named Jihad appeared in French court Wednesday for sending him to school in "I am a bomb" shirt

Child at Hamas rally in Gaza

Israel news photo: Flash 90

The mother and uncle of a three-year-old boy named Jihad, who was born on September 11, appeared in a French court Wednesday for sendinghim to school in a shirt bearing the words "I am a bomb".

The long-sleeved T-shirt also had the words "Jihad, born on September 11" written on the back when he turned up at his nursery school in the southern town of Sorgues near Avignon on September 25, AFP reported.

The boy’s mother, who dressed her son, and his uncle, who bought the shirt, are both being charged with condoning a crime over the alleged reference to the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York’s twin towers in 2001.  

The judge at the court in Avignon agreed to a request by their lawyer for the trial to be postponed until next year for technical reasons and set March 6 as the date for the next hearing, according to AFP.  

The boy’s teacher reportedly alerted authorities after he turned up in the offending top and a few days later the town mayor, Thierry Lagneau of the conservative UMP party, asked prosecutors to investigate.

"I condemn the attitude of the parents who shamefully took advantage of the person and the age of this child to convey a political message," Lagneau said.

The mother and uncle of the boy, both of whom were astonished by the reactions to the shirt, were not known Islamists, prosecutors said, according to AFP.

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Newtown, Connecticut: Yvonne Cech Greek-American Librarian Saves 18 Children

When the 24 year-old shooter, Adam Lanza, entered the elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut on Friday morning, Yvonne Cech realized that something bad was about to happen and started thinking of ways to protect her students.

When Cech, a Greek-American librarian, heard the first gunshots she locked herself, an assistant, and 18 fourth-graders in a closet behind file cabinets in the library.

“We spent 45 minutes locked in a closet during the shootings,” she said to local media in Connecticut after she made it out of the school building.

 

“The SWAT team escorted us out,” and then all 18 children were reunited with their parents.

The Greek-American librarian was one of the heroes who saved her students’ lives. Victoria Soto was another teacher who sacrificed her life to save her class. None of her students were harmed.

There were 20 children between ages 5 and 10 the staff could not save. Their names and lives could be those from any primary school on either side of the Atlantic.

Among them are Daniel Barden, aged six; Chase Kowalski, whose sister Natalie attends the school but escaped injury; Jesse Lewis, six, whose class were set to make gingerbread houses that day; Grace McDonnell, aged six, who lived a street away from her killer; Ana Marquez-Greene, aged seven, the daughter of Canadian jazz saxophonist Jimmy Greene; Emilie Parker, aged six, whose family had moved to Newtown from Utah only a year ago; Avielle Richman, Catherine Hubbard, Noah Vabner, and Benjamin Wheeler, all aged six.

The gunman, Adam Lanza, killed 27 people in total including his mother. Before heading to Sandy Hook Elementary School, where his mother was also a teacher, he shot and killed her at a house they shared in Newtown.

The motive for the mass killing, the second-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history, remains unknown.

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Tributes to principal and two teachers: They died trying to save the children

Principal Dawn Hochsprung and two others teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School ran selflessly towards the sound of gunfire

The heroic head teacher of the US primary school devastated by a shooting rampage died trying to stop the gunman.

Dawn Hochsprung - principal of Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut - ran selflessly towards the sound of gunfire when a school staff meeting was cut horrifically short.

Two other members of staff also died trying to protect youngsters at the school.

School therapist Diane Day said she and several other teachers were in a meeting when they heard the terrifying sound of a gun being fired.

"We were there for about five minutes chatting and we heard, 'pop pop pop'," she told the Wall Street Journal.

"I went under the table. The principal and the school psychologist had other ideas. They jumped out of their seat and ran toward the sound of the gunfire."

School psychologist Mary Sherlach, 56, died in the tragedy while first grade teacher 27-year-old Victoria Soto threw herself in front of her students when she came face to face with the gunman.

Victoria's cousin Jim Wiltsie said police told him her first instinct - and her final act - had been to try and save her pupils.

"She put herself between the gunman and the children and that's when she was tragically shot and killed," he told ABC News.

"I'm just proud that Vicki had the instincts to protect her kids from harm.

"It brings peace to know that Vicki was doing what she loved, protecting the children and in our eyes she's a hero."

Police say the suspect in the shootings, Adam Lanza, killed his mother at their home before driving her car to the school where he went on the rampage.

Lanza's mother Nancy was a teacher at Sandy Hook, where the 20-year-old killed another 26 people, including 20 children, before shooting himself dead.

Newspapers in the US have reported that the head teacher Ms Hochsprung had written a letter earlier this year outlining new safety measures - including locked doors during school hours.

The 47-year-old principal was described by a local councillor as having "an extremely likable style".

She had been head at Sandy Hook Elementary since 2010, and frequently tweeted photos from her job and wrote upbeat tweets about what was going on at the school, he said.

Tragically, Ms Hochsprung buzzed Lanza into the school, bypassing the newly-installed security system, because she recognised him as the son of Nancy Lanza.

Lanza attended Newtown High School, and local news clippings from recent years mention his name among the school's honour roll students.

State police said 18 children were found dead at the school and two died later in hospital. Six adults - including the gunman - were found dead at the scene.

They said the shootings occurred in one section of the school but did not give details.

In New Jersey, Lanza's older brother Ryan, 24, of Hoboken, told investigators his brother was believed to suffer from a personality disorder and be "somewhat autistic".

Three guns were found at the scene of the massacre. Detectives suggested they might have belonged to Ms Lanza.

Hundreds of people attended a church vigil in Connecticut last night to remember the victims of the shooting.

With the St Rose of Lima church in Newtown filled to capacity, hundreds of people stood outside, some holding hands in circles and saying prayers, while others lit candles and sang Silent Night.

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Connecticut school shooting: Evidence for gunman's motive found

Police have found clues at the crime scenes at Sandy Hook Elementary School and a second scene, believed to be suspect Adam Lanza's home where his mum was found dead

Evidence has been found that could help explain the motives of the lone gunman behind one of the worst mass school shootings in American history, police said.

Officers found evidence at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, where 20 children and six adults were shot and killed, and at a second crime scene where a woman was found dead, Lt Paul Vance told a press conference.

The gunman is believed to be 20-year-old Adam Lanza, who killed his mother Nancy at their home before going on the rampage at the school, although Lt Vance refused to confirm the gunman's identity.

"Our investigators at the crime scene, the school and secondarily at the secondary crime scene we discussed where the female was located deceased, did produce some very good evidence in this investigation that our investigators will be able to use in hopefully painting the complete picture as to how and more importantly why this occurred," he said.

He also revealed the gunman forced his way into the school.

Lt Vance added: "It is believed he was not voluntarily let into the school at all, that he forced his way into the school but that is as far as we can go on that."

Lanza shot dead 18 children aged between five and 10 and six adults at the school where his mother Nancy was a teacher, before killing himself. Two other children shot at the scene died in hospital later.

Lt Vance said that the identity of those killed had been confirmed and that they would be released as soon as possible. Those believed dead include principal Dawn Hochsprung, who had been in charge since 2010.

In New Jersey, Lanza's older brother Ryan, 24, of Hoboken, told investigators his brother was believed to suffer from a personality disorder and be "somewhat autistic".

Hundreds of people attended a church vigil in Connecticut on Friday night to remember the victims of the shooting. With the St Rose of Lima church in Newtown filled to capacity, hundreds of people stood outside, some holding hands in circles and saying prayers. State governor Dannel P Malloy was among the speakers at the service.

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Connecticut survivors: “The shooter, Adam Lanza, kept banging on the door screaming: "Let me in!" - How kindergarten killer stole his mother's guns and shot her dead before murdering 20 children and 6 staff (PHOTOS)

• The shooter, Adam Lanza, 20, is confirmed dead and body still inside the school
• Brother Ryan, 24, is in custody and being questioned
• One teacher said masked gunman started firing out shots from principal's office and then his mom Nancy's kindergarten classroom shortly after 9.30am
• Mom was killed at home in Newtown, which was once voted one of America's safest places to live
• One student said there were bullets whizzing by him in the hallway
• Female principal and school psychologist believed to have been targeted
• Moved to tears, President Obama says 'our hearts are broken today'
• No positive IDs but parents who have not been reunited with their children are assuming the worst
• Flags around America being flown at half staff

Over 26 from the Sandy Hook Elementary School lost their lives on Friday, most of them kids aged 5-10. Teachers at the school are said to have done their best to protect students from the rampaging gunman.

Friday began as a relatively normal day for a school in Newtown, CT, with around 600 students filling in the classes and the school’s headmistress sitting down for a meeting with her colleagues.

At around 9:40 am the meeting was disrupted with a loud “pop pop pop” from the hall. Headmistress Dawn Hochsprung, her deputy and the school’s psychologist darted out to see what was going on. Only the vice principal came back – shot in the leg – and told the rest to call 911.

The gunman made his way quickly, witnesses would later tell the press, firing most of his shots in what is believed to be a kindergarten class.

Hearing the shots, music teacher Maryrose Kristopik grabbed her 15 pupils and barricaded them in a closet. But in a moment of heart pounding terror the gunman found their hiding place.

“The shooter kept banging on the door screaming: "Let me in! Let me in!" but he didn't get in,” said the teacher, quoted by The Daily Mail. The saved kids’ parents have already hailed the woman a “hero.”

Robert Licata said his six-year-old son was in class when the gunman burst in and shot the teacher.

“That's when my son grabbed a bunch of his friends and ran out the door,” he said. “He was very brave. He waited for his friends.”

The shooter didn't say a word, Licata added.

Unidentified people embrace on December 14, 2012 at the aftermath of a school shooting at a Connecticut elementary school that brought police swarming into the leafy neighborhood, while other area schools were put under lock-down, police and local media said (AFP Photo / Don Emmert)

The gunman appears to the son of Nancy Lanza – a teacher who taught at the school. Most of the victims appear to be her students, said WCBS-TV. Media reports suggest that the suspected shooter first killed his mother at their home and then went on rampage in the school. 

The total death toll in Connecticut stands at 28, police say. This includes 20 children and six adults killed at the school, the suspected attacker and an adult victim – reportedly his mother – at the second scene.

Guns used in the shooting were legally purchased and registered to the suspected shooter's mother, law enforcement officials told NBC News.

In the school gym, the lesson was interrupted by screaming and a loud noise outside.

“Then the gym teachers immediately gathered the children in a corner and kept them safe in a corner,” says Melissa Makris, whose son Philip, 10, was in the gym with other fourth-graders.

“He said the policeman came in and helped them get out of the building and told them to run,” Makris said. “And they ran to the firehouse.”

Police and SWAT teams responded to the call immediately. Taking out the kids to safety they told them to close their eyes. Early pictures from the scene, such as the one taken by The Newtown Bee newspaper, showed a group of children – some crying, others looking terrified – being escorted through a parking lot in a line, hands on each other's shoulders.

"Everyone was just traumatized," parents said, some kids emerged covered in victims’ blood, looking thoroughly shaken. Teachers were seen crying as they came out of the building.

All the injured were transported to Danbury Hospital which admitted at least three patients.

Soon, panicked parents were flooding the school, which is just 60 miles northeast of New York City, looking for their children. By 13:30 pm Gov. Dan Malloy was meeting with families of those killed.

The reasons behind the rampage are yet to be discovered as police have received multiple search warrants to continue their investigation. It’s been reported the suspected gunman also killed his father and brother at a second scene before going to the elementary school.

At the White House, President Barack Obama had to pause commenting on the incident to keep his composure as looked to get teary eyed.

"They had their entire lives ahead of them – birthdays, graduations, wedding, kids of their own," Obama said about the victims. "Among the fallen were also teachers, men and women who devoted their lives to helping our children."

The survivors were “robbed of their innocence,” he added pledging to prevent such tragedies occurring again.

The Sandy Hook incident, coming less than two weeks before Christmas, is the deadliest elementary school shooting in US history and second-worst massacre after Virginia Tech University, where 32 people were killed in 2007.

Police stand before grieving residents following a shooting December 14, 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut (AFP Photo / Don Emmert)

Residents grieve following a shooting December 14, 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut (AFP Photo / Don Emmert)

Unidentified people on December 14, 2012 leave the scene at the aftermath of a school shooting at a Connecticut elementary school that brought police swarming into the leafy neighborhood, while other area schools were put under lock-down, police and local media said (AFP Photo / Don Emmert)

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Turkey: Number of child brides exceeds 181,000

The number of child brides in Turkey totals in excess of 181,000 as of this month, according to data released by the Turkish Statistics Institute (TürkStat), said Nazan Moroğlu, head of the Turkish Association of University Women (TÜKD), at a meeting held in the southern province of Adana on Sunday.

Speaking at a meeting held by TÜKD, Moroğlu emphasized the problems to child brides. While the Convention on the Rights of the Child views any person under 18 as a child, in Turkey one can marry at 17, or even at 16 with the approval of a judge along with parental consent. 

According to the statistics released by TürkStat the rate of parental consent for legal marriage under the age of 18 increased by 94.2 percent in the last year and the number of child brides is currently more than 181,000. 

“Making girls marry at a young age is a major obstacle in education. As women make up half of the country's population, a lack of education may hamper development and democracy in our country,” added Moroğlu.

Moroğlu stated that only 2 percent of women have access to a university education, which is far below EU standards. She further stated that every two out of 10 women are still illiterate in Turkey. Young girls forced into early marriage are dependent on their husbands, who are often much older; this situation makes them more vulnerable to domestic violence. Early marriage also leads to early pregnancy, which includes the risk of health complications.

The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) Fact Sheet shows that many Turks continue to marry at a young age: 23 percent of the 582,715 marriages conducted in 2010, for instance, involved a bride under the age of 19. A study of Turkish marriage practices conducted by Hacettepe University in 2011 reveals that the issue of child brides may be more prevalent in Turkey than one might think. 

The study indicates that almost 40 percent of Turkish women between 15 and 49 years of age were married by their 18th birthday.

The Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) earlier this year released a report which indicated that legal measures taken by the government to protect children and women were appreciated, but the committee drew attention to the issue of child brides as a serious problem. Moreover, the CRC recommended the minimum legal age for marriage in all relevant legislation be set at 18.

Another child bride died as a result of domestic violence in the northwestern province of Adapazarı on Nov. 12. Two years ago Emine Yayla was forced to marry Süleyman Yayla at the age of 15. A year later Emine gave birth to baby girl. 

After being subjected to physical violence by her husband, she fled to her parents' house with her baby two weeks later. On Nov. 12, Süleyman reportedly entered through the window of her parents' house, stabbed Emine, critically wounding her and left the crime scene. 

Emine was taken to Sakarya State Hospital, where she later died of her injuries. She was 17. The police have launched an investigation to find Süleyman.  

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Fr. Gervasios from Thessaloniki nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize

A Greek-Australian couple donated the total of 32 highly-priced acres in the region of Halkidiki, Greece, to the “Osia Xeni” Missionary Brotherhood, Religious Ministry of Discharge of Poor Inmates an Runaways, based in the Perea neighborhood of the city of Thessaloniki.

“In one of my many trips to Greece, while visiting my parents living there, I met Father Gervasios and the exceptional humanitarian work of the brotherhood he is in charge of” said Mrs. Roula Markou.

Afterwards, Mrs. Markou introduced Father Gervasios to her husband Panayiotis Markou, who was also impressed by the efforts made by the Father and his group despite its poor finances.

Therefore, the couple decided to proceed with the donation of an inheritance of Mrs. Markou in Halkidiki. “It’s better to use this land for a good cause than for personal ones” said Mrs. Markou.

“We do not regret for our action. On the contrary, we are really happy about it. This land has turned into a hospitable camp for non-privileged children from Greece and abroad. My wife and I just followed Father Gervasios’ motto ‘Our life is too short. Let’s hurry to do something good for our world’” added Mr. Markou.

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Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, among great personalities from around the world, is an Orthodox priest known as the “saint” of prisoners.

Father Gervasios from Thessaloniki has dedicated his life to offer assistance to needy prisoners.

The last 35 years he has contributed to the release of 15,200 needy prisoners, who come from 90 countries, having raised more than 4,100,000 euros!

People of the arts and many scientists from five continents have suggested the Archimandrite Gervasios Raptopoulos as a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize by the Norwegian Academy.

The countdown to the awards has begun, as the announcement will take place on October 12 at 11:00 am.

Fr. Gervasios’ ministry for the release of indigent prisoners “Hosia Xeni” have made a huge contribution for 35 years.

They help to regain the freedom of people at the detention center for small offenses and cannot afford bail for their sentence.

But not only that.

“They offer the detainee clothing, footwear and cleanliness. Also financial assistance for basic needs, in dental and orthopedic care. Varied is the assistance to the families of prisoners. A monthly allowance of 300 euros is given to the children of those in prison abroad until they complete their university studies. They contribute to the cleaning of the mess and the heating of prisons of our country,” says “Democracy” of the ministry.

The money paid for the release of thousands of prisoners are from voluntary contributions of thousands of Greek philanthropists and expatriates.