Tag Archive | "tuesday morning"

Egyptian Executive Charged for Sex Abuse


The former chairman of a huge bank in Egypt faces charges of sex abuse just weeks after the former IMF chairman was arrested for similar charges. Mahmoud Abdel Salam Omar is accused of sexually harassing a maid at one of the premier hotels in Manhattan.

The police said that Omar was arrested last Monday after being accused of sexually harassing one of the chamber maids at the Pierre hotel. The hotel is situated near Central Park and the Fifth Avenue on the Upper East Side.

Based on the police report, the maid was summoned to Omar’s room to drop off tissues Sunday evening. Once inside the room, however, Omar would not let the maid go and allegedly touched her inappropriately.

The maid managed to break free from Omar and immediately told her superiors about the incident. Her superiors, however, said that it is best until Monday to report the alleged sex abuse to the hotel’s security director. The director called the police Monday morning after hearing of the assault.

Police officers searched Omar’s room and the area surrounding the hotel, but did not find him. The police left and returned to hours later, and found Omar in the hotel lobby. He was then immediately arrested.

Omar was held in prison Monday night and was later transferred to a booking facility in Manhattan Tuesday morning. The Egyptian consulate in New York made no comments on the incident.

Paul Browne, spokesperson of the NYPD, said that the complaints seem credible. He, however, refused to comment further saying that the case is still under investigation. The case is set to be arraigned within the week.

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Four Journalists for New York Times Reported Missing in Libya


Four journalists for the newspaper New York Times were reported missing while covering the war in Libya, the paper informed on Wednesday.

The newspaper said the journalists were last in touch with their editors from the town of Ajdabiya on Tuesday morning.

The journalists include Anthony Shadid and Stephen Farell. Shadid is a two-time winner of Pulitzer Prize while Farell is a videographer and reporter who was also kidnapped in 2009 by the Taliban group and was saved by the British commandos.

Also, two photographers are missing who include Lynsey Addario and Tyler Hicks, the New York Times reported.

The New York Times’ executive editor Bill Keller said they have already talked with the Libyan government officials in Tripoli. The Libyan officials said they are trying to determine the journalists’ whereabouts.

Keller said the government of Libya had assured them that the journalists would be freed promptly and unharmed once they have known that they are captured.

Last week, a reporter from Brazil was released by the government forces in Libya. However, a journalist from the newspaper Guardian in Brazil is still missing.

A news team from BBC also informed last week that it had been arrested at a checkpoint by the security forces in Libya. They said they were beaten and submitted to mock execution.

A revolt occurred in Libya last month, a time when Muammar Gaddafi, Libyan leader since 1969, lost control of a large group in the country. However, Gadaffi’s security forces have battled back since then.

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Four U.S. Hostages Killed Near Somalia


Four U.S. hostages were shot dead on a private yacht last Tuesday. The incident was the deadliest yet involving Americans who were kidnapped for ransom in the extremely dangerous coasts off Somalia.

The hostages were shot by the pirates before Special Forces from America boarded the vessel, according to a statement from the U.S. military.

The U.S. troops took control of the ship and killed two pirates. Fifteen other pirates were found on the site and were taken into custody. The military said the U.S. Special Forces found two dead pirates when they arrived. However, the pirates were not slain by the U.S. forces.

According to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the government of United States was deeply upset and saddened by the death of four kidnapped American citizens. The murder was a terrible act that emphasized the need for more worldwide collaboration against pirates.

Although pirate gangs usually target big merchant ships with oil tankers as the prize, kidnapping foreigners gets them even higher ransoms. At the end of January, there were about 750 pirate hostages.

The American hostages killed on Tuesday were Bob Riggle and Phyllis Macay from Seattle, as well as Jean and Scott Adam who are from California.

On Tuesday morning, negotiations had already been under the way with the pirates. But, U.S. military said a pirate fired a grenade at the guided-missile USS Sterett without any warning. Then, gunfire burst out on the pirated vessel.

Head of U.S. naval forces in the region Vice Admiral Mark Fox said they intended to go through a negotiated process and to never reach a point where there would actually be gunfire.

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