Suicide bomber kills 6 troops in Afghanistan - Washington Post

KABUL - Six U.S. troops were killed Sunday when a man rammed a minivan packed with explosives into a newly built military installation in Kandahar Province, U.S. and Afghan officials said.

The attack in a farming village in Zhari district, a Taliban stronghold where American soldiers are attempting to restore Afghan government control, was the latest in a string of incidents that have made the onset of winter here unusually deadly.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted online. The statement said the suicide bomber, identified as Ahmadullah, drove the minivan packed with 2,000 kilograms of explosives into the building.

The statement said U.S. soldiers had been busy in recent days turning a large house into an outpost.

U.S. forces have suffered heavy casualties in Kandahar this year as they have built a network of small outposts in and around the country's second largest city, the birthplace of the Taliban movement.

U.S. military and some Afghan officials say the effort has curbed the Taliban's control in key areas the group controlled until recently.

But the Afghan government's presence in the province remains anemic.

Sunday's attack comes two weeks after an Afghan border guard turned his weapon on U.S. trainers in the east, killing six troops.

So far this year, at least 670 NATO troops have been killed in Afghanistan, far more than the 502 killed last year, which had been the deadliest in the nine year war, according to a count by the Associated Press.

Mines and powerful roadside bombings have become the deadliest weapons used against NATO troops in southern Afghanistan.

The Obama administration, which authorized a 30,000-troop surge last year, is expecting an interagency report of the state of the war later this month. The assessment will be used to fine-tune the United States's counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan as the war enters its 10th year.

Sunday's attack comes a day after an unusually deadly spate of military operations that left at least 40 suspected insurgents and seven civilians dead, according to the military.

The bloodshed comes amid continuing political tension in Kabul over the results of Afghanistan's parliamentary election in September.

Fazl Ahmad Manawi, the head of the country's independent election commission said in a press conference Sunday that the attorney general's office is attempting to use its investigative powers to pressure the commission to alter the results.

Afghan prosecutors have ordered the arrest of commission members in recent days on fraud charges - a move the election commission has interpreted as an intimidation tactic.

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Sweden suicide bomber: Taimur Abdulwahab al-Abdaly was living in Britain - Telegraph.co.uk

The suicide bombing follows an attempt by Umar Farouq Abdulmutallab, a former student at University College London, to blow himself up last Christmas on a flight to Detroit.

Abdulmutallab had trained in Yemen, but had become increasingly radical during his time in Britain. The security services and police are concerned that British university campuses have become breeding grounds for extremism. Neighbours told The Daily Telegraph last night that they had last seen Abdulwahab at the 1930s semi-detached house in Luton, Beds, two and a half weeks ago. The couple have two young girls and a baby son. His wife, Mona, a Swedish citizen, is said to run a home beauty company.

Tahir Hussain, 33, a taxi driver who lives nearby, said: “I used to see him around often. He didn’t say much but seemed nice. I used to see him walking with his kids.

“I was shocked when I heard what happened because I never thought he could do such a thing.”

Mr Hussain said that the couple had been living there for a year and that Abdulwahab used to go to Friday prayers at the Islamic Centre in Luton.

The bomber had recently advertised on a Muslim dating site for a second wife, saying he was looking for a “lady 25-30 who lives in UK for marriage”. The site, Muslima.com, said he was born in Baghdad, Iraq, and moved to Sweden in 1992 and then to Britain in 2001 to study for a degree in physical therapy, marrying in 2004.

On his Facebook page, he included a group called Yawm al-Qiyaamah, meaning Day of Judgment, that featured a montage of Tower Bridge in flames.

Reports from Sweden said Abdulwahab was shouting in Arabic and carrying six pipebombs, one of which exploded, along with a rucksack full of nails and explosives.

A paramedic said the bomber had no injuries to the face or body in general but looked as if he had been carrying something that exploded in his stomach. One witness said the bomber had worked as a sandwich board advertiser in the Drottninggatan shopping area.

Carl Bildt, the Swedish foreign minister, said it was “a most worrying attempt at a terrorist attack”, adding that it “failed – but could have been truly catastrophic”. Theresa May, the Home Secretary, said: “The Swedish government have indicated they believe this was a terrorist attack. We will be talking to them about the details of that attack.”

Abdulwahab’s father, Thamer, 61, who lives in Tranås, south of Stockholm, said his son had been at the family home on Friday.

“After he woke up Saturday morning, he took his car and drove off,” he said. “He did not say if he was going to Stockholm or elsewhere.”

An Yemeni Islamist website, Shumukh al-Islam, published a photograph of Abdulwahab in dark glasses, saying: “It is our brother, mujahid Taymour Abdel Wahab, who carried out the martyrdom operation in Stockholm.”

Twelve minutes before the bombing on Saturday, a Swedish news agency received a message with two sound files, one in Swedish and one in Arabic, that was also sent to the Swedish Security Police. The message criticised Swedes’ silence over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed and Swedish soldiers serving in Afghanistan. Abdulwahab said: “Now your children, your daughters and your sisters will die as our brothers, our sisters and our children are dying.”

He also asked his family for forgiveness for misleading them about a trip to the Middle East: “I never went to the Middle East to work or to make money, I went for jihad.” He asked his wife to kiss the children on his behalf. “Tell them Daddy loves them,” he added.

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Suicide gun killed ronni - New York Post

Slain Tinseltown publicist Ronni Chasen was gunned down in her Mercedes in an apparent botched robbery by a bike-riding ex-con who later blew his brains out with the same gun, cops revealed yesterday in the case's latest plot twist.

Ballistics tests show that the gun Harold Smith used to commit suicide last week matched the weapon from the Nov. 16 Chasen murder, Beverly Hills Police Chief David Snowden said.

"We believe that Mr. Smith acted alone" in killing Chasen, 64, said Snowden, while repeatedly pointing out the case remained open. "We don't believe it was a professional hit."

Splash News; Getty Images (below)CRUEL FATE: The gun that Harold Smith (above) used to kill himself matches the one used last month on Hollywood publicist Ronni Chasen, who was shot before crashing her Mercedes, police said.

Sgt. Michael Publicker added, "This was a random act of violence."

"With Mr. Smith's background, we most likely believe it was a robbery gone bad . . . Through the interviews and the information received, we believe he was at a desperate moment in his life, and was reaching out and doing desperate measures."

"It does not appear at this time that there's any connection between the two," Publicker said. "We believe that he was intending to rob her . . . We believe that his mode of transportation was by bicycle."

One scenario that cops are eyeing is that the lowlife Smith, 43, shot the well-coiffed Chasen several times through her car's passenger window, but had no chance to rob her because she hit the gas and sped off, Publicker said. She crashed a short distance away.

The stunning disclosure demolished a slew of often wild theories floated since Chasen was shot at around 12:30 a.m. as she drove home from the premiere of the movie "Burlesque."

Those include suggestions that the native New Yorker was the victim of a professional hit man or a drive-by gang shooting.

On Dec. 1, Beverly Hills cops visited a low-rent Hollywood apartment building after receiving a tip from "America's Most Wanted" that Smith, who had recently been evicted, bragged to neighbors about killing Chasen.

Smith, who served a decade in prison for robbery, whipped out a gun and shot himself after seeing cops.

Some news reports suggested Smith, whom cops had referred to only as "a person of interest," was lying, and killed himself because he feared going back to prison for a string of unrelated robberies. It was believed unlikely he would have been cycling through Beverly Hills in the middle of the night.

There were also reports several days ago that claimed ballistics tests on his gun -- whose make and caliber have still not been disclosed -- showed no connection to the Chasen murder.

But cops yesterday dismissed those accounts as being based on "erroneous information," and cited interviews and other undisclosed evidence to go along with the ballistics test to back up the latest theory of the Hollywood mystery.

Investigators are "probably 60 to 70 percent done with the probe," Publicker noted. "We want to eliminate every possibility that any other people were involved."

"There is a lot of information that still needs to be obtained," he said.

The unidentified tipster who called "America's Most Wanted" to report that Smith was claiming to be involved in Chasen's slaying may still get reward money in excess of $100,000, police said.

dan.mangan@nypost.com

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As Mourners Were Honoring Tyler Clementi, News Came of a Fifth Suicide - ABC News

Mourners at Rutgers University honored the memory of Tyler Clementi, whose death last week was the fifth suicide by a gay teenager in the last three weeks.

Clementi jumped off the George Washington Bridge Tuesday, days after his roommate allegedly posted video on the Internet of him having sex with another man.

The recent eruption of gay teen suicides has been across the country, from the East Coast to Indiana, Texas to California, where 13-year-old Seth Walsh, who recently hanged himself, was memorialized Friday night.

Walsh, whose family said he was harassed by bullies for being gay, died Tuesday, after being in a coma for nine days.

"The harassment and the teasing and the taunting just became too much," Seth's grandmother, Judly Walsh said Friday night at a memorial service in Tehachapi, Calif.

Police interviewed some of the young people who taunted Seth the day he died, but determined that their actions do not constitute a crime.

In Clementi's case, the young man's roommate, Dharun Ravi, and another classmate, Molly Wei, face several charges of invasion of privacy for what prosecutors say was a surreptitious filming of Clementi in his own dorm room, a recording that they then allegedly broadcast live on the Internet.

New Jersey law enforcement officials have said they are still investigating the case, trying to determine whether they can pursue more serious charges against Ravi and Wei.

Lawyers for Ravi and Wei have not returned messages left by ABC News but Ravi's attorney, Steve Altman, told the New Jersey Star-Ledger that he does not think his client can be held criminally responsible for Clementi's death.

In another recent case, Raymond Chase, an openly gay 19-year-old student at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, R.I., hanged himself in his dorm room Wednesday.

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Rutgers student Tyler Clementi's suicide spurs action across US - The Star-Ledger - NJ.com

Amanda Brown/The Star-LedgerTasnia Ahamed (right rear) and Sarah Sakinah Abdullah, both Rutgers freshmen, sign a condolence cards to be sent to the family of Tyler Clementi on the steps of Brower Commons.

Relatively few people knew Tyler Clementi before he jumped to his death off the George Washington Bridge, but the wake from that act is now felt around the world.

Within hours after the Rutgers University freshman’s body was discovered in the Hudson River last week, his name became known around the world.

MTV stars were lining up to film anti-suicide announcements in his name. Ellen DeGeneres posted a personal tribute to Clementi on her website. Almost every major media outlet in the country devoted time to the story and tens of thousands of people participated in internet memorials to the 18-year-old Ridgewood student.

A bill is already being drafted in New Jersey to stiffen criminal penalties for cyber harassment. Gay rights groups announced a series of New Jersey town hall meetings on Oct. 6 and 7 in Clementi’s memory.

Why has the case touched such a nerve?

"Intolerance is growing at the same time cyberspace has given every one of us an almost magical ability to invade other people’s lives," said Robert O’Brien, a Rutgers instructor who says he has, by default, become a spokesman for "overwhelmed" lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students on campus.

No one knows why Clementi, a talented young violinist, took his life, but it came after his roommate, Dharun Ravi, used a webcam to watch Clementi having a sexual encounter with another man in their dorm room, prosecutors said.

Ravi had set up the webcam and was watching with a friend, Molly Wei, in her room in the same dormitory, according to authorities. Both have since been charged with invasion of privacy. Clementi appears to have found out about the webcast afterward and had filed a complaint with the resident assistant, according to comments posted on a website that seemed to be written by the Rutgers student, even though he didn’t use his name or name of his school.

He jumped on Sept. 22.

It took a week to find the body.

The memorials in his honor were arranged within hours, ironically, through the same social media used to torment him.

"Tyler is the fourth highly publicized gay teen to kill himself in four weeks and he did it the day after the release of the first major study of college campuses that found homosexual students are most likely to experience blatant oppression and hostility," O’Brien added. "I think many people are finally saying enough is enough."

The Clementi case also occurred on the eve of a series of weeklong events across the country in anticipation of "National Coming Out Day" on Oct. 11.

Another factor, several experts said, is Rutgers University is not a parochial little school in the middle of the Bible Belt. It is a diverse series of campuses in the heart of one of the most cosmopolitan regions in the nation.

"Rutgers is justifiably proud of its history as a very progressive, inclusive school. If things like what happened to Tyler Clementi could happen at Rutgers, then gays aren’t going to feel safe on any campus anywhere," said Shane Windmeyer, founder and executive director of Campus Pride, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a safer college environment for LGBT students.

"People worried about LGBT kids in high school, but figured they were safe once they got to college," Windmeyer added. "This is a national wake-up call."

RYAN PIFHER/The RecordTyler Clementi performs with the Ridgewood High School Orchestra in April of 2009.

The College Pride study, entitled "The State of Higher Education for LGBT People," surveyed more than 5,000 students, faculty members and administrators at colleges and universities across the country.

Although the study was criticized because it was conducted by a gay organization and the respondents were limited to self-identified non-heterosexuals, it did reinforce earlier, smaller studies. It found gays are vastly more likely to experience discrimination on campus, more likely to drop out because of harassment and much more likely to fear for their physical safety.

"The climate on campus is better than, say, 20 years ago, but it still remains troubling," Windmeyer said. "People say sticks and stones won’t break your bones, but there’s only so much thick skin you can have."

Growing up in Kansas, Windmeyer, who came out at the University of Kansas in the 1990s, said, "I dreamed of going to a place like Rutgers, where it wasn’t a big deal to be gay. I wonder now, though, whether the administration there has been resting on its laurels."

Rutgers gay alumni have been wondering the same thing since the Clementi incident, said William Matthews, spokesman for the gay alumni association, which is recognized on the university website.

"We formed to act as role models for incoming LGBT students, to let them know you can be gay and successful and happy," said Matthews, a senior information scientist at Novo Nordisk in Princeton. "But we should have done more. We should have been mentoring those kids."

On Thursday, the same day Clementi’s family confirmed he committed suicide, Rutgers gay alumni posted an online petition to be sent to university President Richard McCormick.

The petition said, in part: "Rutgers University has a long-standing tradition of queer student activism — a tradition that has sustained us and made us proud to call Rutgers our alma mater.

"We call on all members of the Rutgers University community to protect, support, and respect its entire student body and in particularly those who are socially marginalized," continued the petition that has already been signed by 30 alumni, several of whom now teach at universities that include MIT, Temple, Columbia and NYU.

On Friday, McCormick released a statement, which noted: "This tragedy and the events surrounding it have raised critical questions about the climate of our campuses."

Noah K. Murray/The Star-LedgerStudents pause for a moment of silence during the homecoming football game for freshman Tyler Clementi.

Adding that students, alumni and parents have suggested Rutgers is "not fully welcoming and accepting of all students," McCormick said he will meet with student leaders of the LGBT community to identify "areas in which Rutgers can better support the needs of this community."

On the campus itself, there will be a candlelight vigil on the steps of Brower Commons on College Avenue in New Brunswick tonight.

Throughout the dining halls, student centers and dormitories last week, echoes of the same conversations could be heard again and again.

Yes, what Ravi did was wrong, but was it criminal? Why doesn’t the university have any "safe place" for students who might feel uncomfortable in their dorm rooms? Did anybody actually know Clementi, who had been at school for barely a month? Did anybody ever think that they might be spied on in their own rooms?

"The saddest thing is that there was help for Tyler, but he probably didn’t know where to go," said Aaron Schenkel, 18, a freshman who experienced being different growing up in St. Lucia. "It’s just so overwhelming to be a freshman anyway, and for Tyler, it seems like his private life came out in the worst possible way.

"I wish I had known him."

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Tyler Clementi Suicide Puts Bullying In Spotlight - MTV.com

Police are still searching for the body of 18-year-old Rutgers University freshman Tyler Clementi, one week after he is believed to have killed himself after his roommate posted online a video of Clementi having a sexual encounter with another man.

Authorities believe that Clementi leapt from the George Washington Bridge in New York after his roommate secretly taped him and then posted the footage on the Internet.

Clementi's roommate Dharan Ravi and Ravi's childhood friend Molly Wei are each facing two counts of invasion of privacy and could spend up to five years in prison if they are convicted of distributing sexual images without consent. Ravi allegedly posted a live feed of Clementi on Skype, according to CBS News, and boasted about it on Twitter.

"Roommate asked for the room till midnight," Ravi, 18, tweeted on September 19. "I went into Molly's room and turned on my webcam. I saw him making out with a dude. Yay." Ravi is also alleged to have tried to broadcast a second encounter a few days later.

Investigators do not know how many people saw the feed or if Clementi had other issues that may have contributed to his despondency, but he clearly was upset by something. Before his disappearance, he wrote on his Facebook page, "Jumping off the gw bridge sorry."

Clementi's death is the latest incident to reveal the dangers of cyberbullying and the consequences of using wired means to taunt. ABC News reported that Clementi complained to his resident advisor and other university officials about Ravi allegedly livestreaming video of Clementi having a sexual encounter with a male classmate earlier this month. A university spokesperson said the information was turned over to local authorities.

His death comes as a rash of bullying-related suicides has made the news. Minnesota Public Radio reports that seven teenagers in the Anoka-Hennepin School District, one of Minnesota's largest school districts, have taken their lives over the past year. Administrators are concerned that bullying, cyber or otherwise, may have played a part in the incidents, at least two of which involved gay students who'd allegedly been harassed or bullied at school as a result of their sexuality.

In Tehachapi, California, 13-year-old Seth Walsh died on Tuesday, several days after trying to hang himself from a tree in his backyard following years of taunting over his sexual orientation. Less than a week earlier, 13-year-old Texas teen Asher Brown shot himself to death after enduring bullying over his small stature, his religion and, possibly, his sexual orientation, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Gay activists and "Savage Love" columnist Dan Savage launched a new YouTube channel called "It Gets Better." The channel gives positive examples of gay adults living their lives after suffering serious bullying in their youths in order to give hope to GLBT teens who may be struggling with abuse from their peers. Gay children are four times more likely than their straight peers to commit suicide and nine out of ten gay kids say they have been the victims of bullies at some point in their lives.

Since launching on September 15, the "It Gets Better" channel has had nearly 500,000 views.

MTV's ongoing "A Thin Line" project also provides stories and resources for anyone who believes they are being cyberbullied or who is looking for ways to stop harassment by digital means.

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