Sunday, 13 July 2014

Massacre survivor quotes Dumbledore





  • NEW: Grandfather credits Cassidy Stay with saving 20 lives by alerting authorities

  • NEW: He says she played dead after being shot, then told police others were in danger

  • The teenager speaks out for the first time, after her parents and 4 siblings were killed

  • Cassidy quotes from Harry Potter: "Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times"




(CNN) -- Cassidy Stay has seen the worst -- the brutal killings of her parents and siblings, ages 4 to 13, in their Texas home.


On Saturday, the 15-year-old quoted Dumbledore, the wise man from the Harry Potter series, in hopes of finding some good amid the horror.


"Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times," Cassidy said, citing J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," "if one only remembers to turn on the light."


The remarks -- at a public memorial for her family -- were the teenager's first public comments since she emerged as the lone survivor from the carnage in her family's Spring home.





Shooting spree suspect collapses in court




Family: We have to forgive mass shooter




Cops: Mass shooter intended to kill more




Police: Man kills 4 children, 2 adults

Authorities say that Ronald Lee Haskell barged into residence on Wednesday demanding to know the whereabouts of his estranged wife.


She was not there, but the Stay family was. And soon, in a barrage of bullets, six of them were dead.


They included Cassidy Stay's parents, Stephen and Katie, as well as her 7- and 9-year-old sisters and 4- and 13-year-old brothers.


Authorities: Man kills 4 children, 2 adults


Cassidy was targeted as well, with the Harris County Sheriff's Office indicating the shooting left her in critical condition. By Saturday, though, she was not only out of the hospital but standing tall, wiping away tears as people remembered her parents and siblings and offered support to her.


Thanking the first responders, doctors and nurses who'd helped her, the teenager said, "I am feeling a lot better and am on a very straightforward path to a full recovery."


Unfortunately, her family isn't coming back.


Reminders of this were everywhere, including a board that had hearts with their names. Cassidy mentioned them too, right after quoting Dumbledore.


"I know that my Mom, Dad, Brian, Emily, Becca and Zach are in a much better place, and that I will be able to see them again one day," she said at the gathering.


Accused killer collapses in courtroom


Grandfather: Cassidy saved 20 lives


At the same ceremony outside Lemm Elementary School in Spring, Roger Lyon remembered his daughter Katie, his son-in-law and grandchildren, saying, "We will miss them in the morning and in the evening."


"The best way, we think, (to move on) is to concentrate on the living, to cling to hope of life that has emerged in this terrible darkness."


He was talking about Cassidy.


Lyon then recounted what the teenager had done -- how she'd been shot and how she'd seen her parents and siblings shot. After all that, her grandfather said Cassidy "had the presence of mind to remain quiet and to play dead."


Once the coast was clear, the teen got up, called police "and told them we were in danger."


"Without her courage and quick thinking, we might be mourning the deaths of 20 -- yes, I said 20 -- people today, including myself and nearly all of our children and grandchildren," Lyon added, crediting Cassidy for alerting authorities who headed off Ronald Lee Haskell and arrested him after a three-hour long standoff.


While in the hospital, Cassidy talked about angels she'd learned in Sunday school are sent to "protect his children in times of great need," according to Lyon.


"After she had been shot on Wednesday, she said it felt as though the angels were there with her, putting their hands over her mouth -- whispering to her to be quiet," her grandfather said. "'I was quiet when I needed to be quiet,' she told us."


Between the balloons being released into the sky in the Stay family's memory, in between all of the tears and the hugs among those in the crowd who knew them, there were many reminders of Cassidy's actions -- and not just from her grandfather -- on Saturday.


Her name, after all, was among those on the board with those of her slain family members.


Hers was the only heart that wasn't red. And it was the only one with extra words added: "Our hero."


Police: N.C. grandfather shoots father, kid kills grandpa


Man questioned in fatal Tennessee armory shooting


Deputy's fatal shooting of boy carrying fake rifle ruled lawful


CNN's Eliott C. McLaughlin, John Branch, Jason Hanna, Ed Payne, Dave Alsup and Marlena Baldacci contributed to this report.



Kerry joins talks on Iran nukes





  • NEW: Israeli Prime Minister says Iran is obviously trying to build nuclear weapons

  • Kerry says U.S. and Germany "great friends" amid spy flap

  • Top Iranian official says his country doesn't need to build nuclear weapons

  • Kerry says it's vital to ensure "Iran is not going to develop a nuclear weapon"




Kabul (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Austria on Sunday for talks with five other world powers and Iran on Tehran's nuclear program.


The participants will hold a final round of negotiations ahead of a July 20 deadline aimed at reaching a permanent deal on the future of Iran's nuclear program.


"Obviously, we have some very significant gaps still, so we need to see if we can make some progress," Kerry said in the Austrian capital, Vienna. "I really look forward to a very substantive and important set of meetings and dialogues."


The nuclear talks will include the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council -- the U.S., UK, France, China and Russia -- and Germany.


"It is vital to make certain that Iran is not going to develop a nuclear weapon, that their program is peaceful," Kerry said.





Kerry scrambles to prevent Afghan crisis




Abdullah: Half of ballots 'suspicious'




Could Afghanistan be the next Iraq?

Tehran insists its ambitions are peaceful, but the world powers fear it plans to build nuclear weapons.


"We don't see any benefit in Iran developing a nuclear weapon," Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif told NBC's "Meet The Press" from Vienna.


He said Iran has a number of advantages over its neighbors, including "the fact that we have better technology," which Iran doesn't need to augment with nukes.


"I believe nuclear weapons reduces countries' influence in our region," he added. "It doesn't help anybody."


Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking on "Fox News Sunday" from Jerusalem, called Zarif's comments a "joke" and a "sham." He said Iran has invested billions into its nuclear program.


"For what? For creating medical isotopes for Iranian patients circling the earth? What are they developing ICBMs for if not for nuclear warheads?" he asked. "What are they developing these -- building these enormous underground nuclear facilities, if not for a nuclear weapon?"


Kerry is expected to meet with Zarif on Sunday night.


Kerry seeks to mend U.S.-German relations


Kerry met Sunday in Vienna with his German counterpart, Frank-Walter Steinmeier. The encounter came amid a row over fresh spying allegations against the United States.


On Thursday, Germany's government asked America's top spy chief stationed in the country to leave.


This followed the revelation that two Germans -- one working at a German intelligence agency, the other in the Ministry of Defense -- are suspected of spying for the United States.


After Sunday's meeting, Kerry described the relationship between the two countries as "a strategic one. We have enormous political cooperation, and we are great friends and we will continue to work together in the kind of spirit that we exhibited today."


Kerry did not address the spy flap in his public remarks after the meeting, saying instead the conversation focused on Iran and also included Afghanistan and Iraq.


Kerry: Afghanistan election audit coming


Kerry's stop in Austria follows an unannounced visit to Afghanistan, where divisions are growing since the country's contested presidential runoff election.


After his visit, he announced that an audit of the disputed presidential election results will begin within a day in Kabul, and the two candidates will accept its determination of who won.


The inauguration of the new president, originally scheduled for August, will be postponed during the audit of votes cast for Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani, Kerry said. Provisional results showed Ghani ahead with roughly 56% support to 43% for Abdullah.


Both candidates have alleged vote fraud and manipulation during the runoff last month.



Libyan militias battle for airport


Libya's Tripoli International Airport, pictured here in 2012, has been controlled by brigades since 2011.


Libya's Tripoli International Airport, pictured here in 2012, has been controlled by brigades since 2011.






  • NEW: National airline announces airport will be closed for three days

  • A weak central government and rivalry among militias fuel the Libya crisis

  • Brigades from Zintan have controlled the airport since 2011

  • Armed vehicles gathered in the area overnight




Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- Rival Libyan militias battled for Tripoli International Airport on Sunday, with the sounds of gunfire and explosions echoing across the Libyan capital.


Brigades from the Zintan militia have controlled the airport since the Libyan civil war in 2011. Other militias have tried to wrest control of the airport from the Zintan brigades for years.


Armed vehicles gathered in the area overnight before fighting broke out around dawn Sunday, witnesses said.


"The revolutionary brigades are inside Tripoli International Airport," the Libyan Revolutionaries Operations Room, an Islamist militia in the capital, posted on its Facebook page.


"The revolutionary forces have reached the perimeter of Tripoli International Airport ... clashes with some of the armed groups present there," the group said.


One of Libya's two national airlines, Afriqiyah Airways, said on its official Facebook page that it was diverting some of its international arrivals to the city of Misrata and that the airport in Tripoli will be closed for three days.


Late Sunday morning, the sounds of fighting could also be heard in the vicinity of a Zintan base in a western suburb of Tripoli.


Even though Libyans successfully toppled the 42-year rule of Moammar Gadhafi in 2011, the country is far from stable. Armed militias are now the biggest challenge.


The international community has largely agreed that the key to resolving Libya's crisis is national dialogue. But a weak central government -- combined with militias split along regional, tribal and ideological lines -- has added to the challenge.


"The United States is deeply concerned by the ongoing violence in Libya and dangerous posturing that could lead to widespread conflict there," the U.S. State Department said in a statement Saturday.


"We affirm our support for Libya's democratic transition and urge the seating of the new Council of Representatives as soon as possible," the statement added. "Finally, we stress the vital role Libya's Constitution Drafting Assembly plays in building the new country for which Libyans sacrificed so much during the revolution."


CNN's Holly Yan contributed to this report.



S. Korea: North fires more rockets


An unidentified North Korean missile is displayed during a military parade in Pyongyang last year.


An unidentified North Korean missile is displayed during a military parade in Pyongyang last year.






  • South Korean official: 2 short-range missiles are fired from North Korea

  • South Korea's military is monitoring the situation closely, the official adds




Seoul, South Korea (CNN) -- North Korea fired two short-range missiles early Sunday towards waters east of the Korean Peninsula, the latest such launch in the tense region, a South Korean official said.


The projectiles were fired at 1:20 a.m. and 1:30 a.m. Sunday (12:20 p.m. and 12:30 p.m. ET Saturday), according to the South Korean defense ministry official. They appear to have flown about 500 kilometers (310 miles).


The official added that South Korea's military is monitoring the situation closely.


North Korea has carried out a series of missile and rocket launches into the sea in recent months, drawing criticism from South Korea, the United States and the United Nations.


South Korea and the United States, especially, have long expressed concerns about both missile launches and that Pyongyang might be moving closer to developing nuclear weapons.


Prior to Sunday, the most recent such launch happened Wednesday morning, according to a South Korean defense ministry official.


North Korea did not declare a no-fly zone prior to the launch, of what was assumed to be short-range ballistic missiles, from North Korea's western Hwanghae Province, the official said. No damage or injures were reported.



26 women killed in Iraq raid





  • Militants break down doors before killing 29, most of them women

  • Fighters attack Haditha

  • Jets bomb bridge outside Falluja




Baghdad (CNN) -- At least 26 women and three men were killed when militants stormed several apartments in the Zayona residential complexes in eastern Baghdad, security officials told CNN on Saturday.


The militants, wearing military uniforms and street clothes, fired their weapons in the streets before breaking down doors to enter the buildings, security officials and residents told CNN Saturday. Once inside, they killed the men and women, the officials said.


Residents told CNN the Shiite Asa'b Ahl al-Haq organization carried out this attack. But the organization told CNN it does not have forces inside the city.


In other violence in Iraq, militants believed to be with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria attacked the city of Haditha from four directions, said Hameed Ahmed al-Hashim, a member of the Anbar provisional council, and two security officials in Haditha.


A large military force backed by tribesmen defended the city, they said.


Iraqi jet fighters bombed a bridge controlled by militants east of Falluja, causing structural damage, Ahmed al-Hashim said.


Three police officers were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near their convoy in Kirkuk, a security official told CNN Saturday.



Spain leads way for obese children


CHILD obesity is an alarming worldwide epidemic with Spain having some of the fattest kids in Europe.


The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned against increasing childhood obesity rates in countries around the world.


“Our children are getting fatter.” said Director General of WHO Margaret Chan at the United Nations.


The problem of obesity has increased in the last 30 years, she said. “Certain practices in the food industry especially regarding unhealthy food and soft drinks for children play a crucial role,” she added.


Chan complained about healthy food being: “Unaffordable in many areas of the developing world. Unfortunately, unhealthy food is usually cheaper than healthy options,” she added.


Director of the Obesity Institute (IOB) Adelardo Caballero said: “Spain is the country with the highest obesity rates in Europe.” Child obesity rates in Spain have increased from 30 per cent to 65 per cent, he said.


Researchers said that in 95 per cent of the cases child obesity is the result of predisposition, genes and the environment. Lack of physical activity and food also play a crucial role, and


Caballero said that children in southern European countries, especially in Portugal and Spain, are more prone to obesity, despite the famous Mediterranean diet.


Andalucia, Murcia and the Canaries seem to have the largest rates of child obesity in Spain.


Studies conducted by CIBEROobn – Spanish Biomedical Research Centre in Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition – indicate that obesity is a social disease since obesity is more common among impoverished families, as high-calorie foods are often much cheaper than healthy foods like fruits, vegetables and fish.



No work or education as youth loses interest


ONE in six youths under the age of 25 in Spain belong to the 'ni/ni' (neither/nor) generation; before the crisis the rate was one in 10.


The neither/nor generation is the one in which the youths neither work nor study.


More than half of this generation is male and 95 per cent of them are Spanish.


The Balearic Islands, Andalucia and the Canary Islands are the areas worst hit by this phenomenon and the Basque Country, Cantabria and Castilla y Leon are the communities with the least 'ni/nis'.


According to a report released by the AFI (International Financial Analysts) there are 697,073 youths in Spain under the age of 25 who belong to the 'ni/ni' category; of these 79 per cent aren’t working or studying but are actively looking for work, the other 21 per cent don’t work, aren’t looking for work and don’t study.


The report states that a great number of these youths are looking after their households and, as such, their situation cannot be attributed to any incapacity or that they are busy doing volunteer work, but rather they are suffering from a general lack of interest due to the difficulty of finding a job and the endless rejection that this entails.


Seventy per cent of the 'ni/ni' group have a low educational standard, 20 per cent have finished high school and only 9 per cent have been to college