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4 Injured After Rebel Gunfire Strikes US Aircraft in S. Sudan - TIME

Posted: 21 Dec 2013 09:21 AM PST

U.S. military officials attempting to evacuate Americans in a conflict-riddled region of South Sudan were shot at by rebel gunfire, injuring four and forcing an aborted mission.

The South Sudanese government said it lost control of Bor, the capital of the state of Jonglei, earlier this week, to renegade troops, and was attempting to retake the state capital. Fighting reportedly began Saturday, after rebel soldiers randomly opened fire on civilians, the Associated Press reports.

A United Nations helicopter helping to evacuate peacekeepers and civilians was also struck in Jonglei Saturday.

Tensions are mounting over a potential civil war in the newly formed country, after South Sudan President Salva Kiir ousted vice president Riek Machar and accused him of a failed coup. Ethnic tensions are being blamed. The region has been the backdrop to some of the worst violence the country has seen since it became independent from Sudan in 2011.

[AP]

Short Hills mall shooting suspects face life: cops - New York Daily News

Posted: 21 Dec 2013 09:17 AM PST

CARLO ALLEGRI/REUTERS

Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn Murray tells the press at a conference on the arrest of four suspects in the carjacking and murder of lawyer Dustin Friedland in Newark, December 21, 2013, "It was a combination of witnesses, statements, technology and putting the pieces together."

Four cold-blooded thugs were busted in an overnight sweep for the vicious carjack killing of a Christmas shopper at a tony New Jersey mall, authorities said Saturday.

Three of the suspects were arrested mere miles from The Mall At Short Hills parking lot where Dustin Friedland was gunned down as his helpless wife looked on, authorities said.

The fourth was arrested just across the Jersey state line at a hotel in Easton, Pa., following a massive five-day manhunt in the horrific slaying over a $70,000 SUV.

The suspects were identified as Hanif Thompson, 29, of Irvington, N.J., along with Karif Ford, 31, and Kevin Roberts, 33, both of Newark. Those three were arrested in their hometowns.

The fourth was Basim Henry, 32, collared in Easton by an FBI task force, authorities said. The first arrest was made around 9 p.m. Friday, and the last at 3 a.m. Saturday.

The quartet of accused criminals, after killing the defenseless lawyer, surrendered without a fight when confronted by law enforcement, said Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn Murray.

The suspects were tracked down through "old fashioned police work combined with technology," she said. "It was a combination of witnesses, statements, technology and putting the pieces together."

There was a $41,000 reward offered for information in the slaying of the 30-year-old Hoboken lawyer.

All four face life in prison if convicted on charges that include felony murder, carjacking, conspiracy and weapons possession.

The defendants went to the mall in one vehicle specifically seeking a Range Rover to hijack, authorities said.

"The crime itself appears to be motivated by the desire for that particular type of vehicle," said Murray. "It was the car, not the persons, that appears to be the target of this crime,

Friedland had just finished loading holiday gifts into his silver 2012 Range Rover when two men ambushed him in a carjacking.

The victim never had a chance — he was shot him four times before he had a chance to resist or question the two men responsible for the robbery and shooting, authorities said.

The robbers then screamed for Friedland's wife, Jamie Schare Friedland, to get out of the Range Rover's passenger seat. They took off — but not before she saw one of the assailants' faces, a source said after the incident.

The other two suspects drove to the mall with the killers and sped off after the shooting, Murray said.

Authorities said they notified the Friedland family about the arrests, but there was no immediate comment from the still-devastated relatives.

"I'd like to have my privacy now," said a man answering the phone at the Toms River, N.J., home of the slain attorney.

Friedland died in a hospital with his 27-year-old wife by his side, authorities said. His stolen vehicle was found behind an abandoned house in Newark on Monday.

Friedland was laid to rest Wednesday after a heart-rending funeral in Temple Beth Am synagogue in Lakewood, N.J.

At the funeral, Jamie Schare Friedland described her late husband as "the the most chivalrous person" who "always did the right thing, always."

ebadia@nydailynews.com

Kredit: www.nst.com.my

Sabtu, 21 Disember 2013