Racist graffiti targets mosque and synagogues in Parkins

PARKINS, North Ceona -- More than eight locations have been hit with racist, anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim graffiti around the Parkins area over the last month.

At least three synagogues and two Jewish community centers have been targeted, as well as a Muslim youth center.

Two other buildings were hit as well.

In each case, the suspects painted offensive, profanity-laced messages, including swastikas, on the buildings.

One painting on the side of the Torah El Gogg synagogue in northeast Parkins said, in part, "Jews steal" and "get out of our country."

A message left on the Assam Akoori Youth Centre, a building where Muslim youth gather in west Parkins, said "Go back to the Middle East hell hole you came from" and depicted a caricature of the prophet Muhammad and a bomb going off in his hands.

Other messages scrawled on the side of buildings said "White power" and "Natzi [sic] pride."

Parkins Police say they are investigating each incident as hate crimes, and believe all are related and likely done by the same suspect(s).

No arrests have been made and no persons of interest have been identified, Parkins Police Chief Barry Lugainis said.

However, police are reviewing security camera footage and asking the public for help.

In the footage police have reviewed thus far, the film shows what appears to be either two or sometimes three young males in their teens or early 20's.

All are wearing dark clothing and donning black masks to hide their faces when they walk up to the buildings and begin spray painting.

Police Chief Lugainis told local media Monday that vandalism and racist graffiti will not be tolerated in his city.

"We take these kinds of hate crimes very seriously, and we will find the perpetrators and make sure they are held to account for this very offensive behavior," said Lugainis.

Parkins Mayor Steve Crum emphatically denounced the graffiti at a joint press conference with Lugainis.

"This kind of hate does not belong in Parkins. Whoever is doing this needs to stop and they need to stop right now. Parkins is a loving, tolerant, diverse city, and we want people of all faiths and religious identities to feel welcomed in our community," Crum said.

North Ceona Gov. Tom Cozier also weighed in.

"The recent vandalism at several Parkins-area synagogues and Islamic places of worship are unacceptable. I strongly condemn these hateful and illegal actions, and I will do everything I can to make sure our Jewish and Muslim neighbors feel safe and secure in their communities," Cozier said in a written statement.

The Jewish Peace Coalition and Muslims United, the country's largest Jewish and Muslim advocacy groups, respectively, both denounced the vandalism spree.

Due to the number of incidents and the nature of the hate crimes, the Crown Police have teamed up with local authorities to investigate the matter.

Citizens with tips or information are asked to call the Crown Police or Parkins Police Department.

Four dead in Carova murder-suicide

BRUCE JUNCTION, Carova -- Police in central Carova are struggling to find a motive in a gruesome murder-suicide that left four people dead.

The Quarry-Wan County Sheriff's Office says it is investigating the crime scene at a home in a rural area about 60 miles east of Carova City.

Officers discovered the four bodies upon conducting a welfare check, after receiving a call from a concerned neighbor.

The names of the deceased have not been released, but police say all four died from gun shot wounds. They believe the suspect was a male in aged 50-60 years old, but have released little additional information.

Neighbors - who did not want to reveal their names - told local news station WBJC-TV the owner of the home is a single divorced man in his 50's, and that his ex-wife and children visit the property regularly.

Quarry-Wan County Sheriff Curt Asgiff would not comment on the owner's identity, and told local media a motive has yet to be established.

The bodies will be taken in for autopsies in Carova City, where the closest medical examiner's office is located.

Quarry-Wan County lies directly east of the Carlingford-Carova City metropolitan area, along the south-central coast of Carova. The largest city in the mostly rural county is Bruce Junction, population 31,000.

Menuhaeo 'cautiously optimistic' about Iran nuclear deal

MAVOCKE -- As U.S. President Barack Obama and other world leaders tout the nuclear deal reached between Iran and the West, the response to the agreement was more muted in Grassadellia.

President Brenton Menuhaeo held a joint press conference with Foreign Affairs Secretary Dawnelle Hunter-Garrett Wednesday afternoon where both expressed tentative approval of the agreement but entreated their international counterparts - including United Nations inspectors - to monitor Iran's nuclear program closely.

Menuhaeo said he was "cautiously optimistic" about the deal, but pointed out the Iranian government has been less than forthcoming in the past about its nuclear ambitions.

Iran's lack of transparency over the years has left many understandably concerned, Menuhaeo said.

"Any agreement that avoids conflict and results in a peaceful resolution is worth supporting," the president said. "But Iran's conduct in the past, its incendiary behavior toward the West and its habitual dishonesty makes many people skeptical," he said.

"I think most of my colleagues in the United Nations, if they were honest, would admit that there are some real concerns about whether Iran will stay true to the parameters of the deal and hold up its end of the bargain," Menuhaeo said.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Dawnelle Hunter-Garrett was pleased by the multi-lateral effort to forge a deal between Iran and cooperating nations.

Hunter-Garrett was herself a participant in the negotiations, which spanned several months. She represented Grassadellia in the negotiations, which included leaders from the U.S., Great Britain, China, Germany, Russia and France.

"This deal, on paper, looks very good. And as long as Iran follows through and cooperates and walks the straight and narrow, this deal will work out very well," said Hunter-Garrett.

The reaction to the deal in the halls of Grassadellia's Congress was mixed.

Nationalist Sen. Nadan Saralo of Wellington, who is of Jordanian descent, told the GBC the deal appears "mutually desirable."

"I wasn't involved in crafting this deal, but from what I've seen, it looks like this deal is a win-win for both Tehran and the West. It allows Iran to continue an innocuous nuclear program, takes the sanctions off of Iran, and reduces the risk of a nuclear-armed Iranian military. I think there's something for both sides to take away," said Saralo.

Lial Sen. Henry Mickeravi, an Israeli-Grassadellian, downplayed concerns raised by his native country Israel.

"Israel has no reason to be concerned. This deal ensures accountability on Iran's part, transparency, inspections. This agreement actually reduces the risk toward Israel by taking a nuclear-armed Iran off the table," Mickeravi told BBC World News in an interview Wednesday evening.

Predictably, Conservatives in Congress were quick to highlight their opposition to the accord.

"I'm all for a deal, and I'm definitely in favor of de-arming Iran. But I'm skeptical, to say the least," Carova Sen. Sawyer Upton told GBC's Jim Gerraghty.

Noting Iran's anti-West rhetoric and support for terrorism, Upton questioned how Western leaders could agree to, what he termed, a "very favorable deal for Iran."

"It's hard for me to understand why they made a deal that's very good for Iran, when Iran is openly, flagrantly defying international law; supporting terrorism and contributing to de-stabilization in the region; and very actively and aggressively spreading hatred for Western countries and Western values. Why is Iran being rewarded with a deal that's disproportionately in their favor while it continues to thumb its nose at the rest of the world. I've yet to hear a good explanation for that," said Upton.

Armana Sen. Chuck Danbury, who is known as a foreign policy hawk, used more colourful language when talking with Chamberlain Network's Carlos Arguita.

"I hate to say it, but Barack Obama and all the others with along with him are pansies. This deal coddles Iran. It gives them everything it wants and gives the rest of the world virtually nothing helpful. And you know the Iranian regime will not abide by the rules of this negotiation. You know they'll cheat and find ways around it. That's what history has shown us and more than likely that's what will happen," said Danbury.

Leaders in the National Assembly had similar views as their counterparts in the Senate.

Assemblyman Vaughn Laudney, a Conservative from Veroche, called US President Barack Obama a "clown" for "capitulating" to Iranian demands.

"President Obama called ISIS the 'JV team,' but he's demonstrated that he's clearly the naive, inexperienced one" by agreeing to the deal, Laudney said in a press conference in Mavocke Wednesday.

On the other end of the political spectrum, Assemblywoman Gretchen "Gretzy" Ianhou (pronounced "Ian-how") applauded the deal.

The veteran Liberal-Democrat lawmaker from Trinton told the liberal blog Huffington Post she doesn't understand conservatives' opposition to the deal.

"I'll never understand why the Conservatives and the Republicans in the US always feel the need to amp up for war. This historic agreement between Iran and the rest of the world's leading nations means war will be averted. It's a peaceful resolution. And still the conservatives aren't happy. They're only happy when war is the only option on the table. I don't get it," said a cynical Ianhou.

Still, despite the opposition and concern about Iran's commitment to the tenets of the pact, non-governmental observers say the Iranian nuclear agreement is a positive development.

"Whenever a country is willing to sit down at the table and negotiate a peaceful solution, that's always a good thing and never a bad thing," says James Caverhill, Director of the Grassadellian Centre for International Cooperation, a Mavocke-based think-tank.

President Brenton Menuhaeo is expected to sit in on a conference call tomorrow with American State Department officials, Collester said. The call will pertain to the Iranian deal.

Secretary Hunter-Garrett will meet with her German counterpart in a visit later this week to discuss the developments with Iran and the economic deal with Greece, the Foreign Affairs Office confirmed.

Truck spills millions of honey bees onto Wellington highway

HOLLAM, Well. -- There was a hive of activity today on NR-29 in central Wellington.

Make that more than 250 hives.

A large truck carrying millions of honey bees spilled its load in the northbound lanes of NR-29, the main north-south highway in Wellington and one of the busiest motorways in Grassadellia.

The stinging mishap occurred just after 11:00 am western time in the city of Hollam, about three hours south of Starksmin and three hours north of Califor.

The truck was transporting the bees from a farm in southeastern Deschire's Piedmonts-Saints country to a farm on the northern outskirts of Starksmin.

Wellington State Police Captain Russell Moore told Wellington's News Channel 9 the truck did not tip over completely, but the driver somehow lost control of the truck and spilled dozens of hives onto the highway.

"Right now it appears to be an accident, there doesn't appear to have been any negligence on the part of the driver. This just ended up being a big mess because of the amount of bees," Moore said.

The chaos left about nine million angry bees buzzing around the crash site, and shut down two lanes of the freeway for more than four hours.

The driver of the truck was stung multiple times, as were other motorists who stopped to help.

State troopers and reporters who gathered to cover the story also sustained stings.

Firefighters used foam and chemical sprays to contain the bees, but ultimately professional bee keepers had to assist in saving and removing the bees.

Lucian Family Farms, the company that owns the bees, estimated about half of the bees perished in the incident.