Afghan girl, 15, 'starved and tortured'

Afghan police intervened for the girl's rescue after her parents reported not seeing her for months (file photo).Police say they are waiting for the girl to recover to talk to herThe girl, 15, was married off to a 30-year-old manPolice intervene after her parents had not seen herZarifi: The case highlights how women continue to suffer

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Police in Afghanistan say they have rescued a 15-year-old girl who was locked up in the basement of her in-laws' house, starved and had her nails pulled out.

Authorities in the northern Baghlan province said they were aware of reports that the girl was tortured after she refused to be forced into prostitution. But, they said, they were waiting for her to fully recover to talk to her and learn more.

The girl, Sahar Gul, was married off to a 30-year-old man about seven months ago. After her parents reported not seeing her for months, police launched their investigation, said Baghlan police official Jawid Basharat.

"After police rescued her from a dark room of her in-laws' house, we saw her nails had been pulled out by her husband. And she said with broken voice that her husband used to cut her flesh using pliers," Basharat said.

The girl was also denied food, he said.

Rahima Zarifi, director of the Women's Affairs Department in Baghlan, said Sahar was immediately hospitalized.

"She was in a very bad condition when I met her," Zarifi said. "The perpetrators had pulled out her hair by force. She was suffering a kind of skin disease and she didn't even have proper clothes on."

Police have arrested Sahar's in-laws, but her husband managed to flee.

The case, Zarifi said, highlights how women continue to suffer in parts of Afghanistan despite overall progress since the fall of the Taliban.

In the second quarter of this year, the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) registered 1,026 cases of violence against women. Last year, 2,700 cases were recorded.

Earlier this month, gunmen attacked and sprayed an Afghan family with acid in their home after the father rejected a man's bid to marry his teenage daughter.

In another case, a 21-year-old, identified only as Gulnaz for her own protection, was sentenced to 12 years in prison after she reported that her cousin's husband had raped her.

Her plight attracted international attention when it came out that she had agreed to marry her attacker to gain her freedom and legitimize a daughter conceived in the attack.

She was eventually freed, following the president's intervention.

Argentina's Fernandez has cancer

 

Argentina's reelected President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner after her inauguration in Buenos Aires, on December 10, 2011. President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner's surgery is scheduled for January 4Medical exams indicate the cancer has not spread beyond the thyroid, a spokesman saysSpokesman: A routine medical exam uncovered papillary carcinoma in the president's thyroidDoctors detect papillary carcinoma, the most common type of thyroid cancer

Buenos Aires (CNN) -- Argentina's president will undergo surgery next week after doctors diagnosed her with thyroid cancer, a spokesman said Tuesday.

Routine medical tests last week uncovered papillary carcinoma in President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner's thyroid gland, presidential spokesman Alfredo Scoccimarro said.

Medical exams indicate that the cancer has not spread to her lymph nodes or grown beyond the thyroid gland, he said.

Doctors are scheduled to operate on Fernandez on January 4. She will take a medical leave and relinquish power to the South American nation's vice president from January 4-24, Scoccimarro said.

Fernandez, 58, was sworn in for a second four-year term earlier this month after she won re-election with more than 54% of the vote.

Fernandez sworn in for second term

She became Argentina's president in 2007. Her husband, Nestor Kirchner, was president from 2003-2007. He died in October 2010.

Former Argentina President Kirchner dies suddenly

During Fernandez's presidency, Argentina's economy has enjoyed sustained growth of about 8% annually.

Papillary carcinoma is the most common type of thyroid cancer and has an excellent survival rate, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

More than 95% of adults with papillary thyroid carcinoma survive at least 10 years, according to a description on the library's website. Treatment includes surgery, radioactive iodine and medication, the library says.

Possible complications in surgery can include damage to a nerve that controls the vocal cords or accidental removal of a gland that helps regulate blood calcium levels, according to the medicine library.

Recently doctors have diagnosed several South American leaders with cancer.

Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2010.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced that doctors had diagnosed him with cancer in June. He did not specify what kind of cancer he had, but after undergoing several rounds of chemotherapy, he said in October that he had been cured.

Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is undergoing treatment for throat cancer.

China to punish 54 over train crash

The wreckage of a carriage is lifted from the accident scene one day after the July 23 train crash in Wenzhou, China.54 people will face disciplinary action, the Chinese government saysSome railway officials have been firedThe July 23 crash killed 40 peopleMany Chinese believed the government engaged in a coverup after the crash

Beijing (CNN) -- The Chinese government will punish 54 people for their roles in a train crash in July that killed 40 people, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported Wednesday.

An investigation blamed flaws in the train's operation control system and an inadequate emergency response by railway authorities, the report said.

China's Cabinet agreed to take disciplinary action at an executive meeting on Wednesday.

Among those named are Liu Zhijun, the country's former railway minister, and Zhang Shuguang, the railway ministry's deputy chief engineer, who were fired over an alleged "severe violation of discipline" earlier this year, Xinhua reported.

A government report posted online described Zhijun and Shuguang as the main culprits responsible for the crash, but did not explain why.

The report also said three top railway officials were dismissed -- Guangzhou Railway Group Chairman Xu Xiaoming, China Railway Signal & Communication Deputy General Manager Miao Weizhong, and Railway Signal Design Institute Chairman Zhang Haifeng. The report blamed them for violations linked to the incident.

The government report also named dozens of officials who could face punishment, and it said some investigations are ongoing.

Authorities are still looking into whether to charge anyone criminally, the government report said.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao oversaw the meeting with investigators who revealed results of the months-long probe.

After the July 23 crash, there was widespread public anger at the government, with many Chinese people alleging corruption, a coverup, and abuse of power.

Mubarak murder trial resumes in Egypt

An Egyptian soldier stands guard outside courts at the Police Academy set up for the Mubarak trial in this file picture. NEW: Lawyer: The defense asks the court to consider recent violent clashesMubarak supporter: Recent bloodshed proves Mubarak "has nothing to do with the killing"An anti-Mubarak demonstrator says Mubarak should be executedMubarak is back in court on a gurney, accused of ordering the killing of protesters

Cairo (CNN) -- After a months-long break, the trial of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak resumed Wednesday after an appeals court dismissed a motion to disqualify the presiding judge.

The ailing Mubarak entered a Cairo court on a gurney, wearing a white defendant's jumpsuit. He is charged with ordering the killing of protesters to quash the uprising that ultimately ended his 30-year rule in February.

Mubarak also faces corruption charges. He has pleaded not guilty.

Former Egyptian Interior Minister Habib El Adly, six of his aides and two of Mubarak's sons are also on trial on a variety of charges.

Judge Ahmed Refaat returned as head of the court Wednesday after lawyers representing families of dead or injured protesters petitioned a higher court demanding a new panel of judges.

"He did not allow many of them into the court and did not give them enough time to ask their questions," attorney Khaled Abu Bakr said, referring to Refaat.

In their motion, the lawyers also objected to how some high-profile witnesses testified in secrecy.

The appeals court rejected the motion to disqualify Refaat and fined the lawyers who filed the motion about $1,000.

On Wednesday, attorneys requested access to the testimony of Gen. Sami Anan, deputy head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, Bakr said.

He said lawyers also requested access to footage from surveillance cameras outside the Egyptian Museum -- which are under the authority of Egyptian intelligence -- due to their proximity to Cairo's Tahrir Square, the epicenter of this year's protests and revolt.

Civil rights attorney Kamal Mandour said the defense asked the court to consider investigations into recent clashes between protesters and security forces that left dozens of casualties.

Mandour said he believes the defense will argue that others are involved in deadly violence in an attempt to refute charges against Mubarak and El Adly.

The trial adjourned for the day by mid-afternoon. Bakr said the plaintiffs' attorneys have asked to call nine witnesses for the next trial date, set for Monday.

Interior Ministry spokesman laa Mahmoud said 5,000 police officers were in charge of securing the trial Wednesday. In addition, 14 ambulances and a field clinic were set up outside the court in case clashes erupted between pro- and anti-Mubarak demonstrators, Health Ministry spokesman Hisham Shiha said.

Several dozen Mubarak supporters stood outside the court, waving posters of Mubarak and chanting, "Not guilty, not guilty!"

Karim Hussein, administrator of a pro-Mubarak Facebook page, noted recent clashes have erupted without Mubarak in power.

They are "proof Mubarak has nothing to do with killing. He has left the picture, and the thuggery, killing and violence remains the same," Hussein said.

But salesman Mohamed Imam holds Mubarak responsible for the deaths of Egyptians during the uprising.

"The man killed more than 800 in a matter of days and could have stopped it after it got out of control. He didn't. He must face execution," Imam said.

About 840 people died and more than 6,000 were wounded in the 18 days of uprising that toppled Mubarak, according to Amnesty International.

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Israel targets suspected Gaza militants

Palestinians look at a damaged car in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza after an Israeli airstrike on Tuesday.Israeli airstrikes hit two suspected terror cellsThe attacks kill 1, injure 8

Jerusalem (CNN) -- Israeli security forces launched a pair of airstrikes against suspected Palestinian militants Tuesday, killing at least one person and injuring eight others, Israeli military and Palestinian medical sources said.

The attacks were against terror cells in Gaza affiliated with the Global Jihad terror movement, Israel Defense Forces said in a statement. One of the cells intended to travel to the Israeli-Egyptian border in the Sinai to carry out an attack similar to one staged in August, according to the Israeli military.

"The IDF will not tolerate any attempt to harm Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers, and will operate against anyone who uses terror against the State of Israel," the Israeli military said. "The Hamas terror organization is solely responsible for any terrorist activity emanating from the Gaza strip."

During the August incident, seven Israelis were killed in an attack after militants infiltrated across the border with Egypt. When Israel responded, it mistakenly shelled a number of Egyptian security forces, killing five of them.

Israel issued a rare apology for the casualties.

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Russian ship sails after Atlantic repairs

The Russian vessel fishing vessel Sparta has been stranded off the coast of Antarctica since December 16.Crew members from Sparta and a rescue vessel repair the SpartaThe Russian vessel Sparta sustains two holes near AntarcticaA distress call goes out December 16

(CNN) -- A damaged Russian fishing vessel headed for open water Wednesday after receiving repairs in the frigid waters around Antarctica, New Zealand officials said.

"The Sparta has been freed up from the ice shelf and is now underway under her own power," said Sian Routledge, a spokeswoman for Maritime New Zealand's Rescue Coordination Centre. "The repairs appear to be holding."

A South Korean polar research vessel, called Araon, assisted with repairs and will escort the Russian ship, along with its 32 crewmembers to open water.

The 48-meter boat issued a distress call on December 16 after sustaining a 30-centimeter (1-foot) hole in its side and began leaking. A second hole was discovered during repairs, but was only causing a small amount of "localized flooding," according to Search and Rescue Mission Coordinator Mike Roberts.

The Sparta expects to rendezvous with a sister ship on Thursday, Routledge said.

CNN's Brian Walker contributed to this report

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