Released hiker describes friends' abuse in Iranian prison

Shane Bauer, left, and Josh Fattal have been detained in Iran since their arrest during a 2009 hiking trip near the Iranian border.Sarah Shourd says Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer were abusedThey were beaten and pushed down stairs, she saysThe three hikers were arrested in July 2009 when they wandered into IranShourd was released last year but the two men remain jailed

(CNN) -- Iranian prison guards abused and assaulted two U.S. hikers who have been detained in the Islamic Republic since 2009, according to their friend Sarah Shourd, who was released last year.

In an interview with the BBC this week, Shourd described the abuse that Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer experienced before Shourd was released on $500,000 bail in September, according to a statement released by the families Thursday.

A guard at Tehran's notorious Evin Prison was furious that Fattal took extra food and pushed him down the stairs, Shourd said. The guard repeatedly threw Bauer against a wall of his cell until his head began bleeding.

She said the three had feared that they would be executed soon after they were arrested, when a guard began cocking his gun.

The two men are allowed limited communication these days, and their families have no way of knowing their condition.

"My worst fear is that they're not safe," Shourd said. "They don't have consular access, they're not allowed to see their lawyer, and we fear the worst."

In July 2009, Shourd, 32, Fattal, 29, and Bauer, 28, were hiking in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish area along the border with Iran when they were arrested by Iranian police. Shourd said they accidentally strayed across the border. Iranian authorities say the three crossed into Iran illegally.

Twice, they feared for their lives as guards loaded them into a vehicle to a mysterious location and cocked their weapons, Shourd said. Terrified, they held hands, cried out and begged for their lives.

Even though Shourd is free, she, along with the families of Fattal and Bauer, remains focused on helping her friends to freedom. Shourd and the families have begun fasting in an effort to show their solidarity and support for the imprisoned men.

Fattal and Bauer started their own hunger strike when they were no longer allowed to receive family letters. They have been allowed only three brief phone calls to their families; the most recent was May 22.

Fattal and Bauer were supposed to attend a trial hearing May 11 but never showed. Their absence has not been explained by Iranian officials.

"We are shocked and angry at the way Shane and Josh are being treated and the terrible incidents that Sarah has told us about only heighten our grave concern for their physical and mental welfare," said the family statement.

"The people who are holding Shane and Josh are breaking Iran's laws ... and behaving shamefully. This nightmare must end and Shane and Josh must be released."

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Unborn Child Racks Up More Than 260 Facebook Friends (Time.com)

If you're a Facebook user of a certain age, your news feed is undoubtedly clogged with ultrasound photos from parents-to-be you haven't seen for years.

The traditional grainy ultrasound is somewhat acceptable as a profile pic, but incessant updates about every kick and bout with morning sickness can take it too far.

(PHOTOS: Around the World with Facebook.)

But for Ellie and Matt Greene of Texas, those were the perfect to post on Facebook - not for their pages, but for their unborn daughter's. The popular Facebook page of Marriah Greene, their soon-to-be-born child, was created so that the parents could post photos and information about life in the third trimester. In days, Marriah acquired more than 260 friends - and was covered by media outlets including CNN.

Comments for Marriah spoke directly to her ("Can't wait to see you and hold you.") and responses were written from the fetus's point of view ("IKEA is fun, mom is doing the shopping thing again. What is she going to get me now?"). Further, the parents-to-be took the liberty of adding their daughter's interests for her, which included swimming, Lady Gaga and sucking her thumb. What will be posted next? Her early acceptance to Harvard - by a whopping 17 years? Oh never mind, she already attends Tummy University.

The page, however, is no longer active on Facebook. The Blaze, Glenn Beck's news and opinion website, reached out to Ellie Greene and asked if the social networking site had deleted the profile. Ellie's response: "I think so." Facebook has a strict age policy that requires all users - including the prenatal - are at least 13, which could explain the profile's mysterious disappearance. (via CNN)

(PHOTOS: A Mark Zuckerberg Family Album.)

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Princeton professor's suicide abgers friends, students

Princeton professor's suicide draws ire from friends, students By Vivienne Foley, CNN STORY HIGHLIGHTSAntonio Calvo took his own life last weekA small group within his department at Princeton had asked for his removal, friend saysPrinceton declines to comment on the circumstances surrounding Calvo's death New York (CNN) -- A professor at Princeton University took his life last week after a small group in his department demanded he be removed from his position, a longtime friend of Dr. Antonio Calvo said Friday.

"It was a mounted campaign against him," said Marco Aponte-Moreno, who last spoke to his friend in March.

Calvo was director of the Spanish Language Program and had worked at Princeton for 10 years.

Sophomore student James Williams called his professor "witty" and "sassy," "even controversial," but said that it was always in good taste.

"He was one of the best professors I've ever had. He was like one of us," Williams said.

Calvo had been under duress due to a review process that had dragged on since last year, according to Aponte-Moreno. The Spanish Department had recommended his reappointment, Aponte-Moreno said, but a small group within the department wrote a letter to the dean alleging misconduct which led to his abrupt suspension two weeks ago.

"They wanted him out no matter what," said Aponte-Moreno, adding that Calvo didn't know exactly what the accusations were in the letter, so he didn't have a chance to defend himself.

The university issued a statement on its website earlier this week announcing plans for a memorial for Calvo. The statement said that he was "on leave from Princeton at the time of his death."

Princeton University spokeswoman Cass Cliatt declined to comment further on the details surrounding Calvo's death, saying that it is the school's policy not to "speak to matters of personnel, which are not public."

"We are heartfelt in extending our condolences to his family, and we continue to offer sympathy and provide support to the many students and faculty who knew him and admired him. We, like they, are very saddened by his death," Cliatt wrote in an emailed statement.

Calvo died April 12 of multiple, self-inflicted "stab and incised wounds of the neck and left upper extremities of his arm," said Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the New York City Medical Examiner's Office.

Students of Calvo's are planning to hold a closed forum Saturday at Princeton called "Justice for Calvo: Forming a Student Response."

"Everything happened so fast, this was his home," said Williams. "If he was treated unethically and unfairly, we need to address that issue and see that proper action is taken."

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Nicole Seah Facebook Friends Record

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In less than two days since she announced her candidacy in coming General Election, the number of Singaporeans who joined Nicole Seah’s Facebook increased from about a hundred to 2,400, exceeding that of PAP candidate Tin Pei Ling whose Facebook has been in existence for quite some time.

Ms Nicole Seah will be contesting in Marine Parade GRC as part of the National Solidarity Party’s five-member team.

The warm welcome given to 24 year old Ms Nicole Seah’s candidacy by netizens contrasted that of Ms Tin who was flamed mercilessly for her young age and apparent lack of substance in the preceding two weeks. It also demolished PAP minister without portfolio Ms Lim Hwee Hua’s earlier assertions that Ms Tin was

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