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  • 15
    Dec
    2012
    5:13am, EST

    Memorial services held for nurse duped by DJs in royal prank call

    Leon Neal / AFP - Getty Images

    Jacintha Saldanha's son Junal, husband Benedict Barboza and daughter Lisha leave Westminster Cathedral in central London following a service of Thanksgiving for the life of the nurse on Saturday.

     

    By NBC News staff

    Updated at 9:17 a.m. ET: LONDON -- The family of a nurse who was duped into putting through a prank phone call to the hospital ward of the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge delivered a tearful tribute to her on Saturday, saying her death had left "an unfillable void."


    Follow @NBCNewsWorld

    Jacintha Saldanha, 46, was found hanging from a wardrobe in staff lodgings at London's King Edward VII Hospital days after she answered the hoax phone call from two Australian DJs.

    Wiping away tears outside London's Roman Catholic Westminster Cathedral where the family attended Mass, her husband Benedict said, "part of me has been ripped out." 

    "The events of the past week have shattered our lives and we barely have the strength to withstand the grief and sorrow," he told reporters, thanking Prince William and his wife Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, for kind words as well as Prime Minister David Cameron for a message of condolence.

    "Nineteen years of togetherness with a strong bond of affection and understanding will be cherished forever in my life. Your loss is a very painful one and nobody can take that place in my life ever again. I love you and miss you forever."

    Her children Lisha, 14, and Junal, 16, spoke of a generous mother who had worked tirelessly to provide for them.

    Royal prank call: Duped nurse was found hanging, also had wrist injuries

    "The house is an empty dwelling without your presence. We are shattered and there is an unfillable void in our lives," Lisha said. "We love you mum, sleep in peace and please watch over us until we meet again in heaven."

    Leon Neal / AFP - Getty Images

    Lisha Saldanha, the daughter of late nurse Jacinda Saldanha, looks on as her family read statements outside Westminster Cathedral on Saturday.

    A private memorial service was held Friday at the King Edward VII Hospital, where Saldanha worked, and another at St Teresa's Church in Bristol, where the nurse's family lived.

    AFP - Getty Images

    An undated family photograph of Jacintha Saldanha, the nurse who died after being hoaxed by an Australian radio show trying to reach Prince William's wife in London, is shown to journalists in Shirva town, some 250 miles from the southern Indian city of Bangalore, on Dec. 8, 2012.

    "King Edward VII's is a small hospital, with a tight-knit team," John Lofthouse, the hospital's chief executive, said in a statement. "Everybody knew Jacintha, and we were all left deeply shocked by her tragic death following the hoax telephone call. Today's Service was a chance for everyone here to pay their respects and remember a dear colleague."

    Memorial services for Saldanha were held Thursday in India.

    Saldanha lived and worked in London during the week, but traveled to see her family in Bristol on weekends.

    She was found by a colleague and a member of security staff at King Edward VII's Hospital on Friday, coroner's officer Lynda Martindill told a formal hearing into the circumstances of her death called an inquest.

    DJs speak out, say they're 'heartbroken' over death of nurse in royal hoax call

    Police detective chief inspector James Harman told the hearing that the married mother-of-two had injuries to her wrists. 

    He also said that three handwritten notes were found, two at the scene and one among her belongings.

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    • Royal prank call: Duped nurse was found hanging, also had wrist injuries

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    73 comments

    Howmanyfingers: I must echo your statement; this woman's death is a tragedy. But I cannot seem to grasp the reasoning behind her death. Did she actually commit suicide because she received, and then believed, a prank telephone call? If so, I fail to understand why such a non-event would cause her  …

    Show more
    Explore related topics: britain, nurse, memorial, featured, bristol, duchess-kate, jacintha-saldanha
  • 11
    Nov
    2012
    9:21am, EST

    Ireland PM in historic tribute to veterans on British Remembrance Day

    Dan Kitwood / Getty Images

    Queen Elizabeth II waits to lay a wreath at the Cenotaph during Remembrance Sunday in Whitehall on November 11, 2012 in London.

    By NBC News staff and wire reports

    BELFAST - Ireland's prime minister laid a wreath to honor fallen soldiers at a British Remembrance Day service for the first time on Sunday, the latest gesture of reconciliation between historic foes. 

    Annual Remembrance Day services to honor Britain's war dead and the wearing of the traditional poppy are controversial in Ireland because of abuses committed by soldiers in Northern Ireland and during British rule in Ireland before independence.

    Enda Kenny took part in a service in Enniskillen in Northern Ireland on the 25th anniversary of the Irish Republican Army bombing of a Remembrance Day service in the town that killed 12 people, one of the worst atrocities of three decades of sectarian violence.

    Carl Court / AFP - Getty Images

    Former service personnel attend Remembrance Sunday service in Whitehall, Central London, on November 11, 2012.

    Meanwhile in London on Sunday, the Queen Elizabeth was joined by Prince Phillip and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at the annual memorial service at the Cenotaph in Whitehall. The Queen, whose grandson Prince Harry is currently serving as a soldier in Afghanistan, laid a wreath.

    The traditional two-minute silence at 11am – timed to coincide with the armistice that ended the First World War in 1918 - was held to remember members of the British and Commonwealth's armed forces who have died during conflicts.

    The same silence was observed by millions of veterans and civilians across the UK, and by British forces serving across the world - including 9,500 soldiers in Afghanistan. Many wore a poppy – the symbol of remembrance – on their lapel.

    Luke Macgregor / Reuters

    Britain's Prince William attends the annual Remembrance Sunday ceremony at the Cenotaph in London November 11, 2012.

    In Enniskillen, Kenny stood, head bowed, during the silence before taking his turn to lay a wreath on the war memorial yards from the spot where the IRA bomb exploded in 1987.

    His green laurel wreath laid on behalf of the Irish Government stood out among wreaths of red poppies. He did not wear a poppy.

    The gesture came a year after a visit by Queen Elizabeth to Ireland, the first by the British sovereign since independence.

    During the visit, the Queen laid a wreath in the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin to honor those Irish men and women who died fighting for Irish freedom from British rule.

    Also on Sunday, Deputy Prime Minister Eamon Gilmore became the first Irish minister to attend a Remembrance Day service at Belfast City Hall, laying a wreath at the city's cenotaph.

    Tens of thousands of Irish soldiers fought for Britain in both world wars, but they receive relatively little recognition in Ireland, which took advantage of World War One to fight British rule and remained neutral during World War Two.

    With relations with Britain the warmest for decades, the Irish government in June pardoned thousands of servicemen who deserted to fight for the Allied forces during World War Two.

    During more than 30 years of violence in Northern Ireland when more than 3,600 people died, the participation of an Irish leader in a Remembrance Day ceremony would have been unthinkable.

    The violence was largely ended by the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 which set up a power-sharing administration between unionists, who want to maintain Northern Ireland's position in the United Kingdom, and nationalists, who aspire to a united Ireland.

    Reuters contributed to this report.

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    44 comments

    As an Irishman who lived thru he troubles,I am very proud of of PM & our nations maturity to allow the past to be put in history & for all of us to get on with todays struggles as partners.

    Show more
    Explore related topics: world, life, royals, memorial, queen, veterans-day, uk, featured, remembrance
  • 24
    Oct
    2012
    3:34pm, EDT

    Germany's Merkel opens Roma Holocaust memorial in Berlin

    Sean Gallup / Getty Images

    Messina Weiss, 12 and great grand-daughter of Holocaust survivor Gertrud Rocher, carries a flower past the memorial to the Sinti and Roma in Berlin, Germany, on Wednesday.

    By NBC News staff and wire services

    Germany remembered the Holocaust's forgotten victims on Wednesday by opening a memorial in the heart of Berlin to the 500,000 ethnic Sinti and Roma murdered by the Nazis.


    Follow @NBCNewsWorld

    As the mournful strains of a solo violin sounded through the trees, political leaders and frail survivors approached a dark pool close to the German parliament building.

    Its still water is intended to evoke tears for the dead but also, in reflecting the beholder, inspire new generations to protect minorities from hate.


    "This memorial commemorates a group of victims who, for far too long, received far too little public recognition — the many hundreds of thousands of Sinti and Roma who were persecuted by the Nazis as so-called gypsies," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "The destiny of every single person murdered in this genocide is one of unspeakable suffering. Every single destiny, fills us, fills me, with sadness and shame."

    The memorial was designed by the Israeli artist Dani Karavan, the BBC reported, and a chronology of the Nazis' extermination campaign appears next to the memorial. A fresh flower will be placed on the triangular surface at the center of the reflecting pool every day, the BBC said.

    Discrimination against Sinti and Roma increased at alarming levels once Adolf Hitler took power in 1933. They were sent to forced labor camps and, from 1934, subjected to forced sterilization as a result of the Nazis' "racial purity" laws.

    Thomas Peter / Reuters

    People lay flowers during the dedication of the memorial to the Sinti and Roma in Berlin, Germany, on Wednesday.

    By the start of World War II, the Nazis' genocidal intent became clear as Sinti and Roma were deported to death camps, where they wore uniforms bearing a "Z" for "Zigeuner" (the German word for "gypsy").

    The first time a German leader recognized Nazi persecution of the Roma on racist grounds was in 1982, more than 30 years after West Germany acknowledged the murder of 6 million Jews and began to pay compensation to Israel.

    Discrimination today
    German politicians and Roma leaders at the opening ceremony described the memorial as a reminder of the urgent need to protect minorities today.

    Many of Europe's 12 million Roma face discrimination and social exclusion, often living in dire poverty.

    "Half a million Sinti and Roma, men, women and children, were murdered during the Holocaust. Society has learned nothing, next to nothing from this, otherwise they would treat us differently," said Dutch Sinto survivor Zoni Weisz.

    His voice faltered as he described how, as a seven-year-old, he watched his father, mother, sisters and brother being deported in a train to Auschwitz concentration camp.

    Merkel stressed it was a German and European duty to protect Roma rights. After her speech, a heckler highlighted that Germany refuses to grant asylum to Roma from countries such as Serbia and Macedonia, where they face discrimination.

    Romani Rose, leader of the Central Council of Sinti and Roma in Germany, also attended the ceremony.

    "Opening the memorial sends an important message to society that anti-Roma sentiment is as unacceptable as anti-Semitism," he told AFP.

    Reuters contributed to this report.

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    Follow World News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

    4 comments

    Simon Wiesenthal documented and spoke for European Roma at the very same time as he was speaking for all the other victims of Nazi persecution and Holocaust. So the world has known this since the end of the Third Reich and Nuremberg Military Tribunals. The Roma were especially selected by Dr.Mengele …

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    Explore related topics: germany, europe, memorial, holocaust, merkel, featured, berlin, roma, sinti
  • 12
    Oct
    2012
    5:18am, EDT

    Indonesia's Bali recalls horror of bombs 10 years on

    Sonny Tumbelaka / AFP - Getty Images

    Survivors and relatives of victims of the October 12, 2002 Bali bombings cry during a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of the attack at the Garuda Wisnu Kencana cultural park in Jimbaran, Bali on October 12, 2012.

    Johannes Christo / Pool via Getty Images

    Thousands of family members, friends and general public gathered to remember the victims of the 2002 Kuta nightclub bombings which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.

    The Associated Press reports from Bali, Indonesia — A decade after twin bombs killed scores of tourists partying at two nightclubs on Indonesia's resort island of Bali, survivors and victims' families on Friday braved a fresh terrorism threat to remember those lost to the tragedy. 

    Bay Ismoyo / AP

    A woman grieves as she attends the memorial service.

    The 2002 bombing was Asia's deadliest terror strike, killing 202 people — including 88 Australians and seven Americans — and injuring more than 240 others partying at the popular Sari Club and Paddy's Pub in Kuta that Saturday night. The attack was carried out by suicide bombers from the al-Qaida-linked group Jemaah Islamiyah and kick started a wave of violence that would hit an embassy, hotels and restaurants in the world's most-populous Muslim-majority nation.

    Surgeon Fiona Wood, who led a team of Australian doctors that treated victims horribly burned in the attack, spoke of the survivors' bravery.

    "A young woman whose injuries were beyond comprehension. The first thing she said when she came out of her coma was, 'I'll never run; will I walk again?'" Wood recalled. "I said, 'You will walk, you will run, you will race.' And in 2008, she beat me in an ironman." Read the full story.

    Murdani Usman / Reuters

    A survivor of the bomb blast is helped by her family as they arrive for the commemoration service for the 10th anniversary of the Bali bombing.

    Justin McManus / Pool via Getty Images

    Emotional family members pay their respects at picture boards of the victims during the memorial service.

    Follow @NBCNewsPictures

    Sign up for the NBCNews.com Photos Newsletter

    Hundreds gathered in Bali, Indonesia, in remembrance of those lost 10 years ago when suicide bombers linked to al-Qaida orchestrated Asia's deadliest terror strike by bombing two nightclubs. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.

    The victims of the 2002 Bali Bombings are remembered at ceremonies around the world on the 10th anniversary of the attacks. 202 people died when an al Qaeda-linked terror group detonated bombs at two nightclubs. ITN's Nina Nannar reports.

     

    7 comments

    These people who lost their loved ones for nothing but religious bigotry should take heart. Their loved ones did not die in vain. They were spending a day of vacation enjoying a dance and having fun. They died as 'martyrs' for the joys of living, dancing and being human. We should honor them by taki …

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    Explore related topics: indonesia, bali, asia, terrorism, memorial, world-news
  • 15
    Apr
    2012
    8:52am, EDT

    Memorials mark 100th anniversary of Titanic sinking

    Peter Morrison / AP

    Relatives and guests attend the Titanic Memorial service at Belfast City Hall, Northern Ireland, Sunday.

    By Alastair Jamieson, msnbc.com

    The 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic was being remembered at events across the world Sunday, including in Belfast, where the fateful ship was built.

    A memorial store featuring the names of those who died was unveiled in the Northern Ireland city on Sunday morning.

    It is the first Titanic memorial to list all victims alphabetically, with no distinction between passengers and crew members, or between first- and third-class travelers.

    On Saturday, a concert featuring a performance by Bryan Ferry was followed by a torch-lit procession to the memorial site.

    Chris Helgren / Reuters

    Helena Beaumont-Jones of Airlie Beach, Australia, aboard the Titanic Memorial Cruise on Saturday.

    Meanwhile, a service was held at the North Atlantic wreck site on cruise ship MS Balmoral, which is retracing the Titanic's route, the BBC reported.

    A minute's silence was held and wreaths cast into the sea at the moment it sank.

    137 comments

    As the Granddaughter of the late Neshan Krekorian, who was a Christian Armenian and a third class passenger who was a Titanic Survivor, I am very humbled and grateful for all the lovely tributes and how people around the world are remembering this great tragedy....I am also very grateful to everyone …

    Show more
    Explore related topics: history, new-york, anniversary, memorial, ship, titanic, featured, belfast

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