Bashar al-Assad( Syria's President) ........
Last week, at least 13 countries expelled top Syrian diplomats in protest at the massacre of more than 100 people, including 49 children, in the Houla area of Homs province. Turkey expelled all Syrian embassy staff.
In what it described as a reciprocal move on Tuesday, the Syrian government announced that 17 diplomats from the US, UK, Switzerland, France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany and Canada were now considered "personae non gratae".
All Turkish diplomatic staff were also declared unwelcome.
"The Syrian Arab Republic still believes in the importance of dialogue based on principles of equality and mutual respect," a foreign ministry statement said.
"We hope the countries that initiated these steps will adopt those principles, which would allow relations to return to normal again."
The BBC Jim Muir in Beirut says it will be a long time before the Western states are prepared to re-establish diplomatic ties.
Many have already withdrawn their ambassadors on security grounds or for political reasons, our correspondent adds.
US ambassador Robert Ford was called back to Washington in October over fears for his safety, while all British embassy staff were withdrawn in March on security grounds.
France also closed its embassy that month in protest at the "scandalous" repression of dissent by the government.
Culled from BBC
Tuesday, 5 June 2012
Syria government expels 17 western ambassadors.
Bashar al-Assad( Syria's President) ........
Last week, at least 13 countries expelled top Syrian diplomats in protest at the massacre of more than 100 people, including 49 children, in the Houla area of Homs province. Turkey expelled all Syrian embassy staff.
In what it described as a reciprocal move on Tuesday, the Syrian government announced that 17 diplomats from the US, UK, Switzerland, France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany and Canada were now considered "personae non gratae".
All Turkish diplomatic staff were also declared unwelcome.
"The Syrian Arab Republic still believes in the importance of dialogue based on principles of equality and mutual respect," a foreign ministry statement said.
"We hope the countries that initiated these steps will adopt those principles, which would allow relations to return to normal again."
The BBC Jim Muir in Beirut says it will be a long time before the Western states are prepared to re-establish diplomatic ties.
Many have already withdrawn their ambassadors on security grounds or for political reasons, our correspondent adds.
US ambassador Robert Ford was called back to Washington in October over fears for his safety, while all British embassy staff were withdrawn in March on security grounds.
France also closed its embassy that month in protest at the "scandalous" repression of dissent by the government.
Culled from BBC
Spain's solar-powered plane takes off on test flight
An experimental solar-powered plane has taken off from Madrid en route to Morocco in a bid to complete its first transcontinental flight.
The single-seat aircraft fitted with 12,000 solar cells is the size of a jumbo jet. Organizers said in a statement it is due to arrive in the Moroccan capital Rabat late Tuesday night after leaving Spain before dawn.
Solar Impulse arrived from Switzerland in late May on the first leg of the journey.
The mission is being described as a final dress rehearsal for a round-the-world flight with a new and improved plane in 2014.
The project began in 2003 and is estimated to cost about $100 million over 10 years.
The two-leg Europe to Africa trip covers 1,554 miles.
Culled from FOXNEWS
Monday, 4 June 2012
Death penalty: 47 year old American to die by lethal injection tomorrow
Jackson Jr........... .......... ................. .
A 47 year old American convict is to be executed by lethal injection tomorrow Tuesday 5th June by 6 p.m at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman. Henry Curtis Jackson Jr. killed his two nieces and two nephews, ages 2 to 5, when he went to his mother's home in Leflore County looking for money from a safe on Nov. 1, 1990, according to the court record.
His mother was at church that day, but Jackson's adult sister, Regina Jackson, was there with her two daughters and four nieces and nephews. Her two daughters were killed in the attack.
Regina Jackson told The Associated Press that she planned to meet with Gov. Phil Bryant on Monday and plead for her brother's life.
Curtis Jackson's attorney, Robert Davis Jr. of Tupelo, filed a clemency request with Bryant's office last week.
Bryant's spokesman, Mick Bullock said Monday that, Bryant "is reviewing the facts associated with this case and has no further comment at this time."
Bryant, a Republican and former deputy sheriff, has not granted clemency to a condemned inmate since taking office in January.
Jackson, 47, has appealed the case over the years but hasn't been successful in the past. He has said he doesn't remember stabbing the children, but testimony from his trial describes a horrific scene.
He cut the phone line before going in the house, according to the court record. Once inside, he demanded money and attacked his sister.
One of the children tried to help, but he stabbed her too. At some point, Regina Jackson tried to fight him off with an iron rod, but he grabbed one of the children and used her as a shield.
Regina Jackson testified at trial that she was in and out of consciousness after being tied up and stabbed in the neck, but she could hear her brother dragging a safe down a hall. The noise woke up 5-year-old Dominique, one of her daughters.
"Regina testified that Jackson called Dominique to him, told her that he loved her, stabbed her, and tossed her body to the floor," according to the court record. "Jackson returned to Regina, stabbing her in the neck and twisting the knife, at which point she pretended to be dead until she heard him leave."
Jackson turned himself in to the West Point Police Department and allegedly confessed to some details. He was convicted and sentenced to death on four counts of capital murder after a trial in September 1991. The trial was held in Copiah County after Jackson's defense attorney requested a change of venue.
His mother, Martha Jackson, said Monday that she has forgiven her son and plans to visit him before the execution.
"If I don't forgive him, God don't forgive me," she said.
Martha Jackson said she's not sure if she'll watch the lethal injection.
Culled from FOXNEWS
Kuwaiti blogger bags 10yrs in prison for blasphemy
Al Naqi
A Kuwaiti court on Monday sentenced a blogger to 10 years in prison for allegedly insulting Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), his wife Aisha and some of his companions and for harming Kuwait’s interests by targeting other countries in the region.
According to the case papers, Hamad Al Naqi posted, between February 5 and March 27, comments and tweets that insulted Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), his companions Abu Baqer, the first Caliph, and Othman, the second caliph, and his wife Aisha. The insults were likely to stoke sedition within the community and mobilise segments alongside sectarian lines, the prosecutor said.
The tweets, on two different accounts, denigrated and insulted the political regimes in two Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and could undermine Kuwait’s national interests, the court heard, Al Aan news site reported.
Al Naqi was also charged with posting remarks that denigrated Islam as a religion, ridiculed its beliefs and teachings and scorned its iconic figures.
The 26-year-old defendant who was also accused of using his mobile to post abusive remarks, has pleaded not guilty to the charges and that his account had been hacked.
Al Naqi was arrested in March and his case deeply divided the nation’s views on the use of social networks.
Several lawmakers have called for his death for insulting God, Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and the prophet’s wife and companions while others defended him as someone who expressed his views freely.
Comments posted after the announcement of the verdict indicated that the debate would gain in intensity as religious and non-religious arguments seemed to stiffen.
Although sectarian tension is not deep in Kuwait, several cases have recently resulted in standoffs between the two main sects.
The parliament, dominated by Islamist and tribal representatives, has passed an anti-blasphemy draft law that stipulates the death penalty for anyone found guilty of insulting God, Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) or his companions or relatives. However, the draft has not been endorsed by the Emir and reports have emerged that it could be returned to the lawmakers.
Culled from GULFNEWS
'Canadian Psycho' Magnotta arrested in Berlin
Magnotta.................................................................................................
Canadian murder suspect Luka Rocco Magnotta was arrested Monday in the German capital Berlin, the Bild newspaper reported.
The porn actor and stripper, who was the subject of a global manhunt after he allegedly murdered his gay Chinese lover and mailed body parts, was picked up at an internet cafe in Berlin's Neukolln district, the newspaper reported, citing police sources.
Magnotta, 29, fled Canada after the killing, initially heading to Paris.
Magnotta is wanted for threatening the Canadian prime minister, first-degree murder, defiling a corpse and using the mail system for delivering "obscene, indecent, immoral or scurrilous" material.
The case began Tuesday, when a package containing a severed foot was opened at the ruling Conservative Party headquarters. A hand was discovered at a postal facility, addressed to the Liberal party of Canada. A torso was found in a suitcase on a garbage dump in Montreal, outside Magnotta's apartment building.
Police suspect Magnotta filmed the murder. The video, posted online, shows a man stabbing another man with an ice pick while the victim lies naked and tied up. The first man later reveals he has slashed the other man's throat. He also dismembers the corpse and performs sexual acts with it.
An online video also shows a man who looks like Magnotta committing violent acts against kittens. The video contains at least one photo made available by Montreal police that identified the man as Magnotta. For nearly two years, animal-rights activists have been looking for a man who tortured and killed cats and posted videos of it online.
Police said Magnotta's birth name is Eric Clinton Newman and that he is also known by the name Vladimir Romanov.
Culled from FOXNEWS
Venomous spiders invade Sadiya, kill 2
A town in India has suddenly been overrun by swarms of venomous spiders, leaving two people dead after being bitten.
It may sound like a B-grade horror movie, but residents of the town of Sadiya, in Assam state, say that on the evening of May 8 as they were celebrating a Hindu festival swarms of spiders suddenly appeared and attacked them, The Times of India reported.
Over the next few days two people -- a man, Purnakanta Buragohain, and an unnamed school boy -- died after being bitten by the spiders. Scores more turned up at the town's hospital with spider bites.
Local resident Jintu Gogoi spent a day in the hospital complaining of excruciating pain and nausea after being bitten. He said weeks later his finger was still blackened and swollen.
District authorities are also panicking -- and they are considering spraying the town with the insecticide DDT.
Locals say the most terrifying aspect is that spiders appear in swarms and their behavior is highly aggressive.
"It leaps at anything that comes close. Some of the victims claimed the spider latched on to them after biting. If that is so, it needs to be dealt with carefully. The chelicerae and fangs of this critter are quite powerful," head of the department of life sciences at Dibrugarh University Dr. L.R. Saikia said.
Teams of Indian arachnid experts have flocked to the town, hoping to identify the species, but so far they have drawn a blank.
They say it could be a tarantula, a black wishbone or even a funnel-web spider -- or it could be a whole new species.
One thing they agree on is that it is not native to the area as there is no record of venomous spiders in Assam. The black wishbone and funnel-web are native to Australia.
Researchers are also still running tests to find out the toxicity of the spiders' venom.
Dr. Anil Phatowali, superintendent of the town's hospital, said they had not administered antivenin as they could not be certain the spider was venomous at all.
He also pointed out other factors may have contributed to the two reported fatalities.
"All the bite patients first went to witch doctors, who cut open their wounds with razors, drained out blood and burnt it. That could have also made them sick," Phatowali said.
Culled from FOXNEWS
Nigerian government declares 3 day mourning for aircrash victims
Jonathan................................................................
The Nigerian government led by Dr. Goodluck Jonathan as declared a 3 day mourning by Nigerians for the death of all those who lost their lives in the air-crash that occurred yesterday in Lagos.
He has also cancelled all public engagements following the tragedy, which came nearly six years after the last major crash of a passenger plane was recorded in the Nigerian air space.
The Federal Government said it would ensure that the accident would be thoroughly investigated to determine the exact cause of the accident.
The Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah, who spoke at a press briefing late last night at the headquarters of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) said the action would help prevent a similar occurrence in the future.
The minister, who wept, said at about 3.43pm Sunday, DANA Air flight 0992 from Abuja to Lagos declared an emergency and May Day minutes later with the Lagos control tower at 11 nautical miles to Murtala Muhammed Airport.
A minute later, it crashed into residential buildings at Iju area of Agege, she said.
Jonathan had dispatched Oduah to the crash site to do on-the-spot assessment of the situation and submit an interim report immediately pending the full investigation.
A statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati said Jonathan was saddened by the further loss of life from the crash following bomb attacks which took place in churches in Bauchi, Bauchi State, and regretted the death had plunged the nation into further sorrow.
"The President joins all Nigerians in mourning all those who lost their lives in the plane crash which has sadly plunged the nation into further sorrow on a day when Nigerians were already in grief over the loss of many other innocent lives in the church bombing in Bauchi State.
"President Jonathan assures air travellers in the country that every possible effort will be made to ensure that the right lessons are learnt from the tragic loss of valuable lives in today’s plane crash and that further measures will be put in place to boost aviation safety in the country.
"He prays that God Almighty will grant the families of the victims of the plane crash the courage and fortitude to bear their irreparable loss," parts of the statement said.
There were unconfirmed reports making waves on the internet last night that the crashed aircraft was a former Alaskan Airlines plane built in 1990 that had been under repair for several weeks.
Two Major Generals, six children, six infants, a pregnant woman, several couples, a father and his daughter, many members of staff of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and several top personalities were on board the ill-fated Dana Airlines flight 0992 from Abuja to Lagos Sunday.
The flight, which took off from Abuja at 2.13pm, was expected to land in Lagos at 3.21pm. But it crashed into a residential area in Iju Ishaga, Agege, Lagos State.
There were no survivors while the number of residents killed in the affected houses is yet to be ascertained.
It was reported that the airline's station manager protested its use but the management insisted it should fly.
But a top official of the airline denied the reports Sunday as “a tissue of lies” without making any further comment.
From the manifest of the light released yesterday, there were several highlights:
• The spokesman of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Levi Ajuonuma, was on board the aircraft.
• Ehime Aikhomu, son of the former military Vice-President Augustus Aikhomu, was also on the flight.
• A resident of Magodo, Lagos State, Mrs Anjola Fatokun, was on the aircraft with her son, Olaoluwa, and newborn baby, Ibukun.
• Mrs Amaka Ojugbana and her little baby, Christopher, were also on board.
• Many members of staff of NNPC and CBN were also said to be on the flight.
• Two Major Generals, Tahir Umar and ID Muhammad, were also on board.
• Many of those the victims came for three different weddings which held in Abuja at the weekend.
• A former Deputy Inspector General of Police, Mr. John Ahmadu, was also involved in the crash.
*Five passengers gave their office address as National Universities Commission: Mrs Chinwe Obi, Mr. Celestine Onwuliri, Mr Mahmud Aukawa, Mrs Memuma Shaibu, and Mr Sonny Ehioghae
Culled from THISDAY
Friday, 1 June 2012
Man, wife & 3 children jailed for tax evasion
John Coffey
Five members of a family who avoided paying £500,000 in taxes and fraudulently claimed £100,000 in benefits have been sentenced.
John and Brigid Coffey and their children Michael, Mary and Helen, were earning millions from two resurfacing and block paving businesses.
John Coffey was jailed for two years and nine months while his wife was given a suspended sentence.
Their children were given suspended sentences of between six and 12 months.
Bristol Crown Court was told while John and Michael Coffey deliberately laundered the money to avoid paying taxes, the female members of the family claimed thousands of pounds in benefits.
This was despite the family owning property and a number of expensive cars, the court was told.
The family, who lived in south Wales and Gloucestershire, dealt mostly in cash with John and Michael Coffey declaring an income of £250 a week between them.
What is overwhelmingly clear in this case is that each one of you is dishonest. There can be no excuses for your behaviour”
During a police interview, John Coffey claimed their money came from block paving, horses and "general wheeling and dealing".
Jailing Coffey, Judge David Ticehurst told him he must repay £450,000 within six months.
Michael Coffey, who avoided paying £50,000 in tax, was handed a sentence of 12 months imprisonment suspended for two years. He was also told he would have to repay the money.
"It's individuals like you that give the travelling community a bad name," Judge Ticehurst said.
"None of us likes paying taxes but society functions on the fact that people pay money to the revenue.
"You, however, choose not to pay tax and to falsely claim benefits of which you were not entitled.
"What is overwhelmingly clear in this case is that each one of you is dishonest. There can be no excuses for your behaviour," he added.
The investigation began in October 2006 at a travellers' site in Gloucestershire which was raided in January 2007.
A year later search warrants were executed in West Drayton, and at two farms and two separate properties in Cardiff.
In April 2009 they were charged with a total of 38 offences, including cheating the public revenue, benefit fraud and money laundering.
Then in 2010 a series of court appearances saw the five enter guilty pleas to a total of 20 charges.
Culled from BBC
Identical twin brothers arrested for robbing 2 Long Island Banks
Queen Elizabeth Celebrates Diamond Jubilee
Elizabeth
Queen Elizabeth II is celebrating her Diamond Jubilee, only the second British monarch to reach 60 years on the throne.
She became Queen at the age of 25, and during her six decades on the throne she has witnessed a period in modern history which has seen enormous social, political and technological change.
* Celebrations include Thames pageant, palace pop concert
* Hundreds of thousands expected to descend on London
* Police say biggest royal security operation ever
* Warning festivities will hit UK GDP figures
LONDON, June 1 (Reuters) - Britain embarks on four days of pomp, pageantry and patriotism on Saturday to mark Queen Elizabeth's 60th year on the throne, with the monarchy's popularity surging and celebrations bringing cheer to a nation struggling in harsh economic times.
"Union Jack" flags fluttered from buildings, shops and train stations across the country, thousands of street parties have been planned and huge crowds are expected to flock to Diamond Jubilee festivities in a country emblazoned red, white and blue.
To royalists, the occasion is a chance to express their thanks and appreciation to the 86-year-old Elizabeth, head of state for 16 countries from Australia and Canada to tiny Tuvalu in the Pacific Ocean, for her years of public service.
For others, the chance of some extra days off work and to enjoy the sort of extravaganza and public ceremony for which Britain is renowned has made it a welcome break from austere times, pay freezes and deep public spending cuts.
Republicans hope the occasion marks the last hurrah of a dying anachronism, while some 2 million people are leaving Britain altogether to go on holiday.
"Original jubilees were invented in the 19th century by the popular press as modes of national celebration for which the monarchy and monarch was almost incidental," said royal biographer Robert Lacey.
He said the jubilee was as much about society celebrating itself as it was about the head of state and the now largely symbolic institution of the monarchy.
"They tend to work best in times of economic hardship. It provides a tonic for the country," Lacey told Reuters.
Having acceded to the throne in February 1952 on the death of her father George VI when Winston Churchill was prime minister, Elizabeth is now the longest-lived British monarch.
Only her great-great-grandmother Victoria spent longer on the British throne and she looks on course to overhaul her as longest-serving monarch in 2015.
During her reign there have been 12 British prime ministers, 12 U.S. presidents, six popes and she has visited 116 countries.
THAMES FLOTILLA
The four days of celebrations begin on a fairly low-key note on Saturday when the queen indulges her love of horse racing by attending the Epsom Derby.
The following day will witness what organisers hope will be a spectacular flotilla travelling 25 miles along the River Thames featuring 1,000 boats assembled from around the globe with the queen and her 90-year-old husband Prince Philip on a royal barge, the largest such pageant for 350 years.
Thousands of street parties are also planned across Britain on Sunday, including one on Downing Street outside Prime Minister David Cameron's office, as part of a "Big Jubilee Lunch".
The queen's London residence Buckingham Palace will play host to a pop concert featuring the likes of Paul McCartney and Elton John, before a network of 4,200 beacons will also be lit across Britain with more set alight in the Commonwealth of mostly former British colonies of which Elizabeth is the head.
The celebrations culminate on Tuesday with a memorial service at St Paul's Cathedral, a carriage procession through central London and flypast by present and former royal air force aircraft.
Huge crowds are expected for the events with estimates that about a million people will travel to London on Sunday alone, and police have warned the capital's public transport system and roads will be stretched.
THOUSANDS OF STREET PARTIES
There are some 9,500 street parties planned in England Wales and ABTA, the British travel association, said almost 2.5 million Britons were expected to take part.
London's Heathrow airport said some 780,000 people were due to arrive in the next few days although ABTA said an estimated 2 million Britons were planning to head overseas to take advantage of the two extra public holidays.
Patriotic products featuring the Union Jack flag have been flying off the shelves, and Britons are expected to spend 823 million pounds ($1.28 billion), nearly double what they paid out on last year's royal wedding of the queen's grandson Prince William and Kate Middleton.
Supermarket Tesco, the world's number three retailer, expected to sell 2.86 million flags by the end of the weekend, while rival Sainsbury's said it had sold 252 miles of bunting, enough to decorate the entire length of the Thames.
But rather than a boon, the Bank of England and economists warn the extra public holidays will hit growth in the second quarter, bad news for an economy that has slipped back into recession and where growth remains elusive.
"It is likely that there will be a significant hit to GDP in the second quarter, which will be partly recouped in the third quarter," said Howard Archer, economist at IHS Global Insight.
Last year's royal wedding and the extra public holiday that attracted was cited as one of the special factors that knocked up to 0.5 percent off GDP growth in the second quarter of 2011.
Police said the weekend would include the largest royal security operation ever conducted. Some 13,000 officials including about 6,000 police officers will be on duty for the Thames pageant, which poses challenges never before encountered.
"We're treating it as a unique event, to have that many dignitaries on that many boats moving along the Thames," London police's Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stephen Kavanagh told Reuters.
After 18 months of planning, police do not believe there is any major threat, but attention-seekers posed the greatest problem with the celebrations attracting global media attention.
In April, a protester disrupted the annual Cambridge versus Oxford university rowing race on the Thames by swimming into the path of the crews and police chiefs admit they cannot guarantee similar embarrassments would not occur.
"There is no plan along that length of river, with that number of people on both sides of the Thames that can prevent anything happening," Kavanagh said.
Culled from HUFF POST, & BBC
College student murders roommate, eats heart & brain
Kinyua
A US college student has told police he killed his roommate, cut up the body and ate part of the victim's brain and his whole heart, US media reports said Thursday.
Alexander Kinyua of Baltimore, Maryland, was arrested on Tuesday after police searched his house following the discovery by his brother of the victim's head and hands, the Baltimore Sun reported.
Kinyua, a 21-year-old student at Morgan State University, confessed on Thursday to murdering and dismembering his roommate, Kujoe Bonsafo Agyei-Kodie, and then eating parts of his brain followed by his entire heart, the Sun said.
The motive was unclear, but Kinyua was charged with first-degree murder on Wednesday.
The grisly murder caps an especially gruesome week of crimes in North America.
Interpol has launched a manhunt for a Canadian porn star suspected of dismembering his boyfriend and making a video of the murder, while a young man in Miami was shot dead on Saturday as he gnawed off the face of a homeless man.
Culled from NDTV
Thursday, 31 May 2012
Aberdeen University Student jailed 7yrs for rape
Gupta
A university student found guilty of raping a woman he took back to a flat in Aberdeen has been jailed for seven years.
Amit Gupta, 28, denied repeatedly raping the woman on Christmas Eve 2010 while she was incapable of giving or withholding consent.
The University of Aberdeen business administration student was also recommended for deportation.
Lord Tyre said the victim suffered "anguish and distress".
Gupta, of Aberdeen's Langstane Place, was jailed at the High Court in Edinburgh.
I am in no doubt that the revulsion of society at what you have done has to be reflected in a custodial sentence”
The judge said: "You took advantage of a girl who was too drunk to give her free agreement to sex.
"Rape is one of the most serious offences in our law. It is made worse in the present case by the element of calculation and planning that went into it.
"Her anguish and distress as a consequence of this traumatic incident were only too obvious."
Lord Tyre added: "I find it of considerable concern that even now, having heard your victim giving evidence at your trial, you seem unable to accept how wrong your actions were that night.
"I am in no doubt that the revulsion of society at what you have done has to be reflected in a custodial sentence."
Defence counsel David Moggach said first offender Gupta had come to Aberdeen to study.
He said: "He has been a law-abiding citizen. He came to this country to better himself."
Mr Moggach said Gupta was "absolutely devastated" by the jury's guilty verdict.
Gupta was placed on the sex offenders register for life.
Culled from BBC
British detective jailed18yrs for rape
Gray
A detective with Nottinghamshire Police has been jailed for raping a woman in her home.
Det Sgt Trevor Gray, 47, of Watnall, near Nottingham, was found guilty of attacking the 43-year-old in July 2011 while off duty.
The jury took two hours to return its guilty verdict at Derby Crown Court on Wednesday.
Gray, who had denied charges of rape, attempted rape and sexual assault, was jailed for eight years.
The court heard Gray had attacked the woman after the pair had been out for drinks in Nottingham city centre the same night after meeting through mutual friends.
The detective forced the security chain on the front door of the victim's house, made his way upstairs and attacked her as she slept while her child was asleep in a nearby room.
He had claimed the sex was consensual.
Judge John Wait said: "These are grave offences. You forced an entry into a home where your victim and her child were entitled to feel safe.
"You took advantage of her intoxication to rape her. She felt - and was - violated in her own home."
Gray was jailed for eight years for rape, six years for attempted rape and four for sexual assault, to run concurrently.
Det Ch Insp Mick Windmill-Jones, from Nottinghamshire Police's professional standards directorate, said: "We expect our officers and staff to act with the very highest standards of behaviour, integrity and professionalism - on or off duty.
"When they fail to display these qualities and commit a criminal offence, they can expect, like any other member of society, to be arrested, charged and prosecuted in a court of law.
"In this case Trevor Gray's actions go against everything the role of a police officer stands for, which is ultimately to protect innocent people and keep them safe."
Culled from BBC
Cannibal attack: Miami police names victim
Israel returns 91dead bodies to Palestinian Government
Israeli president, Shimon Perez
Israel has handed over to the Palestinian Authority the remains of 91 Palestinians who died carrying out attacks against Israel.
The remains include suicide bombers and militants who died in operations as far back as 1975.
The repatriation of the bodies forms part of a deal to end a mass hunger strike by hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said he hoped the "humanitarian gesture" would help get the peace process back on track. According to him, Israel is ready for the immediate resumption of peace talks without any preconditions whatsoever.
Direct talks collapsed in December 2010 over Israel's refusal to stop building settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Coffins containing the remains, which had been interred in numbered graves in an Israeli military cemetery for "enemy combatants", were handed over at dawn.
The head of the Palestinian general committee for civil affairs said 79 had been transferred to Ramallah, and 12 taken to Gaza.
Special ceremonies will be held later, before the bodies are buried again.
According to Israeli media, Hamas will hold a full military service for the remains in Gaza, with each coffin receiving a 21-gun salute. They will then be shuttled to various towns for burial.
In Ramallah, rows of coffins have been draped in Palestinian flags outside President Abbas's compound ahead of a ceremony later today.
The repatriation has long been a sensitive issue often subject to prolonged negotiations.
The dead are considered martyrs by Palestinians, but terrorists by Israelis, and their remains are used as bargaining chips.
Earlier this month Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails agreed to end a mass hunger strike, which had been going on for more than two months.
More than 1,500 Palestinians had been refusing food to demand an improvement in conditions.
There were fears of a violent Palestinian backlash, had any of the
The mother of one of the dead, Um Ramez Obeid, said the transfer made her "very happy".
"We have waited for this moment for 16 years. The more they talked about the deal to hand over the bodies, the more we hoped his body will be among them.
"God willing they will hand over his body to us, to be buried next to his father at the cemetery. We will visit him, even if he is dead and is in the grave, I feel that he is returned to me."
culled from BBC
Wednesday, 30 May 2012
Crocodile attacks kill 2 Indonesians
Facebook opens office for Middle East and North Africa
Group raises over $70G for Texas honor student jailed for truancy
Tran
A Louisiana group has raised more than $70,000 for a 17-year-old Texas honor student jailed for missing too much school because she worked two jobs to support her siblings.
Diane Tran, an 11th-grade honor student at Willis High School near Houston, was sent to jail for 24 hours last week by Judge Lanny Moriarty and ordered to pay a $100 fine for excessive truancy.
It's unclear how many days Tran missed, but State law reportedly permits only 10 absences in a six-month period.
Tran, who works full-time at a dry-cleaning business and part-time for a wedding planner, has been supporting her brother and sister since her parents separated and her mother moved away.
Houston Councilman Al Hoang and others have roundly criticized the judge, saying he should have used some discretion in the honor student's case.
Since the girl's story went viral, hundreds of people have rallied to raise money for the teen, including one group, Louisiana Children's Education Alliance, which said Wednesday it had raised more than $70,000 for Tran.
The group, which created a website called HelpDianeTran.com, has received donations from 47 states and 13 foreign countries for the girl.
Tran, who is considered an adult under Texas State law, was issued a summons on May 23 for truancy after she missed classes. She was arrested in open court and ordered to spend 24 hours at the Montgomery County Jail for truancy, which is considered a misdemeanor. The ruling came after the teenager was issued a warning by a judge last month about her absences.
Judge Moriarty told KHOU 11 News that he intended to make an example of Tran by placing her in jail.
Houston defense attorney Ned Barnett, however, called the ruling shocking and said the girl likely spent the night surrounded by "every type of criminal that exists."
Culled from FOXNEWS
Charles Taylor jailed 50 years in prison for war cimes
Taylor
Liberia's ex-President Charles Taylor has been sentenced to 50 years in jail by a UN-backed war crimes court.
Last month Taylor was found guilty of aiding and abetting rebels in Sierra Leone during the 1991-2002 civil war.
Special Court for Sierra Leone judges said the sentence reflected his status as head of state at the time and his betrayal of public trust.
Taylor, 64, insists he is innocent and is likely to appeal against the sentence.
The appeal process could lasted up to six months.
During the sentencing, Judge Richard Lussick said the crimes in Sierra Leone were some of the most heinous in human history.
The prosecution had wanted an 80-year prison term, but the judge said that would have been excessive - taking into account the limited scope of his involvement in planning operations in Sierra Leone.
However, Judge Lussick said in return for a constant flow of diamonds, Taylor provided arms and logistical and moral support to the Revolutionary United Front rebels - prolonging the conflict and the suffering of the people of Sierra Leone.
"While Mr Taylor never set foot in Sierra Leone, his heavy footprint is there," the judge said.
In its landmark ruling in April, the court found Taylor guilty on 11 counts, relating to atrocities that included rape and murder.
He became the first former head of state to be convicted of war crimes by an international court since the Nuremburg trials of Nazis after World War II.
In response, Taylor accused the prosecution of paying and threatening witnesses in his war crimes trial.
He also told the judges to consider his age when making their decision, saying he was "no threat to society".
But the trial chamber said given his social background, "rehabilitation" was not likely.
The fact that he had not expressed remorse also affected the sentence, the judge said.
He had condemned atrocities across the world, and had the "deepest sympathy" for victims in Sierra Leone, but stopped short of apologizing for his part in the conflict.
The judges agreed with the prosecutors that Taylor's age, or the fact that he has a family, should have no impact on the sentence.
In written filings, prosecutors said a sentence of 80 years would reflect the severity of the crimes and the central role that Taylor had in facilitating them.
"The purposely cruel and savage crimes committed included public executions and amputations of civilians, the display of decapitated heads at checkpoints... public rapes of women and girls, and people burned alive in their homes," wrote prosecutor Brenda Hollis.
But defence lawyers said the recommended sentence was "manifestly disproportionate and excessive", and that Taylor had only been found guilty of an indirect role - aiding the rebels, rather than leading them.
They said their client should not be made to shoulder the blame alone for what happened in Sierra Leone's war.
The court should not support "attempts by the prosecution to provide the Sierra Leoneans with this external bogey man upon whom can be heaped the collective guilt of a nation for its predominantly self-inflicted wounds", his lawyers wrote.
During the Sierra Leone civil war, Taylor supported RUF rebels who killed tens of thousands of people.
The war crimes included murder, rape, the use of child soldiers and the amputation of limbs.
Taylor was accused of channelling weapons to them in return for "blood diamonds" but the judge said the prosecution had failed to prove their case that he had given orders to the RUF.
The case is being heard in The Hague for fear that a trial in Sierra Leone could destabilise the region. The Dutch government only agreed if Taylor would serve any sentence in another country, so he will serve any prison term in the UK.
Culled from BBC
Tuesday, 29 May 2012
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