How terrorists bombed ECWA church in Nigeria for 45 dollars

Seven suspected Boko Haram men alleged to have masterminded the attack on Ekklizivar Yan’uwa A Nigeria (EYN) Church in Biu, Borno State recently said they were paid N7, 000(about 45 dollars) each to carry out the attack which left no fewer than three worshipers dead. One of the seven suspects, Ibrahim Mohammed Babangida, who spoke with journalists from his custody said one Magaji Bala, a butcher paid N7, 500 to him as his engagement fee to carry out the dastard act. “I was sleeping in my house when Magaji called me and handed over N7,000 to me for the operation,” he said, even as one of the suspects also corroborated the claim. The suspects, Alhassan Inuwa, Ibrahim Mohammed Babangida, Magaji Bala, Nuhu Zakari, Dahiru Sa’adu, Mohammadu Nurah and Mohammed Sani told newsmen at the 21 Armoured Brigade in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, yesterday that they were butchers by profession in Biu Market and were picked up in their different houses in Biu by the JTF operatives. The suspects also claimed to hail from Jigawa and Katsina states, adding that they came to Biu, about 187 kilometres to Maiduguri and South of Borno, to eke a living. Some gunmen suspected to be members of the Boko Haram sect had stormed a local branch of the Ekklizivar Yan’uwa A Nigeria (EYN) in Borno on June 10 in a bloody shoot out, leading to the death of three worshipers. Many others were also wounded. Sources said the gunmen, numbering about three had invaded the EYN Church (Church of the Brethren in Nigeria) while the Sunday service was going on, killing three, including a woman while many of the members sustained various degrees of injuries from gunshot. Meanwhile, Spokesman of the Joint Task Force (JTF), Lt Col Sagir Musa, who paraded the suspects said the task force believed the seven men were involved in the Biu Church attacks. He, however, said the security agencies in the state needed the cooperation and partnership of the people to succeed. “Handling of the security situation in the country is a collective effort and as such, security agencies should not be left with the responsibility alone. There is need for partnership because it is everybody’s problem. It is time we saw it as our problem especially in making information avalaible,” Lt Col Musa said. Also reacting to allegation of harassment of civilians by the JTF troops, the spokesman assured that the leadership of the task force would continue to preach, sensitize and educate the personnel on the need to maintain discipline even in the face of frustration. He noted that maintaining maximum discipline among troops was one of the major challenges of any internal operation by security agents but appealed to the people for understanding. He also urged the residents to report cases of stolen vehicles to the police or JTF, adding that the task force had uncovered plan by the Boko Haram sect to use stolen vehicles to launch attacks on some public buildings. “Information recently available to the JTF in Maiduguri indicated that there had been desperate moves by Boko Haram to steal/snatch vehicles to be used for terrorists’ activities by implanting Improvised Explosive Devices in vehicles and or through suicide bombing,” he said. He warned that owners of such stolen vehicles, “if used for terrorism acts would be treated as collaborators and accomplices.” Culled from SUNNEWSONLINE.COM

Bali bomber bags 20 years in jail for terrorism

Patek An Indonesian court has convicted a militant of making explosives used in the deadly 2002 Bali bombings and sentenced him to 20 years in jail. Umar Patek was found guilty of murder and bomb-making in connection with the Bali attacks, which killed more than 200 people, mostly foreigners. He admitted helping mix chemicals, but said he was not involved beyond that. Prosecutors did not ask for the death penalty after Patek apologised to victims and their families. Patek was found guilty of all six charges, some terrorism-related, that he was facing. The judges delivered their verdict in a keenly watched trial. After the verdict was announced, Mr Patek appeared calm and composed, shaking the hands of the judges. He could have faced the death penalty - the maximum punishment for some of the charges against him in Indonesia is death by firing squad. But prosecutors said Mr Patek had shown remorse during the trial, consistently apologising for his role in the attacks, and even going as far as to say he was against the Bali bombings from the start. That is why they only asked for a term of life in prison. In the end, he received less than that - 20 years in jail. It is still not clear whether his lawyers will lodge an appeal - but this verdict has given Indonesia the opportunity to close the chapter on the deadly Bali blasts, which changed the image of this country as a safe place. This included charges relating to attacks on churches in Jakarta, which killed 19 people on Christmas Eve 2000. He is the last key player to be tried in Indonesia in relation to the Bali The Bali attacks targeted Paddy's Bar and the Sari Club in the resort of Kuta. Those killed were from 21 countries, including 88 Australians, 38 Indonesians and 28 Britons. The bombings were blamed on the Jemaah Islamiah militant network. Three men were executed in 2008 for playing key roles in the attacks and two others have been killed in raids. Patek, whose trial began in February, was arrested in January 2011 in Abbottabad, the Pakistani town where Osama Bin Laden was later killed in a US raid. He was extradited to Indonesia in August 2011. Police were deployed to guard the court, which opened its session at 09:20 (02:20 GMT). Snipers were positioned in and around the court buildings for the final session. Judges read the charges and a long summary of witness testimony before delivering their verdict. Lawyers for Umar Patek sought to play down his role in the Bali blasts, saying he was involved in the preparation of the bombs but not in carrying out the attacks. Patek himself has admitted helping to assemble the explosives, but said he was not the chief bomb-maker, as prosecutors alleged. Patek, who is reportedly known as "demolition man," asked for ''forgiveness'' in court, saying he was against the attacks "from the start". After the judgement, one of the lawyers in Patek's defence team, Ashluddin Hatjani, said his client was "not angry" but "sad" at the verdict. "He was disappointed. It was too heavy compared to the sentences for other terrorists with bigger roles," he said. Culled from ALJAZEERA

Child rapist Darren Leggett jailed for life

Leggett .............. Darren Leggett, previously of Mount Avenue, Yalding, filmed his abuse of children as young as six and set up two websites to share images and videos. He was jailed at Maidstone Crown Court and given an indeterminate sentence. He must serve at least seven years and has to prove he is no longer a danger before his release can be considered. He will also be required to sign the sex offenders register for life, and will undergo a sex offender treatment programme. The offences included four of child rape, taking, possessing and distributing sexual abuse images of children and arranging a child for sex. The court heard how his crimes came to light when the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) received an anonymous tip-off from a member of the public who had discovered one of the two websites he had created for distributing sexual images of children. After discovering a second linked website, the IWF passed their findings onto the Child Exploitation Online Protection (CEOP) centre and they were able to identify where the website originated. Leggett was arrested on 10 February after Kent Police officers set up an operation during which he arranged to pay for sexual abuse of a child. During a search of his home, police seized his computer and memory sticks, and found 36 films he had made in which he committed a string of sexual abuse offences against three young children. Sentencing Leggett, Judge Statman said he was deemed such a danger to children that only an indeterminate sentence was sufficient. Det Sgt Dave Shipley, senior investigating officer for the case for Kent Police, said: "Leggett used children as objects for his depraved desires, as commodities which he was content to trade and share with others, with no thought for the impact his actions would have on his victims. "Through the joined-up working of the agencies involved, a dangerous man has been brought to justice for his crimes. "As a result, we have been able to identify the victims and take steps to ensure they are protected from any further harm." Culled from BBC

Mass exodus of Kaduna residents trail last sunday's bomb attacks

Residents of Kaduna have started fleeing the state in droves for fear of more retaliatory attacks following the violence that has erupted between Christians and Muslims in parts of the state. On Wednesday, panicked residents were seen being escorted out of the state by military personnel deployed to the area. The heavy military presence on the streets has resulted in a semblance of calm. Following last Sunday’s bombing of three churches in the state, reprisal attacks erupted against Muslims in parts of the state. A 24-hour curfew was swiftly imposed in the state. However, when the curfew was relaxed on Tuesday, further violence sparked off, this time by Muslims attacking Christians in revenge. The state government has re-introduced the curfew. An estimated 80 people have been killed so far in the violence, with over 140 injured. Some residents who could not flee the state for various reasons took refuge in a compound in Kigo Road New Extension in Kaduna. Residents say they fear fresh violence will break out when the curfew is relaxed. “How do you expect us to stay when it is very obvious that our lives and properties are not safe? After the 24-hour curfew now, who knows what is going to happen next? So the best thing is to run for our dear lives,” said a resident who did not want his name published. The state’s police command says among those arrested so far, alleged to have been part of the marauding youths that attacked people, are illegal aliens from neighbouring countries such as Chad, Cameroon and Niger. Culled from DAILYTIMES

Bride jailed 20 months for stealing £200,000 to sponsor wedding

A bride who stole £200,000 from her employers to pay for a lavish wedding has been jailed. Part-time accounts assistant Kirsty Lane, 30, transferred the funds from Pure AV's bank account into that of her and her future husband, Graham. The fraud was discovered shortly after the pair's wedding at the Great Hall at Mains, near Blackpool in January 2011. Lancashire was sentenced to 20 months in prison at Preston Crown Court. She stole about £122,000 from the Leyland company, which installs audio-visual equipment, by putting in fake invoices, marking them as paid and then depositing the money into her own account. She also diverted about £70,000 through her husband's account, which she told him were savings, salary and bonuses. About £6,000 was transferred into a third account. Company director Peter Sutton said Lane had cost the firm about £300,000, due to tax and VAT payments, and put the "livelihoods of 20-plus people" in jeopardy. Police said Lane began working for Pure AV in May 2007 and started siphoning money into her account in December 2008. A spokesman said the offences had continued until she left the company for her wedding on 23 January 2011 by which time she had made a total of 122 fraudulent transactions. He said a large proportion of the money had been used to fund her "lavish wedding" which included a free bar, musicians, fireworks, a magician and face-painting. He added that Lane had also used the cash to pay for home improvements and items such as a large television, a Tag Heuer watch, an iPod, compact mirrors and car keys covered in Swarovski crystals and personalised car registration plates. He said she had "abused her position of trust to steal from her employer and fund a lavish lifestyle". Speaking in Lane's defence, Amanda Johnson said she was a woman of good character who suffered from low self-esteem and the offending coincided with the time she met her husband. "She felt that money and the trappings that money could buy would make her a more attractive proposition," she said. She said Lane thought she could "make herself more attractive to him by having money and being able to spend it on gifts and holidays". Passing sentence, Judge Pamela Badley said the "modest" first amounts of cash Lane stole from the company had escalated and gone on to fund a luxury lifestyle. Judge Badley said her behaviour had been "fraudulent from the outset" and told her she had taken part in a "cynical exploitation of the small company for which you worked". Speaking after sentencing, Mr Sutton said Lane had been "a trusted member of the team and she had been in that position for a number of years". He said she defrauded the company in a complex way and there had been no obvious "digital trail". "We just wanted it over. It's the end of a traumatic time in our existence and the legal system has prevailed," he said. Graham Lane was found not guilty to one count of money laundering at Preston Crown Court on an earlier date. Culled from BBC

Alleged witchcraft: Saudi Arabia executes man in S/N province

al-Asiri ........... A Saudi man has been beheaded on charges of sorcery and witchcraft, the state news agency SPA says. The man, Muree bin Ali bin Issa al-Asiri, was found in possession of books and talismans, SPA said. He had also admitted adultery with two women, it said. The execution took place in the southern Najran province, SPA reported. Human rights groups have repeatedly condemned executions for witchcraft in Saudi Arabia. Last year, there were reports of at least two people being executed for sorcery. Mr Asiri was beheaded after his sentence was upheld by the country's highest courts, the Saudi news agency website said. No details were given of what he was found guilty of beyond the charges of witchcraft and sorcery. Amnesty International says the country does not formally classify sorcery as a capital offence. In 2010, a Lebanese television presenter of a popular fortune-telling programme was arrested while on pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. Though sentenced to death, after pressure from his government and human rights groups, he was freed by the Saudi Supreme Court, which found that he had not harmed anyone. More recent cases of death on charges of sorcery include that of a Saudi woman, executed for committing sorcery and witchcraft in December, in the northern province of Jawf, and that of a Sudanese man executed in September, despite calls led by Amnesty International for his release. Culled from BBC

Mom found naked, eating ice cream after leaving kids in wrecked car

Dillard Stephanie Dillard, a 34 year old mother of 3 was found naked and eating ice cream in a Houston drug store after leaving her three children alone in a car when she crashed it. She was charged with endangering a child after her vehicle collided with a METRO bus on Friday, KPRC reported. Her three children -- ages 5, 12 and 16 -- suffered minor injuries and were shaken up after the crash. Detectives said Dillard got out of the car after the collision and walked away. She then went to a nearby CVS store and began to undress as she ate ice cream. The children were given to a grandmother after Dillard was arrested. She is being held at Harris County Jail on a $2,000 bond. Culled from FOXNEWS

US teen survives after a spear was shot through his brain

A US teenager's survival after a spear was shot through his brain is a miracle, doctors say. Yasser Lopez, 16, is recovering after he was accidentally hit with a spear gun by a friend during a Florida fishing trip this month. Medics at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami said the 3ft (90cm) projectile entered his brain over his right eye and went out the back of his head. He is now out of bed and speaking following a three-hour operation. Medics said he was awake as he arrived at hospital, and became "agitated". After sedating the teenager, part of the stainless steel spear had to be severed with a mechanical cutter so he could fit into the CT scanner. Doctors said the teenager has no memory of the freak accident. He was shot with the projectile as he swam in a lake near his Miami area home on 8 June when his friend set off the trigger of a spear gun he was loading. While medics are not sure of the extent of the damage to his memory and other parts of the brain, they say his condition could have been much worse. "It's a miracle the spear missed all the main blood vessels of the brain," neurosurgeon Ross Bullock told reporters. Also helpful, doctors say, was the foreign object's trajectory into the right side of the brain, Mr Lopez's non-dominate lobe, missing the parts responsible for speech and other important functions. Culled from BBC

Bomb attacks on Nigerian churches: death toll hits 66 in Kaduna

Yakowa Doctors have declared that a total of 66 persons are dead following yesterday's blasts and reprisals with many others injured Some 66 persons have been confirmed dead following Sunday’s bomb attacks on three churches in Kaduna State. Red Cross officials also said that 140 victims of the attacks were taken to various hospitals for treatment. The Chief Medical Director of Barau Dikko Specialist Hospital, Kaduna, Dr Huseini Yahya, said that the hospital received 10 bodies, while two died in the hospital. Similarly, Dr Khalid Lawal, Chief Medical Director of Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Shika, near Zaria, said that 10 bodies were brought to the facility, while two victims were declared dead after arrival. Dr Taylor Adeyemi of St. Luke’s Hospital, Wusasa, Zaria, said three of the 40 victims of ECWA church blast who were brought to the hospital died. Adeyemi said that most of the victims brought to the hospital were children The spokesperson of St. Gerard’s Catholic Hospital, Kakuri, Kaduna, Mr John Sunday, said that the hospital received 36 bodies and three other victims died in hospital. Sunday also said the hospital admitted 72 injured persons who were receiving treatment. The attacks yesterday would be the third in two months directed at churches in Kaduna. Living Faith Church (Winners Chapel) as well as All Nations Christian Assembly had been attacked earlier. The latter was attacked on Easter Sunday killing over 20 persons, even though the bombers could not quite penetrate the church premises. The attacks again Sunday, sparked protests among Christian youths from the southern part of the Kaduna metropolis, mainly dominated by Christians who felt their quietude had been taken for granted and perceived as a sign of weakness by members of the Islamic Boko Haram sect, which has been launching all the attacks on Christian places of worship in many parts of the North. In one united force and resolve, they rose yesterday, ditching the Christian injunction that “our weapons are not carnal.” They picked sticks and cudgels, marched on the city, brimming with ire, blocked major road arteries, set bonfires, and in no time, the skyline of the city had been darkened by the thick billowing smoke of burning tyres. Chanting war songs, the youths from Trikaniya, Sabon-Tasha, Television, Narayi, Gonin-Gora and other suburbs, mounted road blocks on the roads leading to their areas, as they visited their anger on Hausa Muslims caught up in the unfortunate incident. An emergency security meeting presided by the Kaduna State government was summoned and a 24-hour curfew imposed on the state to save the situation from degenerating further. The governor of Kaduna State, Patrick Yakowa in a statement signed by his Senior Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Reuben Buhari, regretted the bombing of the three churches, saying it was unfortunate. Culled from DAILYTIMES

British woman murders son & daughter, spends night with the corpses

.....From left to right, Lianne Smith and her daughter,Rebecca ............................................ A British woman killed her two children in a hotel room in Spain while they slept and spent the night with their bodies, a court has heard. Lianne Smith, 43, has admitted smothering Rebecca, five, and 11-month-old Daniel, in Lloret de Mar, Costa Brava, in May 2010. The Provincial Court in Girona will determine whether she is criminally responsible for two counts of murder. Her lawyer said she was in a state of "psychiatric disturbance" at the time. The deaths took place after Ms Smith's partner, Martin Smith, was extradited to the UK on charges of sexually abusing a girl. Smith, a 46-year-old former TV psychic, originally from North Shields, North Tyneside, was later convicted of rape and jailed for 16 years. In January he was found hanged in his cell in HMP Manchester. The couple, who share the same name but are not related, left Lichfield, Staffordshire, for Spain in 2007 with Rebecca. Daniel was born in Spain Previously they had been living in Cumbria, where the offences occurred Victor Pillado Quintas, prosecuting, said in his opening statement that on the night of 17 May, while they were asleep, Ms Smith had "taken advantage of the trust the children would have had in their mother". "She took her son in her arms and put a bag over his head, closing it around his neck," he said. "She did not stop tightening the bag until she had killed him. "Immediately she did the same to the five-year-old, closing the same bag around her neck and tightening it until she killed her daughter. "After ending the lives of her children she spent the night with their lifeless bodies." The following day Ms Smith went to reception and asked for police and an ambulance. She confessed to police and the judicial authorities that she had ended the children's lives, said Mr Pillado Quintas. He told members of the jury they would have to decide whether she knew that it was wrong or whether she was suffering from a mental condition at the time. The prosecution says she was not suffering a mental disease," he said. Defending, Jenifer Lahoz Abos, said Ms Smith had a "total emotional dependence" on her partner and was left in a state of psychosis after he was arrested in Barcelona on 7 May 2010. She said Ms Smith had "lost contact with reality" and thought UK social services staff had tracked her down and were going to take her children away. "On May 15 she went out shopping with both the children and saw two people in a car who she later saw walking down the street", Ms Lahoz Abos said. "She felt observed and threatened and made a clean break with reality and thought she was being chased by the two people, who she thought could be members of the British social services. "She thought they were going to come and take her children away and give them to other families in adoption." Ms Lahoz Abos added: "At this moment she entered a state of panic and lost contact with reality, interpreting events in a totally distorted manner, with delirious beliefs that she was in danger." The trial is expected to last four days. Culled from BBC

Google removes 'terrorism videos' from Youtube

Google has revealed it removed about 640 videos from YouTube that allegedly promoted terrorism over the second half of 2011 after complaints from the UK's Association of Police Officers. The news was contained in its latest Transparency Report which discloses requests by international authorities to remove or hand over material. The firm said it terminated five accounts linked to the suspect videos. However, the firm said it had rejected many other State's requests for action. Canada's Passport Office was among the organisations rebuffed. It had asked for a video of a Canadian citizen urinating on his passport and then flushing it down the toilet be removed. Google also refused to delete six YouTube videos that satirised Pakistan's army and senior politicians. The order had come from the government of Pakistan's Ministry of Information Technology. But Google did act in hundreds of cases, including: • requests to block more than 100 YouTube videos in Thailand that allegedly insulted its monarchy - a crime in the country • the removal of a YouTube video that contained hate speech that had been posted in Turkey • the termination of four YouTube accounts responsible for videos that allegedly contained threatening and harassing content after complaints by different US law enforcement agencies. Overall, the firm said it had received 461 court orders covering a total of 6,989 items between July and December 2011. It said it had complied with 68% of the orders. It added that it had received a further 546 informal requests covering 4,925 items, of which it had agreed to 43% of the cases. Google's senior policy analyst, Dorothy Chou, said the company was concerned by the amount of requests that had been linked to political speech. Culled from BBC

Security alert: Colombian volcano spews deadly gas

Scientists at the Volcanic Observatory in Manizales observatory have warned that there is a risk of an eruption "within days or weeks" as plume of ash and gas had risen to a height of 2,000m (6,500ft) on Sunday. Some 150 families have been evacuated from the banks of the rivers which flow down the volcano, as they were deemed to be most at risk. Plumes of smoke and ash are continuing to rise from Colombia's Nevado del Ruiz volcano. People living on its slopes said they had heard "strong, strange noises" coming from the summit of the 5,346m-high mountain on Friday and Saturday. Officials say an orange alert first declared three weeks ago is still in place for areas near the summit. More than 25,000 people died in a mudslide caused by Nevado del Ruiz in its last eruption in 1985. Officials have distributed 30,000 face masks to residents living in areas affected by ash from the volcano. The airport in the nearby town of Manizales, in central Colombia, has been closed since the end of May, and will remain so until the volcano ceases to emit ash, officials said. In the 1985 eruption, the small town of Armero on the banks of the Lagunilla river was almost completely erased as summit glaciers and snow were melted by hot lava. The water raced down the slopes carrying rocks, mud and vegetation in a destructive mudslide travelling at a speed of 60km/h (37mph). Only a quarter of Armero's population survived. Culled from BBC

Israeli police arrests naked African immigrant

In this photo, AFP captures a naked African female migrant described as a prostitute in a series of raids by Israel’s immigration police aimed at rounding up and deporting illegal African immigrants. The scene was recorded on Tuesday near Levinsky Park, in the Mediterranean city of Tel Aviv, where thousands of migrants reside. The question urgently begging for an answer is why was the woman not allowed to put on clothes before her arrest. Photo:AFP/ JACK GUEZ.

China to send first woman astronaut into space tomorow June 16th

Yang China has named the female astronaut who on Saturday is set to become the nation's first woman in space. Liu Yang, 33, an air force pilot, will join two male colleagues on board the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft, state-run news agency Xinhua says. The spacecraft will dock with the Tiangong 1 space station module, as China bids to establish a permanent space base in orbit. Liu will work on the mission with astronauts Jing Haipeng and Liu Wang. "From day one I have been told I am no different from the male astronauts," Ms Liu was quoted by state broadcaster CCTV as saying before her assignment was announced. "I believe in persevering. If you persevere, success lies ahead of you," she said. Xinhua, which describes her as a veteran pilot who enlisted in the People's Liberation Army in 1997, said she was recruited to be an astronaut in May 2010. The Shenzhou 9 mission, China's fourth manned space flight and its first since 2008, is expected to blast-off at 18:37 local time (10:37 GMT) from the Jiuquan launch centre in China's north-west Gansu province. The astronauts aboard the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft will dock with the Tiangong 1 - an experimental module currently orbiting Earth - and carry out scientific experiments on board. Last year, China completed a complicated space docking manoeuvre when an unmanned craft docked with the Tiangong 1, or Heavenly Body, by remote control. This is China's first manned space docking mission, Xinhua says. Culled from BBC

Forced abortion: Chineese govt apologises to woman, suspends officials.

President of China, Hu Jintao .................... China suspended three officials and apologized to a woman who was forced to undergo an abortion seven months into her pregnancy in a case that sparked a public uproar after graphic photos of the mother and her dead baby were circulated online. The case has renewed criticism of China's widely hated one-child limit, which, while designed to control the country's exploding population, has led to often violently imposed forced abortions and sterilizations as local authorities pursue birth quotas set by Beijing. Feng Jianmei, 27, was beaten by officials and forced to abort the baby at seven months on June 2 because her family could not afford a 40,000 yuan ($6,300) fine for having a second child, Chinese media reported this week. Photos of her and the reportedly stillborn baby lying on a hospital bed were posted online and went viral, triggering a public outpouring of sympathy and outrage. The government of Ankang city, where Feng lives in northwest China's Shaanxi province, said a deputy mayor visited Feng and her husband in the hospital, apologized to them and said officials would be suspended amid an investigation. "Today, I am here on behalf of the municipal government to see you and express our sincere apology to you. I hope to get your understanding," Deputy Mayor Du Shouping said, according to a statement on the city government's website Friday. The official Xinhua News Agency says three officials would be relieved of their duties: two top local family planning officials and the head of the township government. Xinhua said Feng was not legally entitled to a second child under China's one-child limit, but added that late-term abortions are prohibited due to the risk of causing physical injury to the mother. "The correct way to deal with the case would have been for local officials to allow her to deliver the baby first, and then mete out punishment according to regulations," the agency quoted an anonymous provincial family planning official as saying. Abuses by family planning officials are often a target for popular frustration, especially amid a growing sense among better-off Chinese that the government has no right to dictate how many children people should have. One reason that activist Chen Guangcheng enjoys a wider appeal within China than many other activists is that he and his wife documented complaints about forced abortions and sterilizations in the city that oversees his village. Among the cases were several women who said they were forced to have abortions within days of their due dates. The couple's efforts angered local leaders. Chen was jailed and later placed under illegal house arrest, from which he fled six weeks ago in a daring escape. He is now living in New York with his wife and two young children. The government says the one-child policy has prevented an additional 400 million births in the world's most populous country of 1.3 billion. Critics of the controls point out that it leads to a dangerously imbalanced sex ratio. Families abort girls out of a traditional preference for male heirs. Culled from AL-JAZEERA

Voyeurism: Father-in-law of missing Utah woman, Steven Powel, to be sentenced to prison today

Powell The father-in-law of missing Utah woman Susan Powell is due to be sentenced in a Washington State court on Friday 15th June for recording images of two young neighbor girls in their bathroom. Pierce County prosecutors are asking for an exceptional sentence of 10 years for Steven Powell on Friday. His attorneys are seeking zero to 12 months, saying it's not clear exactly when Powell took the pictures, and it could have been before the state made voyeurism a ranked felony in 2006. The 62-year-old was convicted last month of 14 counts. Powell is the father-in-law of Susan Powell, who disappeared from her home in West Valley City, Utah, in late 2009. His son — her husband — Josh Powell killed himself and two sons in a February fire at a home in Graham. Culled from FOXNEWS

Forced abortion sparks outrage in China

Jianmei .......... Nationwide outrage continued to grow Thursday in China over a late-term abortion forced upon a woman by local family planning officials, even as authorities pledged to punish those responsible. Feng Jianmei, 22, was illegally detained on May 30 in rural Shaanxi Province and coerced to undergo the procedure three days later in the seventh month of pregnancy. Deng, a 29-year-old farmer, said he was trying to secure a birth permit up to the last minute but could not afford to pay the fine of 40,000 yuan ($6,300) demanded by the officials. He added that his wife remained traumatized in hospital. The couple married in 2006 and Feng gave birth to a girl in 2007, local officials said in a statement. Under China's strict family planning law, which limits most married couples to only one child, Feng and Deng are ineligible to have a second child. Graphic photos taken after the abortion showing a bloody baby lying next to Feng in a hospital bed have been circulating online and shocked Chinese netizens, prompting rare domestic media coverage and public debate on one of the country's most controversial policies. After initially insisting the operation was voluntary, local officials acknowledged Thursday that the forced abortion was illegal. Deng, the husband, told CNN that no officials above the county level had visited the family. He said village leaders who had shown up asked the family "not to hype the incident." Deng himself has opened a Weibo account, posting developments and venting frustrations. His profile picture is one of the post-abortion photos of his wife, with the baby's image blurred, that have jolted the nation. China's "one child" policy was recently thrown into the international spotlight when prominent human rights activist Chen Guangcheng escaped his house arrest and moved to New York. Chen's supporters maintain his long-time legal advocacy for victims of forced abortions and sterilizations had led to his persecution. Since the government introduced the policy in the late 1970s to curb population growth in the world's most populous nation, millions of women have been forced to end their "illegal pregnancies." The number of "family planning abortions" peaked in 1983 with 14.37 million operations performed that year, according to the Health Ministry. Since 2000, such abortions have numbered about 7 million a year -- with a spike in 2008 to 9.17 million cases. Culled from CNN

Huge asteroid to fly by Earth today June 14

An asteroid the size of a city block is set to fly by Earth Thursday (June 14), and you may be able to watch it happen live. The near-Earth asteroid 2012 LZ1, which astronomers think is about 1,650 feet (500 meters) wide, will come within 14 lunar distances of Earth Thursday evening. While there's no danger of an impact on this pass, the huge space rock may come close enough to be caught on camera. That's what the team running the Slooh Space Camera thinks, anyway. The online skywatching service will train a telescope on the Canary Islands on 2012 LZ1 and stream the footage live, beginning at 8:00 p.m. EDT Thursday (0000 GMT Friday). 2012 LZ1 just popped onto astronomers' radar this week. It was discovered on the night of June 10-11 by Rob McNaught and his colleagues, who were peering through the Uppsala Schmidt telescope at Siding Spring Observatory in Australia. Researchers estimate that the space rock is between 1,000 and 2,300 feet wide (300-700 m). On Thursday evening, it will come within about 3.35 million miles (5.4 million kilometers) of our planet, or roughly 14 times the distance between Earth and the moon. Because of its size and proximity to Earth, 2012 LZ1 qualifies as a potentially hazardous asteroid. Near-Earth asteroids generally have to be at least 500 feet (150 m) wide and come within 4.65 million miles (7.5 million km) of our planet to be classified as potentially hazardous. 2012 LZ1 is roughly the same size as asteroid 2005 YU55, which made a much-anticipated flyby of Earth last November. But 2005 YU55 gave our planet a much closer shave, coming within 202,000 miles (325,000 km) of us on the evening of Nov. 8. A space rock as big as 2005 YU55 hadn't come so close to Earth since 1976, researchers said. Astronomers have identified nearly 9,000 near-Earth asteroids, but they think many more are out there, waiting to be discovered. Culled from FOXNEWS

'Female' gold medalist arrested for rape

Asian Games gold medal winning athlete Pinki Pramanik was arrested after a complaint was made that she is a male and has allegedly raped a woman, police said Thursday. "We arrested Pramanik Thursday morning after a woman lodged a complaint of rape, stating that the athlete was a male and has been cohabiting with her for past several months. He promised to marry her but later denied," said an officer of Baguihati police station in North 24-Parganas where the complaint was made. Following the complaint, Pramanik was taken to a private nursing home for a medical checkup where the test reports showed that the athlete was indeed a male. "We will take Pramanik for a medical checkup to a government-run hospital and after the reports come in, the athlete will be presented before a court," added the officer. Pramanik won gold in 4x400 metres relay at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar. She was a silver medallist at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games the same year. She retired from athletics three years ago.
Culled fro TIMES OF INDIA

Undercover police in the UK gets permission to have sex with suspects

Herbert ....................... British undercover police officers can start sexual relationships with suspected criminals if it means they are more plausible , a minister said on Wednesday. Home office minister Nick Herbert said that under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 officers were permitted to have sex as part of their job. There had been confusion about whether undercover police were allowed to go that far following the collapse of a case against environmental activists in Nottinghamshire. It emerged that the group was infiltrated by an officer called Mark Kennedy, who had been in sexual relationships with two women in the campaign, The Telegraph reported. Kennedy spent seven years posing as long-haired dropout climber Mark 'Flash' Stone to infiltrate activists and admitted having sex with women during the operation. Speaking in a debate in Westminster Hall, Herbert said it was important police were allowed to have sex with activists because otherwise it could be used as a way of outing potential undercover officers. "But this would depend on the circumstances of each individual case and consideration should always be given to seeking legal advice." Culled from TIMES OF INDIA