Missing rapist Edward Connors arrested in Dublin

Connors

A convicted rapist who was being sought by the police in Northern Ireland after breaching the conditions of his probation has been arrested in Dublin. Edward Connors was 15 when he twice raped an American tourist in the Colin Glen Forest in west Belfast four years ago. He was arrested by Irish police (Garda) officers on Wednesday night. Connors is due to appear in Dublin's Court of Criminal Justice later on Thursday. He was arrested for failing to comply with section 10 of the Sexual Offenders Act 2001 to notify his name and address to the Garda. It is understood the Police Service of Northern Ireland will seek his extradition to Northern Ireland. Connors, now 19, was given an eight-year jail sentence for his rape and served four years. He was due to appear at Belfast Magistrates Court earlier this month but did not turn up. He was to answer a charge of breaching one of the conditions of his probation, in that on two occasions since last month he failed to "complete an individual programme of work to address his sexual offending." Culled from BBC

38 killed, 50 missing in Jos flood in Nigeria

A woman and her five children were among no fewer than 38 persons killed after heavy rainfall in Jos North forced a dam to overflow, flooding Rikkos and Gangere areas of the Plataeu State on Sunday evening. No fewer than 100 persons were displaced, with at least 50 declared missing and over 50 houses swept away. The rain, which started at about 4.30pm, lasted for more than eight hours before it subsided. Meteorologists had predicted heavy rainfall in Jos in July. Figures obtained from the Meteorological Department had predicted that Jos would experience heavy flooding with forecast for Sunday put at +18 degree centigrade to +22 degrees centigrade. A former Councillor representing Rikkos/Gangere ward, Mr. Abdullahi Gangere, told our correspondent in an interview that more than 30 people were swept away by the heavy flooding that accompanied the torrential rainfall. A resident of the area, Abubakar Mahmud, said many of the residents were sleeping when the floods came. He said, “Because it was dark nobody could see anything. The floods just carried the houses and people living in them along and none of the victims could receive any help.” Acting Zonal Coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency, Mr. Mohammed Abdulsalam, who confirmed the development to our correspondent in Jos on Monday, said that 17 people were confirmed dead in the flood, adding that rescue efforts were still ongoing for the missing persons. He said, “We were informed of the development at about 8.30 this morning and our search and rescue team got there one hour after. As at the time we got there 14 bodies have been pulled out and three others were pulled out from under the bridge. “The bodies were also being prepared for burial. We are coordinating the rescue efforts with the Red Cross, Ja’amatu Nasril Islam and Ja’amatu Izalatil Bidi’a Wa’iqamatis Sunna to find the over 50 missing persons mostly children. We have requested for their photographs and other details for the search and rescue operation.” Culled from PUNCH

Beijing downpour: death toll rises to 37

The death toll in Saturday's torrential rains here has climbed to 37 as more bodies were retrieved, authorities said. Among the victims, 25 drowned, six were killed in house collapses, one by a lightning strike and five were electrocuted, reported Xinhua. Twenty-two of the bodies have been identified. The heaviest rain in six decades lashed the Chinese capital on Saturday, with the average precipitation reaching 170 mm while a township in the suburban district of Fangshan recorded 460 mm of rain. The downpours have submerged some power supply facilities and led to blackouts in parts of the city. Following the deluge, a sum of 120 million yuan ($19 million) has been allocated to help the cities of Beijing and Tianjin and the neighbouring Hebei province to fight floods. The fund, allocated by the finance and water resources ministries, will be spent on repairs of flood-damaged water conservancy facilities in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, the finance ministry said in a statement on its website. More than 70,000 people were relocated due to downpours in Hebei. Culled from TIMES OF INDIA

China discovers toxin in baby food

cancer-causing toxin linked to mildewed cattle feed has been found in baby formula in China, an official said on Monday, the latest quality problem to plague the nation's dairy industry since a 2008 tainted formula scandal that caused six babies' deaths. Aflatoxin was found in five batches of Nanshan Bywise brand formula made last year by Hunan Ava Dairy Industry Co. in Hunan province's Nanshan city that were being sold in Guangzhou, said a man from the Guangzhou administration of industry and commerce general office. The five problem batches were boxes, bags or tins of powder weighing between 400 and 900 grams and manufactured between July and December last year. It wasn't known if any of the problem formula was fed to babies. A low dose of aflatoxin is not considered harmful , but high doses are linked to cancer, especially in the liver . The contamination was first reported by the administration in a statement posted online on Friday. A woman who answered the phone at a Nanshan Bywise service hotline said the company had no immediate comment on the case. Aflatoxin is produced by a fungus that can grow on hay or grains and appear in the milk of animals that eat the mildewed feed. It previously has been detected in milk from China's biggest dairy company, Mengniu, and another company, Changfu. Called from TIMES OF INDIA

Sex workers worldwide hold parallel conference in Kolkata today 24th July

Hundreds of sex workers from across the world are holding a protest rally in Kolkata today after they were denied visa by the United States to attend an International AIDS conference being held in Washington DC. The rally is part of an ongoing parallel conference that has been organised in the city by the sex workers in a bid to register their protest. The five-day global conference, which began on July 22, is an annual congregation of organisations and agencies from across the world engaged in controlling AIDS. Under the banner of Global Hub of the International AIDS Conference, over 550 representatives of sex workers from 47 countries are attending the event in Kolkata which is being hosted by the Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee. The conference will deliberate on the 'Seven Freedoms' - the right to move, work, access to healthcare, participate, organise, be free of violence and discrimination - without which the community of sex workers cannot reduce their vulnerability to HIV. Held every two years, the International AIDS Conference returned to the United States for the first time since 1990 after being kept away by laws that barred people with HIV from travelling to the country. However, there was satellite communication between the two conferences to enable the sex workers' and other stakeholders' to participate from Kolkata. Culled from NDTV

Phone hacking: Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson face charges

Brooks & Coulson

Eight people, including Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson will face a total of 19 charges relating to Britain’s phone-hacking scandal the Crown Prosecution Service has said. Mrs Brooks, who is also a former chief executive of the paper's publisher News International, faces three charges relating to the alleged accessing of phones belonging to Milly and former Fire Brigades Union boss Andrew Gilchrist, CPS legal adviser Alison Levitt QC said in a statement. Mr Coulson, the prime minister's former communications chief, will face four charges linked to accusations of accessing the phone messages of Milly, former Labour home secretaries David Blunkett and Charles Clarke, and Calum Best, the son of the late footballer George Best. Also to be prosecuted is a onetime confidant of media baron Rupert Murdoch and a former senior aide to Prime Minister David Cameron. The eight suspects are accused of illegally tapping into the cellphones of celebrities, politicians and others in the public spotlight, including a teenage kidnap victim who was later found slain. All worked at one time for the News of the World, a tabloid that was notorious for its ruthless pursuit of sensational stories before Murdoch shut it down last year as a result of the hacking scandal. Among those charged is Rebekah Brooks, once a trusted Murdoch lieutenant who headed his British newspapers, including the News of the World, before she resigned in disgrace. The six others charged include former senior journalists at the News of the World and a private investigator hired by the newsweekly to ferret out scoops. Prosecutor Alison Levitt said that cellphones belonging to such celebrities as actors Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Jude Law had been illegally broken into. Singer Paul McCartney was another alleged victim, as were high-profile lawmakers. Overall, with the exception of the private investigator, Levitt said those charged Tuesday had conspired to hack into the phones of more than 600 victims over a six-year period, beginning in the fall of 2000. “Prosecution is required in the public interest,” Levitt said. However, in the case of three additional suspects whom she did not identify, there was insufficient evidence to warrant charges. At the request of police, prosecutors are also deferring a decision on whether to charge two other people. Over the past year, Scotland Yard has arrested dozens of people, mostly journalists, in three separate investigations encompassing phone hacking, computer hacking and improper payments to public officials for information. It was a year ago this month that the phone-hacking scandal broke wide open, following the discovery that the News of the World had intercepted messages left on the cellphone of Milly Dowler, a 13-year-old girl who was abducted in 2002. Her body was found a short time after her disappearance. Amid public revulsion over the revelation, Murdoch summarily shut down the News of the World, made a public apology and was called to appear for questioning before members of Parliament. Top executives at News International, the British arm of Murdoch’s giant News Corp., resigned, including Brooks, who has denied any knowledge of phone hacking at the News of the World despite being the tabloid’s editor at the time that Milly’s voice mails were intercepted. The scandal shone a light on the cozy relationships between pillars of British public life: the press, politicians and the police. Since last July, the government has launched a judicial inquiry into media ethics and practices that is supposed to produce new proposals for regulating Britain’s unruly media establishments Los Angeles times

School Pricipal bags 14yrs in prison for having sex with minor

A former Indian-American principal of a New York Montessori school has surrendered to authorities to begin a two-to-seven-year prison term for sex with one of her 13-year-old students.

Lina Sinha, 46, was found guilty of the crime five years ago, but had stayed out of the jail with a wide variety of appeals, according to the New York Daily News. With all her appeals exhausted, her lawyer Jerry Shargel on Monday pleaded with Judge Carol Berkman to reconsider her sentence because the charges were "exaggerated." "There was a love affair that continued for nine years," he was quoted as saying. "You heard the victim say (at trial) that he enjoyed the relationship.

He found the relationship pleasurable." But the judge declined to reconsider her original sentence recalling the victim's testimony that he was going through a very difficult period at the time of the abuse because his parents were separating. "She hijacked his life as a child," the judge was quotes as saying by the Daily News. "The defendant is a woman with every advantage who preyed on the victim for years, and she did try to destroy him." Lina, who was a teacher at the school owned and operated by her parents, first had oral sex with a 13-year-old boy in 1996.

She continued to sexually abuse the underage boy throughout his middle school and high school career - and even "manipulated his mind, his body and his judgment for her own sexual purposes," said Assistant District Attorney Robert Hettleman. Lina was convicted of having oral sex with him and another youth, and bribery in April 2007, and sentenced to four to 14 years. Culled from NDTV

Over 200 human fetuses found in Russian forest

Villagers in Russia's south Urals have stumbled upon a gruesome discovery -- four barrels containing 248 human fetuses left in a forest. Police in the Sverdlovsk region said Tuesday the fetuses, preserved in formaldehyde, were kept in barrels with tags containing surnames and numbers. Police suspects that one of the four local hospitals is responsible for dumping the barrels. The fetuses were found a few miles away from a highway linking the region's capital, Yekaterinburg, with another big city, Nizhny Tagil. Culled from FOXNEWS

American woman arrested for hacking school website to change kids' grades

Venusto

A Pennsylvania woman allegedly changed her children's grades after logging into a school computer system using passwords obtained when she worked for the district. Investigators say Catherine Venusto used the Northwestern Lehigh School District superintendent's password to change the grades. She was arraigned Wednesday on a half-dozen felony counts and released on bail. Officials say Venusto changed a failing grade to a medical exception for her daughter in 2010, when she was still a district secretary. The New Tripoli woman is also accused of bumping one of her son's grades from 98 to 99 percent in February. State police say Venusto admitted changing the grades, saying she thought her actions were unethical but not illegal. According to investigators, Venusto illegally accessed the school district’s human resources system between August 23, 2010 and February of 2012 using the passwords of the superintendent and nine other district employees - most of them in the guidance department, Lehigh Valley Live said. Venusto’s suspected hacking spree came to an end when on February 24, Assistant Superintendent Jennifer Holman reported that a former employee allegedly accessed the district's computer system. Called from DAILY MAIL

China pledges $20bn in credit for Africa at summit

China has pledged $20bn (£12.8bn) in credit for Africa over the next three years, in a push for closer ties and increased trade. President Hu Jintao made the announcement at a summit in Beijing with leaders from 50 African nations. He said the loans would support infrastructure, agriculture and the development of small businesses. The Chinese leader also called for better co-operation with African countries on international affairs. As developing nations, China and countries in Africa should work better together in response to "the big bullying the small, the strong domineering over the weak and the rich oppressing the poor" in international affairs, said Mr Hu. The loan is double the amount China pledged in a previous three-year period in 2009, since which time China has been Africa's largest trading partner. Trade between the two hit a record high of $166bn (£106bn) in 2011, Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming wrote in the China Daily newspaper, ahead of the two-day forum. "We want to continue to enhance our traditional friendship... rule out external interference and enhance mutual understanding and trust," said Mr Hu. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is also attending the fifth ministerial meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Co-operation. 'Balanced development' On Wednesday, Mr Hu and Premier Wen Jiabao held bilateral talks with key African leaders, including South African President Jacob Zuma. Africa is an important source of raw materials to feed China's economic boom and a market for cheap Chinese products, and has benefited from huge infrastructure projects in return, says the BBC's Damian Grammaticas. But there are concerns Beijing turns a blind eye to corruption and claims its firms have committed labour abuses in Zimbabwe, Zambia and elsewhere, our correspondent adds. Moves by some Chinese enterprises to hire mostly Chinese nationals have also drawn attention. Mr Wen said that China would now focus on creating jobs for local residents and working with African countries for sustainable growth. At an economic conference held in conjunction with the summit on Wednesday, he said China would ''expand imports'' of African products and ''further open'' its domestic market to African countries. ''We need to promote balanced development of trade between China and Africa,'' he said. He also pledged that China would pay more attention to environmental protection and cultural issues in its dealings with the continent. ''As for some existing problems and new situations in China-Africa co-operation, the Chinese government is actively working with African countries to seek effective solutions and measures,'' Mr Wen said. Culled from BBC

Man arrested for perforating wife's vagina and locking it with key

Sohan Lal

 

The gory tale of a mechanic in Indore who pierced the genitals of his wife with a sharp instrument and inserted a lock there in order to prevent her from having an affair is such a barbaric act that it belies the fact that we're living in the 21st century. The mechanic Sohan Lal was arrested on Tuesday.

the victim(Mrs Lal)

 

The incident came to light when the woman consumed poison and was admitted to a Hospital for treatment late on Monday night. She took poison when her husband Sohan got her drunk so that he could rape his elder daughter. During the treatment, the doctors were horrified when they found a lock in her genitals. They noticed it when they were trying to insert a tube to discharge the poison. They informed the police about the incident.

Later, in her complaint, the victim said that Sohan, a resident of Musakhedi in the city, locked her in a room in the night in 2008 and pierced her genitals with a spiky instrument when she was sleeping. The victim said that she was married to Sohan when she was 16-years-old and since then her husband has been torturing her some way or the other. She said that her husband was now trying to rape their elder daughter. After drinking poison, the woman informed her sister about it. Her sister's son admitted her to the hospital and it led to the unfolding of the entire act. Police arrested the accused and registered an offence under Sections 326 and 498 A of the IPC. MY Hospital superintendent V S Bhatia said that the condition of the woman was under control. The head of crime against women cell, additional director general (ADG) of police, Aruna Mohan Rao told TOI, "The process to appoint women protection officers is still underway and it is likely to be completed within the next few months. There is no women protection officer in Bhopal as of now", she added.

Culled from TIMES OF INDIA

Texas executes its first inmate using single drug

Hearn

A Texas man convicted of carjacking and fatally shooting a stockbroker was put to death Wednesday, becoming the first prisoner in the nation's most active capital punishment to be executed under a procedure using one lethal drug instead of three. Texas Department of Criminal Justice officials announced last week they were modifying the three-drug injection method used since 1982 because the state's supply of one of the drugs -- the muscle relaxant pancuronium bromide -- has expired. Yokamon Hearn, 33, was executed using a single dose of the sedative pentobarbital, which had been part of the three-drug mixture since last year. Ohio, Arizona, Idaho and Washington have already adopted a single-drug procedure, and this week Georgia said it would do so, too. Hearn showed no apparent unusual reaction to the drug as his execution began. He was pronounced dead about 25 minutes after the lethal dose began flowing. Asked by the warden if he wanted to make a statement, he said: "I'd like to tell my family that I love y'all and I wish y'all well. I'm ready." Hearn was condemned for the March 1998 slaying of 23-year-old suburban Dallas stockbroker Frank Meziere. About 3 1/2 hours before Hearn was put to death, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his appeals to halt the execution. None of the appeals addressed the change in the state's execution drug policy. Evidence showed Meziere, of Plano, was cleaning his black convertible Mustang at a self-service car wash in Dallas when Hearn, then 19, and his friends approached. They forced Meziere at gunpoint into his own car and drove him to an industrial area in a south Dallas neighborhood, where he was shot 10 times in the head. Meziere's father, brother and uncle were among those who witnessed Hearn's lethal injection. "We did not come today to view this execution for revenge or to even the score," the family said afterward in a statement. "What this does is give our family and friends the knowledge that Mr. Hearn will not have the opportunity to hurt anyone else." Hearn, known to his friends as "Yogi," already had a lengthy record that included burglary, robbery, assault, sexual assault and weapons possession. In one appeal, Hearn's lawyers argued that his mother drank alcohol when she was pregnant, stunting his neurological development and leaving him with mental impairments that disqualify him from execution under earlier Supreme Court rulings. Testing shows Hearn's IQ is too high for him to be considered mentally impaired. In another, his appeals lawyers claimed the trial attorneys who handled his initial appeals failed to investigate his background and uncover evidence of his alleged mental impairment and troubled childhood. Before the Supreme Court issued brief one-paragraph rulings rejecting his two appeals, Richard Burr, one of Hearn's lawyers, had acknowledged "a degree of hope, but still, it'll be tough." State attorneys contested the appeals, arguing that information about Hearn's background and upbringing had been "thoroughly investigated and addressed at trial" and that the evidence "does not substantiate any scenario other than that of Hearn's guilt." Hearn declined to speak with reporters in the weeks leading up to his execution. In 2004, he avoided the death chamber when a federal court agreed his mental impairment claims should be reviewed and halted his execution less than an hour before its scheduled time. One of Hearn's accomplices received life in prison. Two others got 10-year sentences. Hearn became the sixth Texas prisoner executed this year and the 483rd since 1982. At least eight other Texas prisoners have execution dates in the coming months, including three in August. Culled from FOXNEWS

Facebook app to enrol US voters in Washignton

Washington State is to become the first in the US to allow voter registration via a Facebook app, reports say. State officials said the app, which could be available next week, was a "natural way" to sign up voters. Facebook would not collect details other than the voter's name and date of birth, and would not have access to the voter database, the state said. The move comes as several states have introduced or passed laws requiring more evidence to register or vote. Correspondents say voter registration could stay in the spotlight in the run-up to the presidential election on 6 November. Washington state, in the US Pacific Northwest, has offered online voter registration since 2008. Overall, more than a dozen states allow voters to sign up online. But officials in Olympia, the state capital, have decided that more needs to be done to encourage the people of the state to sign up to vote. "In this age of social media and more people going online for services, this is a natural way to introduce people to online registration and leverage the power of friends on Facebook to get more people registered," co-director of elections Shane Hamlin told the Associated Press. Registration scuffles The Facebook app was developed by Microsoft and has been in planning since last autumn, according to reports. "We are excited that citizens in Washington state will be able to register to vote and review useful voting information on Facebook," Facebook The app is to appear on the Facebook page of Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed. Users can "like" the service and recommend it to their friends. Reports say users must allow Facebook to access their information, which will be used to add their names and date of birth to the voter registration form. After that, users must provide a driving licence or state ID card number to continue. Through the app they will also be able to access the state's My Vote site, which has information about candidates and ballot measures. Mr Hamlin told AP that Facebook cannot access the state database. While Washington expands its voter-registration effort ahead of election day, at least eight states are considering measures to restrict voter-registration drives. Since 2010, 11 other states have passed laws requiring voters to show government-approved photo identification in order to vote. Supporters say that move would crack down on electoral fraud, but critics say it overwhelmingly affects poor, elderly and minority voters. Six states must have the changes cleared by the Department of Justice because of past discrimination in their voting practices. So far no state has had its new law approved. Last week Florida was granted permission to use a federal database to remove the names of foreign citizens from its voter rolls after a judge denied a justice department request to block the move. The federal government had voiced concern that Florida would remove legitimate voters from its rolls . Other states - such as Colorado, a key swing state - have also asked for access to the database. Culled from BBC

Terrorism: Nigerian Army evacuates thousands of natives from Plateau State

Following a recently conducted air reconnaissance in Jos, Plateau State, the Nigeria Military have established the presence of some terrorists in some villages. “The terrorists are using the civilian population as human shield,” said Air Vice Marshal Dick Iruenabere, of the Defence Headquarters. Thousands of Fulani inhabitants of the five villages in Plateau State slated for military operations were moved out and camped at four locations in Riyom and Barkin Ladi on Monday, following an agreement between community leaders and security authorities. The villagers, predominantly Fulani herdsmen, agreed to relocate temporarily at the expiration of a 48-hour evacuation deadline on the condition that they would be allowed to return after two days and that their property would be protected. The Special Task Force (STF) had ordered villagers in Mahanga, Kakuruk, Kuzen, Maseh and Shong to leave to give way for an operation to root out terrorists following violence in Riyom and Barkin Ladi local government areas. The development had resulted in strident criticism from activists, while some community leaders in the affected areas vowed to resist the order. Defence Headquarters subsequently warned that it would not back down from the deadline, thus escalating the tensions. However, beginning on Monday, and continuing on Tuesday, the Special Task Force assisted willing villagers to relocate to prepared temporary camps. “The only difference now with the earlier statement is that the people were asked to move to some specified locations within Riyom and Barkin Ladi local government areas,” said Saleh Momale, the Executive Director of the Pastoral Resolve. “The assurances provided by the STF were that there will be no killing, arrest and intimidation of Fulani people. That their houses and properties left behind will be adequately guarded by security personnel. That full security will be provided to the Fulani at the four locations where they were asked to move. That relief material in form of food items, warm clothing and shelter will be provided early tomorrow (today). That all the activities of the military operation in the areas will be completed in a maximum period of two days and that the people will return to their houses afterward.” However, the Defence Headquarters, on Tuesday, reiterated that the operation to unearth suspected terrorists taking shelter in those villages could last for two weeks. Chief of Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Oluseyi Petinrin said people would be allowed to return to their homes afterwards. At a news conference on Monday by its Chief of Policy and Plans, Air Vice Marshal Dick Iruenabere, the Defence Headquarters said it would not use heavy artillery in the operations; thus ensuring minimal damage of property. Culled from DAILYTIMES

American fraudster bags 6months in jail for stealing $3,796 by pretending to have cancer online

Henry

A New Hampshire man pled guilty Tuesday to stealing approximately $3,796 from online donors by claiming to have cancer when he didn't. MyFoxBoston.com reports Logan Henry created a "Help Logan Henry" page on gofundme.com, saying he needed money for cancer treatment. He collected over $3,000 from thousands of online donors. His scheme was thwarted when his former employer discovered the page. The employer called police and said Henry was out of work because of a shoulder injury, not because he had cancer. Henry was given a six-month deferred sentence and ordered to repay the money and a $500 fine. Culled from FOXNEWS

6-yr-old devoured by leopard in Mumbai

Thorat

A six-year-old girl living with her parents in the Shankar Tekdi area of Mulund (West) was killed and partially devoured by a leopard late on Sunday night. Sanjana Thorat lived in the slums encroaching on the fringes of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park with her father, mother, an elder brother and a sister. Around 10.30 pm, Sanjana and her mother Sunita Thorat, 28, ventured 20-feet away from their hutment to answer nature's call, when the leopard emerged from the bushes and dragged the girl off. Fifteen minutes after the attack, locals informed the police, but claim that the officials arrived an hour later and refused to enter the forest stating that it was unsafe. Around 200 slum-dwellers had gathered and they launched an all-night search for Sanjana and called it off at around 5 am. Officials of the forest department arrived around 7 am and the search operation resumed along with police officials. Finally, a group of youngsters accompanied by a dog found Sanjana's head around 300 to 400 metres inside the forest. "Sanjana wanted to go out to answer nature's call. We were about 20-feet away from our house when a full-grown leopard appeared and dragged her away into the thick bushes," said Sunita. Locals claim that the police team reached the spot around 11.45 pm and refused to launch a search operation. "When we asked the police to start a search operation, they refused saying that it was not safe to go inside the forest in the night," said the victim's neighbour, on condition of anonymity. According to the locals, spotting leopards in the area has not alarmed them in the past. "We have been staying here for over 20 years and spot leopards at least three or four times a month, but till date no humans have been attacked. Yesterday's incident has shocked us and we request the forest department to construct a boundary wall so that such incidents can be avoided," said Sunil, another neighbour of the deceased. Sudhir Padwale, Thane Assistant Conservator of Forests, said that a distress call came in to the control room at 11.15 pm on Sunday. "Our team and a team from Sanjay Gandhi National Park reached the spot. We searched for some time, but stopped the operation and resumed searching at 7 am and the head of the deceased girl was found. We have instructed the locals not to allow children to venture out after dark," Padwale said. The forest department plans to install a cage in the area to trap the animal. Leopard Expert Krishna Tiwari said, "The incident is really unfortunate. Leopards rarely attack humans and the animal must have mistaken the sitting girl for a dog or goat. In order to avoid any further incidents, the people should make it a point not to leave small children unattended at night. The Forest department should start awareness campaigns in the area." Culled from NDTV

Yahoo appoints Google's Marissa Mayer as new CEO

Mayer

Technology firm Yahoo has appointed leading Google executive Marissa Mayer as its next chief executive (CEO). Ms Mayer, 37, will become the firm's third CEO in the space of a year. In a statement released by Yahoo, Ms Mayer said she was "honoured and delighted" to lead the company. She later revealed that she is expecting her first child. In May, chief executive Scott Thompson stepped down after accusations that he put a fake computer degree on his CV. In September 2011, chief executive Carol Bartz was fired after two-and-a-half years in the post. Yahoo has struggled in the face of increased competition from search rivals including Google and the emergence of social giants such as Facebook. Although it remains the largest web portal in the US, correspondents say Yahoo's failure to become more "social" has hurt the firm. Its stock is now worth less than half its peak value. Yahoo's news service still attracts very large volumes of traffic. But other products, such as its search engine and email, have suffered. The company's revenue from display advertising has also dwindled. Interim chief executive Ross Levinsohn was thought to have been the favourite for the job before Monday's announcement that Ms Mayer was to take the helm. Correspondents say the selection of Ms Mayer to head the company suggests a renewed focus on technology and products, over online content. "I look forward to working with the company's dedicated employees to bring innovative products, content, and personalised experiences to users and advertisers all around the world," Ms Mayer said. She becomes one of very few women in Silicon Valley to rise to the top of a major technology firm. "A lot of people did not believe that Yahoo could get someone of the caliber of a Marissa Mayer to become the CEO at this stage," Standard and Poor's equity analyst Scott Kessler told Reuters news agency. Ms Mayer, who takes up her post at Yahoo on Tuesday, said the company was aware of her pregnancy during the recruitment process. "They showed their evolved thinking," she told Fortune Magazine. She said her maternity leave would be a few weeks long, "and I'll work throughout it". She joined Google in 1999 as the company's first female engineer. A former computer science student at California's Stanford University, she was the fledgling company's 20th employee. She worked on creating the Google search engine and the company's widely-recognised home page. More recently, Ms Mayer has been in charge of the technology giant's location and mapping services, which include Google Maps, Earth, Local and Street View. She has been credited with shaping much of the "look and feel" of Google's user experience. Ms Mayer currently serves on the boards of Wal-Mart, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco Ballet and New York City Ballet. She will also join Yahoo's board. Culled from BBC

Pair disembowelled rapist at Durham's Frankland Prison

Parr & Mann

Two prisoners who disembowelled a fellow inmate at Durham's Frankland Prison have been given life sentences. Mitchell Harrison, 23, originally of Wolverhampton, was serving an indefinite term for child rape in Cumbria when he was killed in October. Michael Parr, 32, and Nathan Mann, 23, cut his neck with a scalpel made from plastic cutlery and a razor blade. Newcastle Crown Court heard they cut the dead victim's stomach and planned to eat his liver, but did not do so. Parr had earlier pleaded guilty to murder and must serve a minimum term of 32 years. He was already serving life for the attempted murder of a hospital patient. Mann pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 16 years, to run consecutively to the 24-year minimum sentence he is already serving for a double murder. Harrison was jailed in January 2010 after he admitted raping a 13-year-old girl in Kendal, Cumbria. He was killed in his cell at the category A facility, which has housed some of the UK's most high profile and dangerous inmates.

Harrison

The court heard that Mann and Parr had expressed "fantasies" about beheading other prisoners and cutting out their stomachs. Mann was described by a psychiatrist as "a remorseless, callous psychopath" who harboured "cannibalistic urges" and was "one of the most dangerous men in the criminal justice system". Sentencing the pair for the "ghastly and gruesome" killing, Judge Justice Openshaw said: "I can't envisage circumstances in which either of them will ever be released. "They will face the fact that they may well end their lives in prison." The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman is carrying out an independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding Mitchell's death. A Prison Service spokesperson said: "We take the responsibility of keeping staff, prisoners and visitors safe extremely seriously. "That's why we have a violence management system in place to deal with incidents quickly and robustly with serious incidents referred to the police immediately." Det Ch Insp Steve Chapman, from Durham Police, said: "Mitchell Harrison was a young man who was by all accounts a model prisoner at HMP Frankland. "Although his family never condoned his past actions, he was still their much loved son and brother and they were supporting him as he served his custodial sentence. "His untimely death, and the horrific nature of it, left his family devastated." Mitchell Harrison's family said in a statement: "Our lives have been shattered by Mitchell's horrific murder. His death was cruel and unnecessary." Culled from BBC

Ethiopian blogger Eskinder Nega bags 18 yrs in prison for aiding terrorists

Nega

A prominent Ethiopian journalist and blogger has been sentenced to 18 years in jail for violating the country's anti-terrorism legislation. Eskinder Nega and 23 others were found guilty last month. They were accused of links with US-based opposition group Ginbot Seven, which Ethiopia considers a terrorist organisation. Opposition activist Andualem Arage was given a life sentence by the court in the capital, Addis Ababa. In May, Eskinder was awarded the prestigious Pen America's Freedom to Write annual prize for his work. Human rights groups have criticised Ethiopia's anti-terrorism legislation for being too far-reaching. "The court has given due considerations to the charges and the sentences are appropriate," Reuters news agency quotes Judge Endeshaw Adane as saying. Eskinder and Andualem, a member of the opposition Unity for Democracy and Justice party, were in court on Friday to hear their sentence - 16 members of the group found guilty in June are in exile, AFP news agency reports. The two men waved to family members as they walked into the courtroom which was filled with friends and family of the activists, as well as journalists and diplomats, the agency says. Eskinder was arrested last September after publishing an article questioning arrests under the anti-terrorism legislation, especially that of well-known Ethiopian actor and government critic Debebe Eshetu. In 1993 Eskinder opened his first newspaper and has been detained at least seven times by the government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. After he was found guilty last month, US-based campaign group Human Rights Watch said the case showed that Ethiopia's government would not tolerate "even the mildest criticism". An Ethiopian guard working for the UN was jailed for seven years for communicating with the banned Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) in June. In December, two Swedish journalists were sentenced to 11 years in prison for supporting the ONLF. Both the ONLF, which has been fighting for greater independence in the Ogaden area that borders Somalia, and Ginbot Seven, have been designated as terrorist groups by the Ethiopian parliament. Culled from BBC

Over 100 people perish in Nigeria oil tanker fire acciedent

More than 100 people who went to scoop up oil from an overturned oil tanker were burned to death on Thursday after the vehicle caught fire, the information commissioner in Nigeria's southern Rivers State said. The report said 50 with severe burns have been hospitalised," Ibim Semenitari told AFP. The tanker swerved as it was trying to avoid a collision with three oncoming vehicles including a bus, said Kayode Olagunju, sector commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission in the southern Rivers state. Residents said that shortly after the collision hundreds of locals flocked to the site to collect the spilling fuel. "Then there was an explosion followed by fire," Olagunju told AFP. "Ninety-three were burned to death on the spot. Two died later in the hospital (and) 18 people were seriously injured." In a statement, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) gave the same figures. An AFP photographer at the scene said many of those killed were motorcycle taxi operators, known locally as "Okada", who raced to fill up their tanks after learning of the crash. Olagunju said at least 34 motorcycles were destroyed in the blaze. The accident happened in an area called Ahoada near the oil hub of Port Harcourt in Nigeria's crude-producing Niger Delta region. Motorcycle taxi driver Kingsley Jafure said the vehicle collision occurred at roughly 6:00 am, and the spilled petrol caught fire about 90 minutes later, but that time sequence could not be immediately confirmed by officials. "At about 7:30 while I was inside trying to decide whether to go (scoop fuel) or not. That is when I saw that the tanker exploded," Jafure said. The area had been cordoned off by security forces and a large number of rescue officials were on the ground, said an AFP correspondent. The NEMA statement said "rescue workers from the police, road safety, fire service, civil defence and NEMA were at the scene to evacuate victims and control the traffic." Major accidents, often involving large-haul trucks, are common in Nigeria, where many of the roads in terrible condition. Lorries operating on the country's road are often old and poorly maintained and road worthiness checks are scant. Abandoned trucks, some of them destroyed by heavy collisions, can regularly be seen along major Nigerian motorways. In March, a petrol tanker caught fire after skidding off the road in southern Port Harcourt, killing six people and injuring several others. While in April last year, a fuel tanker overturned at an army checkpoint in central Nigeria, sparking an inferno in which some 50 people were killed. Culled from YAHOONEWS