Facebook post leads to fresh trial for 1987 murder of marijuana dealer

Highers brothers

Two Detroit brothers, convicted of murder 25 years ago, have now been granted a new trial, but a judge declined today to release them from prison. In 1987, Robert Karey, an elderly marijuana dealer, was murdered at the back door of his Detroit home. Two brothers, Raymond and Thomas Highers, both now 46, were convicted of the killing in a three-week trial the following year. But last Thursday, Circuit Judge Lawrence Talon threw out the convictions and ordered a new trial after a 2009 Facebook post prompted new witnesses to come forward. Two of those witnesses said they saw Karey being shot by two black men at the back door of his house. The Highers brothers are white. At a hearing today packed with friends and relatives, Talon was expected to release the brothers on bond as they await their new trial. But he delayed a ruling on their release for two weeks while he seeks a recommendation from pretrial services based on their behavior while in prison. Meanwhile, prosecutors are appealing his decision to overturn the original conviction. "It's been terrible, absolutely horrible," Scott Highers, Raymond and Thomas's little brother told ABC's Detroit affiliate WXYZ. "We've lost both of our parents. They're deceased. Growing up without your older brothers -- you know, I'm the baby, they're someone to look up to -- I never had the chance to do that." During their 25 years in prison, the Highers brothers committed several offenses, including drug possession and starting fights. The key witness in their 1987 trial was Thomas Culberson, a security guard who went to Karey's home to buy marijuana on the night of the murder. Culberson said he saw two white men fleeing the scene in a car, and later identified Raymond Highers as the driver and Thomas Highers as a passenger. After a former Detroit resident, Kevin Zieleniewski, came across a Facebook post by Mary Evans about the men's life sentences in 2009, he reconnected with a former law school friend, John Hielscher, who told him decades ago that he had been at Karey's that night, and that Karey had been killed by black men, the Detroit Free Press reported. Hielscher agreed to testify at an evidentiary hearing in March along with his friend James Gianunzio, who was also at Karey's when the shooting happened. Hielscher and Gianunzio testified that they were at Karey's back door when they saw armed black men approach them and heard a gunshot before they fled, according to the Free Press. Their testimony raised doubts over whether the Highers brothers were the white men Culberson saw fleeing. On Thursday, Assistant Prosecutor Ana Quiroz argued in court that there was a conspiracy to free the Highers brothers, and that the new witnesses were not credible, according to the Free Press. Prosecutors argued in the original trial that the Highers brothers, who had bought marijuana from Karey before his murder, killed him in a dispute over money. Judge Talon set a new hearing date of Aug. 13, when he said he would issue his decision on the brothers' release, WXYZ reported. Culled from HUFF POSTS

Patience Jonathan elected First Lady of Africa

Jonathan

The wife of Nigeria's President, Dame Patience Jonathan was on Thursday in Abuja re-elected unopposed as president of the Africa First Ladies Peace Mission for another two years. The four regional vice-presidents were also elected. They are Cameroun, Libya, Sudan and South Africa. Nigeria’s first lady, Patience Jonathan, took over the leadership of the mission from Turai Yar’Adua following the death of her husband, President Umar Yar’Adua, in 2010. The Africa First Ladies Peace Summit, which started on Tuesday, ended on Friday. Among other things, the Mission is aimed at strengthening the roles of African first ladies in fostering peace on the continent. Culled from DAILY TIMES

72yr old teacher pleads guilty to sexual assault of under-aged students

Haunch

A jury has retired for a fourth day to consider its verdicts in the trial of a former school teacher who denies a string of sex attacks against school children dating back more than 30 years. Bernard Haunch, 72, is accused of sexually attacking a girl and a boy in the 1970s and 1980s while he was a teacher at a rural West Sussex school. Lewes Crown Court was told that although Haunch had always been sexually attracted to pre-pubescent boys he found the female body of any age repellent. Haunch, of Marlins Close, Sutton, south London, denies 16 offences, including rape and indecent assault, between June 1975 and September 1983. But he has pleaded guilty to indecent assault against a nine-year-old boy between July 1981 and July 1982, and indecency with a child between July 2 1981 and September 1 1983. Judge Michael Lawson QC told the jury he would accept majority verdicts on which at least 10 of them are agreed. Culled from HUFF POST

Colorado mass shooting suspect claims to have amnesia

Holmes

The suspect in the Colorado movie theater massacre is reportedly claiming to have amnesia. James Holmes, who is accused of killing 12 people and injuring 58 when he allegedly opened fire on a crowded Aurora movie theater at the midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises," is reportedly telling jail staff he doesn't know why he’s in prison. "He claims he doesn't know why he's in jail," an unnamed jailhouse worker told The New York Daily News. "He asked 'Why am I here?'" Holmes, 24, also reportedly was complaining about the food and of a stomachache, the worker told the newspaper. "The guy killed 12 people, and he's upset that he' not getting a four-star meal?" the unidentified Arapahoe County Detention Center worker told The Daily News, suggesting Holmes is "faking it." Holmes remains under 23-hour lockdown, leaving his cell only once a day. Neighbors and friends in San Diego, where Holmes grew up, have described him as brilliant and sometimes awkward but never displaying signs of violence. On Thursday a judge barred the University of Colorado Denver from releasing any records about the former graduate student’s time there. What happened to Holmes during his time in the school’s neuroscience program is one of the many mysteries lingering after last Friday’s mass shooting. Court papers say the former graduate student accused in the Colorado movie theater shooting was being treated by a psychiatrist at the university where he studied. The revelation was disclosed Friday in a defense motion. The motion sought to discover the source of leaks to some media outlets that a package that James Holmes sent the psychiatrist contained a notebook with descriptions of an attack. The motion says the package contained communications between Holmes and his psychiatrist that should be shielded from public view. Culled from FOXNEWS

Nevada 'Beauty queen’ Sues L A police for breaking into her room while she was naked

Manos

Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies kicked in the wrong apartment door, pointed guns at a former Miss Nevada and her fiance, and watched as the beauty queen got out of bed naked, she claims. The allegations are spelled out in Caleche Ranae Manos' lawsuit against Los Angeles County and its sheriff's office, obtained today by Courthouse News Service. Manos charges that she was forced to get out of her bed while nude on the night of Nov. 15, 2011. One of the officers allegedly joked that she would, "have a story to tell others at Thanksgiving." But the officers had the wrong apartment. Manos -- Miss Nevada 2007 and a woman of many talents -- and her fiance, Eric Otto Ryder said that deputies had a search warrant for apartment "C" but entered their clearly marked apartment "A." "At that time Ms. Manos was still in bed and was naked," the complaint stated, according to Business Insider. "The sheriff deputies, all of which were male and armed with guns, ordered Ms. Manos to get out of bed and then watched as she attempted to do so." The officers reportedly spent a "significant amount of time" in the apartment before realizing their error. Manos seeks damages for negligence, false imprisonment, civil rights and Constitution violations, and she's accusing the deputies of sexual harassment. Her lawyer, Matthew Geragos, didn't immediately return calls to The Huffington Post. CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misspelled Manos' name as Ramos a couple times throughout the story. Culled from HUFF POST

Thousands of fans boo Madonna at Paris concert

Madonna

Madonna fans vented their anger after the star ended a special intimate show in Paris after just 45 minutes. The singer said she had "a special affinity with France" as she opened the last minute concert, but drew boos from many disappointed fans. Some had camped outside the Olympia club since Wednesday in anticipation of the show. The 2,000 tickets sold out in minutes, with fans paying between £80-£200 and some changing hands for up to £1,000. Madonna was also criticised for talking about politics instead of singing, after revealing she had a message for France's extreme right-wing leader Marine Le Pen. France's National Front is threatening to sue the star for using an image of Ms Le Pen with a Swastika superimposed on her forehead at a concert earlier this month. "I know that I have made a certain Marine Le Pen very angry with me," Madonna told fans. "It's not my intention to make enemies. It's my intention to promote tolerance," she continued. Afterwards 33-year-old Guillaume Delaval complained: "She spoke for 15 minutes about tolerance, it's not the UN here." Some fans had camped outside the venue since Wednesday Speaking to the BBC's John Hand at the show, Paris resident Allain Zambrana, 26, from Nicaragua, said he wanted to ask for his money back. "I felt very frustrated because I camped out on the streets and then the show just ends like that." Several fans cried "refund!" as they realised Madonna had left the stage for good, with some audience members taking to Twitter to complain. "We are singing 'shame on you'," explained Pierre from Belgium. "Because she says she loves her fans but then she does this." Dutch fan Ellis Van Zoen, 22, agreed the show was "very short", but added: "I'm torn - I thought it was a fantastic show and it was special. I don't want to see fans yelling at her but I can understand why." Madonna also offered veiled criticism of the party's anti-immigrant stance, as she paid homage to a France which she said had once "opened its arms to minorities". "We are entering some very scary times in the world," she told the crowd. "People are afraid, and what happens when people are afraid? They say 'get out! You're the reason. You're the problem. You're to blame.'" The 53-year-old, who performed in an array of outfits including a black leather pencil skirt and French beret, also paid tribute to several French artists. The event was also streamed live on YouTube, where separate footage showed fans chanting and booing while throwing throwing empty bottles and cups onto the stage after the singer had left. Madonna is due to perform in France again on 21 August, in Nice. Culled From BBC

Google renders apology for 'breaching' UK data privacy agreement

Google has admitted that it had not deleted users' personal data gathered during surveys for its Street View service. The data should have been wiped almost 18 months ago as part of a deal signed by the firm in November 2010. Google has been told to give the data to the UK's Information Commissioner (ICO) for forensic analysis. The ICO said it was co-ordinating its response with other European privacy bodies. In May 2010 it was revealed that Google had scooped up about 600 gigabytes of personal data from unsecured wireless networks while gathering images and location data for Street View. The data was collected for years in 30 countries while Google compiled information for the mapping service. Google apologised for gathering the data and said it was a "mistake". The blunder led to legal action, fines and investigations around the world. In the UK, Google gave an undertaking to destroy the data it was holding and issued a statement saying it had done so in December 2010. However, said the ICO, Google had recently contacted it to report that some of the data it had gathered had not been deleted. The company approached the ICO with the revelation to find out how it should act. In response, the ICO told Google to hand over the data immediately "so that we can subject it to forensic analysis before deciding on the necessary course of action". Possessing data that should have been deleted "appears to breach" the undertaking Google signed in November 2010, said the ICO in a statement. "The ICO is clear that this information should never have been collected in the first place and the company's failure to secure its deletion as promised is cause for concern," it added. Ireland's data protection watchdog also expressed displeasure. Deputy information commissioner Gary Davis said the search giant's action was "clearly unacceptable" and demanded answers by Wednesday. Peter Fleischer, Global privacy counsel, said in a statement: "Google has recently confirmed that it still has in its possession a small portion of payload data collected by our Street View vehicles in the UK. Google apologises for this error." "The fact that this latest one is the result of incompetence rather than deliberate misconduct will be of little comfort to Google users. "The US Federal Trade Commission is going to come down hard on Google, and very few of their executives will deny that they deserve it." The ICO's probe into the collection of wi-fi data was re-opened earlier in July when the privacy watchdog became aware of reports that a Google engineer had deliberately written software to obtain a wide range of material. Culled from BBC

2 more patients 'cured of HIV' after bone marrow transplants

Brown

The HIV virus of two more patients has been cured, thanks to a bone marrow transplant, the Boston Globe reported. Timothy Ray Brown, also known as the ‘Berlin patient,’ underwent a bone marrow transplant in 2007 to treat leukemia, using a donor with a rare gene mutation that provides natural resistance to HIV. Doctors declared him "cured" soon after. These two new patients were also seeking treatment for cancer, according to the newspaper. And although researchers in California recently found traces of HIV in his tissues. Brown said any remnants of the virus still in his body are dead and can't replicate. Scientists from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard were careful not to use the word ‘cured’ while presenting at the 2012 International AIDS Conference; but experts are hopeful this provides insight that will lead to a possible cure one day. “These researchers have done some elegant work, and found results that I think are going to be very provocative,” said Dr. Steven Deeks, an HIV researcher at the University of California, San Francisco. Approximately eight months after the transplants, doctors said the patients’ blood did not show any trace of HIV infection. “They went from this easily measured amount in their blood to no measurable amount in their cells,” said Dr. Daniel Kuritzkes of Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “We frankly didn’t expect that.” However, Dr. Jay Levy, an HIV researcher at UC San Francisco, said that for some other patients, there are antiretroviral therapies that work so well, the virus virtually disappears. Other experts wondered if the virus could be living in the patients’ lymph nodes or bowels, which is harder to detect. Also, these new patients do not have the protective gene mutation in their donor cells that Brown had received, so the transplants were given with antiretroviral therapy. Culled from FOXNEWS

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