Death penalty: Mentally impaired man executed by Texas Government

Wilson

Despite the Supreme Court ruling in 2002 outlawing the execution of the mentally impaired,a Texas man convicted of killing a police informant was executed Tuesday evening. Marvin Wilson, 54, was pronounced dead at 6:27 p.m., 14 minutes after his lethal injection began at the state prison in Huntsville. Wilson's attorneys had argued that he should have been ineligible for capital punishment because of his low IQ. In their appeal to the high court, his attorneys pointed to a psychological test conducted in 2004 that pegged Wilson's IQ at 61, below the generally accepted minimum competency standard of 70. But lower courts agreed with state attorneys, who argued that Wilson's claim was based on a single test that may have been faulty and that his mental impairment claim isn't supported by other tests and assessments of him over the years. The Supreme Court denied his request for a stay of execution less than two hours before his lethal injection began. Lead defense attorney Lee Kovarsky said he was "gravely disappointed and saddened" by the ruling, calling it "outrageous that the state of Texas continues to utilize unscientific guidelines ... to determine which citizens with intellectual disability are exempt from execution." Wilson was convicted of murdering 21-year-old Jerry Williams in November 1992, several days after police seized 24 grams of cocaine from Wilson's apartment and arrested him. Witnesses testified that Wilson and another man, Andrew Lewis, beat Williams outside of a convenience store in Beaumont, about 80 miles east of Houston. Wilson, who was free on bond, accused Williams of snitching on him about the drugs, they said. Witnesses said Wilson and Lewis then abducted Williams, and neighborhood residents said they heard a gunshot a short time later. Williams was found dead on the side of a road the next day, wearing only socks, severely beaten and shot in the head and neck at close range. Wilson was arrested the next day when he reported to his parole officer on a robbery conviction for which he served less than four years of a 20-year prison sentence. It was the second time he had been sent to prison for robbery. At Wilson's capital murder trial, Lewis' wife testified that Wilson confessed to the killing in front of her, her husband and his own wife. "Don't be mad at Andrew because Andrew did not do it," Lewis' wife said Wilson told them. "I did it." Lewis received a life prison term for his involvement. In Wilson's Supreme Court appeal, Kovarsky said Wilson's language and math skills "never progressed beyond an elementary school level," that he reads and writes below a second-grade level and that he was unable to manage his finances, pay bills or hold down a job. The Supreme Court issued a ruling in 2002 outlawing the execution of the mentally impaired, but left it to states to determine what constitutes mental impairment. Kovarsky argued that Texas is trying to skirt the ban by altering the generally accepted definitions of mental impairment to the point where gaining relief for an inmate is "virtually unobtainable." "That neither the courts nor state officials have stopped this execution is not only a shocking failure of a once-promising constitutional commitment, it is also a reminder that, as a society, we haven't come quite that far in understanding how so many of those around us live with intellectual disabilities," Kovarsky said shortly after the court refused to stop Wilson's execution. State attorneys say the court left it to states to develop appropriate standards for enforcing the ban and that Texas chose to incorporate a number of factors besides an inmate's IQ, including the inmate's adaptive behavior and functioning. Edward Marshall, a Texas assistant attorney general, said records show Wilson habitually gave less than full effort and "was manipulative and deceitful when it suited his interest," and that the state considered his ability to show personal independence and social responsibility in making its determinations. "Considering Wilson's drug-dealing, street-gambler, criminal lifestyle since an early age, he was obviously competent at managing money, and not having a 9-to-5 job is no critical failure," Marshall said. "Wilson created schemes using a decoy to screen his thefts, hustled for jobs in the community, and orchestrated the execution of the snitch, demonstrating inventiveness, drive and leadership." Wilson's lawyers also had argued that additional DNA tests should be conducted on a gray hair from someone white that was found on Williams' body, suggesting someone else killed him. Wilson, Williams and Lewis are black. Ed Shettle, the Jefferson County assistant district attorney who prosecuted Wilson, dismissed the theory of another killer as a "red herring." "There was some testimony Marvin said: 'We're going to show you what happens to snitches around here,'" Shettle said. Wilson was the seventh person executed by lethal injection in Texas this year. At least nine other prisoners in the nation's most active death penalty state have execution dates in the coming months, including one later this month. Culled from YAHOO NEWS

London 2012: Briton arraigned in court for throwing bottle at athletes during 100M final

Gill-Webb being whisked away from the stadium by security operatives

A Team GB fan was yesterday accused of bringing shame on his country by throwing a beer bottle on to the track during the Olympic 100m final. Vending-machine technician Ashley Gill-Webb, 34, appeared in court and pleaded not guilty to a public order offence. The married dad-of-two is alleged to have hurled a bottle towards the athletes in the Olympic Stadium moments before Usain Bolt stormed to victory on Sunday. Gill-Webb was removed from by stewards and later arrested. Last night Dutch Olympic judo bronze medallist Edith Botsch told how she tackled a man after the alleged bottle throwing. Edith, 32, was preparing to watch Bolt defend his 100m crown when the drama unfolded. The 6ft champ said: “It was harder taking on this guy than winning my medal. “All of a sudden there was a lot of commotion as I was waiting for this fantastic event, and then I saw this man throw a bottle and I did what any other person would and said, ‘Man, what on earth are you doing?’ “We are here for Olympic heroes performing at the highest level and he was being so disrespectful to the event and those taking part. “So I pushed him as hard as I could and asked him what he was trying to do. “It is a shame this highlights the bad behaviour of one individual because the rest of the 80,000 people in the stadium were watching the race. Because of all the commotion, I missed it.” Culled from MIRROW NEWS

London 2012: seven Cameroon athletes disappear from venue

Seven Cameroon athletes have disappeared while in Britain for the London Olympics, the Ministry of Sports and Physical Education said on Monday evening. The seven - five boxers, a swimmer and a soccer player - are suspected of having left to stay in Europe for economic reasons. "What began as rumor has finally turned out to be true. Seven Cameroonian athletes who participated at the 2012 London Olympic Games have disappeared from the Olympic Village," David Ojong, the mission head said in a message sent to the ministry. Ojong said a reserve goalkeeper for the women's soccer team, Drusille Ngako, was the first to disappear. She was not one of the 18 finally retained after pre-Olympic training in Scotland. While her team-mates left for Coventry for their last preparatory encounter against New Zealand, she vanished. A few days later, swimmer Paul Ekane Edingue and his personal belongings were also not found in his room. Ojong added that five boxers eliminated from the games, Thomas Essomba, Christian Donfack Adjoufack, Abdon Mewoli, Blaise Yepmou Mendouo and Serge Ambomo, disappeared on Sunday from the Olympic village. International Olympic Committee officials said on Tuesday they had heard nothing about the missing athletes. "We are unaware of it," IOC spokesman Mark Adams said when asked whether organizers had heard of it. It is not the first time Cameroonian athletes have disappeared during international sports competitions. At past Francophonie and Commonwealth games as well as junior soccer competitions, several Cameroonians have quit their delegation without official consent. Culled from YAHOO NEWS

Gunmen attack Kogi church, kill 19 worshippers

Gunmen last night attacked the Deeper Christian Life Bible Church at Otite, in Adavi Local Government of Kogi State,Nigeria, killing 19 worshippers, while several others were injured. Eyewitnesses said that about 10 gunmen stormed the church, located opposite the Federal College of Education, Okene, with sophisticated weapons. It was gathered that the gunmen arrived the church in a Toyota Liteace bus and that on reaching the church premises, started shooting everyone on sight. The pastor was among those killed when the assailants fired Kalashnikov assault rifles, the officials add. The attack took the worshippers who were attending evening service by surprise, even as all exit points were blocked by the terrorists to prevent any escape. An eyewitness confirmed that 19 dead bodies had so far been recovered from the scene of the massacre, while nine others who were seriously injured had also been rushed to the hospital. “As I am calling you now, we have just counted 16 dead bodies while nine people have been rushed to the General Hospital, Okene,” the source said. The state Police spoksman Mr. Simon Ile, confirmed the incident, adding that the information at his disposal was still very sketchy. He said the command was still awaiting further report from the Divisional Police Officer, DPO, in charge of the area, adding that the command would go after the perpetrators of the dastardly act and bring them to justice. It could not be immediately ascertained how many worshippers were in the church as at the time of the unfortunate incident. It will be recalled that some suicide bombers had attempted to attack the Living Faith Church on Lagos Road, in Okene LGA last month before they were prevented by the heavy presence of security operatives. Governor Idris Wada yesterday summoned an emergency meeting of the state executive council over the attack. Furious about news of the unfortunate situation, Wada vowed that he would spare no resources in smoking terrorists out of Kogi State. According to him, the perpetrators of the heinous crime are wicked, devilish, ungodly and deserve no place in a sane society. Kogi State, he said, has always been known for peace and any act capable of tarnishing the image of the state will not be tolerated at all. Culled from BBC and DAILY TIMES

Philippine floods: death toll rises to 51

The death toll from over a week of floods in the Philippines rose to 51 as rain continued to pour, causing dams to overflow and forcing more people to flee their homes, officials said on Monday. The number of deaths, previously at 45, rose as more bodies of missing people turned up, with one man drowning early on Monday, said civil defence chief Benito Ramos. Six people remain missing, including children who went swimming despite the bad weather that began last week as Typhoon Saola approached the country, he added. Although the Philippines escaped a direct hit, it worsened monsoon rains which continued even after Saola moved north, away from the Philippines. "They have been evacuating more people since this morning. The waters are still rising because it just keeps raining," Mr Ramos told AFP. La Mesa Dam, the main reservoir of Metro Manila, which has a population of 15 million, began to overflow Monday, forcing the evacuation of over 1,000 residents living beside nearby waterways, the Metro Manila flood control office said. However, more people still remain in these areas, many of them squatters who built shanties on riverbanks, said Edna Conda, duty officer at the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. "Often they don't want to leave. They say they are used to floods but we don't want to take chances," she said. In the residential suburb of Quezon City, some areas reported floodwaters reaching the second floor of buildings, forcing various government agencies to rush rubber boats to the area, Conda said. Other parts of the capital suffered knee- to waist-deep floods snarling traffic for hours, authorities said. Even before the dam overflowed the government had more than 9,000 people huddled in makeshift evacuation centres, such as schools and basketball courts. Culled from NDTV

Soccer tragedy: Nigerian player dies on Romanian pitch

Chinonso

A Nigerian player, Henry Chinonso , has died after suffering a cardiac arrest during a friendly match between Romanian second division teams CS Delta Tulcea and FC Balotesti on Sunday. Delta’s Ihelewere, 21, collapsed with no-one around him only 15 minutes after coming on as a second-half substitute. The game was played in the town of Baltoesti, north of Bucharest. He was taken to hospital but he never regained consciousness. The striker had been playing in Romania since 2007 when he joined Farul Constanta. He later moved to Tulcea in 2010. Report said the player was given CPR for over an hour but never regained consciousness. Doctor John Tanase reported that his heart had stopped and CPR was carried out from 12.05 until 13.12. Ambulances arrived 3 minutes after being called. Bogdan Oprita, head of the local ambulance service, told national news agency Agerpres that the FC Tulcea player’s cause of death would be determined by an autopsy. Ihelewere’s death added to a list of Nigerian players who have died in similar circumstances. In 2011, Bobsam Elejiko of fifth-tier Belgian club, Merksem, collapsed and died during a match against FC Kaart. On August 12 1989, Samuel Okwaraji, died at the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, during a World Cup qualifying match between Nigeria and Angola. Six years later, Amir Angwe, 29, joined the list. He died while playing for Julius Berger against Maxaquene of Mozambique in CAF competition at the Onikan Stadium. Doctors blamed cardiac arrest for his death. On March 6, 2010, former Berger player, Endurance Idahor, collapsed while starring for Al-Merreikh and died on his way to the hospital in Sudan. He was until his death Al-Merreikh’s leading striker with 46 goals in 62 matches. Culled fro PUNCH

Usain Bolt wins 100M Olympic gold again

Usain Bolt emphatically confirmed his status as the greatest sprinter in history as he retained his Olympic 100m title in peerless fashion. Bolt, doubted by many after a season dogged by defeat and injury, ran the second-fastest time ever to beat fellow Jamaican and training partner Yohan Blake into silver and American Justin Gatlin into bronze. Bolt's 9.63 seconds, just 0.05 seconds slower than his own staggering world record, was a new Olympic best and capped a race in which seven men went under 10 seconds, with only the injured Asafa Powell failing to break that mark. "I was happy when I went out in the first round, I felt I could do this," said the 25-year-old Bolt. "I was slightly worried about my start. I didn't want to false start again, so I sat in the blocks a little bit. "It wasn't the best reaction in the world but I executed it and that was the key. My coach said 'stop worrying about the start because the best part of your race is the end'. It worked. "I said it on the track, people can talk, but when it comes to championships, it is all about business for me - and I brought it." He also praised the crowd inside the 80,000-capacity Olympic Stadium. "It was wonderful," he said. "I knew would be like this. I can feel that energy and I am extremely happy." Bolt had been beaten by Blake at the Jamaican trials in July and clocked his slowest-ever 100m time at senior level earlier in the season. When he admitted both his back and hamstrings were troubling him and said he was only "95%" fit, there were those who felt he was more vulnerable than at any time since his Olympic gold in a world record four years ago, a feat which took him to the pinnacle of his sport. If this was 95%, then his world record of 9.58secs, set in Berlin in 2009, could have gone had he been fully fit. He had been worried all season about his start. But there was to be no repeat of the false start that cost him his world title and aura of invincibility at the 2011 World Championships in Daegu. Analysis Image of Darren Campbell Darren Campbell BBC Radio 5 live commentator "Those gigantic strides opened up and that was the Usain Bolt show. If we were to be picky it was a terrible start but it doesn't matter, he just needed to be in striking distance. The guys opened up a metre on him but he was close enough, he stayed relaxed, used that stride and it was a fantastic run." His reaction time of 0.165secs was significantly better than that of both Blake and Gatlin, and although former world champion Tyson Gay got out fast, Bolt was into his long stride quickly. At 40m Gatlin - banned twice for doping offences - held a fractional lead but Bolt, as so many times before, was about to pull away as no other sprinter in history has. In Beijing he had eased up in the final 15m, punching his chest with delight, but here he went hard to the line and dipped with a grimace. Blake (9.75secs) and Gatlin (9.79secs) both set new personal bests while Gay's 9.80secs was good enough only for fourth. culled from BBC

Gay Italian politician to run for office of Prime Minister in 2013

Vendola

An openly homosexual politician in Italy has announced his candidacy for prime ministership in the elections to be held in 2013, in what could pave the way for the European Union's first gay premier. Nichi Vendola, governor of the southern Puglia region and leader of the Sel party, that stands for "Left and Free", announced his candidacy Wednesday. Vendola may face three-time prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who resigned in November amid a deepening debt crisis and sex charges. "It's time for change," Vendola said. The openly gay man, who wears an earring and speaks with a lisp, could be the first Italian homosexual prime minister, to guide the country out of the shadow of the Vatican, the powerful conservative religious institution which considers homosexuality a sin. Culled from TIMES OF INDIA

Ex army major, wife bags 10yrs in prison for battering son

Balhara & wife

A former Army major and his second wife were sentenced to 10 years in jail by a Delhi court today for torturing and trying to kill their minor son from the officer's first wife. The court also imposed a fine of Rs. 60,000 each on Major (Retd) Lalit Balhara and his second wife Preeti Balhara after holding them guilty of battering the minor boy and trying to kill him after the victim's mother, herself an Army captain, had died in 2000. The victim's counsel Ravinder S Garia had demanded the harshest possible punishment for the convicts saying the minor has suffered permanent injury and has been left with 'battered baby syndrome' for life. The boy, now 13, was first brought to the hospital on April 23, 2002 - at the age of three - for treatment of alleged consumption of insecticide by him. In weeks and months ahead, the hospital virtually became his second home where he was admitted repeatedly for treatment of various injuries ranging from fractured ribs to bleeding skull and smashed teeth and all the time with a starved look. The Delhi police had filed a charge sheet in the matter against the couple for attempt to murder in 2009, four years after the Delhi High Court ordered a probe into the case. The case came to light in 2005, when the minor's maternal grandparents had moved the high court seeking his custody, accusing his father Lalit Balhara and the officer's second wife Preeti of torturing him after his mother's death. The child was then produced before the court on February 20, 2005. Taken aback by his physical and mental condition, the court had sought a medical report on his condition. The major and his wife were also sent for psychiatric consultation at the Base Hospital, Delhi Cantonment. The medical report stated that "parents were unable to explain as to why the child sustained injuries and concluded that the minor boy was suffering from a 'battered baby syndrome'- a combination of physical injuries such as broken bones, bruises, burns and malnutrition as a result of gross abuse by a parent or caregiver. After going through the reports, a division bench of the high court on February 28, 2005 had handed over the child's custody to his maternal grandfather, saying "investigation is needed to ascertain the manner in which injuries have been caused." During the trial, the boy had deposed against his parents and said he was repeatedly tortured and was locked up in a room without food. He had also said he was often beaten with stick when he would cry. They would also insert the stick in his mouth due to which some of his teeth were broken, he had said. The couple had denied the allegations saying the child was special by birth and suffered injuries after falling off chairs and tables. The child's medical report and his statement, however, had proved the case against them. Culled from NEWS BULLETIN

Pakistani couple bags 25yrs in jail for mudering their daughter

Shafilea

A Pakistani court has sentenced a husband and his wife to life in prison for killing their daughter. Iftikhar, 52, and Farzana Ahmed, 49, suffocated their 17-year-old daughter, Shafilea, in 2003 with a plastic bag. The couple - first cousins from the Pakistani village of Uttam - were ordered to serve a minimum of 25 years in prison. "Shafilea was only 10 when she began to rebel against her parents' strict rules, according to prosecutor Andrew Edis. The young girl would hide make-up, false nails and western clothes at school, changing into conservative clothes before her parents picked her up. But it was the last year of her life that proved to be the most traumatic. During the trial that began in May, jurors heard from Shafilea's younger sister, Alesha, who said she witnessed the murder when she was 12. After an argument about Shafilea's dress, her parents pushed her down on a couch, stuffed a thin white plastic bag into her mouth and held their hands over her mouth and nose until she died, Alesha testified. As she was struggling, her mother said, "just finish it here," according to Alesha's testimony. Although Shafilea's other siblings contradicted the testimony, the last-minute emergence of a diary convinced jurors. The diary belonged to a friend of one of Shafilea's other sisters, Mev. In it, the friend relays conversations she had with the sister about the night Shafilea died - details that supported Alesha's testimony. When Shafilea became a teenager, she became interested in boys - something that spurred punishment from her parents. School officials alerted social services in October 2002 after Shafilea came to school with injuries to her face. That same month, Shafilea told a social worker that she was to be married in Pakistan in February 2003. In January 2003, she ran away, telling friends her parents would not leave her alone. She eventually returned. In February 2003, she ran away again and pleaded with British authorities to allow her to move out of her parents' house because, she said, they were abusive and trying to force her into an arranged marriage. Some of Shafilea's own words also proved compelling to jurors. In the application form to move out, she said she had suffered from regular domestic violence from the age of 15. One parent would hold me whilst the other hit me," she said.Her father snatched her off the streets, however, in the same month as the application. He bundled her into a car and took her to Pakistan against her will, Alesha said. In protest, Shafilea drank bleach and was brought back to Britain in May 2003. She spent eight weeks in the hospital trying to recover from damage done to her throat. Even in her weakened and desperate state, Shafilea's parents were relentless. Alesha described that after the attack, her siblings ran upstairs and she watched as her father carried Shafilea's body to the car wrapped in a blanket. She was reported missing shortly after, with her parents making a teary-eyed media appeal for information leading to their daughter. But police were suspicious - so much so that they bugged the house. Shafilea's decomposed remains were eventually discovered in the River Kent in Cumbria in February 2004, but it wasn't until 2010 that Alesha provided the key testimony. Culled from NDTV

Ex-President of Mongolia bags 4yrs in prison for corruption.

Enkhbayar

Former Mongolian President Nambar Enkhbayar has been jailed for four years after being convicted of corruption. Mr Enkhbayar was arrested in April and charged with misusing property and government power. The 54-year-old, who served as prime minister and then president until he lost office in a 2009 poll, denied the charges and called them politically motivated. He says he will appeal. The court in Ulan Batur found him guilty of taking television equipment intended as a donation to a monastery and charges relating to the illegal privatisation of a hotel and publishing house, Xinhua news agency said. It handed him a seven-year term but three years were commuted. The former leader was also ordered to compensate the monastery and had assets seized. Speaking to the BBC before parliamentary elections in June, Mr Enkhbayar said the charges were a pretext to stop him running for political office. He served as prime minister from 2000-2004 and as president from 2005-2009, before narrowly losing an election to Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj of the Democratic Party. Culled from BBC

Catholic priest pleads guilty to child pornography

Ratigan

A Roman Catholic priest in Kansas City pleaded guilty Thursday to producing child pornography in a federal case that also led to charges against the diocese bishop for failing to report suspected child abuse. The Rev. Shawn Ratigan, 46, had been scheduled for trial later this month. He was charged with child pornography in May 2011 in Clay County after police received a flash drive from the priest's computer that contained hundreds of images of children, most of them clothed, with the focus on their crotch areas. Prosecutors alleged he photographed girls, sometimes under their skirts, in and around churches where he had worked in the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph. Under terms of the plea deal, Ratigan pleaded guilty to four counts of producing child pornography and one count of attempting to produce child porn. Eight other counts against Ratigan were dismissed, but sentencing guidelines suggest he'll serve a minimum of 15 years in prison. The case opened old wounds for the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, which in 2008 agreed to pay 47 clergy abuse victims a total of $10 million and promised to train its priests about sexual abuse awareness and to report any suspicions that children were being placed in danger. The case also led to misdemeanor criminal charges against the diocese and Bishop Robert Finn -- the highest-ranking Catholic official in the U.S. to be charged with shielding an abusive priest -- for failing to report suspected child abuse to the state. Both have pleaded not guilty and are scheduled to go to trial in September. Ratigan was an acting priest whose behavior was reported to diocese officials in May 2010, seven months before hundreds of disturbing images were found on his laptop and a full year before church officials reported him to police. Instead of reporting Ratigan to the state Division of Family Services, as required under Missouri law, Finn sent the priest out of state for a psychological examination then ordered him to stay at the Sisters of St. Francis of the Holy Eucharist, a facility in Independence, where he wouldn't be around children and could say Mass for the sisters. Finn also ordered Ratigan to avoid contact with children. Later, after the diocese received reports Ratigan had attended a St. Patrick's Day parade and a child's birthday party at the invitation of the child's parents, Finn ordered that police be given copies of the photos recovered from Ratigan's laptop. After Ratigan was charged with child pornography, Finn apologized for how he had handled the situation. Culled from FOXNEWS

Islamists stone couple to death for committing adultery

Islamists in control of northern Mali said they forced a man and a woman into two holes and stoned them to death for committing adultery in the lawless region. Witnesses watched quietly as Islamists executed the two by pelting them with rocks in the remote Aguelhok town, according to a local resident. “I don’t know how many rocks they threw or for how long it went on before they were both dead,” said Haman Maiga, a resident of Aguelhok who witnessed the stoning. “No one dared to try and stop the Islamists.” The woman had two small children, a boy and a girl, according to Maiga. A leader of a radical Islamic group in the region said Sharia law condemns relationships outside marriage. “The man and the woman, who were both married (to other people), were having an affair,” said Aliou Toure, the Islamist commissioner in Gao. “They were stoned to death, the punishment for infidelity, according to Sharia, Islamic law.” The stoning Sunday is the first reported Sharia killing since al Qaeda-linked Islamists took control of the north. Mali has been in a state of Chaos since a military ruler overthrew the democratically-elected president in March, shaking one of West Africa’s most stable democracies. The coup leader stepped down in May and transferred power to a civilian transitional government, but uncertainty looms. Ethnic Tuareg rebels and Islamist militants have taken advantage of the chaos to seize control of the northern portion of the country. Aguelhok was among the first to fall when Tuareg rebels aided by Islamist groups occupied the region this year. Months later, two groups with ties to al Qaeda hijacked the separatist uprising by the local Tuareg movement. The two groups now control two-thirds of northern Mali, an area the size of Texas that includes the towns of Gao, Kidal and Timbuktu. Islamists have since imposed a harsh form of Sharia law that bans drinking, music and sports on television. Most residents in the area are Muslims, but have protested against the strict form of Sharia as Islamists remain determined to apply it. “We don’t have to answer to anyone over the application of Sharia. This is the form of Islam practiced for thousands of years,” Toure said. “The fact that we are building a new country on the base of Sharia is just something the people living here will have to accept.” In addition to the killing, Islamist militants have gone on a rampage for months, destroying sacred tombs in the region and vowing to target more. In July, they ordered residents to leave the area and razed two tombs in Timbuktu. Two months prior, elderly men kept watch over the main library after Islamists burned a different tomb in another attack in the same town. Islamist militants regard such shrines as idolatrous and thus prohibited in their religion. They especially target Sufi shrines, which they believe are sacrilegious. Sufism is a mystical dimension of Islam considered offbeat and frowned upon by Islamic hardliners. Culled from CNN

Syria conflicts: UN-Arab League envoy, Kofi Annan quits from duty

Annan

The UN's special envoy to Syria, Kofi Annan, is leaving the post, the UN has announced. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Mr Annan had decided not to renew his mandate when it expires at the end of August. Mr Annan authored a six-point peace plan for Syria which was intended to bring an end to the fighting. But the plan was never fully adhered to by either side and the violence has continued. Meanwhile as the civil war in Syria continue without an end in sight,, rebel fighters near Syria's city of Aleppo have attacked a key army base, using a tank seized from the military. The rebels say they bombarded the base to the north of Aleppo, which had been used to launch artillery and air strikes on rebel positions in the city. In Damascus, government forces launched two operations to root out rebel activists on Wednesday, killing at least 70, the opposition has said. Troops reportedly went from house to house demanding to see people's papers. Activists say the soldiers summarily executed many of their victims. Syrian state TV said "dozens of terrorists" surrendered or were killed in the operation. Opposition commanders in Aleppo said they used a tank captured from the army to bombard the Menagh air base, which lies between Aleppo and the rebel-held town of Azaz near the Turkish border. Their claim was backed up by the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and an AFP news agency reporter. The commanders said government forces had been using the air base as a staging post for attacks on nearby areas. It is one of the first uses of heavy weaponry by the rebels in the city, who are heavily outgunned by the military. Bloody footage Culled from BBC

33 venomous vipers captured alive in Puducherry

At least 33 hatchlings of the highly venomous Indian Russell's viper, along with the mother snake, were captured alive on Wednesday by forest department staff from the residential premises of the Finance Secretary to Puducherry government and Chief Judge in Puducherry. A Forest Department official, Kannan, said they received a call from the house of the Finance Secretary Raajiv Yadhuvanshi seeking help when the small snakes were spotted. Personnel from the forest department caught as many as 33 hatchlings from the residential premises of the Finance Secretary and Chief Judge CS Murugan. The mother snake was found in a hole close to a pile of bricks, he said. The hatchlings would be released into their natural habitat a week later while the forest department would retain the mother snake, he said. This is the second time that forest staff are capturing hatchlings of the Russell's viper. Early last month, 25 such hatchlings and the mother snake were captured alive close to a house at Lawspet near here. With the hot spell continuing unabated, such movement of the Russell's vipers would be common, Kannan said. Culled from NDTV

Madonna at war with Catholic church of Poland over concert

Madonna

Catholic and veterans' groups in Poland have accused Madonna of offending their faith through her use of burning cross and crown of thorns imagery adding that she promotes pornography and sexual deviation. This outburst by the Religious group came on the eve of a proposed concert by Madonna probably because it falls on the anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising. One Catholic group called Krucjata Mlodych, or Youth Crusade, has started an online campaign urging people not to attend the concert. They say more than 50,000 people have signed up to their Don't Go To See Madonna campaign. The group also says anti-Madonna Mass services and street prayer sessions have been held. Billboards around the capital promoting the concert have been defaced with the sign of the Polish Home Army, the largest underground army in Nazi-occupied Europe, reports the BBC's Adam Easton in Warsaw. Every year, at 1700 on 1 August, sirens wail across Warsaw and people stand still to pay their respects to the victims of the 63-day uprising, our correspondent says. Conservative opposition MP Stanislaw Pieta has appealed to the government not to allow the concert to go ahead in Warsaw's National Stadium, Polish Radio reports. Concert organisers have agreed to a proposal by city officials to show a short film about the uprising in the stadium before the show, in an attempt to appease the protesters. Ania Pietrzak, a spokeswoman for concert organiser Live Nation, told the Press Association: "It is an important moment in Polish history, so we have decided to remind people of that moment." It is the latest controversy to hit the 53-year-old singer's MDNA tour. Recently in Paris, some fans booed her when she ended the show after only 45 minutes. She also angered supporters of France's right-wing National Front party, by showing a swastika imposed on the face of the party's leader, Marine Le Pen. Culled from BBC

Google hires Mark Zuckerberg's sister to work against Facebook

Arielle Zuckerberg

Google said Tuesday it was buying Wildfire, a startup specialising in advertising on social media such as Facebook and Twitter. Miss Arielle, the younger sister of Mark Zuckerberg (the Facebook co-founder and CEO) works for Wildfire as a junior product manager. After the acquisition, Arielle would become a Google employee and will be expected to work towards undermining her brother's domination in the social networking arena. “Wildfire is a platform for brands to manage their pages, apps, tweets, videos, sponsorships, ads, promotions and more, all in one place”, Google's product management chief Jason Miller said on Wildfire via a blog post. Google's happiness, no doubt, would extend to the fact they've stolen one of Facebook's biggest marketing partners from under the rival's nose. Commenting on the acquisition, older sis Randi Zuckerberg said via Twitter, "Congrats Wildfire! There are officially now more Zuckerberg family members working for Google than Facebook!". That'll be one awkward family reunion alright! Culled from NDTV

Woman allegedly muders son & daughter before committing suicide

Mitch Murch, his late wife & kids

48 hours after a Massachusetts man, Daryl Benway, 41, shot his 7-year-old daughter to death and critically injured his 9-year-old son before killing himself, a nurse, Catherine Murch has reportedly mudered her son, Mitchel and her daughter, Mary in their two-story home in an affluent St. Louis suburb in the US. Catherine’s death and that of her two children, all shot as her husband allegedly sat reading in their two-story home are being treated as a murder-suicide though a probe continues.

site of the tragedy

Mitch Murch, of Glendale, Mo., called police Monday morning after gunshots rang out in his family's red-brick home shortly before 11 a.m. Monday, Fox affiliate KTVI-TV reported. When police arrived, they found Catherine Murch, 42, dead and the couple's son and daughter, ages 11 and nine, also shot. Murch was performing CPR on the boy, police said. He told police he "thought it was coming from outside, so he ran to his front door and saw his wife lying in the kitchen, his son was lying in a side room and his daughter was in the second story of the home," Glendale Police Sgt. Bob Catlett told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Police recovered a weapon from the home but did not find a suicide note, according to the station. Catlett said investigators believe the woman killed the children before turning the gun on herself, although Murch was taken into custody and questioned before being released. In a statement released later, Catlett said: "There is a current active investigation of the incident to try to determine what exactly happened and the sequence of events." Catherine Murch was pronounced dead at the scene. Her son, Mitchell Murch III, was pronounced dead at St. Louis Children's Hospital, and her daughter, Mary Claire, was pronounced dead at Mercy Hospital St. Louis in Creve Coeur. The Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis was activated, and the St. Louis County Police Department's crime scene investigators assisted at the scene. Catlett said he was unaware of any previous calls to police at the home, according to the paper. Catherine Murch was a registered nurse, according to the newspaper. The children attended Mary Queen of Peace School in Webster Groves, and the family was active in the parish, according to the Rev. Bob Reiker. Hours after the shootings, on Monday night, mourners filled Mary Queen of Peace Catholic Church in a service for the three. Bob Goessling, who attends Mary Queen of Peace, told the Post-Dispatch he attended several retreats with Mitch Murch, and his fifth-grade daughter was in the same class as Murch's son. "This is going to devastate this community," Goessling said. "The wife and husband were extremely outgoing and well-liked. They were very spiritual and into their church community." The shooting came two days after a Massachusetts man shot his 7-year-old daughter to death and critically injured his 9-year-old son before killing himself. That man, Daryl Benway, 41, of Oxford, had recently separated with his wife, lost his job and indanger of being foreclosed on, according to reports. The boy, Owen Benway, was still clinging to life in UMass Memorial Children's Medical Center. Culled from FOXNEWS

Couple to remarry almost 50 years after divorce

A couple, Lena Henderson and Roland Davis of West Seneca, New York, who divorced in 1964, are remarrying almost 50 years later. According to a story in the Buffalo News, the two married as teenagers in Chattanooga, Tenn., and had four children. But even after the pair divorced 20 years later, they stayed friendly and kept in touch. Davis remarried and moved to Colorado. Their youngest daughter, Renita Chadwick, noted to the Buffalo News, "The way they would act to each other never indicated there was anything but a friendship between them. My mother never had a harsh or contrary word to say about my dad, and my dad never had anything but loving remarks to make about my mother." When Davis' second wife died, Henderson and their oldest daughter worried about him being alone, and urged him to move back to New York. Davis decided he wanted to do more than move. He popped the question to his ex-wife over the phone. "'Will you marry me again?" He asked. She answered, "Well, well, yes." The 85-year-olds will tie the knot for a second time on August 4. Davis told the newspaper, "I always thought it might happen. It was always in the back of my mind. We're just thankful that we could get back together." Their second chance at romance is capturing the hearts of people around them. When the two showed up at City Hall to get their marriage license, they were met by cheering office workers. The wedding will be filled with four generations of their family. The bride will wear blue. The groom will wear a tuxedo. Davis told UPI, "You don't think people are going to get married at this age. We're just thankful we've lived this long and that we're still here. We have a lot to be thankful for." Called from YAHOO NEWS

Woman bags 23yrs in prison for using sex to lure men into killing her husband

From left to right, Mrs Charlotte Collinge,Steven Shreeves and Kelvin Dale ..........A 45 year old woman, Mrs Charlotte Collinge, who lured two men back to her house with promises of sex and convinced them to murder her husband has been jailed for life. Her husband, Clifford Collinge, 61, of Market Warsop, Nottinghamshire, died in October 2011 after suffering 46 injuries in a savage attack. . Mrs Collinge was jailed for 23 years at Nottingham Crown Court while her accomplices, Steven Shreeves, 40, and Kelvin Dale, 27, both of Market Warsop, were each jailed for 18 years. Sentencing the trio, Mr Justice Colman Treacy said: "The killing of Clifford Collinge in his own home was a truly shocking offence. The jury heard Charlotte Collinge had met Shreeves and Dale at a local bar and taken them back to her home on the promise of sex to kill her husband. A clamp was used to attack Mr Collinge, a former newsagent, who was found lying in a pool of blood at his home. Ahead of the killing, Shreeves and Dale snorted cocaine in the toilets of the bar and drank a number of pints of beer, the court was told. Giving evidence, Shreeves said he had never met Collinge before the night of the murder and she had started flirting with him as soon as he arrived at the pub. Among his many injuries, Mr Collinge suffered a head injury, fractured ribs and a collapsed lung. The court heard the couple, who had been together for 17 years, had had a rocky relationship peppered with break-ups and reconciliations. Culled from BBC