Gay Lawmaker comes under attack for engaging in sex with 17yr old at a rest stop.

Gauthier


Democratic leaders in Minnesota are demanding a State lawmaker withdraw from his re-election bid after police claim he admitted to having sex with a 17-year-old boy at a rest stop.

While Rep. Kerry Gauthier, 56, will lose support from fellow Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party members if he continues with his campaign, party leaders stopped short Monday of asking him to immediately resign.

The first-term legislator wasn’t charged in the alleged July 22 encounter because the legal age of consent in Minnesota is 16 and no money was exchanged, according to the St. Louis County attorney’s office. Police say the two had oral sex behind a rest stop pavilion in Duluth after the teen responded to Gauthier’s Craigslist ad looking for a “no strings attached” sex.

Police reports made public last week say Gauthier came clean about the rest stop rendezvous.

The teen reportedly told officials that Gauthier was a stranger and he lied to the unmarried lawmaker when he said he was 18 years old.

Troopers were alerted to the alleged incident by a woman at the rest stop who was complaining about a male urinating on her car.

Trooper Scott Parker wrote in a report that he came across another man — later identified as Gauthier — behind a rest area building, the Duluth News Tribune reported.

“It was at that time I noted his zipper was open and part of his shirt was hanging out. I asked him why his zipper was down and he said he didn’t know,” Parker wrote. “I told him to zip it up and leave. The male seemed nervous.” Gauthier took office last year representing the Duluth area in the Minnesota House of Representatives.

DFL Party Chairman Ken Martin said in a statement Monday that Gauthier’s actions are “inexcusable.”

“No one in our party condones what he did, nor will we defend him in this matter,” Martin said, according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

Gauthier, who was admitted to a hospital last week for shortness of breath after the scandal broke, didn’t comment Monday.

He first told the Duluth News Tribune last Tuesday that the alleged encounter is “a private matter and I don’t need to talk about it.”

House Speaker Kurt Zellers, a Republican, said Friday that Gauthier should resign before his term expires.

The scandal has hurt Democrats’ hopes of retaking at least one chamber of the state Legislature. They need to pick up at least six seats in the House, and Gauthier’s Duluth-area seat usually is reliably Democratic.

But if he drops out, any Democrat seeking to replace him would have to run as a write-in candidate, making the race much more difficult to win.
Culled from DAILY NEWS

Police arrests Delaware employees for running 'toddler fight club'

Meyers


Three employees of a Delaware daycare were arrested Monday after police say a ‘disturbing’ cell phone video allegedly captured two toddlers participating in an organized fistfight.

The Hands of Our Future LLC Daycare in Dover also had its license suspended pending a hearing, CBS 3 in Philadelphia reported.

Three of the center’s employees — Tiana Harris, 19; Estefania Myers, 21; and Lisa Parker, 47 — are accused of forcing two 3-year-olds to strike one another in the head and face repeatedly last March.

Harris



“It’s shocking, disturbing and infuriating to watch this video that shows the two children whaling on each other,” Dover Police Capt. Tim Stump told The News Journal. “These are our most precious cargo and to have adults responsible for caring for their well -being to have them behave as such is sickening.”

Parker



While the footage was not released publicly, police said one of the children could be heard yelling, “He’s pinching me,” and then a worker responding, “No pinching, only punching,” CBS reported.

“Clearly one of the children is crying and does not want to continue on and he is pushed back into the fray by one of the adults,” Stump told the station.


Court records say Parker allegedly forced one of the toddlers who was being hit to “continue in the physical altercation,” while Harris and Myers allegedly looked on laughing and spurred on the slugging, according to The News Journal.

Police met with parents Monday to answer questions about the incident. It wasn’t immediately clear what injuries the tots may have suffered.

Parent Cristyl Slack told CBS that her 4-year-old daughter was at the daycare on the day of the fight.

“That pissed me off just because I feel if my daughter is around anything, I should have known that day,” Slack said. “It’s very disturbing to think anything like that could go on,” another mom, Amy Bickerling, told The News Journal. “I know these teachers. I go on all the field trips. I’ve never seen anything irregular.”

Police were shown the video by a man while investigating an unrelated incident.

Harris, Myers and Parker were each charged with assault, endangering the welfare of a child, reckless endangering and conspiracy, according to reports.

The daycare’s owner couldn’t be reached for comment Monday.

The Hands of Our Future Day care at 868 S. State St. in Dover, Delaware.



Culled from DAILY NEWS

Male model jailed for 'sadistic' attack on girlfriend after sex party

Ribbsaeter

A male model,Patrick Ribbsaeter, has been jailed for five years for attacking his girlfriend after they attended an upmarket sex party.

Swede Patrick Ribbsaeter, 32, was found guilty at the Old Bailey last month of causing grievous bodily harm to Wachirapom Sara-Pod.Miss Sara-Pod, 35, who is also a model, fled her car wearing nothing but a fur coat after Ribbsaeter attacked her last October.

The male model had caught her in a toilet cubicle with another man at the Killing Kittens swingers party in Soho, central London.

Ribbsaeter had demonstrated "sadistic pleasure" during the two hours he had attacked Miss Sara-Pod as he drove her towards her home.

Miss Sara-Pod was left with a haemorrhage in her right eye and extensive bruising and swelling on her face after Ribbsaeter flew into a jealous rage.

Ribbsaeter was in breach of a community order imposed by magistrates a year ago for hitting Miss Sara-Pod, who is known as Anna, and damaging her car radio.

He denied hitting her and said he had not been jealous but just concerned because she was "wasted" after taking cocaine.

Ribbsaeter said: "It was a sex party. Everyone was having sex."

Ribbsaeter, of Streatham, south London, also had a conviction for assaulting a girlfriend in Sweden, but was cleared in London two years ago of assaulting the chauffeur of his former Saudi princess girlfriend.

The "elite" Killing Kittens sex parties were set up by socialite Emma Sayle, who once took part in a charity rowing event with Kate Middleton before her marriage to Prince William.

Camilla de Silva, prosecuting, told the jury: "This was a party called Killing Kittens, which for those of you not in the know is a swingers' party.

"This is where paying customers attend with a view to having sex with other people.

"Miss Sara-Pod went into one of the toilet cubicles with a male friend to take some cocaine.

"Mr Ribbsaeter also went into the toilet and found Miss Sara-Pod there. This angered him and there was an argument."

As Ribbsaeter drove her home later, he began "a prolonged and sustained verbal and physical assault" as he asked if she had sex with the man at the club.

Miss De Silva said: "At one point he stopped the car and grabbed her hair and hit her head against the console and window.

"The beating continued until at one stage he suggested they have sex. She agreed because she thought it would calm him down."

But after, he began attacking her again as they sat in the back of her Land Rover Discovery car.

"At one point he also put his hands around her throat pushing her head into the seat so she felt she was being choked. With blood in her mouth she found it hard to breathe," said Miss de Silva.

"This only stopped because he thought she was losing consciousness.

"He then got into the front seat again. She then took the opportunity to grab her coat and flee out of the car towards a garage."
Culled from HUFF POST

Judge rejects $20m settlement by Facebook over users' privacy violation

Seeborg

A federal judge has rejected Facebook's settlement offer in a class-action privacy lawsuit over the use of users' names and faces in "Sponsored Stories" advertisements. With Sponsored Stories, which rolled out in January of 2011, your "likes" on a brand's page can result in your name and profile picture being shown as endorsements in that brand's advertisements on the site. Users were not given an option to opt-out of the feature. The lawsuit, filed last year, alleged that the practice is a violation of Facebook users' privacy. Under Facebook's proposed deal to settle the lawsuit, it would have given users more control over their "likes," including the opportunity for users under the age of 18 to opt-out of Sponsored Stories completely. The company would have also paid $10 million to the plaintiff's legal team and another $10 million to pro-privacy organizations, such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation. U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg, who made his uneasiness about the deal known earlier this month, has now firmly rejected it on the basis that the monetary amounts seemed to have been "merely plucked from thin air," according to Wired. Seeborg argued that the deal didn't do enough to address the damages of the 100 million Facebook users who have already appeared in Sponsored Stories. He wrote in his decision that under California law, each party to the lawsuit could be awarded up to $750. Culled from YAHOO NEWS

Alleged harrassment by seniors: Army officer refuses to climb down a 200 ft tower

An Indian Army officer who climbed a 200 feet high mobile tower on Friday 17th August in protest against alleged harrassment by his superior officers has refused to come down. Vice Chief of Army staff Lieutenant General SK Singh visited the spot on Saturday and tried to persuade him to come down. Lt Gen Singh spoke to K Muthu, who is attached with the Engineers Regiment, on phone for over 30 minutes, army officials said. Mr Muthu, however, was not ready to believe that it was the Army Vice Chief himself talking to him and refused to climb down, they said. The officials said they will continue its efforts to convince him. Alleging harassment by seniors, 35-year-old Muthu had climbed the tower at Ajmeri Gate on August 17 and refused to come down despite appeals by police and Army officers. He is demanding an audience with Defence Minister AK Antony. Mr Muthu, who lives in Tuticorin district of Tamil Nadu, has alleged he was transferred five times in five years. "This is not a problem faced by me alone. I'm presenting the problems faced by many jawans in Army," he had said. On Friday, Mr Muthu had thrown a bunch of papers, and in one of the letters he had demanded his discharge from service due to alleged harassment by seniors. In the letter, he had also requested the commanding officer to get his salary of the last eight months cleared. Called from NDTV

83yr old California man pleads guilty to murdering 94yr-old roommate

McDougall

An 83-year-old man,McDougall, has been convicted in the beating death of his 94-year-old roommate at a California health care facility, an attack prosecutors say was triggered by the older man's singing. A district attorney's statement says William Leo McDougall was convicted Friday in Orange County Superior Court. McDougall and Manh Van Nguyen were both recovering from hip surgery at Palm Terrace Healthcare Center in Laguna Woods on Oct. 1, 2010. Prosecutors say McDougall got mad because Nguyen was singing in Vietnamese, so he took a wooden rod from the closet and hit his roommate repeatedly in the head. A nurse stopped the attack, but Nguyen later died due to blunt force trauma. McDougall will be sentenced Oct. 26. Culled from HUFF POST

28yr old Teacher gets 5yrs in prison for engaging in group sex with teenage students

Colleps

A Texas High school teacher who engaged in group sex with five of her students have been sentenced to 5 years in prison. Brittni Colleps, 28, showed little emotion as the guilty verdict was read. The trial contained salacious and sometimes embarrassing testimony for both the students and Colleps. Jurors watched a video of Colleps having sex with at least two students, read racy text messages and listened to the young men recount what happened during their group sex encounters. All of the young men were at least 18 at the time of the encounters, which happened in the spring of 2011. However, Texas law makes it illegal for an educator to have a sexual relationship with a student, no matter what the age. On the stand on Thursday, one of the former students testified he did not feel like a victim at the time. When asked by the defense attorney if he felt like a victim now, the young man replied, "No." Colleps did cry at one point in court, indicating she never wanted the case to go to trial. It took jurors only about an hour to convict Colleps. But it took them longer to decide she should receive five years behind bars. She had faced between two and 20 years in prison for each count or could have received probation. Her husband took the stand during the punishment phase of the trial and asked the jury to give his wife probation for the sake of their children. He said he was very angry and hurt by his wife's actions, but admitted the two of them have had group sex with other consenting adults in the past. He also said people who call him an idiot for wanting to remain married to her just don't understand. Culled from myfoxdfw.com

Brutalised by husband: Woman dies after spending 21yrs in coma

Funeral services are scheduled for a western New York woman for spent more than 21 years in a coma after being beaten by her husband. The Buffalo News reports that 51-year-old Bernadette Jones died last Sunday of pneumonia at her family's home in the city of Niagara Falls. The newspaper reports that her drunken husband beat her into a coma in April 1991. Jones never woke up, although family members say eventually she could open one of her eyes and move her arms. Jones spent eight months in the hospital after the beating, then was brought to her family's home, where a special room was set up for her in the basement. That's where her family cared for her for the next two decades. Her funeral is being held Friday morning at a Niagara Falls church. Culled from FOX NEWS, Pix from BUFFALO NEWS

South African police kill more than 30 striking miners

South African police officers killed more than 30 armed miners who charged them at a Lonmin PLC platinum mine, authorities said on Friday, as a national newspaper warned the time bomb ticking over poor South Africans has exploded. Thursday's shootings are one of the worst in South Africa since the end of the apartheid era, and are seen as deepening the rift between the country's governing African National Congress and an impoverished electorate confronting massive unemployment and growing poverty and inequality. They "awaken us to the reality of the time bomb that has stopped ticking - it has exploded," The Sowetan newspaper said in an editorial. "Africans are pitted against each other ... fighting for a bigger slice of the mineral wealth of the country. In the end the war claims the very poor African - again." Police ministry spokesman Zweli Mnisi told The Associated Press on Friday that more than 30 people were killed. He said an investigation into the shooting near Marikana, about 70 kilometres (40 miles) northwest of Johannesburg, is underway. Political parties and labour unions, including the African National Congress, called for an independent inquiry. Provincial health spokesman Tebogo Lekgethwane said no wounded people have been treated at nearby hospitals. Shocked South Africans watched replay after replay of video of the shooting that erupted Thursday afternoon after police failed to get the striking miners to hand over machetes, clubs and other weapons. Some miners did leave, though others carrying weapons began war chants and soon started marching toward the township near the mine, said Molaole Montsho, a journalist with the South African Press Association who was at the scene. The police opened up with a water cannon first, then used stun grenades and tear gas to try and break up the crowd, Montsho said. Suddenly, a group of miners rushed through the underbrush and tear gas at a line of police officers. Officers immediately opened fire, with miners falling to the ground. Dozens of shots were fired by police armed with automatic rifles and pistols. Images broadcast by private e.tv station carried the sound of a barrage of automatic gunfire that ended with police officers shouting: "Cease fire!" By that time, bodies were lying in the dust, some pouring blood. Another image showed some miners, their eyes wide, looking in the distance at heavily armed police officers in riot gear. Poor South Africans protest daily across the country for basic services like running water, housing and better health and education - all of which were promised when racist white rule ended with the first democratic elections in 1994. Protests often turn violent, with people charging that ANC leaders have joined the white minority that continues to enrich itself while life becomes ever harder for the black majority. Police often are accused of using undue force. Still, Thursday's shooting appalled the country, recalling images of white police firing at anti-apartheid protesters in the 1960s and 1970s, though in this case it was mostly black police firing at black mine workers. It remains unclear what sparked the miners' fatal charge at police. Mnisi, the police ministry spokesman, claimed the miners shot at police as well, using one of the weapons they stole from two policemen whom they battered to death Monday. "We had a situation where people who were armed to the teeth, attack and killed others - even police officers," the spokesman said in a statement Thursday night. "What should police do in such situations when clearly what they are face with are armed and hardcore criminals who murder police?" President Jacob Zuma said he was "shocked and dismayed at this senseless violence." "We believe there is enough space in our democratic order for any dispute to be resolved through dialogue without any breaches of the law or violence," Zuma said in a statement. Lonmin PLC chairman Roger Phillimore issued a statement Friday saying the deaths were deeply regretted. But he emphasized the mine considers it "clearly a public order rather than a labor relations associated matter." In a statement earlier Thursday, Lonmin had said striking workers would be fired if they did not appear at their shifts Friday. "The striking (workers) remain armed and away from work," the statement read. "This is illegal." While the initial walkout and protest focused on wages, the ensuing violence has been fueled by the struggles between the dominant National Union of Mineworkers and the upstart and more radical Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union. Disputes between the two unions escalated into violence earlier this year at another mine. The Congress of South African Trade Unions said the violence is being orchestrated. "Broadly we believe there is an orchestration, a planned violence, because the violence that people are seeing today has been going on since January," said general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi. Mining drives the economy of South Africa, which remains one of the world's dominant producers of platinum, gold and chromium. Lonmin is the world's third largest platinum producer and its mine at Marikana produces 96 percent of all its platinum. The violence has shaken the precious metals market, as platinum futures ended up $39, or 2.8 percent, at $1,435.20 an ounce in trading Thursday on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Lonmin stock plunged 6.76 percent Thursday on the London Stock Exchange. The company's stock value has dropped more than 12 percent since the start of the unrest. Culled from NDTV

Man in police net for threatening teenage girl with HIV infested syringe

Steverding

A homeless man who allegedly threatened a teenage girl with a syringe he claimed was filled with HIV-tainted blood outside a Massachusetts pharmacy has been arrested by the police. Scott Steverding was arrested overnight by Waltham investigators in Cambridge on a warrant and is schedule to be arraigned Thursday on charges that include attempted murder, armed carjacking and assault with a dangerous weapon. Police say Steverding, 30, threatened the 17-year-old girl on Tuesday morning, then stole her vehicle, a 1999 Jeep Cherokee, and her purse with about $200 in cash, almost striking the girl as he drove away. Using surveillance video, police identified the suspect as Steverding. WHDH.com reported that police say the video shows a man approach the girl and threaten her with the syringe. She got out of the car and walked behind the Jeep. "He ended up speeding toward her, so she had to jump out of the way to avoid being hit," Detective Sgt. Joseph Guigna of the Waltham Police Department said, according to the station. Steverding is also a suspect in a robbery at a city gas station on Monday. Culled from FOX NEWS

Polytechnic student commits suicide because of Facebook posts

Sharma

Raksha Sharma, a student of computer engineering at the MCM Polytechnic College in Jalandhar,India was found hanging from the ceiling fan in her hostel room on Tuesday morning with a suicide note blaming two former students of the same college-both male- for harassing her and posting comments on Facebook that distressed her. In the suicide note, 20 year old Raksha Sharma alleged that she was distressed so much by the comments made to her by the two boys such that she decided to put an end to the harassment by committing suicide. The police have arrested the two boys, who say they are not guilty. Raksha was orphaned when her parents were killed in 1997 by militants in Jammu. A local orphanage affiliated to an NGO SOS Village has been looking after her over the years and was her guardian."I haven't spoken to her in three months, and she even considered me as her brother. I don't know how my name has come up in her note. I am ready for any investigation," says Luvpreet Singh, 21 years old, one of the accused.The other boy admits that he posted comments but says she had responded online to his remarks, and did not seem agitated. "I feel bad she killed herself but I am not responsible," says Deepak Saini , 21 years old. "We would speak to her very often and check about her studies, but she never mentioned this harassment to us. We are really shocked," says Prasanjeet Das, the Director of the SOS village Jammu. The police say they found no computer in Raksha's room but will go through her Facebook account to verify the allegations in the suicide note. Culled from NDTV

French footballers to stand trial for soliciting underaged prostitute

Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema

Two French football stars, Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema, are to stand trial over allegations that they solicited an under-age prostitute. An investigating magistrate in Paris ruled that they should be tried along with seven others over the affair, which broke before the 2010 World Cup. Both deny the claims and the girl involved, Zahia Dehar, has said neither player knew she was 16 at the time. Ribery's team, Germany's Bayern Munich, has given the footballer its backing. His lawyer, Sophie Bottai, told AFP news agency she was astonished by the magistrate's decision, after a previous judge had said there was no case to answer against the two French internationals. Some of those facing trial have been charged with "aggravated pimping". Soliciting sex with an under-age prostitute is punishable in France by up to three years in prison and a maximum fine of 45,000 euros (£35,000; $55,000). Both Ribery and Benzema are expected to play when France takes on Uruguay in a friendly in the French city of Le Havre on Wednesday evening - the team's first match under new coach Didier Deschamps. The Zahia affair emerged two years ago as police investigated claims that a Paris nightclub had given access to under-age prostitutes. The allegations date back to 2008 and 2009. Ms Bottai said the news that her client would be put on trial was "as surprising as it is unfair". "But I remain confident about the outcome of the process," she added. Matthias Sammer, director of Bayern Munich, told German sports news agency SID that they were aware of the situation. "We will tell him that we stand by him and that he will get our best support," he said. Representing Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema, lawyer Sylvain Cormier said his client was innocent and he would "give his explanation before the tribunal". France's football coach said the matter was in judicial hands and did not affect the players' role on the football pitch or in the national team. Culled from BBC

28yr old teacher arraigned in court for engaging in group sex with teenage students

Colleps

A trial is under way in Fort Worth in the case of a former Kennedale High School English teacher who prosecutors say had sex with four teenagers while another student videotaped the act. Brittni Colleps, 28, is charged with several counts, including deviate sex and improper relationship between educator and student. In Judge Ruben Gonzalez's 432nd District Court on Tuesday, Colleps stood mute and the judge entered a not guilty plea on her behalf. During testimony, a student identified as "Aaron" said he first had sex with Colleps while spending the night at her residence. He said Colleps told him, "You have something I want." Prosecutor Elizabeth Beach told jurors they will see video of Colleps having sex with four students, all of whom were at least 18 years old. Colleps was placed on leave when student sex accusations first arose. Her husband, Christopher Colleps, has previously said he will support his wife and that they will remain married. The couple has three young children. Culled from myfoxDFW.com

Indian Police authorities decry false improsonment of Israeli by its officers

Driham

The Goa Police in West India has expressed shame over a PSI (police sub-inspector) and four constables who were arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for false implication of David Driham, an Israeli national in Anjuna, in a drug case," said a newsletter endorsed on wednesday by Goa Director General of Police Kishen Kumar. The Israeli national Driham alias Dudu was arrested by the anti-narcotics cell of Goa Police in 2010 with a narcotics cocktail of ecstacy, cocaine, heroin, LSD and 'charas' (cannabis) worth Rs. 3.81 lakh. After the raid, the police described Dudu as a "big time" dealer. However, a sting operation, conducted by Dudu's sister, showed the same police officer, Sunil Gudler, who had arrested the Israeli national, giving drugs to foreigners. The case was later referred to the CBI by the Goa government. The CBI then arrested Gudler and four other policemen. The first issue of the newsletter was released by Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar as part of the Independence Day celebrations. He lauded the police for being transparent in accepting their flaws in the newsletter. The newsletter now says that incidents such as these undermine police's credibility. "Such misdeeds of police officials affect the credibility of the force and undermines constant good work. Every Goa policemen will now take a pledge of maintaining high standards and integrity and professionalism," the newsletter says. "Such transparency is good," Parrikar said referring to the newsletter. Culled from NDTV

21 African athletes go missing in London after 2012 Olympics

Guinea's Facinet Keita, left, is one of 3 athletes from Guinea who're missing

Six more Africans, including 3 Guineans and 3 Ivorians who were in London for the Olympics have vanished on the day they were due to go home to their countries. It brings the total number of athletes and delegates who are missing or have claimed asylum to 21. Officials are already looking for four members of the Congo Olympic team. In addition, five members of the Cameroon team, all boxers, have asked to be allowed to stay in Britain rather than return home. Two members of the Sudanese team and one Ethiopian are reported to have sought asylum in the UK. Another Sudanese is missing, and two other members of the Cameroon team - a swimmer and a female footballer - have also disappeared while their compatriots returned home. "Three members of the delegation have not returned to the Olympic village," said Adama Doumbia, technical adviser at the Ministry of Sports and Leisure in Ivory Coast. He did not give the names of the missing members of the delegation but said they contained two swimmers and a wrestling coach. An official on Guinea's Olympic Committee told Reuters on condition of anonymity that swimmer Dede Camara, judo competitor Facinet Keita and runner Aicha Toure had been missing since Saturday, the day before the closing ceremony. Games officials are already looking for a Democratic Republic of Congo judo competitor, three other members of that country's delegation and seven Cameroonian athletes. The London Olympic organising committee said it had notified British police about the missing Cameroonians but added the athletes would not be infringing immigration laws until their visas expired in November. Immigration officials fear that up to 2 per cent of the Olympic visitors from some continents may claim refuge in the UK in the months after the Games, potentially hundreds of individuals. At the 2002 Commonwealth Games more than 20 members of one West African country sought asylum in Britain. Culled from THE TELEGRAPH

Naked adults gather at Cornbury Park for 'secret swimming' (VIDEO)

A mass skinny-dip took place at Oxford’s Wilderness Festival at the weekend. A raft of bottoms and bits took to the somewhat chilly water in the stunt, organised by the founders of Secret Cinema. Those gung-ho enough to take part will be invited to meet every few months to swim in “the wildest places, rivers, streams, ponds, iced lakes, wild seas and reservoirs.” The plan is for meeting points to be distributed via secret maps sent just a week before each gathering. The official website promises: “Secret Swimmers will come together through adventure and a shared love of wild waters.” Festival-goers at Cornbury Park, Oxfordshire, who chose not to disrobe were able to enjoy theatre, comedy, fly-fishing and horseriding, among other activities. Culled from HUFF POST

Malaysians protest against changes to internet law

Malaysian activists and bloggers are staging an online black-out for one day to protest against changes to a law they say restricts free speech online. They have replaced their home pages with black screens critical of the Evidence Act, revised in April, for Internet Black-out Day. Critics say the law makes people unfairly liable for content published from networks and personal devices. Officials deny the change is meant to silence critics ahead of an election. The revised law means that Malaysians could get into trouble even if their devices or internet connections have been hacked into, critics say. The Centre for Independent Journalism in Malaysia said the revision was "a bad law passed in haste and does not take into account public interest and participation", said the Agence-France Presse news agency. Critics want the law to be changed or scrapped completely. Premesh Chandran, founder of online news site Malaysiakini, said that the burden of proof on internet users was unfair. "In other words, if defamatory comments are posted on a blog, the blog owner is likely to be sued or charged with criminal defamation, Malaysiakini said in a statement on its website. The internet has been key to helping sway a large number of voters from supporting the governing coalition, says the BBC's Jennifer Pak in Kuala Lumpur. Online media has also exposed corruption scandals among the governing parties, who have been in power for nearly 55 years, our correspondent adds. Culled from BBC

'Church leader' arraigned in court for biting man's penis after sexual assault on 13yr old girl

Guzman

The leader of ‘Latter-Day Saints church’, Efrey Guzman, 46, was last Tuesday, charged in open court with "aggravated sexual assault, aggravated burglary, both first-degree felonies, and sexual abuse of a child and forcible sexual abuse, both second-degree felonies”, reported Bob Scott, a spokesman for the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office. Prosecutors in northern Utah filed charges against Efrey Guzman after he was accused of biting a man's penis and assaulting his mother and sister. According to the arrest affidavit, Guzman went to the home of a 13-year-old girl on May 8. During his visit with the girl, who later described him to police as a "family friend," he assaulted her by attempting to kiss her and grab her buttocks. When the girl's 20-year-old brother entered the room he left, police said. The authorities were not immediately notified of the alleged assault. On Aug. 2, Guzman returned to the teenager's home. When the girl's mom asked him to leave, he refused, police said. "The defendant pushed his way into the residence and began to assault the mother," the arrest affidavit reads. "She yelled for help and tried to fight the defendant off. She said the defendant ripped her shirt exposing her breast." Guzman was allegedly groping the woman when her son came into the room and witnessed what was occurring. It was when the young man attempted to intervene, police say, Guzman viciously assaulted him. "While he tried to get the defendant off his mother, the defendant grabbed his penis through his boxer shorts and bit his penis causing severe damage that required surgery," the arrest affidavit reads. The victims, who are identified only by initials in court documents, declined to speak with local media about the case. Kent Kuhn, the victim's LDS Bishop, told ABC 4 News the family is traumatized. "There is some medical things that may affect this man for a long period of time and emotionally these children are devastated," Kuhn said. Ironically, Kuhn's wife, Gloria, told ABC 4 News that the mother had recently moved her family to the area in an attempt to shield them from crime. "She thought it'd be safer here and this makes us really sad to think that something like that could happen here on our street," Gloria Kuhn said. Guzman, who was an LDS branch president of a Latino congregation in Sandy, was booted from the congregation after the charges were filed. Scott Trotter, a spokesman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, issued a statement to The Salt Lake Tribune that said the church "has zero tolerance for abuse of any kind." The statement added, "Mr. Guzman has been released from his church duties effective immediately and faces further church discipline following the legal process." Guzman is being held in the Salt Lake County jail in lieu of $300,000 bond. Court records do not list an attorney for him. Guzman is scheduled to appear in court again on Friday. Culled from HUFF POST

I4yr old girl gets justice after use as sex slave by husband, in-laws

Sahar Gul

After paying the sum of $5,000 as bride price for 13yr old Sahar Gul, her husband, Ghulam Sakhi took her to his parents' home in Baghlan where he turned her into a sex slave. Initially, she was able to resist consummating the marriage for weeks. She ran away to the house of a neighbor, who alerted both the police and her husband's family. Ghulam Sakhi's neighbors and the police forced him to sign a letter promising not to mistreat Sahar Gul, though they let him take her back. One day, when she complained of a headache, her mother-in-law, Siyamoi, tricked her into taking a sedative that she thought was medicine, said Mushtari Daqiq, the acting executive director of the aid group Women for Afghan Women and also Sahar Gul's lawyer. "When she woke up in the morning, she realized she had been used by her husband," Ms. Daqiq said. Thereafter, Sahar Gul’s husband and in-laws began to torture her by hitting her with sticks, biting her chest, inserting hot irons in her ears and vagina, and pulling out two fingernails. "She was helpless," Ms. Daqiq said. "She had no hope for her life." They threw her into a dirty, windowless cellar for months until the police discovered her lying in hay and animal dung. Sahar Gul lost her father when she was 9, so she ended up with her stepbrother, Mohammad. She helped with the hard work - tending cows, sheep and an orchard of walnut and apricot trees, and making dung bricks for the fire - but her stepbrother's wife resented her presence. The woman pressured Mohammad to give Sahar Gul up for marriage after he was contacted by a man, about 30yr old Ghulam Sakhi - even though she had not yet reached the legal marriage age of 16, or 15 with a father's consent. In July, an appeals court upheld prison sentences of 10 years each for three of her in-laws, a decision heralded as a legal triumph underscoring the advances for women's rights in the past decade. She is recovering from her wounds, physical and emotional, in a women's shelter in Kabul. Sahar Gul, who is now about 14, grew up in Badakhshan, a poor, mountainous province in the north Culled from NDTV

Medal Table for the London 2012 Olympics

Listed below is the statistical record of the medals won by various counties in the just concluded London 2012 Olympic games. 'g' in the analysis below stands for 'gold', while 's' stands for 'silver and 'b' for 'bronze'. (1) United States 46gold 29silver 29bronze. Total= 104, (2) China 38g 27s 22b =87, (3) Great Britain & N. Ireland 29g 17s 19b =65, (4) Russian Federation 24g 25s 33b = 82, (5) South Korea 13g 8s 7b =28, (6) Germany 11g 19s 14b =44, (7) France 11g 11s 12b =34, (8) Italy 8g 9s 11b =28, (99) Hungary 8g 4s 5b =17, (10) Australia 7g 16s 12b -35, (11) Japan 7g 14s 17b =38, (12) Kazakhstan 7g 1s 5b -13, (13) Netherlands 6g 6s 8b =20, (14) Ukraine 6g 5s 9b = 20, (15) Cuba 5g 3s 6b =14, (16) New Zealand 5g 3s 5b =13, (17) Iran 4g 5s 3b =12, (18) Jamaica 4g 4s 4b 12, (19) Czech Republic 4g 3s 3b =10, (20) North Korea 4g 0s 2b =6, (21) Spain 3g 10s 4b = 17, (22) Brazil 3g 5s 9b =17, (23) Belarus 3g 5s 5b =13, (24) South Africa 3g 2s 1b = 6, (25) Ethiopia 3g 1s 3b =7, (26) Croatia 3g 1s 2b =6, (27) Romania 2g 5s 2b = 9, (28) Kenya 2g 4s 5b = 11, (29) Denmark 2g 4s 3b = 9, (30) Poland 2g 2s 6b =10, (30) Azerbaijan 2g 2s 6b = 10, (32) Turkey 2g 2s 1b = 5, (33) Switzerland 2g 2s 0b =4, (34) Lithuania 2g 1s 2b =5, (35) Norway 2g 1s 1b = 4, (36) Canada 1g 5s 12b 18, (37) Sweden 1g 4s 3 b =8, (38) Colombia 1g 3s 4b =8, (39) Georgia 1g 3s 3b =7, (39) Mexico 1g 3s 3b = 7, (41) Ireland 1g 1s 3b = 5, (42) Slovenia 1g 1 s 2 b =4, (42) Serbia 1g 1s 2 b =4, (42) Argentina 1g 1s 2b = 4, (45) Tunisia 1g 1s 1b = 3, (46) Dominican Republic 1g 1s 0b = 2, (47) Trinidad and Tobago 1g 0s 3b = 4, (47) Uzbekistan 1g 0s 3b =4, (49) Latvia 1g 0s 1b =2, (50) Algeria 1g 0s 0b =1, (50) Bahamas 1g 0s 0 b= 1, (50) Uganda 1g 0 s 0 b =1, (50) Venezuela 1g 0s 0b = 1, (50) Grenada 1g 0s 0b =1, (55) India 0g 2s 4b = 6, (56) Mongolia 0g 2s 3b = 5, (57) Thailand 0g 2s 1b = 3, (58) Egypt 0 g 2 s 0b = 2, (59) Slovakia 0g 1s 3b 4, (60) Armenia 0g 1s 2b = 3, (60) Belgium 0g 1s 2 b =3, (60) Finland 0g 1s 2b = 3, (63) Chinese Taipei 0g 1s 1b = 2, (63) Estonia 0g 1s 1b =2, (63) Malaysia 0g 1s 1 b =2, (63) Bulgaria 0g 1s 1b = 2, (63) Puerto Rico 0g 1s 1b = 2, (63) Indonesia 0g 1s 1b = 2, (69) Portugal 0g 1s 0b = 1, (69) Montenegro 0g 1s 0b = 1, (69) Botswana 0g 1s 0b = 1, (69) Cyprus 0g 1s 0b =1, (69) Guatemala 0g 1s 0b = 1, (69) Gabon 0g 1s 0b = 1, (75) Moldova 0g 0s 2b = 2, (75) Qatar 0g 0s 2b =2, (75) Singapore 0g 0s 2b = 2, (75) Greece 0g 0s 2b 2, (79) Morocco 0g 0s 1b =1, (79) Saudi Arabia 0g 0s 1b = 1, (79) Kuwait 0g 0s 1b =1, (79) Bahrain 0g 0s 1b =1, (79) Afghanistan 0g 0s 1b =1, (79) Tajikistan 0g 0s 1b = 1, (79) Hong Kong 0g 0s 1b = 1,. Culled from BBC