In prison: Khadija Shah, pictured with her daughter Malaika shortly after her birth, is in jail in Pakistan
A British mother accused of smuggling heroin has spoken of her torment at having to bring up her baby daughter in a Pakistani prison cell.
Khadija Shah says nine-month-old Malaika is the only thing keeping her sane as she waits to find out if she will face the death penalty for her alleged crimes.
The 25-year-old from Birmingham has not had a date set for her trial, 14 months after she was arrested on suspicion of trying to smuggle £3.2million of heroin into the UK.
Plight: Mrs Shah, from Birmingham, could face execution after being accused of smuggling heroin
She gave birth to Malaika in October, but was then forced to return with her to the Rawalpindi Central Jail, where she fears the baby will be struck down with one of the infectious diseases such as tuberculosis which are rife in the prison.
'If Malaika was not here, I would be crazy because things are very hard,' Mrs Shah told Vice. 'She keeps me strong.'
Human rights charity Reprieve has been helping the British citizen, but she and the baby continue to face an uncertain future thanks to the slow pace of Pakistan's legal system.
'She likes to play with empty wrappers of food items. I usually try to keep our surroundings clean, too.''I am still breastfeeding,' Mrs Shah said. 'Every three months Prisoners Abroad give me some money for basic food items and Pampers for the baby, who I keep clean.
Last year the prisoner complained that her newborn daughter was being bitten repeatedly by mosquitos, had developed severe diarrhoea and had not recieved vital inoculations.
Her older children Ibraham, six, and Aleesha, five, were originally in jail with their mother, but were flown back to the West Midlands over a year ago and she has not seen them since.
'They miss me, but never ask me where I am,' Mrs Shah said. 'I ignore things. I ignore what's happening to me.'
Maya Foa of Reprieve said: 'We are extremely worried about Khadija and the health of her baby.
'What is still more troubling is that the British Government is complicit in her plight - by giving aid to Pakistan’s counter-narcotics programme, the UK is in effect helping to send people to death row for drugs offences, including its own citizens.'
The young mother has denied any wrongdoing ever since she was arrested at Islamabad Airport in May last year.
She claims she agreed to transport some suitcases as a favour for men she had recently met, and had no idea that the luggage contained heroin.
A university
student in the US city of San Diego has received $4.1m (£2.7m) from
the US government after he was abandoned for
more than four days in a prison cell, his lawyer said.
Daniel Chong said he
drank his urine to stay alive, tried to carve a message to his mother on his
arm and hallucinated.
He was held in a drug
raid in 2012, but told he would not be charged. Nobody returned to his cell for
four days.
The justice department's
inspector is now investigating what happened.
Mr Chong, now 25, said
he slid a shoelace under the door and screamed to get attention before five or
six people found him covered in his faeces in the cell at the Drug
Enforcement Administration's (DEA) San Diegoheadquarters.
After Mr Chong was
rescued, he spent five days in hospital recovering from dehydration,
kidney
failure, cramps and a perforated oesophagus. He also lost 15lb
(7kg).
Mr Chong was one of nine
people detained in the raid in April 2012. Authorities determined that they
would not pursue charges
after questioning him.
One of Mr Chong's
lawyers said a police officer then put him in the holding cell and
told him: "We'll come
get you in a
minute."
Mr Chong said he thought
he was forgotten by mistake.
"It sounded like it
was an accident - a really, really bad, horrible accident," he said.
The 5ft by 10 ft (1.5m
by 3m) cell had no windows and Mr Chong had no food or water while he was
trapped inside for four-and-a-half days.
Mr Chong said he started
hallucinating on the third day.
He urinated on a metal
bench so he could have something to drink. He also unsuccessfully tried to set
off a fire
sprinkler to draw attention of the DEA authorities.
"I didn't just sit
there quietly. I was kicking the door yelling," he was quoted as saying by
the Associated Press news agency.
"I even put some
shoestrings, shoelaces through the crack of the door for visual signs. I didn't
stay
still, no, I was
screaming."
At one point, Mr Chong
admitted, he thought he was going to die. He broke his eyeglasses by
biting into them and tried to carve a "Sorry Mom" farewell message.
He managed to finish an "S".
DEA spokeswoman Allison
Price confirmed that the $4.1m settlementhad
been reached, without
providing further
details, according to the AP.
The incident prompted
the head of the DEA to issue a public apology last May, saying he was
"deeply troubled" by the incident.
Mr Chong's lawyer said
that as a result, the DEA had introduced new policies for detention, including
checking cells daily and installing cameras inside them.
Mr Chong, now an
economics student at the University of California, says he plans to buy his
parents a house.
Amanda Ross, 41, was out shopping with partner Paul Dean when she suddenly developed stomach cramps. Fifteen hours later she gave birth to baby Chloe
A woman has given birth to her first baby just 15 hours after discovering she was pregnant.
Amanda Ross, 41, was out shopping with her partner Paul Dean when she suddenly developed stomach cramps.
She had been feeling bloated and blamed it on constipation and went to her local health centre to see a GP.
They referred her to a midwife who gave her a scan - and told her she was probably seven or eight months pregnant.
Amanda was sent home with some medication for her stomach but at 1.30am told Paul she had to get straight to hospital as her tummy was rumbling.
Paul, who has two children and two grandchildren from his first marriage, drove Amanda to the nearest hospital.
Unexpected: Amanda had been feeling bloated and blamed it on constipation. She was astounded when her GP said she was pregnant - and went into labour just hours later
She was quickly checked and immediately transferred by ambulance to the maternity unit at South Hospital in Bristol.
Doctors performed a caesarean section and daughter Chloe was born 80 minutes later weighing 4lb 9oz
Amanda arrived there at 5.30am where a monitor found the unborn baby’s heartbeat dipping dangerously.
Doctors performed a caesarean section and daughter Chloe was born 80 minutes later weighing 4lb 9oz.
Amanda, who has never been pregnant before, was kept in hospital for six days before being allowed home to their two-bedroom flat in Yate, South Gloucestershire.
She said: ‘My first reaction when they told me I was pregnant was one of sheer terror.
‘I thought "Oh my God", I could have done this ten years ago - but I’m in my 40s.
‘It was a massive shock and I still can’t believe it. It’s going to get some getting used to.’
She added: ‘I had no idea I was expecting - there’d been no flutters, no cravings, no kicking, no morning sickness, no kicking, nothing.
‘We were totally unprepared for a new baby - we hadn’t even got a cotton bud.
‘Thankfully our families have been really good, running around to get everything we need.’
Stunned Paul, 53, has been with Amanda for 14 years and neither of them work. He is already dad to Andrew, 34, and daughter Jessica, 32.
He said: ‘I thought ‘where the hell did that come from? She’s had no pains or cravings or stomach aches, nothing.
‘I’m still in shock and the reality has yet to sink in. It’s going to take some getting used to.’
Amanda said: 'I had no idea I was expecting - there'd been no flutters, no cravings, no kicking, no morning sickness, no kicking, nothing'
A terrifying video has been captured the moment a Spanish passenger train hurtled off the tracks and smashed into a wall, killing at least 78 people.
All eight carriages of the Madrid to Ferrol train derailed near the city of Santiago de Compostela last night, leaving at least 140 people injured including one Briton.
Dramatic video footage from a security camera shows the train careering into a concrete wall as it came off the rails on the bend, before flipping onto its side and hurtling down the railway line with its terrified passengers on board.
One of the drivers was trapped in his cabin and told the railway station by radio that the train entered the bend at 190 kilometres per hour (120 mph), reported newspaper El Pais.
The speed limit on that section of track is 80km/h.
'We're only human! We're only human!' he told the station, the newspaper said, citing sources close to the investigation. 'I hope there are no dead, because this will fall on my conscience.'
Police have put an unnamed train driver under formal investigation - the Galicia government said one driver was in hospital.
Newspaper reports cited witnesses as saying driver Francisco Jose Garzon,who helped rescue victims, had shouted: 'I've derailed! What do I do?' into a phone.
The accident is the worst train accident in 30 years and television footage showed one wagon pointing upwards into the air with one of its ends twisted and disfigured
Another carriage that had been severed in two could be seen lying on a road near the track.
State-owned train operator Renfe said in a statement that 218 passengers and an unspecified number of staff were on board at the time of the accident.
Twisted: The accident is the worst train accident in 30 years and television footage showed one wagon pointing upwards into the air with one of its ends twisted and disfigured
Accident: The train jumped the tracks on a bend just before arriving in the northwestern shrine city of Santiago de Compostela
Horrifying: At least 77 people have been killed and more than 130 injured including one Briton after a packed Spanish passenger train derailed on a bend last night
Renfe said the derailment happened at 8.41pm local time on a high-speed section that was inaugurated two years ago.
After the crash, bodies were seen covered in blankets next to the tracks and rescue workers tried to get trapped people out of the train's carriages, with smoke billowing from some of the wreckage.
Some passengers were pulled out of broken windows, and one man stood on a carriage lying on its side, using a pickaxe to try to smash through a window.
TVE showed footage of what appeared to be several bodies covered by blankets alongside the tracks next to the damaged train wagons and rescue workers entering toppled carriages through broken windows.
The crash happened about an hour before sunset after the train emerged from a tunnel and derailed on the curve - sending cars flying off the tracks.
As casualties were taken to hospitals in Santiago and two other cities in the region, authorities appealed for people to donate blood.
Neighbours responded to calls from the police to bring blankets and sheets to the scene along with bottles of water.
As darkness fell, generators and emergency lighting were brought in to help the rescue teams.
Alberto Nunez Feijoo, president of the region of Galicia, described the scene as 'Dante-esque'.
One of the passengers, Sergio Prego, said: 'The train travelled very fast and derailed and turned over on the bend in the track. It's a disaster. I've been very lucky because I'm one of the few to be able to walk out.'
Another passenger, Ricardo Montero, said: 'When the train reached that bend it began to flip over, many times, with some carriages ending up on top of others, leaving many people trapped below. We had to get under the carriages to get out.'
Lidia Cannon, who previously lived in the city and was visiting for the local fiesta celebrating St James, said she saw a woman who had lost a foot as a result of the train crash.
People living nearby rushed to the scene with bottles of water and blankets
Carnage: People look down from the rail bridge on the aftermath of a devastating train crash in north west Spain
She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'We heard a big bang, like, we thought it was an air crash, I thought it was a car crash, other people thought it was a bomb. It was very, very loud, the noise.'
Ms Cannon said people went to help and told of one man's experience of visiting the crash site.
She said: 'He couldn't cope with it. He said he was there 20 minutes but he took out a man that was asking for his wife and his wife was inside, dead. A boy was looking for his girlfriend and she was inside the train, dead.
'He was taking out people that had mobile phones in their pockets ringing all the time. He couldn't cope with it because policemen and doctors and everyone was crying and he had to leave.
'I saw a woman who had lost one foot. But instead of crying or shouting or whatever because of the pain she was looking very, very serious. They were carrying her away and she had her sight, her eyes, were looking to one point - she was in shock.'
Miguel Morado, journalist at local newspaper La Voz de Galicia said: Everything points to inadequate [sic] speed - the train driver who survived the crash, when he was being rescued didn't know that people had died, and admitted going too fast with the train...
'He gave a figure he said he was going at 190 km/h - this is part of a network where the speed limit is 80.
'Although it's clear that it was human error, that the driver made a mistake, there's also the question of the line in that part of the network. Galicia is distant from the centre, it's never been well connected with Madrid... The people who made the decisions were too hasty.'
Officials said they believed the crash was an accident but declined to offer more details, saying an investigation was under way into the cause.
Renfe said that it - and track operator Adif - were collaborating with a judge who has been appointed to probe the accident.
Passenger Ricardo Montesco said: ‘It was going so quickly . . . it seems that on a curve the train started to twist, and the carriages piled up one on top of the other.
The accident occurred near the station in Santiago de Compostela, 60 miles south of El Ferrol.
The train, which belongs to the state-owned Renfe company, was not an AVE high speed train, but it was a relatively luxurious version that uses the same track as Spain's fastest expresses.
It was Spain's deadliest train accident in decades.
In 1944, a train travelling from Madrid to Galicia crashed and killed 78 people. Another accident in 1972 left 77 dead on a track to south-western Seville, according to Spanish news agency Europa Press.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who was born in Santiago de Compostela, the capital of Galicia region, visited the site and the main hospital on this morning.
He declared three days of official national mourning for the victims of the disaster
The incident happened as Catholic pilgrims converged on Santiago de Compostela to celebrate a festival honouring St James, the disciple of Jesus whose remains are said to rest in a shrine.
The city is the main gathering point for the faithful who make it to the end of the El Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route that has drawn Christians since the Middle Ages.
The feast day festivities were cancelled, town hall spokeswoman Maria Pardo told Spanish National television TVE.
Foreign Secretary William Hague said: 'I was very saddened to hear of the terrible train accident near Santiago de Compostela in Spain last night.
'My thoughts are with all those affected and their friends and family.
Search effort: Rescue efforts were continuing tonight following the train crash which officials say has killed at least 35
'The British Embassy team in Spain are working closely with the Spanish authorities as they respond to this tragedy.
'We know that one British citizen was injured in this accident and the embassy has been providing consular support.'
Keith Barrow, associate editor of International Railway Journal, whose editorial offices are in Falmouth in Cornwall, said today: 'Spanish railways' safety record is pretty good.
'Major accidents have been extremely rare. A lot of money has been poured into the system and passenger numbers were rising before the 2008 recession, which has hit Spain particularly badly.
'There has been a big reduction in fares lately to try to get more passengers to use the railways. A number of lines have been electrified and there are plans to allow private companies to operate services.'
Mr Barrow said the train involved in the Santiago accident was a Class 730 high-speed train.
He went on: 'Investigators will want to recover the data recorder from the train's cab so they can establish just what happened.
'People in Spain will obviously be shocked by what has happened. It's the worst crash they have had in many years. But I don't think people will be put off travelling by train.'
Pride party at Number 10: The PM told a gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender reception in Downing Street of his personal pride at legalising gay marriage and vowed to export it around the world. (File picture)
David Cameron vowed last night to ‘export’ gay marriage around the world as he held a party to celebrate the passage of legislation in Britain.
The Prime Minister told a gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender reception in Downing Street of his personal pride at legalising gay marriage.
Addressing an audience that included BBC presenter Clare Balding and her partner, the former newsreader Alice Arnold, Mr Cameron boasted that Britain was now ‘the best place to be gay, lesbian or transgender anywhere in Europe’.
But he risked controversy by suggesting that his ministers should now fan out across the globe to spread gay marriage around the world.
‘I’m personally proud of this,’ he said. ‘I think it’s a really good step. I’ve told the Bill team I’m now going to reassign them because, of course, all over the world people would have been watching this and we’ve set something of an example of how to pass good legislation in good time.
‘Many countries are going to want to copy this. I talk about how we’ve got to export more, so I’m going to export the Bill team.
'I think they can take it around the world.’
'A very good speech': Clare Balding was among the prominent gay figures who attended, along with her partner, former newsreader Alice Arnold
Gay marriage was passed by Parliament despite fierce opposition from some Tory MPs and grassroots members, who were angered by the Prime Minister prioritising the issue over economic problems.
But Mr Cameron signalled that he wants to go further in pressing gay rights. He told the gathering: ‘There’s still a lot more work to be done.
'There’s work to be done talking to our Commonwealth partners about decriminalising homosexuality in various countries.
‘There’s a lot of work to be done on homophobic bullying in schools, which is still a scourge in our country. There’s a lot of work to be done in terms of hate crimes and how we stop and stamp that out in our society.’
The reception was also attended by gay rights campaigners and senior Tories including International Development Minister Alan Duncan and former prisons minister Crispin Blunt.
Miss Balding, who is set to marry Miss Arnold, said: ‘It was great – a very good speech by the Prime Minister.
‘He said that he had delivered on a promise and he was very proud to have done so.’
During the event Mr Cameron, together with his team of ministers behind the legislation, signed a copy of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013.
He said: ‘I think of young children growing up at school, who might be uncertain about their sexuality, knowing that now, in the highest place in the land – in Parliament – we’ve passed this law that says that marriage is for you, whether you’re gay or whether you’re straight. And that is so important to young people growing up.’
But some of his MPs remain angry.
Former defence minister Sir Gerald Howarth said the issue was ‘deeply divisive’ for the party.
He accused the Prime Minister of ‘seeking to extol a fundamental change in society for which he has no mandate’ and which had been rejected by his MPs.
Relic: The researchers found the ancient dinosaur tail in Coahuila State in Mexico
A team of archaeologists have discovered the fossilised remains of a 72 million-year-old dinosaur tail in a desert in northern Mexico, it has been announced.
The 'unusually well-preserved' five yard-long tail was the first ever found in Mexico, said Francisco Aguilar, director of the country's National Institute for Anthropology and History.
The team, made up of archaeologists and students from INAH and the National Autonomous University of Mexico, identified the fossil as a hadrosaur, or duck-billed dinosaur.
The 'unusually well-preserved' five yard-long tail was the first ever found in Mexico. It is 72 million years old
The tail, found near the small town of General Cepeda found in the border state of Coahuila, likely made up half the dinosaur's length, Aguilar said.
Archaeologists found the 50 vertebrae of the tail completely intact after spending 20 days in the desert slowly lifting a sedimentary rock covering the creature's bones.
Strewn around the tail were other fossilised bones, including one of the dinosaur's hips, INAH said.
Precision: Archaeologists painstakingly excavate the tail
Speaker for the dead: The tail, from a hadrosaur, will enable experts to learn about bone conditions that affected the colossal beasts
Despite Mexico's rich heritage in paleontology, this is the first dinosaur tail found in the country
Strewn around the tail were other fossilised bones, including one of the dinosaur's hips
THE DUCK-BILLED DINOSAUR
The hadrosaurs are known as the duck-billed dinosaurs due to the similarity of their head to that of modern ducks.
The whole front of the skull was flat and broadened out to form a beak, which was ideal for clipping leaves and twigs from the forests of Asia, Europe and North America.
However, the back of the mouth contained thousands of teeth suitable for grinding food before it was swallowed.
Hadrosaurs likely grazed on horsetails and vegetation close to the ground, rather than browsing higher-growing leaves and twigs.
Dinosaur tail finds are relatively rare, according to INAH.
The new discovery could further understanding of the hadrosaur family and aid research on diseases that afflicted dinosaur bones, which resembled those of humans, Aguilar said.
Scientists have already determined that dinosaurs suffered from tumors and arthritis, for example.
Dinosaur remains have been found in many parts of the state of Coahuila, in addition to Mexico's other northern desert states.
'We have a very rich history of paleontology,' Aguilar said.
He noted that during the Cretaceous period, which ended about 65 million years ago, much of what is now central northern Mexico was on the coast.
This has enabled researchers to unearth remains of both marine and land-based dinosaurs.
The presence of the remains was reported to INAH by locals in June 2012. After initial inspections, excavation began earlier this month. The remains of the tail will be transferred to General Cepeda for cleaning and further investigation.
An artist rendering provided by the National Geographic Society shows what a hadrosaur is believed to have looked like
Detention officer Kyle Adams, 24, pictured left, has admitted one count of misconduct in a public office after convincing a drunk suspect to perform oral sex on him while she was in custody at Bethnal Green Police Station, pictured right, in east London
A police officer who persuaded a female suspect to perform oral sex on him while she was held in custody is today facing jail.
Detention officer Kyle Adams, 24, had the illicit encounter with the woman after she was detained at Bethnal Green Police Station in east London.
The woman, who is in her 20s, had been arrested on suspicion of burglary but was later cleared, Southwark Crown Court heard.
She was drunk during the incident, which took place in the station's custody area between October 1 and 3 last year, said prosecutor Georgina Nicholas.
Wearing a blue and white checked shirt and grey pinstriped trousers, Adams admitted a single count of misconduct in a judicial or public office.
He was due to stand trial today, having originally denied the offence.
Adams, who has a history of depression, resigned from the Metropolitan Police on the day of the incident.
Adjourning sentence for reports, Judge Michael Gledhill QC warned Adams that all options were open: 'I am not making any promises whatsoever about what is going to happen to you.
'Your counsel has rightly conceded this case is very serious and crosses the custody threshold.
'I believe before you even saw a legal advisor you were well aware of the seriousness of what you had done.'
Adams, from Barking, Essex, has been released on bail and will be sentenced on September 2.
Young and in love: Transgender teens Arin Andrews, 17, seen posing for a picture with sweetheart Katie Hill, 19, at the Oologah Lake in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The teenage couple have been bullied and lost friends but have been able to support each other through their gender treatment
Teenagers Arin Andrews and Katie Hill look like any normal young couple posing in their swimwear.
It is hard to believe that just two years ago Arin was a girl called Emerald, and Katie was a boy called Luke.
Arin, 17, and Katie, 19, from Tulsa, Oklahoma, have both undergone surgeries to change their gender and now are enjoying being in their bodies they always wished for.
Just over a year ago Katie, a university student, had gender reassignment surgery, thanks to an amazing $35,000 donation from an anonymous donor who read her story in a local newspaper.
Now, Arin, who is still at school, has undergone an operation to remove both of his breasts, and is proudly showing off his new male physique.
Arin had an operation to remove his breasts and is proud of his new physique
For the last year, Arin has been binding up his chest to try to hide his female body, but can now go topless for the first time after his surgery in Cleveland, Ohio, in June.
He said: 'Now I can wear a tank top, which I couldn't before, I can go swimming shirtless, I can walk outside, I can just be a regular guy now.
'I hated my breasts, I always felt like they didn't belong - now I can finally be comfortable in my own body.'
He added: 'Now when I'm out in a public pool, or lifting weights, no-one raises an eyebrow, they just think I'm a guy - just a skinny dude in the gym trying to build some muscle.
'My family have really surprised me with how supportive they have been throughout the surgery. I'm so lucky to have them and Katie to rely on.'
Katie and Arin met nearly two years ago at a support group for transgender teenagers and bonded through their shared experiences.
Katie said: 'To me, Arin's just my Arin, he's always looked manly to me. But now he's had the surgery he's much more confident and comfortable with himself.'
Katie was a boy called Luke.
But now that the teens' physical appearance matches their gender, both of them are excited to be able to go swimming, boating and sunbathe like other couples.
Katie added: 'Being transgender myself, I understand Arin probably better than anybody else, how good he feels and how complete he feels.'
In the future, Arin might consider having genital surgery, but this can be complicated, and for now he's delighted with his new body.
Both the couple's families are supportive of their relationship and say the way the way the teenagers have supported each other has helped in their transition.
Arin's mum Denise Andrews said: 'Seeing Katie go through her surgery was helpful to Arin.
'It was being around it and seeing her getting to transform. And being a couple at the time was I think just the cherry on the cake.
'Every transgender person would love to have the transformation physically because it just completes them as a person.'
The last two years have been very difficult for the teenagers.
Arin, 17, and Katie, 19, from Tulsa, Oklahoma, have both undergone surgeries to change their gender and now are enjoying being in their bodies they always wished for.
Katie was bullied at school, and Arin had to change to a different high school when he revealed he was transgender, and has lost friends in the process.
'I lost one of my best friends through the transition,' said Arin. 'We used to go on vacations together and were like sisters.
'But I got the chance to open her eyes and show her I'm still a good person. I'm still the person I was, I just look different.
'She was gone for a while but then she came back.
'It taught me that the people who really love you need some time, but they'll always come back around.'
After he began dressing as a boy, Arin also lost a new male friend who learned about his past as a girl.
'He said: ''I pictured you as a girl, and I can't do it anymore,''' said Arin, adding: 'You can't just force people to be your friends.'
Katie started her degree course at an Oklahoma university last autumn but has struggled to make new friends because of prejudices against transgender people in the traditional Southern State.
She said: 'I had quite a lot of friends in college that were really close to me and then all of a sudden they just stopped talking to me.
'I think what happened is they found out I was trans through a story or word of mouth and they decided that was too much for them.'
The last two years have also been difficult for the teenager's families as they've come to terms with losing their son and daughter, and also some of their own friends.
Arin's mum Denise said: 'There are still a group of people we don't interact with any more. I know that they questioned me as a parent, they're not comfortable with it.'
But she added: 'A lot of people worry about losing the gender of their child. But as you look through albums and realise your babies are growing up, we also watched them grow up and turn into somebody different.
'Whether they stay the same gender or not, they become independent.'
Now their outward transformation is complete, the teenagers hope people will accept them as their new genders, and their difficulties will become a thing of the past.
