Society's ChildS

Handcuffs

Mexico arrests six suspects for rape of Spanish tourists

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© Reuters / Jacobo Garcia Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam (L) and Guerrero state governor Angel Aguirre attends a news conference in Acapulco February 13, 2013.
Acapulco - Mexico has arrested six men who confessed to the rape of six female Spanish tourists in Acapulco, a crime that drew global attention to the popular Mexican resort.

"We have six detainees who have confessed, totally confessed," Mexican Attorney General Jesus Murillo said on Wednesday at a news conference in Acapulco.

Early on February 4, hooded gunmen forced their way into a beach house the women rented, roughed up their seven male companions and raped the women.

Murillo said one of the suspects was apprehended on Tuesday, and the other five were detained overnight. Local officials said there was physical evidence that implicated the suspects.

Sheriff

RCMP accused of rape in report on British Columbia aboriginal women


The RCMP says it wants to get to the bottom of abuse allegations against its officers in British Columbia involving aboriginal women and girls, but says individuals making the claims must come forward to allow police to conduct a proper investigation.

Those comments followed the release Wednesday of a report by New York-based Human Rights Watch detailing the claims - which include police threats, torture and sexual assault. The report calls on the federal government to launch a national inquiry.

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© CBC NewsB.C.'s Highway 16 and a complex of routes linked to it have collectively come to be known as the Highway of Tears
Two researchers - one from Canada and one from the U.S. - spent five weeks last summer in the province's north, visiting 10 communities between Prince George to Prince Rupert and hearing accounts from aboriginal women of alleged mistreatment at the hands of police.

First Nations communities they visited are all linked to B.C.'s so-called "Highway of Tears," where 18 women have disappeared over the past several decades.

Meghan Rhoad, a U.S. researcher with Human Rights Watch, told reporters in Ottawa on Wednesday she is hopeful the RCMP will take the recommendations seriously.

"We met with the RCMP yesterday, and I am encouraged by the level of seriousness in how they are reviewing this report," Rhoad said.

RCMP Chief Supt. Janice Armstrong said in a statement released Wednesday the force is taking the allegations "very seriously," but added it needs more help to investigate further.

"In a written response to a series of questions posed by Human Rights Watch in fall 2012, the RCMP emphasized the seriousness of allegations of police misconduct and that these allegations must be brought forward for proper investigation.

"We also explained that complaints could be made to the RCMP directly, to the Commission of Public Complaints against the RCMP or to other independent investigative bodies without fear of retaliation."

The researchers interviewed 50 aboriginal women and girls, plus family members and service providers in northern B.C. They heard stories of police pepper-spraying and using Tasers on young aboriginal girls, and of women being strip-searched by male officers.

Heart - Black

Cardinal Peter Turkson, possible pope successor, has defended legislation like Uganda's 'kill the gays' bill

Cardinal Peter Turkson
© AP Photo/Domenico StinellisCardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana has defended anti-gay legislation, like Uganda's "Kill the Gays" bill. Here, he poses for a photograph following an interview with the Associated Press in Rome on Feb. 2013. One of Africa's brightest hopes to be the next pope, Ghanian Cardinal Turkson, says the time is right for a pontiff from the developing world.
One of the frontrunners to succeed Pope Benedict XVI has defended anti-gay legislation like Uganda's so-called "Kill the Gays" bill.

GayStarNews notes that Cardinal Peter Turkson, 64, of Ghana is a supporter of homophobic legislation and has defended Africa's anti-gay laws on the basis of African culture.

Turkson claimed during a United Nations summit last February that such laws could be permissible in society because the "intensity of the reaction is probably commensurate with tradition," according to the National Catholic Register. "Just as there's a sense of a call for rights, there's also a call to respect culture, of all kinds of people," he said when discussing the stigma surrounding homosexuality in Africa. "So, if it's being stigmatized, in fairness, it's probably right to find out why it is being stigmatized."

Turkson also criticized U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who has called for Africa to decriminalize homosexuality and end discrimination based on sexual orientation. "When you're talking about what's called 'an alternative lifestyle,' are those human rights?" said Turkson, according to NCR. "He [Ban Ki-moon] needs to recognize there's a subtle distinction between morality and human rights, and that's what needs to be clarified."

Uganda's "Kill the Gays" bill, which would make gay relations punishable by death, might be one of the most contested pieces of proposed legislation, but it doesn't stand alone. Homosexuality is criminalized in 37 African countries.

Top Secret

Judge limits questioning in JZ Knight (aka Ramtha) suit

JZ Knight
© Ramtha.com
An attorney for a former student of Ramtha's School of Enlightenment is barred from asking the school's leader, JZ Knight, about alleged practices such as encouraging students to drink a liquid containing lye that, according to the former student's affidavit, is supposed to "accelerate our individual enlightenment."

Thurston County Superior Court Judge Gary Tabor ruled Friday in anticipation of Knight's videotaped deposition that will be part of a breach-of-contract lawsuit brought by JZK Inc. against former student Virginia Coverdale.

Tabor ruled that during Knight's deposition, Coverdale's attorney, Shawn Newman, can ask Knight only questions that are directly relevant to the lawsuit. The suit seeks damages in response to Coverdale's release of videos showing Knight making derogatory comments about Mexicans, Catholics and others last year.

Reposting of the videos by a local conservative think tank, the Freedom Foundation, prompted Republicans to call for Democratic candidates to give back campaign contributions they had received from Knight prior to the Nov. 6 election.

The suit also seeks a permanent injunction barring Coverdale from releasing any other unauthorized materials belonging to the school. The school alleges the materials are protected by a contract Coverdale signed upon enrollment.

A restraining order barring any such release of protected materials is in place pending the outcome of the lawsuit.

Bug

Swedish golfer stabs self with golf tee to extract dangerous spider venom

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© via Ladies European Tour
A quick-thinking Swedish golfer has told how she used a tee to extract venom from her leg after being bitten by a dangerous spider during a qualifying tournament in Australia.

The Swedish Golf Federation reported on their website how 24-year-old Daniela Holmqvist saw a redback spider on her lower leg and then felt a sharp pain above her left ankle.

Seeing her leg swell up, Holmqvist did not seek medical attention but instead grabbed a golf tee from her bag, pierced her skin and squeezed out as much venom as possible.

Grey Alien

Remote learning course on alien life proves popular

ET
© Scotsman.comThe hunt for ET is on at Edinburgh University.
For stargazing students, it's a course which is proving to be out of this world.

Classes in "astrobiology and the search for extra-terrestrial life" are among six modules which have seen more than 300,000 new enrolments at Edinburgh University - each taking in lessons from the comfort of their own home.

The institution's free remote learning courses have proved an international hit, with the number of people signing up rising by 50 per cent in just two months.

Professor Charles Cockell said the response to his lectures in the hunt for aliens had left him overwhelmed.

He said: "I think people are interested in the history of life on Earth and whether there could be life elsewhere, but I was surprised by the response.

"The course asks questions about how life originated and how it came to be on Earth, life in extreme environments and the possibility of the existence of life on other planets like Mars. Right at the end of the course there's a discussion about extra-terrestrials, what the consequences of detection would be and the possibility of life beyond.

"Anyone can sign up from anywhere but I have been quite astonished by the sheer diversity of people who have.

Bizarro Earth

Meth lab found in golf course portable toilet

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A small methamphetamine production laboratory was discovered inside a portable toilet at a Purcell, Okla., golf course, investigators said.

After staffers at the club noticed sports drink bottles containing chemicals inside the toilet and called police, it was determined the facility was being used to make meth by the "shake and bake" method of causing a chemical reaction in a single container, KFOR-TV, Oklahoma City, reported Wednesday.

Colosseum

Frenchman dies after being rejected for unemployment benefit and setting himself on fire in front of jobs agency

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A 43-year-old man has committed suicide by setting himself on fire in front of a French employment agency in the city of Nantes.

The man died from his wounds in front of the Pรดle Emploi agency, Ouest France reported.

Earlier this week, the man sent two emails to local media, warning that he would set himself on fire after finding out that he was no longer eligible for unemployment benefits.

"Today is a big day for me because I am going to self-immolate in front of the employment agency," one of the letters read.

He also said he would use five liters of gasoline to burn himself, according to local daily Presse Ocean.

Local police attempted to contact the man earlier Wednesday morning, but said he did not answer.

Comment: A country that goes to war to sustain itself is a country that has only one place to go: down.


Heart - Black

UAE court sentences father to death who tortured two daughters

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© AFP Photo
A UAE court on Wednesday sentenced to death an Emirati father for torturing his two daughters, one of them to death, and jailed his mistress for life on the same charges, local media reported.

"An Emirati father who mercilessly tortured and killed his eight-year-old daughter Wadeema will be executed," reported local daily Gulf News on its website.

The Dubai Court of First Instance sentenced 29-year-old Hamad Saud Juma al-Shirawi, a security official, to death. His 27-year-old girlfriend Al-Anoud Mohammed al-Ameri, a housewife, was jailed for life, said the daily.

Handcuffs

Newark cops arrest 3 in connection with savage video showing thugs stripping, whipping teenage boy over $20

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© Shutterstock
Police in Newark, NJ arrested three people on Tuesday in connection with a video of a savage beating of a teenage boy. According to the New York Daily News, police acted after the video of the brutal attack went viral, racking up tens of thousands of views.

In the video, the victim can be seen being ordered to strip off his clothes before another man attacks him with a belt, beating him ruthlessly for more than two minutes as the victim cowers and cries out in pain.

Authorities say that they have arrested a 19-year-old man and charged him with robbery, conspiracy and aggravated assault. Two others were arrested, the cameraman who filmed the attack and one other person. No names were released.