Society's ChildS

Eye 2

New York man arrested in attempted murder of 7-year-old

Image
David Alfonso
A western New York man was arrested in the alleged attempted murder of a 7-year-old girl, the Buffalo News and Niagara Gazette report.

Lockport, N.Y., police arrested David Alfonso, 28, on Monday after responding to a 911 call and finding Alfonso at an intersection covered in blood, the News reports.

Alfonso allegedly tried to kill the little girl, the child's mother, Cassandra Castro, 27, told police, according to the News.

In her call to emergency responders, the mother allegedly said, "He is killing my baby," the Gazette reports.

Arrow Down

Fake "fashion braces" are the latest Asian fashion trend

Brace
© Medical Daily
Most American teenagers can't wait to shed their "metal mouth" nickname and count down the days they can finally take their braces off. However, trendy teenagers in China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand can't wait to get them on, even if they don't need it.

Braces are the latest teenage fashion trend in Asia. According to the Vice UK, having a mouth of metal has become such a hit with Asian teens that there have been reports of many adolescents buying harmful, fake, black market braces.

Braces are considered a sign of wealth in Southeast Asia. A real set of braces in Bangkok, for example, will cost around $1,200, which is a considerable amount for a country with a GDP of $345 billion, compared to the US which had a GDP of $15.06 trillion in 2011.

Vice UK reports that the "best part" about the fashionable faux braces is that they don't need to be inserted by a medical professional. According to the website many Asian beauty salons are now offering to put in these fashion braces. There are even cheaper do-it-yourself kits that let people choose between "Hello Kitty", "Mickey Mouse" or other varieties for as little as $100.

Gear

Online article forces Giles County officials, police to cancel school on Wednesday

School Shooting
© RevelationNowAn online article claims to have found a connection between the shootings in Aurora and Newtown. It also includes a potential future target for 'the next school massacre.'
Giles County, Va., - On Wednesday, most students will head back to school but not those in Giles County. They were suppose to return to class but school was canceled after an online article raised concerns about safety.

The article is entitled: The Next School Massacre Target?". It's posted on a website that caters to conspiracy theories and UFOs.

"We have to take this as serious information," says Giles County Sheriff Morgan Millirons.

The article connects the Colorado movie theater shooting to last month's shooting in Connecticut and then to Narrows.

The author uses a scene in the latest Batman movie that shows a map of attack sites. One is called Sandy Hook, the other is Narrows. The author writes that it's plausible schools in Narrows, Virginia might be in danger.

"We just want to emphasize that no threat has been made to any school system here in Giles County," says Sheriff Millirons.

But police aren't taking any chances. On Tuesday, police issued a reverse 911 call to parents about the article.

Info

Kent man attacked by coyotes in his own backyard

Washington - A local man was attacked by coyotes in his own backyard and spent most of Friday night in the emergency room.

Now he is now warning others to be on the lookout - and he's especially worried for pets and children in the area.

Faron Scarberry says he moved to Kent about two weeks ago and he's already facing an unexpected danger in the neighborhood.

"I love wildlife," he says, "I like looking out the deck, looking at them. But when they're starting to threaten the animals and people in the neighborhood, it's gone a little bit overboard."

Scarberry says three coyotes attacked him Friday night while he was walking his dog in the backyard.

"They come up toward my face, and I kind of blocked them and pushed them away, and that's when the one grabbed me by the leg," he says.

Ambulance

Man found dead standing up in his kitchen

Image
© Photo: ALAMYMr Evans had consumed a lot of alcohol on the day and was four times over the drink drive limit
A coroner has described a man's death as 'bizarre' after he was found dead standing up in his kitchen.

Andrew Evans was discovered by a friend, who visited him at his home in East Grinstead, West Sussex, on May 10 this year.

Horsham Coroner's Court heard how the 35-year-old had injured his head earlier in the day, but is not believed to have realised how serious the injury was.

The court heard how Mr Evans had consumed a lot of alcohol on the day and was four times over the drink drive limit.

It is believed he died after blacking out as he reached into a cupboard in his kitchen, with his body falling against the kitchen fittings and remaining standing up.

The court heard how a friend of Mr Evans, who was not named, arrived at this home on May 10 to see him "standing in the kitchen" with his right hand reaching into a cupboard.

Pistol

Record gun sales at Virginia weapons show as families 'stock up' on arms after Sandy Hook massacre

Virginia gun show
© SplashCrowds browse assault rifles and ammunition at a gun show in Virginia.
A gun trade show in the U.S. has attracted huge crowds and posted record sales - just weeks after 20 children and six adults were shot dead in the Sandy Hook school massacre.

Many vendors at the Nation's Gun Show, held over three days in Chantilly, Virginia, struggled to keep up with demand as customers rushed to snap up assault-type rifles, handguns, ammunition and magazines.

As the debate over gun control continues to rage in the U.S. in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting on December 14, some commentators said boosted sales at the trade show were down to fears such weapons may not be on the market for much longer.

Camera

Paparazzo killed by oncoming traffic after photographing Justin Bieber's Ferrari

Image
Paparazzi have had nasty run-ins with pop star Justin Bieber, including a high-speed chase in July that prompted a city councilman to predict that such an encounter could end tragically.

It happened Tuesday.

A photographer, who thought he spied Bieber sitting in his parked white Ferrari, was struck and killed by oncoming traffic as he walked across a Los Angeles freeway to get back to his car after snapping photos.

An opportune picture of the 18-year-old celebrity can rake in hard currency -- but Bieber was not in the car at the time of the New Year's Day incident.

California Highway Patrol officers had pulled over Bieber's vehicle Tuesday evening at an off-ramp of Interstate 405.

The photographer spotted the sports car, parked his own vehicle across the street, crossed to get closer to Bieber's car and took photos of its occupants, said Los Angeles Police spokesman James Stoughton.

Stop

Ending India's rape culture

Image
© AP Photo/Manish SwarupAn Indian girl shouts during a protest in New Delhi, India, Monday, Dec. 31, 2012.
The crime seems incomprehensible. A 23-year-old physiotherapy student is dead, 12 days after having been raped for more than an hour by six men in a bus traveling on main roads in the Indian capital. Her internal injuries from the iron rod that her attackers used were so severe that doctors had to remove her intestines in their effort to save her life.

Indians, it seems, have had enough. Dozens of large and increasingly angry demonstrations have been held to demand that the government ensure women's security and stop treating rapists with impunity. While the authorities have sought to quell the protests - cordoning off central New Delhi and subjecting the rest of the city to traffic restrictions - violence has escalated. After a policeman died, live ammunition was fired into the crowds - killing a journalist, Bwizamani Singh, and provoking a rebuke from Reporters without Borders.

It is not simply the high rate of rape in India that is driving the protests' virulence. In a passionate speech, Kavita Krishnan, Secretary of the All India Progressive Women's Association, spoke to the deeper issue behind the protests: the blame-the-victim culture in India around sex crimes. She notes that government and police officials recently insisted that most rapists cannot be prosecuted in India, because, as one official put it, they are known to the women attacked. Other officials have publicly suggested that victims themselves are "asking for it" by their use of freedom of movement.

Pistol

Firearm applications on the rise as New Delhi gang rape victim laid to rest

Image
© AFP Photo / Sajjad HussainIndian protesters hold placards during a rally in New Delhi.
A sense of insecurity has gripped the female population in parts of India. As the ashes of the New Delhi gang rape victim were scattered over the Ganges River, hundreds of Indian women applied for firearm licenses and joined self-defense classes.

Since the news of the brutal gang rape and murder broke in December, 274 Delhi women have applied for gun licenses, Delhi police said. Some 1,200 more have called the licensing department to inquire how to obtain one.

"These include not only the average working woman, but even students who travel long distances to colleges and even their concerned parents. They were eager to find out more on the procedure to acquire arms," a Delhi police officer told The Times of India.

Hundreds turned up at the police department seeking permission to get a gun for self-defense, with officers having to explain that "a clear danger to one's life" should exist for someone in India to be given a license.

"They said that with even public transport no longer safe in the city, they just cannot take chances. When we told them this could not be reason enough, we were told to provide in writing that their daughters were indeed safe on Delhi's roads," the officer added.

Not only do the women of India suffer from male violence with impunity, they are also discriminated against in their rights to legally acquire arms, the Indian National Association for Gun Rights said.

"The fact that even parents are ready to hand over weapons to their daughters shows they are living in fear. There is a 20% increase in self-defence courses across the city," he concluded.

Ambulance

Ten dead in Angola New Year's Eve stampede

Image
© WikimapiaCitadela Desportiva stadium
Ten people, including four children, were killed and 120 wounded as they attempted to enter a cramped stadium for a New Year's Eve vigil in Luanda, Angola. The tragedy was one in a string of deadly incidents during New Year's festivities.

The stampede victims were asphyxiated in the crowd, or crushed at the stadium's gates.

An estimated 70,000 people were initially expected to attend the event, but far more turned up, a representative of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (IURD) told Reuters.

The mass was staged in the capital's Citadela Desportiva stadium by a Pentecostal church, established in 1977 in Brazil. The faith boasts more than 8 million followers in the South American country, the Church's website claims.