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Paedophile snared by police after he takes picture of a girl at his home with shop sign in the background

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Pervert: David Mellor was jailed for six years
Police traced a paedophile to his home after the indecent picture he took of a girl had a giveaway shop sign in the background.

David Mellor, 62, didn't spot he had included it when he photographed the underage girl, in his kitchen and posted the picture on the internet.

But officers in Lincoln recognised the sign and identified the street and his home from the picture's angle.

The image was seen on a file-sharing website by a specialist officer with the Child Exploitation and Online Protection unit.

When police raided Mellor's property they found more then 8,000 indecent images of children on a computer.

He was jailed for six years at Lincoln Crown Court after admitting 18 sex offences involving indecent images and also breaking a court prevention order.

Bad Guys

India gang rape: Six men charged with murder

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© Photograph: Krishnendu Halder/ReutersProtesters rally in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad to mourn the victim of a vicious gang rape who has died nearly two weeks after she was attacked.
Death of student gang-raped by six men and thrown from a moving bus in Delhi two weeks ago prompts mass protests

Indian police have charged six men with murder, hours after a woman who was gang-raped and thrown from a moving bus in Delhi nearly two weeks ago died in a Singapore hospital.

Police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said the men could face the death penalty if convicted. Officials said that authorities would press for the harshest possible punishment.

The announcement came as thousands of Indians gathered to mourn and protest the death of the 23-year-old medical student. The woman, who has not been named, sustained serious internal injuries after being violated with an iron bar during the attack, which took place on 16 December and triggered mass demonstrations calling for better protection for women against sexual violence.

She died late on Friday in the Singapore hospital where she was being treated.

Her family had been keeping a bedside vigil after she suffered severe organ failure. She was flown to Singapore from India two days ago as her condition worsened.

Authorities in India reacted with statements of grief, calls for calm and a huge security operation.

Heart - Black

Police suspect Brenda Stokes killed 10-year-old Jade Morris before attacking co-worker with razor blades

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Brenda Stokes Wilson appears in Clark County Justice Court, Friday, Dec. 28, 2012, in Las Vegas.
Police suspect that a casino worker killed a 10-year-girl before going to a Las Vegas resort and allegedly slashing the face of a co-worker with razor blades.

The search for Jade Morris ended Friday afternoon when officials confirmed that it was her body that was found a day earlier in an undeveloped housing tract.

The Clark County coroner's office said she died of multiple stab wounds,

Jade was last seen Dec. 21 with family friend Brenda Stokes Wilson, who picked her up to go Christmas shopping.

Wilson, 50, returned the car she had borrowed for the outing to a friend two hours later. Jade never came back. Investigators later found blood on the driver's door and steering wheel of the 2007 Saab sedan.

Later that night, Wilson was wrestled to the ground with razors in each hand after allegedly slashing the face of a female co-worker at the Bellagio casino.

A judge raised her bail to $60,000 from $600,000 Friday morning after she was identified as the prime suspect in the child's killing.

"It's no secret the defendant is the suspect in the murder of 10-year-old Jade Morris," prosecutor Robert Daskas told Senior Clark County District Court Judge Joseph Bonaventure at the hearing.

Arrow Up

Belgium to charge Church of Scientology with fraud and extortion - reports

Church of Scientology
© AFP Photo / Frederic J. Brown
After a long lasting legal battle Belgium prosecutors demand to label the Church of Scientology as a criminal organization and charge it and its leaders with extortion, fraud, privacy breaches, and the illegal practice of medicine.

The subpoenas have been sent to the scientologists, the local financial newspaper De Tijd reported.

The charges against the Church of Scientology stem from employment contracts issued to recruit volunteers and members allegedly breaching the country's strict employment laws. In Belgium as in some other countries Scientology is not recognized as a faith.

In 2008 the Belgium Labor Mediation Service complained about number of labor contracts, prompting an investigation.

A judge then ordered raids on Scientology premises where police allegedly "managed to seize a wealth of evidence," that the organization had spied on and extorted money from its members, the Flanders News reported.

Bad Guys

Fake prophet rapes woman in Mutare, Zimbabwe

Mutare
© Wikimedia Commons
Police in Mutare last week arrested a self-proclaimed prophet of the Johane Masowe Apostolic sect who allegedly raped a city woman once under the pretext of exorcising demons.

Alfred Makurumidze (40) of 2514 Chikanga 2 had claimed that the victim, Cecilia Mangwarara (23) had so many demons and other spiritual complications that she needed all night cleansing.

Police confirmed the rape which happened around 6 pm and have urged members of the public to be wary of bogus prophets.

"A rising number of fake prophets raping unsuspecting women are becoming a cause of concern. Women should be very careful when dealing with these people. They should avoid getting into secluded places because they end up being vulnerable. As police we are leaving no stone unturned in thwarting those shameful acts. This is unacceptable," said Manicaland provincial police spokesman, Inspector Enock Chishiri.

On December 17, Mangwarara of 10 Azalia Street in Palmerstone was walking along Magamba road from Chikanga Phase 1 looking for transport to town at around 6 pm.

She met Makurumidze who was clad in Johane Masowe Apostolic church regalia. He told Mangwarara that the spirit had told him that she was having spiritual problems and demons which needed to be "exorcised". He said that he needed all night to cleanse her and make her spiritually pure. He asked the woman to accompany him to his house. She complied and went with him.

Sherlock

Update: Blood found in car of Vegas dealer suspected of murdering 10-year-old girl

Jade Morris, Brenda Stokes
© The Associated PressThis split photo shows 10-year-old Jade Morris, left, who was last seen with 50-year-old Brenda Stokes.
Las Vegas - Blood was found inside a car borrowed by a Las Vegas Strip card dealer last seen with a missing 10-year-old girl and later arrested in the razor blade slashing of a co-worker at the posh Bellagio resort, a prosecutor said Friday.

Brenda Stokes Wilson was identified in court Friday as the prime suspect in the slaying, although prosecutor Robert Daskas told a judge that authorities haven't positively identified the girl found dead Thursday in an undeveloped housing tract in North Las Vegas.

"It's no secret the defendant is the suspect in the murder of 10-year-old Jade Morris," Daskas said as he convinced Senior Clark County District Court Judge Joseph Bonaventure to increase Wilson's bail from $60,000 to $600,000 pending the filing of kidnapping and murder charges.

Daskas said a weapon was used in the slaying, but he didn't elaborate.

Clark County Coroner Michael Murphy said it could be Friday afternoon before DNA testing is complete and he can positively say the body is Jade Morris. The girl was last seen by her family Dec. 21, when Wilson picked her up to go Christmas shopping. She never returned.

Wilson, 50, was arrested later that night after she was wrestled to the ground with razors in each hand following a face-slashing attack on a female co-worker, Joyce Rhone, at the Bellagio.

Wilson has been jailed on felony battery with a weapon, burglary and mayhem charges that could get her decades in prison. Police said she has offered no help in the search for the missing girl. Murder and kidnapping charges could get her life in prison without parole or the death penalty.

Wilson stood in court flanked by eight police officers as her lawyer, Tony Liker, clutching a Bible and a copy of the charging documents, asked the judge to postpone arraignment until Wednesday to give him time to meet with Wilson.

Liker declined comment outside court.

Laptop

Personal info held by government on thousands of Canadians goes missing

Thousands of Canadians are being told that personal information about them held by the government has gone missing.

The federal privacy commissioner's office was notified earlier this month by Human Resources and Development Canada that the data had been lost.

About 5,000 people are believed to be affected and are receiving letters notifying them of the privacy breach and steps they need to take to protect themselves.

A spokeswoman for the privacy commissioner says it's too early to say whether a formal investigation into the incident will be launched.

But the commissioner's office is now working with HRSDC to try and figure out what happened.

The department handles a variety of files including pensions and old age security.

Source: The Canadian Press

Heart - Black

India gang-rape victim dies in Singapore hospital

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© Reuters /Ahmad MasoodA demonstrator shouts slogans during a protest rally in New Delhi December 27, 2012.
The Indian gang-rape victim whose assault in New Delhi triggered nationwide protests died in hospital on Saturday of injuries suffered in the attack, a Singapore hospital treating her said.

The death of the 23-year-old medical student could spawn new protests and possibly fresh confrontations with the police, especially in the Indian capital, which has been the focus of the demonstrations.

"We are very sad to report that the patient passed away peacefully at 4:45 a.m. on Dec 29, 2012 (15:45 a.m. ET Friday). Her family and officials from the High Commission of India were by her side," Mount Elizabeth Hospital Chief Executive Officer Kelvin Loh said in a statement.

The woman, who was severely beaten, raped and thrown out of a moving bus in New Delhi, was flown to Singapore by the Indian government on Wednesday for specialist treatment.

Most rapes and other sex crimes in India go unreported and offenders are rarely punished, women's rights activists say. But the brutality of the assault on December 16 triggered public outrage and demands for better policing and harsher punishment for rapists.

The case has received blanket coverage on cable television news channels. The woman has not been identified but some Indian media have called her "Amanat", an Urdu word meaning "treasure".

Eye 1

Your tax dollars at work: Turns out TSA screeners may be critiquing your physique after all

TSA agent
TSA agent
When your body passes through the TSA's backscatter X-ray at the airport, dangly bits and all, it's hard not to imagine that somewhere in the backroom, a team of agents is sitting around with a bowl of popcorn and openly critiquing your physique.

"Could use a little more leg work at the gym," one agent cracks to another. "Definitely. And time to lay off the carbs," the other agent retorts as he stuffs a handful of popcorn in his mouth. And not just your body either. Everyone's shape is up for debate in that moving assembly line of radiated boobs and butts.

Of course, the truth is that TSA agents are trained to look for weapons, drugs and other things that should not be boarding a plane, and that's likely where their eyes are focused. After a while they probably stop noticing the bodies that may or may not be attached to these items in the first place.

In most cases anyway. Because as ABC News reports, an anonymous blogger claiming to be a former TSA screener says that while agents in private screening rooms tend to handle themselves professionally, the image operating room is pretty much the high school locker room of your worst nightmares.

Snakes in Suits

David Koch now taking aim at Hurricane Sandy victims

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© AP Photo
Billionaire David Koch's prime political organization, Americans for Prosperity (AFP), having failed in its $125 million quest to oust President Barack Obama, is now aiming at a slightly less sophisticated political target: victims of Hurricane Sandy.

Hurricane Sandy was the second most costly in American history, leaving 100 lives lost, over $50 billion in devastation and tens of thousands of damaged or destroyed homes. Legislative efforts to help those who survived Hurricane Sandy's wrath will reach a major stumbling block.

Earlier this week, AFP, which is chaired by Koch and believed to be financed by several other plutocrats from the New York City region, released a letter warning members of Congress not to vote for the proposed federal aid package for victims of the storm that swept New Jersey, New York City and much of the surrounding area in October. An announcement on the group's website says that the vote next week for the Sandy aid package will be a "key vote" - meaning senators who support sending money for reconstruction could face an avalanche of attack ads in their next election. Already, opposition to the bill is growing, although it passed one procedural hurdle last night.

There is some legitimate criticism with aspects of the legislation, including the fact that some of the money will go to non-Sandy related reconstruction efforts in disaster areas. For AFP, however, the whole bill must die and victims of the storm deserve no help from the government.

Koch's top deputy in New Jersey, a surly gentleman named Steve Lonegan, who heads the local AFP state chapter, called the aid package a "disgrace." "This is not a federal government responsibility," Lonegan told reporters. "We need to suck it up and be responsible for taking care of ourselves."