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Ambulance

Firefighters describe haunting scene upon discovering Jessica Chambers, who was burned alive, during murder trial

jessica chambers
Three years after a 19-year-old woman was burned alive on a road in rural Mississippi about 60 miles south of Memphis, a man that she reportedly had a relationship with is facing the death penalty in connection with her killing.

In the first day of trial for Quinton Tellis, now 29, first responder Cole Haley said he was so shaken by his encounter with the badly burned Jessica Chambers that he was traumatized for months.

"She had her arms out, saying, 'Help me, help me, help me,' " Haley testified Tuesday, wiping away tears. "Her hair was fried like it had been stuck in a light socket. Her face was black, and her body was severely burned."

Haley and two other firefighters had responded to a truck driver's call about a car fire Dec. 6, 2014, on Herron Road just outside Courtland, Miss.

Pistol

Gunman opens fire at Trelleborg market in Sweden, 4 seriously injured, one person detained

shooting trelleborg market sweden
© Ruptly
At least four have been seriously injured after at least one gunman reportedly opened fire at a market in Trelleborg, Sweden, according to local authorities, who launched a "major police operation" in response to the incident.

At least four people have been taken to hospital, local media report. The police initially said that the four victims suffered gunshot wounds, but have later clarified their statement.


People 2

Pakistan struck down 'un-Islamic' minimum marriage age proposal

Bride and groom
© Akhtar Soomro / Reuters
A bride and groom wearing traditional garlands, wait for their wedding to start, Karachi, Pakistan.
Pakistan's Senate has struck down legislation governing the minimum age girls can marry, saying a Bill to increase the legal age from 16 to 18 was un-Islamic.

The Child Marriage Restraint Bill was rejected after Senator Sehar Kamran, the lawmaker driving the proposal, had her request for a deferment denied on the grounds that she would not be present.

The chairman of the Senate Standing Committee, Rehman Malik, cited advice from religious scholars as reasons why he thought the committee should reject the Bill.

"I have also discussed it with religious scholars and they also believe that girls can be married before the age of 18 according to Islam, so these kinds of bills cannot be passed," he said in the Senate Wednesday.

Eye 1

Overweight farm worker killed 79 piglets by belly flopping on them, jailed for 15 months along with friend who filmed the sickening 'prank'

farmer jumps on piglets
A farm worker who killed 79 piglets by belly flopping on them has been jailed for 15 months, along with a work colleague who filmed the sickening 'prank'.

A court in Spain ruled the man's actions were 'unjustifiable and cruel' and banned both of them from being involved in any profession connected to animals for three and a half years.

They were also ordered to pay compensation of 4,470 euros, 60 euros for each piglet, to the company that owned the animals.

The man's triple dive on the pigs in a farm in Huercal-Overa in Almeria was circulated on Whatsapp and the social networks by the friend who filmed the episode on his mobile phone.

House

Homes are not assets to be passed on to children, says Conservative minister

Jackie Doyle-Price
© Martin Godwin for the Guardian
Labour released the footage of Jackie Doyle-Price speaking at the Tory conference.
Homes should not be seen as assets for parents to pass to their children, a Conservative minister has said in new footage recorded from the party's conference, which Labour said resurrected the idea of a "dementia tax".

The social care minister, Jackie Doyle-Price, told a fringe meeting that many older people were "sitting in homes that really are too big for their needs" and said the party was still looking to make reforms to the funding of social care.

"The reality is that the taxpayer shouldn't necessarily be propping up people to keep their property and hand it on to their children when they're generating massive care needs," she told the Social Market Foundation fringe in footage released by the Labour party.

"We've got to a stage where people feel that they are the custodian of an asset to give to their offspring ... They shouldn't be seen as that."

Later in the same meeting, she added: "We are very much looking at, when the review comes up, we will be looking at the whole issue of caps and floors."

Arrow Down

Navy Times survey reveals 'disastrous morale' aboard Japan-based USS Shiloh cruiser, sailors doubt warship could fulfill its tasks

Japan-based USS Shiloh cruiser
© AFP 2017/ Robert Gonzaga

Surveys obtained by the Navy Times, the oldest and most trusted news source about US sailors, the military and the DoD, have revealed 'disastrous morale' aboard the Japan-based USS Shiloh cruiser, a vital link in the 7th Fleet's West Pacific mission to deter North Korea, and morbid fear of its former Commanding Officer.

One of the sailors referred to the military vessel as a "floating prison," while another one warned that "it's only a matter of time before something horrible happens", according to the three surveys, which have been conducted among the sailors of USS Shiloh during the 26-month command of Capt. Adam M. Aycock's, who rotated out as scheduled in a standard change-of-command ceremony on August 30.

The warship, which is based at the US Navy base in Yokosuka, Japan, is part of the 7th Fleet's West Pacific mission to deter North Korea. The comments however reveal that the sailors doubt it could fulfill its tasks.

"I just pray we never have to shoot down a missile from North Korea," one of the servicemen said, "because then our ineffectiveness will really show."

Comment: No wonder US forces in a morale crisis
The history of crimes and lies is catching up with American imperialism. Its never-ending need for wars around the world is no longer tenable. The US is not pursuing some noble crusade. It never has been. It is a warmongering state that is addicted to wars of conquest in order to satisfy the economic lust of its elites.

One might conjecture that this realization is dawning on more and more serving US personnel. Their operations, sacrifices and violence against others is not for any just cause. This realization inevitably leads to flagging morale among ordinary servicemen, whether they are riding in a Humvee in the Middle East, installing missile systems in NATO countries on Russia's border, or sailing ships that threaten nuclear war with North Korea and China.
See also: Report claims US war machine 'outdated & unprepared for war'


Briefcase

Man sues city of Cleveland for arresting him over parody Facebook page

Anthony Novak
A man acquitted of a felony for creating a fake Facebook page that parodied a suburban Cleveland police department is suing the city, saying they violated his right to free speech.

Anthony Novak filed the lawsuit Tuesday against the city of Parma and three officers.

He created a Facebook page in March 2016 that appeared similar to the page of Parma's police department, and he posted items suggesting police were performing free abortions for teenagers. The page also suggested it would be illegal to help the homeless for three months, and it had a recruitment post "strongly encouraging minorities to not apply."

Parma police announced an investigation into the page the day it was created. Novak, 28, took the page down less than 12 hours after putting it up. Officers sent Facebook a letter requesting that the Menlo Park, California-based company shut the page down, and they issued a subpoena to obtain Novak's identity.

Novak was charged with disrupting public services, a fourth-degree felony that carries a sentence of up to 18 months in prison. A SWAT team raided his apartment and confiscated his laptops, cellphones, tablets and gaming consoles.

Comment: Freedom of speech includes the freedom to be an inconsiderate imbecile.


Family

3-year-old boy left behind by family overnight at corn maze

Corn
Police say a 3-year-old boy spent the night in child welfare custody after he got lost at a Utah corn maze.

Police Sgt. Joe Monson said Tuesday the child was apparently left behind while visiting the Crazy Corn Maze in the Salt Lake City suburb of West Jordan with a large family group.

Monson told the New York Daily News that the boy and his mother went to the maze with a big group of people and somehow became separated.

Heart - Black

Miami Herald investigation reveals juvenile prison guards ran fight clubs, state attacks Herald over claims

fence
© JoshuaDavisPhotography/Flickr
No amount of government PR can erase the images the Miami Herald published today. Investigative reporters Carol Marbin Miller and Audra D.S. Burch obtained stomach-churning video of Florida juvenile offenders fighting one another after being groomed as attack mobs by state guards. Scores of surveillance videos show groups of teenage boys sucker-punching, stomping, and beating up other kids, breaking noses, eye sockets, and a host of other bones in the process. The Herald uncovered tales of rape, molestation, children beaten to death, and a justice system that let almost every guard involved walk free without consequence.

In response, the state Department of Juvenile Justice released a statement today that effectively boils down to "actually, we're doing a great job." Rather than, say, offer a contrite explanation as to why hard video evidence and scores of witness testimonies show that Florida's juvenile prison system is a humanitarian nightmare, DJJ Secretary Christina K. Daly instead attacked the Herald's reporting.

"Today, the Miami Herald published a series of stories about the juvenile justice system in Florida that blatantly neglects to recognize DJJ's years of aggressive, innovative reform efforts and nationally recognized success serving Florida's youth and communities," the department wrote.

Briefcase

Disney, Weinstein company may face lawsuits as scandal continues

Mickey and Minnie Mouse
© Bertrand Guay/AFP/Getty
Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg, who ran the Walt Disney Company during the Harvey Weinstein years (1993-2005), have both denied any knowledge of Weinstein's alleged sexual misconduct during those years. This would include any sexual harassment settlements made during that time. The Weinstein Company also denies any knowledge. These denials could be tested in a court of law should those alleging harassment and abuse choose to press the issue of corporate liability.

In 1979, two brothers from the outer boroughs of New York, Bob and Harvey Weinstein, had a dream and founded Miramax. Named after their parents, Miriam and Max, the company specialized in distributing smaller films, independent products the studios were not interested in.