Society's ChildS


Treasure Chest

Spanish police seize 4.5 tons of cocaine hidden in cow hides


Raw Story
Wed, 06 Feb 2013 15:03 UTC
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© AFP Photo
Spanish police said Wednesday they had seized 4.1 tonnes of cocaine worth nearly a quarter of a billion euros in one of the biggest ever seizures of the drug in the country.

The cocaine was found at a warehouse in the eastern city of Elche, hidden in containers of cow hides that came by boat from Colombia and were to be delivered to a shoe maker, police said in a statement.

The cocaine was stored in thousands of packages containing just over a kilo (two pounds) of the drug each, enough for around 82 million doses.

The cocaine is worth nearly 242 million euros ($327 million) and was destined for distribution in Spain and across Europe.
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Dollars

India: Soaring food prices hurt family budget

S. Sasidharan
Deccan Chronicle
Wed, 06 Feb 2013 14:55 UTC
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The prices of rice varieties, the staple diet for most of the families, have skyrocketed with retailers claiming that the wholesalers are hoarding it and seek government intervention to regulate the foodgrains trade.
Prices of boiled and raw rice have gone through the roof. They have witnessed a steep increase this month with a 25-kg bag of the moderately priced variety of Ponni crossing '1,000.

Homemakers are concerned about the increased prices of staple commodities, as they are forced to shell out more. Retail traders attribute it to illegal hoarding by wholesalers and seek government intervention to streamline the trade.

Though the prices of rice has been going north since the last few months, it has gone up significantly this month, by Rs 4- Rs 6 a kg across all varieties, say retailers.

"For instance, the fast selling boiled Ponni rice, which sold for Rs 900-Rs 950 a bag, is now being sold for Rs 1,100- Rs 1,150. White Ponni's price has touched Rs 1,250 from Rs 1,050," informed Mr S.P. Soruban, president, TN Maligai Vyab­arigal Sangam.
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Arrow Up

South Africa: Price of food 'set to soar'


iol News
Tue, 05 Feb 2013 14:50 UTC
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A woman protester shouts out as she and others protest against low wages paid by farmers.
Prepare for the price of food to rocket following the 52-percent minimum-wage increase for farmworkers announced on Monday.

After negotiations with farmers, the Department of Labour and workers, Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant almost doubled the minimum wage from R69 to R105 a day, promulgated for a three-year period. During years two and three, wages would be increased by the consumer price index plus 1.5 percent.

However, she said, the wage did not amount to a "balanced daily food plate" for workers but her department and the Employment Conditions Commission were mindful of the findings of the Bureau for Food and Agriculture Policy report, which stated that the increase meant farmers "were unable to cover their operating costs or pay back borrowing".
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Ambulance

Three killed during tanker truck explosion in Georgia

Russ Bynam
ABC News
Wed, 06 Feb 2013 12:51 UTC
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© 13WMAZ TV/AP PhotoIn this image made from video and provided by 13WMAZ TV, black smoke rises above a fiery crash on Interstate 16 near Montrose, Ga., about 40 miles southeast of Macon, Feb. 6, 2013, after several vehicles collided, killing at least three people.
More than two dozen vehicles collided in a fiery pileup on a foggy Georgia interstate on Wednesday morning, killing at least three people and leaving several others hurt, officials said.

Laurens County EMS director Terry Cobb, who is at the scene on Interstate 16 in central Georgia, told The Associated Press at least six vehicles were still on fire when crews arrived. Emergency officials encountered fog on the way to the crash site, though it was not immediately known if that was a factor in the wreck, Cobb said.

"Once we got there, the fog was kind of lifted at the scene," he said.

A total of 27 vehicles were involved in four separate accidents around 8:10 a.m., the Georgia State Patrol said in a news release.
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Ambulance

Two 'young children,' one woman dead in Denver murder-suicide shooting

David Edwards
Raw Story
Wed, 06 Feb 2013 12:16 UTC
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Police are investigating a shooting in Denver that left three people dead and another injured.

Denver Police said that that one woman and two children under the age of 10 were found dead at the 4900 block of Pearl Street, according to KCNC. Police described the incident as an apparent murder-suicide involving the mother of the children. There was no indication of additional shooters.
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Bizarro Earth

Hysteria: Second-grade student suspended for imaginary weapon

Jessica Maher
Denver Post
Wed, 06 Feb 2013 12:12 UTC
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© screengrab via KDVR
A 7-year-old Mary Blair Elementary School student says he's confused about getting in trouble for trying to save the world from evil, though Thompson School District officials contend that the boy broke one of the school's "absolutes."

Parent Mandie Watkins said Mary Blair principal Valerie Lara-Black called her Friday afternoon to inform her that her second-grade son, Alex, had been suspended for throwing an imaginary grenade during recess on the playground.

Alex did not have anything in his hand at the time and made no threats toward other people, Watkins reportedly was told.

Watkins said Alex's story matched up with the principal's account: He threw the pretend grenade at an imaginary box that had something evil inside.
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Bizarro Earth

Poachers kill 11,000 Gabon elephants in under a decade


Guardian
Wed, 06 Feb 2013 12:07 UTC
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© Photograph: WWFAn estimated 11,100 elephants have been killed since 2004 in the Minkebe national park alone.
The African country is home to half the world's 100,000 forest elephants, coveted by ivory dealers for their tusks

Poachers have killed more than 11,000 elephants in Gabon's Minkebe national park rainforest since 2004, Gabon's government said on Wednesday, with the massacre fuelled by increasing demand for ivory in Asia.

The densely forested central African country is home to about half the world's roughly 100,000 remaining forest elephants, the smallest species of elephant and coveted by ivory dealers for their harder and straighter tusks.

A study conducted by Gabon's government along with advocacy groups WWF and the Wildlife Conservation Society found two-thirds of the forest elephants in Minkebe park had been killed off since 2004, or about 11,100.

"If we don't reverse this situation rapidly, the future of elephants in Africa will be compromised," Lee White, executive secretary of Gabon's national parks agency, said in a statement issued by Gabon's presidency.
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Health

Indonesian Komodo dragon attack leaves two hospitalized


Raw Story
Wed, 06 Feb 2013 11:18 UTC
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© AFP Photo
A Komodo dragon in Indonesia has attacked two employees in one of the giant lizards' protected island habitats, leaving its victims hospitalised with serious injuries, an official said Wednesday.

One victim, a 50-year-old park ranger, was sitting at his desk at the Rinca island front office, where tourists usually check in, when the two-metre-long monitor snuck into his room Tuesday afternoon.

"The man panicked when he saw the Komodo and tried to escape by jumping on a chair, but the Komodo quickly grabbed and bit one of his legs," Komodo National Park official Heru Rudiharto told AFP.

Rudiharto said the ranger was the victim of a similar Komodo attack in 2009 and was still traumatised.
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Target

Federal Reserve hacked: Files stolen from 'internal website to be used as a contact database for banks during a natural disaster' by Anonymous


The Guardian
Wed, 06 Feb 2013 05:56 UTC
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US central bank confirms intrusion after hacktivist group Anonymous was claimed to have stolen 4,000 bankers' details

The US Federal Reserve bank has confirmed one of its internal websites was broken into by hackers after the hacktivist group Anonymous was claimed to have stolen details of more than 4,000 bank executives.

"The Federal Reserve system is aware that information was obtained by exploiting a temporary vulnerability in a website vendor product," a spokeswoman for the US central bank said.

"Exposure was fixed shortly after discovery and is no longer an issue. This incident did not affect critical operations of the Federal Reserve system," the spokeswoman said, adding that all individuals affected by the breach had been contacted.
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Eye 2

Six Spanish female tourists in Acapulco beach resort raped at gunpoint after five armed and masked gunmen tied up their partners


The Guardian
Wed, 06 Feb 2013 05:50 UTC
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© Pedro Pardo/AFP/Getty ImagesA Mexican marine stands guard outside the property in Acapulco where six Spanish tourists were raped by masked gunmen.
Masked gunmen rape six Spanish women at Mexican beach resort in latest attack on tourists in recent days

A masked gang raped six Spanish women in Acapulco, authorities have said.

Five armed attackers broke into a property on a beach resort on Monday, tying up six men before raping the women.

The Guerrero state attorney general, Martha Garzon, said a seventh woman begged the men not to rape her and the assailants told her they would spare her because she was Mexican. "Fortunately, we have strong evidence to lead us to those responsible for this reprehensible act," Garzon told Radio Formula.

The mayor of Acapulco, Luis Walton, was later forced to apologise after he said the attack was "regrettable" because it would damage the city's image, but it "could have happened anywhere".
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