Society's Child

US: Man Leaps to His Death from Casino on Las Vegas Strip

Timothy Pratt
Reuters
Fri, 04 Mar 2011 03:08 UTC

© Agence France-Presse
A view of the darkened Las Vegas Strip during Earth Hour in 2010. The Earth Hour global movement to help fight climate change is going beyond asking people to turn off their lights to making firm commitments to protect the environment, organisers said Wednesday

A man committed suicide on Friday by leaping off a ledge at the newly-built Cosmopolitan hotel and casino onto the famed Las Vegas Strip, police said.

Witness accounts place the man on a ledge at either the 6th floor or the 14th floor of the Cosmopolitan, the newest hotel and casino to open on the Strip, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police spokesman Marcus Martin said.

The hotel, which opened to much publicity on December 15, has 50 floors and nearly 3,000 rooms.

Marcus said police received calls that a man, who was not identified, was threatening to jump from the Cosmopolitan at about 4:45 a.m., Martin said.

Thieves Break-in to New Zealand Prison

Robyn Beck
Agence France-Presse
Fri, 04 Mar 2011 06:20 UTC

© Agence France-Presse
A locked cellblock at a prison in the US. A New Zealand prison suffered a reversal of the norm when it became the victim of a break-in

A New Zealand prison suffered a reversal of the norm when it became the victim of a break-in.

Police said Saturday that thieves had broken into the prison at New Plymouth, on the west coast of the North Island, just before midnight and stolen a large plasma television.

"If any members of the public saw anyone carrying a big TV at that time of night, or heard or saw anything in the area of the prison, let police know," Sergeant Thomas McIntyre said.

Violence in Libya Turns Deadly as Gadhafi Forces Clash With Rebels

Lauren Frayer
AOL News
Fri, 04 Mar 2011 14:28 UTC

At least 15 demonstrators were reported killed today in a fierce struggle for control of the Libyan city of Zawiya, and 30 miles away in Tripoli, protesters rallied in the capital's streets as security forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi fought back with firearms and tear gas.

There were conflicting reports of casualties as violence worsened across the North African nation. Sky News reported 30 people dead and up to 50 injured after Gadhafi forces fired on demonstrators in Zawiya. The Associated Press, quoting a witness who was at the city's hospital, reported at least 18 people were killed and 120 wounded, and CNN reported that at least 15 were killed there.

Mercenaries brought in by Gadhafi "have been opening fire on people here," a man identified as Ibrahim told Reuters. "Hundreds of victims are now in the town hospital."

Libyan state TV claimed Zawiya was back in the hands of Gadhafi's forces. "It is liberated this afternoon, and we are going to take you there tomorrow to see for yourself," a government spokesman was quoted by The New York Times.

But others disputed that. "That is [a] lie," Mohamed Magid, an opposition spokesman, told The Washington Post. "We are still in the square. Zawiya has not fallen."

US: Mississippi boy found in oven died from heat

Holbrook Mohr
Associated Press
Fri, 04 Mar 2011 21:47 UTC

Jackson - A toddler whose body was found inside the electric oven at his family's home died from heat injuries, according to preliminary results from medical examiners released Friday.

Washington County Coroner Methel Johnson said the pathologist was still trying to determine if 3-year-old Tristan Robinson was conscious when he was put inside the oven. He also appeared to have suffered trauma to his head.

Greenville Police found the boy's body at his mother's apartment Wednesday after responding to an emergency call just after midnight. The mother, 24-year-old Terrie A. Robinson, has been charged with murder. She is being held on a $5 million bond.

Cupcakes and Britain's New Epidemic of Anger: How the Nation is Boiling with Rage

Frances Hardy
The Daily Mail, UK
Fri, 04 Mar 2011 21:13 UTC

© Wales News Service
Cake fury: Sally Dodd, left, was attacked by the unknown woman while shop assistant Terri Mammett, right, witnessed the incident

Sally Dodd has worked as a pub landlady. She has broken up drunken brawls and calmed the high spirits of armies of tanked-up Welsh rugby fans. But nothing prepared her for the day this week when a female customer ran amok in her genteel cupcake shop.

Mrs Dodd, 43, owns Sugarswirlz, a bakery selling decorated homemade cupcakes in an airy Victorian arcade in the centre of Cardiff.

The shop was full of lunchtime customers when a woman - middle-aged, sturdy and wearing a belted mackintosh - launched an extraordinary attack.

She lashed out at a display of cakes, sending them flying through the air, then flung her arm across a window display, scattering its contents around the shop.

Then events turned from farcical to terrifying. She grabbed Mrs Dodd by her hair, pulling it out by the roots in clumps, and launched a foul-mouthed tirade of abuse.

UK: Police Chief on Child Sex Charges

Mirror News
Fri, 04 Mar 2011 00:00 UTC

A senior police officer has appeared in court accused of child sex offences and possessing indecent images of children.

Inspector Geraint Lloyd Evans, 47, of South Wales Police, was remanded in custody after appearing at Llanelli Magistrates' Court.

Evans was charged with seven separate offences yesterday and was remanded to appear at Swansea Crown Court on March 11.

The allegations include conspiring with others to incite engagement in unlawful sexual activity with a child under 13.

He is also charged with three offences of making indecent images of children, possession of four child abuse images and possession of extreme pornography.

UK: Mum 'Tried to Stop Dad Killing Kids in Icy River Plunge'

Mirror News
Fri, 04 Mar 2011 00:00 UTC

A mum wept yesterday as she told a jury how her ex-lover sped off with their children and drove them into an icy river.

Kim Smith, 37, tried in vain to rescue the children when their dad Christopher Grady, 42, gave her 10 seconds to "say ta-ra".

He sat sobbing in the dock with head in hands while she gave evidence.

Grady allegedly plunged his car into the River Avon in Evesham, Worcs, last February. Daughter Gabby, five, died days later. Son Ryan, six, survived.

Ms Smith told the jury: "The last thing he shouted at me was 'river'. His face was contorted.

Libya rebels losing one city, but take another, as dozens die

MSNBC.com
Fri, 04 Mar 2011 17:30 UTC

Hundreds protest against Gadhafi in Tripoli; 17 die in blast at arms depot

Tripoli, Libya - After a battle in which at least 30 civilians were killed Friday, forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi had cornered rebels and claimed to have retaken a key city near the capital.

The rebels, for their part, claimed to have taken Ras Lanouf, a key oil port, while hundreds rallied in the capital Tripoli against Gadhafi. Live ammunition and tear gas were fired to break up the protest, witnesses said.

Friday's assault on Zawiya, about 30 miles west of Tripoli, appeared to be the strongest yet by Gadhafi's forces after repeated earlier forays against it were beaten back.

An improvised force of rebels had been pushed back to the central Martyrs Square in Zawiya, a rebel spokesman said. "Many people were killed in Harsha, which is now occupied by them," rebel spokesman Youssef Shagan told Reuters by phone, referring to a small town outside Zawiya.

"They shot at civilians. We still control (Zawiya's) central square," he added. "They are four to five kilometres away."

Ivory Coast on brink of civil war as seven women shot dead at protest march

Pauline Bax & David Smith
The Guardian
Fri, 04 Mar 2011 15:47 UTC

© AFP/Getty Images
A picture allegedly shows the body of one of the seven women shot dead in Abobo, a working class neighborhood of Abidjan, Ivory Coast

Military says shootings were 'blunder we regret' as once stable nation faces meltdown

Seven women have been massacred during a peaceful protest in Ivory Coast as the country appeared to stand on the brink of all-out civil war.

More than 200,000 people have fled, and the nation that was once a model of stability in west Africa is now experiencing bloodshed and economic meltdown.

The women's demonstration became a scene of terror when security forces opened fire with machine guns in Abobo, a sprawling, impoverished suburb of the commercial capital, Abidjan, where some of the deadliest clashes have taken place during three months of crisis.

They were about to set off from a roundabout on a march to call on Laurent Gbagbo to step down as president. "Men in uniform drove up and started shooting randomly. Six women died on the spot," Idrissa Diarrassouba told Reuters. A seventh died in hospital. Many others were wounded.

Colorado boy, 12, accused of shooting dead his parents

Ed Pilkington
The Guardian
Fri, 04 Mar 2011 15:23 UTC

Prosecutor is deliberating whether to treat the boy within the adult criminal trial process or as a juvenile

A 12-year-old boy in a small rural town, Burlington in Colorado, has allegedly shot dead his parents and seriously wounded two of his siblings.

The carnage has caused bewilderment among relatives and neighbours who saw the family as utterly normal, if deeply religious.

Charles Long, 50, and his wife Marilyn, 51, were found shot dead and two of their seven children, Sarah, five, and Ethan, nine, in a critical condition having been slashed with a knife.

Sarah, who was slashed in the neck and back, and Ethan, who was shot and stabbed in the groin, are both recovering in hospital.

The prosecutor, Robert Watson, is now deliberating whether to treat the boy within the adult criminal trial process or as a juvenile.