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South Africa: Man 'died after wandering into crocodile waters'


Telegraph.com
Mon, 18 Apr 2011 17:49 UTC
A farm worker may have deliberately waded into a crocodile-infested river after a domestic row according to police in South Africa.
Image
© Alamy
A crocodile in Kruger National Park.
David Lubisi, 40, was eaten alive after he entered the Lepelle river following an argument with his girlfriend, detectives believe.

The father-of-three has not been seen for more than a week after allegedly telling a colleague about his plan on April 7.

"Our investigations have revealed that at around 7pm on April 7 he told a co-worker he wanted to walk into the river, which he knew to be infested with crocodiles," said Sergeant Malesela Makgopa.

"He was last seen heading towards the water and never turned up after that.

"We believe he may have been having domestic problems with his girlfriend ."
      Read More...
Alarm Clock

US: Unwitting Audience Clap and Cheer as Teenager Stabs Himself to Death on Stage at Open Mic Night

Daniel Bates
The Daily Mail
Mon, 18 Apr 2011 17:41 UTC
A troubled 19-year-old stabbed himself to death on stage at an open mic night after playing a song called "Sorry For All the Mess."

Kipp Rusty Walker repeatedly plunged the six-inch blade into his chest as the audience clapped and cheered in the mistaken belief it was piece of performance art.

But when he collapsed in a pool of his own blood they started screaming in horror and rushed to help him, but his wounds were too severe and he died soon after.

Image
© KTVZ.com
Public suicide: Kipp Rusty Walker, who killed himself after playing a number on the keyboards at an open mic event in Bend, Oregon.
The bizarre suicide has left the community of Bend in Oregon stunned and wondering why he would end his life in such a public way.

But questions will be asked of mental health authorities after it emerged that Walker had told friends of his plan and had threatened to kill himself before.

On that occasion he had been taken in for treatment but was released back into the community.
      Read More...
Arrow Down

US: Teenage girl survives plunge from Golden Gate Bridge


CNN
Mon, 18 Apr 2011 10:23 UTC
Golden Gate Bridge
© Jeff King/CNN
More than 1,300 people have been killed jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge since the 1930s.
A 16-year-old girl survived a plunge from the Golden Gate Bridge over San Francisco Bay on Sunday, according to local media reports.

The girl either jumped or fell from midspan of the bridge, about a 220-foot fall to the water below, CNN affiliate KGO reported, citing a fire department dispatcher. The girl was conscious when pulled from the water, the Coast Guard told KGO. She was taken to Marin General Hospital.

It was the second time in two months a teenager plunged from the span and survived.
      Read More...
Family

Hungary considers giving mothers extra votes


Telegraph UK
Sun, 17 Apr 2011 21:04 UTC
Image
© Agence France-Presse
The suggestion is that mothers with small children could get additional votes in elections
Hungary's new government is considering controversial plans to give mothers with small children additional votes in elections.

Jozsef Szajer, a senior official from the ruling conservative Fidesz party, explained that 20 per cent of Hungary's population are children and that "the interests of future generations are not represented in decision making". "100 years ago it was unusual to give votes to women," he said.

The proposed legislation, which would be a first for modern democracy, is inspired by a concept developed in 1986 by American demographer Paul Demeny, who argued that children "should not be left disfranchised for some 18 years".

Mr Szajer said the law would give "mothers the vote on behalf of a maximum of one child".
      Read More...
Family

Teens - gay or straight - more likely to attempt suicide in conservative towns

Lindsey Tanner
Associated Press
Mon, 18 Apr 2011 12:16 UTC
Major study of Oregon high schoolers probes teen mental health and social climates

Image
© Associated Press/ Phil Klein
Zachary Toomay, 18, poses near his home in Arroyo Grande, Calif., on Saturday.
Chicago - Suicide attempts by gay teens - and even straight kids - are more common in politically conservative areas where schools don't have programs supporting gay rights, a study involving nearly 32,000 high school students found.

Those factors raised the odds and were a substantial influence on suicide attempts even when known risk contributors like depression and being bullied were considered, said study author Mark Hatzenbuehler, a Columbia University psychologist and researcher.

His study found a higher rate of suicide attempts even among kids who weren't bullied or depressed when they lived in counties less supportive of gays and with relatively few Democrats. A high proportion of Democrats was a measure used as a proxy for a more liberal environment.
      Read More...
Arrow Down

Egypt Archaeology Chief Zahi Hawass to Appeal Jail Term on Bookshop Plan

Alaa Shahine
Bloomberg
Sun, 17 Apr 2011 07:13 UTC
Dr Zahi Hawass
© unknown
Dr Zahi Hawass
Zahi Hawass, Egypt's minister of state for antiquities, said he will appeal a one-year jail sentence imposed on him yesterday.

The sentence is related to a lawsuit accusing him of refusing to carry out a court ruling, the state-run Middle East News Agency said today. The court had ordered a halt to bidding from companies to run a bookstore in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Hawass said today in his blog.

"Tomorrow, the head of the legal affairs department at the Ministry of Antiquities will go to the court to file our appeal," Hawass said in the Web log. "He will present evidence that the bid for the bookstore contract was finished before the original court ruling, so therefore we could not follow the ruling to stop the bidding."
      Read More...
Cult

"Technology can't replace God": Pope

Philip Pullella
Reuters
Sun, 17 Apr 2011 07:25 UTC
Pope Benedict XVI
© Reuters/Stefano Rellandini
Pope Benedict XVI holds a palm as he arrives to lead the Palm Sunday mass at the Vatican April 17, 2011.
Pope Benedict led Roman Catholics into Holy Week celebrations, telling a Palm Sunday crowd that man will pay the price for his pride if he believes technology can give him the powers of God.

Under a splendid Roman sun, the German pope presided at a colorful celebration where tens of thousands of people waved palm and olive branches to commemorate Jesus' entry into Jerusalem the week before he was crucified.

The pope, who turned 84 on Saturday, wove his sermon around the theme of man's relationship with God and how it can sometimes be threatened by technology.

"From the beginning men and women have been filled -- and this is as true today as ever -- with a desire to 'be like God', to attain the heights of God by their own powers," he said, wearing resplendent red and gold vestments.

"Mankind has managed to accomplish so many things: we can fly! We can see, hear and speak to one another from the farthest ends of the earth. And yet the force of gravity which draws us down is powerful," he said.
      Read More...
Take 2

Sarkozy could play roles like Bogart's says Woody Allen


Breitbart
Sun, 17 Apr 2011 08:27 UTC
Image
© Agence France-Presse
French President Nicolas Sarkozy listens during a round table discussion on Thursday in Bagneres-de-Luchon, southern France. Film director Woody Allen says he could see Sarkozy playing a role like those of Humphrey Bogart, who was famous for his cynical and hardboiled anti-heroes.

Film director Woody Allen could see French President Nicolas Sarkozy playing a role like those of Humphrey Bogart, who was famous for his cynical and hardboiled anti-heroes.

Allen has already directed Sarkozy's wife, supermodel turned singer Carla Bruni, in a cameo role in his latest movie Midnight in Paris, which will premiere next month at the Cannes Fim Festival in southern France.

Asked by the French weekly Journal du Dimanche whether he could imagine casting Sarkozy himself in a future production, Allen said he could.
      Read More...
Info

US: Ohio man who killed 3 says he has 'evil thoughts'


Port Clinton News Herald
Mon, 18 Apr 2011 02:17 UTC
A man sentenced to life in prison without parole for murdering his girlfriend's daughter and an elderly couple said in his videotaped confession that he constantly has "evil thoughts" and thinks about killing.

Samuel K. Littleton II, of western Ohio, pleaded guilty to three counts each of aggravated murder and gross abuse of a corpse in a deal with prosecutors to avoid the death penalty for the three February slayings.

He shed some light on his thinking during hours of taped interrogations after he was arrested in West Virginia, The Columbus Dispatch newspaper reported Sunday.

"I think evil thoughts all the time. I mean, there ain't one minute that I don't say or think about how to snap somebody's neck, crush their head," Littleton, 37, told investigators. "Why would a person have that kind of thoughts all the time?"

Littleton lowered his head and sobbed as investigators showed him pictures of 84-year-old Richard Russell and 85-year-old wife Gladis Russell and then pleaded with him to reveal where their bodies were. Authorities believe he killed the Russells at their rural Lewiston home, put their bodies in the trunk of their car and drove south. Their bodies later were found in Tennessee and Georgia. Their car was found in Princeton, W.Va., where Littleton has relatives.
      Read More...
Handcuffs

Mexico's Tamaulipas police chief sacked after killings


BBC News
Sun, 17 Apr 2011 19:51 UTC
Image
© The Associated Press
The Mexican navy captured the alleged mastermind of the killings on Saturday
The Mexican state of Tamaulipas has dismissed its head of security following the discovery of 145 bodies in mass graves earlier this month.

Former army Gen Ubaldo Ayala Tinoco has been replaced by another former soldier, Capt Rafael Lomeli Martinez.

The state governor said the new chief would improve coordination with the army and federal police in the fight against drugs gangs.

The killings have been blamed on the Zetas drug cartel.

More than 20 suspected cartel members have been arrested in connection with the killings, including the alleged mastermind of the massacre.

But 16 state policemen have also been arrested on suspicion of protecting the criminals.
      Read More...
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