Monday, November 1, 2010

Mid Day International News

Mid Day International News

Woman prison officer quits over sex with criminal

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A woman prison officer in Britain has quit after she was alleged to have had sex in a prison room with a criminal jailed for robbery.

Giselle Woodford, 28, married and mother of a two-year-old, reportedly had sex with Jonathan Forrest, 21, in a prison interview room.

When Forrest was let out of jail with an electronic tag, the two allegedly met in a hotel near his home for sex sessions, The Sun reported.

"Everyone knew they were at it. She was in his cell all the time laughing and flirting with him. Forrest worked out a lot in the gym and was a cocky Jack-the-lad, I think she got off on that," a prison officer said, adding that Woodford fell for Forrest after being assigned as his personal officer, to provide help and advice.

Forrest was sentenced to four years for brutally robbing a shopkeeper of alcohol.

The alleged affair was exposed when love letters Woodford wrote to Forrest were found after he was moved from the Onley prison near Rugby, Warwickshire.

Woodford resigned after senior officials began an inquiry.

Princess Diana's school notes found in rubbish pile

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School notes scribbled by the late Princess Diana when she was 15 have been found in a pile of rubbish, and could fetch up to 1,500 pounds.

The young Diana Spencer wrote in 1977 about Shakespeare's 'genious' on a copy of his play 'The Tempest' that she read for an O-level she later failed.

Diana's father found it in 1998 near Kensington Palace, the former home of the late princess.

The book was shown on the Antiques Roadshow in BBC1, The Sun reported.

Man sexually abused kids for 27 years

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A 78-year-old man in New Zealand raped and sexually abused his children, a niece, a step-daughter and his sons' ex-girlfriends for a period of 27 years, a court was told Monday.

The man from Palmerston North, around 400 km from Auckland, has been convicted on 21 sex and child cruelty charges, including three indecent assaults and three rapes, the New Zealand Herald reported.

The offences occurred over a 27-year period ending in 1990, and took place in eight North Island towns.

Magistrate puts man behind bars for calling him 'mate'

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A magistrate reportedly put a man behind bars after he called him 'mate' during a hearing in the courtroom last week.

Thomas John Collins had twice called Magistrate Matthew McLaughlin 'mate' even after an objection from the latter.

McLaughlin had ordered Collin to address him as "Sir or your honour", to which the defendant had replied "okay mate".

He was then sent for a stint in the cells. McLaughlin later returned to the courtroom to apologise.

Councillor Paul Tully, Ipswich City, said a similar incident happened in Toowoomba, where a magistrate threatened to charge two tradesmen with contempt before the court for making too much noise.

Tully said the pomposity of some magistrates had gone too far and "It is getting out of control," News.com.au quoted Tully as saying.

"It's probably time for magistrates to understand they have a wide variety of people before them and calling someone mate is a term of endearment."

"I say to every magistrate - Come on mate, get off your high horse and show some tolerance", Tully added.

He also called on the Queensland Chief Magistrate Judge Brendan Butler to introduce annual anger management classes for all Queensland magistrates.

Ship squeezes under bridge with 1.5 inch margin

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A cruise liner with the capacity to accommodate 8,300 people passed under a Danish bridge with a gap of just an inch-and-a half between its tip and the bridge.

The Allure of the Seas - which cost $1.5 bn - measures around four football fields and accommodates 8,300 people including crew members. It is the sister ship to Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas.



Hans Nilsen, an official at the Korsoer Naval Station, said the passage went well after the Allure had lowered its telescopic smokestacks, the Daily Mail reported.

He said there was about 20 inch clearance between the bridge and the top of the ship - but swell and weather conditions brought that margin of error down to 1.5 inch.

He said traffic on the bridge did not have to be stopped during the passage because the voyage was made during daytime, reducing any risks.

The ship left the shipyard in Turku, Finland, Friday and is expected to reach its new home port in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in a few weeks.

The cruise liner measures 360 meters from bow to stern, and its height from sea level is 236 feet (72 meters).

Besides having a two-deck high dance hall, a 1,380-seat theatre and an ice skating rink, a number of pools, spas and gyms, the ship also houses bars, restaurants and cafes as well as a shopping street with a park with trees.

The building of the ship began by shipyard owner STX Finland in February 2008. STX Finland is part of the international STX Europe Group, with shipyards in Brazil, Norway, France, Romania and Vietnam.

Iraq storms church held by gunmen, frees 100 hostages

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Iraqi security forces stormed a church in central Baghdad late last night, freeing about 100 people held hostage by gunmen inside and bringing an end to a standoff that left at least one person dead, Iraqi and American security officials said.

The violence began when the militants first attacked the Iraqi stock exchange at dusk with grenades and automatic weapons. After battling security forces there, the militants fled to the nearby Catholic church, officials said.

Baghdad military spokesman Major General Qassim al-Moussawi said that after a nearly four-hour siege, Iraqi security forces overwhelmed the handful of insurgents in the church, killing eight attackers and freeing all of the hostages. He said one policeman was killed and 12 civilians wounded.

But a city policeman and a hospital worker said two policemen were killed and eight people wounded.

An American military spokesman, Lt Col Eric Bloom, said about 100 hostages were in the church when the attackers came in. He said one hostage was killed during the incident and that there were three attackers, who blew themselves up when Iraqi forces stormed the building.

US forces provided air support but did not have soldiers on the ground going into the church, Bloom said.
Police said the gunmen also apparently set off a nearby car bomb in a coordinated strike during the melee.

A plume of black smoke hung over the scene of the bombing, and car sirens blared as police tried to clear the roads of onlookers and allow emergency trucks to reach the area.

A worker at the Ibn al-Nafis hospital confirmed the casualties. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to brief the media.


Dancer tells of Italian Pm's gifts

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Karima Keyek, known as 'Stealer of Hearts', claims Berlusconi offered her cash and jewellery at dinner

The latest sex scandal threatening Silvio Berlusconi has deepened after a 17-year-old Moroccan belly dancer linked to the Italian prime minister said he had given her $7,000 (Rs 3.10 lakh) and jewellery when she sat next to him at a Valentine's Day dinner held this year for 10 women at his mansion near Milan.

The girl, named in the Italian media as Karima Keyek but known more widely by her stage name Ruby Rubacuori, or Stealer of Hearts, denies sleeping with Berlusconi.

"It the first time in my life that a man has not tried to take me to bed. He behaved like a father, I swear," she told La Repubblica from Genoa, where she is hiding out in an apartment allegedly lent to her by a former porn star.

But she has painted a vivid portrait of private parties held by the 74-year-old prime minister, known by the Italian media as lavish affairs that often transformed into 'bunga-bunga' sessions involving after-dinner sex between male and female guests.

Keyek said her host had told her not to come to see him any more after discovering she was not, as she had claimed, 24.

"Berlusconi said he had had enough problems in the past with another underage girl," she said.
Keyek said, "He gave me an envelope with $7,000 in it and I told him I dreamed of gaining Italian citizenship and becoming a policewoman."

Last year Veronica Lario, the premier's second wife, accused him of frequenting minors and announced she was leaving him after he attended the 18th birthday party of aspiring model Noemi Letizia. He also managed to shrug off later claims by escort Patrizia D'Addario that he had slept with her.

The revelations have once again sparked speculation about his fitness to lead. Confronted last week by the media furore over the latest scandal, Berlusconi has tried to laugh off criticisms of his lifestyle. "I am a playful person, full of life.

I love life, I love women," he said. But he has denied the part of the scandal reportedly of most interest to prosecutors: claims that he pressured Milan police to release Keyek when she was arrested on suspicion of stealing from a friend in May.

For her part, Keyek has said she is now intent on writing an autobiography with a chapter devoted to her relationship with her former dinner host.

Unfit Berlusconi

The Italia dei Valori (Italian Of Merit), the Opposition party made a poster showing a montage of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in different cloths and titled Evolution of the Species? in relation to the latest scandal.


Posted by Harshad at 7:08 AM

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