Disabled mom fighting to keep her son
December 20, 2009
Can a quadriplegic woman be a good parent? Her ex-boyfriend filed a custody suit that says no.
From Chicago Tribune
Kaney O’Neill knows she has limits as a mother.
The 31-year-old Des Plaines woman cannot walk, move her fingers independently or feel anything from the chest down. A decade ago, O’Neill was a Navy airman apprentice when she was knocked from a balcony during Hurricane Floyd, leaving her a quadriplegic.
When she discovered she was pregnant last December, she felt fear and joy, a journey the Tribune chronicled in August. She quickly embraced the Read more
Mexico considers ‘ban’ on street children
June 3, 2009
New law would require officials to move street kids into schools or other programs – or face a $420-per-child fine.
Mexico City – Children selling gum or washing windshields in the streets of Mexico are as ubiquitous as traffic lights.
But a new proposal here would forbid the presence of street children in cities and towns across the country.
Under a proposed modification of a federal child protection law, state and municipal authorities would be required to round up kids living or working on the streets and place Read more
Tamil Tiger leader killed by Sri Lankan troops
May 18, 2009
COLOMBO – The leader of Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers, Velupillai Prabhakaran, was shot dead Monday while trying to flee advancing troops, defence officials told AFP.
Prabhakaran was in a small convoy of a van and ambulance along with several close aides which tried to drive out of the battle zone, but was attacked and killed, the senior defence ministry official said.
“He was killed with two Read more
‘Evil’ China sex park torn down: state media
May 18, 2009
A sex theme park in southwest China that featured giant genitals and a sex-technique workshop has been torn down after officials said it had an “evil influence” on society, state media said.
“Love Land” was due to open in Chongqing municipality ahead of China’s national day on October 1, but it was ordered to close following an investigation by local authorities, the Global Times reported.
Besides displays on sex Read more
Could Taliban get keys to Pakistan’s A-bomb?
May 17, 2009
Experts see the Islamic fighters as less of a risk than radical insiders gaining access to nuclear materials.
Islamabad, Pakistan – Some of Prof. Pervez Hoodbhoy’s nuclear physics students will go on to oversee Pakistan’s atomic bombs. That gives him pause.
“The student body has become very conservative, very Islamist, their outward appearance has changed,” says Professor Hoodbhoy, the chair of the physics department at Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad. “It’s row Read more
Indian village with 250 sets of twins
May 13, 2009
Doctors are trying to unravel the mystery of an Indian village boasting 250 sets of twins born to just 2,000 families
Baffled doctors are trying to unravel the mystery of an Indian village boasting more than 220 sets of twins born to just 2,000 families Photo: BARCROFT
78 pairs of twins Photo: BARCROFT
The phenomenon has seen almost six times as many twins born than the global average in the remote village of Kodinhi, in Kerala.
In 2008 alone 15 pairs of twins were born in the village out of 300 healthy deliveries and this year is expected to top that number.
In the last five years alone Read more
Freed Journalist Roxana Saberi Leaves Iranian Prison, Lawyer Says
May 12, 2009
Iranian-Ameican journalist Roxana Saberi has been released from Evin prison after an Iranian Appeals Court downgraded her spying conviction from its original 8-year term to a lesser, suspended sentence of two years, her lawyer said.
Saberi’s father, Reza, of Fargo, ND, said today in Tehran that he plans to bring his daughter home within the next few days.
Saberi’s lawyer, Abdolsamad Khorramshahi, told the Associated Press that the journalist was now free and “out of jail.”
White House press secretary Read more
Berlusconi says he is world’s most popular leader
May 2, 2009
ITALIAN Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who has compared himself to Jesus Christ and Napoleon, boasted today that he was the world’s most popular leader.
The conservative premier, in his third term in office, said opinion poll findings in his possession showed his popularity at just over 75 per cent, making him far more popular than US President Barack Obama – or any other head of government.
“The opinion polls I know say that he (Obama) is at 59 per cent. Only (Brazilian President Luiz Inacio) Lula tops 60 per cent – he is at 64 per cent. So mine is a record high,” he said in Naples where he attended a May Read more
Aftershocks add to Italy quake misery
April 9, 2009
L’AQUILA, Italy – Jarring aftershocks sowed panic in Italy’s earthquake zone Thursday, terrifying the thousands of homeless victims sheltering in crowded tent camps as the death toll reached 278.
Two lifeless bodies were pulled from the ruins of a student dormitory in the centre of the Abruzzo capital L’Aquila early in the morning after a night punctuated by three powerful aftershocks.
Hundreds of people could be seen sleeping in their cars, and soldiers were in their trucks with the engines running as the Read more
Woman jailed 10 months for sex with 13-year-old boy
April 9, 2009
A WOMAN’S secret affair with her 13-year-old lover was exposed when her suspicious sister paid her a surprise visit late one evening and found the boy hiding in a wardrobe.
The 32-year-old former canteen stall assistant had earlier had sex with the minor after inviting him to her flat.
Yesterday, the unemployed woman was jailed for 10 months after pleading guilty to two of seven charges of causing a boy under 16 to have sex with her in May last year.
The remaining charges were taken into consideration.
She is the second woman to be jailed for such an offence following the February conviction of a former teacher now Read more