India Rape: Girl Kidnapped And Attacked

By Alex Rossi, Asia Correspondent

A three-year-old girl is in hospital recovering from serious injuries after she was kidnapped and gang raped in southern India.

The girl is currently under observation in intensive care.

She was sleeping beside her mother on a pavement in Tirur, in Kerala, when she was kidnapped on Monday night.

The family - whose members are homeless - only noticed she was missing on Tuesday morning.

The girl was found unconscious by students on their way to school.

One of the students told a local newspaper that: "She had a high fever and she had ants crawling all over her body."

Doctors at the hospital where the girl is being treated say it will take her months to recover.

The attack took place in Tirur, in Kerala, southern India

Despite outrage in India over the Delhi gang rape in December, many more cases of rape are being reported across the country.

The government is now trying to introduce tougher anti-rape laws.

In Delhi, four rape cases a day have been reported since the beginning of this year, according to police figures. The average for 2012 was two rapes a day.

Campaigners believe the rise is partly the result of more women coming forward to report crimes of sexual violence.

The gang rape and murder of the Delhi student has provoked a national debate and shattered what was once a taboo subject - violence against women.

Nonetheless, women are increasingly scared to travel alone at night in the capital.

The city's only taxi service for women - which uses only women drivers - has told Sky News they have been inundated with calls.

Driver Kushi Prajapati says: "After the Delhi gang rape we've been busy day and night. Women feel very unsafe and they use our taxi service for safety reasons."

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Bolshoi Acid Attack: Dancer Paid Perpetrator

A leading dancer has admitted ordering an attack on the Bolshoi ballet chief, but said he did not mean for him to be splashed with acid.

Police say Bolshoi soloist Pavel Dmitrichenko paid 50,000 rubles (£1,080) to Yuri Zarutsky, who is accused of throwing a jar of acid at Sergei Filin.

The artistic director suffered severe burns to his eyes and face in the January 17 attack.  

Dmitrichenko has faced a Moscow district court, where a judge decided to keep him in custody until April 18 - the end of the initial investigation period.

L to R: Mr Filin, Ms Vorontsova and Dmitrichenko (AFP/Bolshoi Theatre)

The 29-year-old dancer's two co-defendants, Zarutsky and alleged getaway driver Andrei Lipatov, were also in court.

Speaking from a cage, Dmitrichenko told the court he had complained about Mr Filin to Zarutsky, who offered to "beat him up".

He said did not mean for the attack to cause such bodily harm.

"I told Yuri Zarutsky about the policies of the Bolshoi Theatre, about the bad things going on, the corruption," Dmitrichenko said.

"When he said: 'OK, let me beat him up, hit him upside the head,' I agreed, but that is all that I admit to doing.

"It's not true that I ordered him to throw acid at Filin."

Police say Zarutsky bought the acid at an auto shop and they believe he then heated it to make it more concentrated.

Dmitrichenko as Ivan the Terrible

Dmitrichenko, who was arrested on Tuesday, has also been shown in a police video confessing to planning the attack but "not on the scale" that it turned out.

And Lipatov insisted he just drove to where he was told and had no idea of what Zarutsky was planning.

Police have said the crime was motivated by Dmitrichenko's hostile personal relationship with Mr Filin.

The Russian press reported the Bolshoi chief refused to give Dmitrichenko's ballerina girlfriend Anzhelina Vorontsova top roles.

Dmitrichenko is said to have been particularly riled that Vorontsova was not allowed to dance the main Odette-Odile role in Swan Lake, the dream of any ballerina.

Ms Vorontsova was not given top roles (AFP)

"The main motive was enmity towards Filin, who according to the suspect, had a negative attitude towards his partner," a police source told the Izvestia newspaper.

"Dmitrichenko said that Filin was thwarting Vorontsova's artistic career and did not give her the main roles."

Mr Filin, 42, was left battling to save his eyesight and prevent permanent facial disfigurement from the attack.

He is now undergoing a long rehabilitation in Germany.

Mr Filin's wife Maria told the Komsomolskaya Pravda daily that her husband had suspicions about Dmitrichenko but believed that a "much wider" circle of people were involved.

"Not just the three who they arrested. We hope the security forces unearth those who are implicated in this," she said.

Some staff at the Bolshoi Theatre have suggested that Dmitrichenko's actions are impossible to comprehend given his own career was on the up after he took the title role in the ballet Ivan the Terrible.

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Dublin Airport: Drama As Plane Tips On To Nose

The main runway at Dublin airport has been closed after a dramatic crash involving a small cargo plane.

The front wheel of the Bin Air aircraft buckled on landing at around 9am, causing it to tip over onto its nose.

Neither the pilot nor co-pilot - the only crew - were hurt, an airport spokeswoman said.

"It was a small aircraft, a cargo plane," she said.

"The nose wheel collapsed when the aircraft landed which meant the aircraft had disabled the main runway."

The two-man crew were said to be no worse for the experience

The plane involved, a Metroliner, could be seen on the side of the runway with its nose touching the tarmac.

A spokesman has confirmed the airport is now fully operational.

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Aussie Doctor Jailed Over Hep C Infections

A former Australian doctor has been jailed for up to 14 years after he infected 55 women with Hepatitis C.

James Latham Peters was working as an anaesthetist at a Melbourne abortion clinic when he transferred the disease to patients.

The Australian newspaper reported that 63-year-old Peters passed on the disease by injecting himself with syringes of fentanyl before administering the drug to the patients. 

Peters had an addiction to fentanyl, which was used in procedures at the abortion clinic. 

Peters was diagnosed with Hepatitis C in 1997, the same year he was suspended for drug abuse, although he was later allowed to return to work.

He was supposed to be under supervision while he worked.

Victoria's Supreme Court Justice Terry Forrest sentenced Peters to 14 years in prison.

He will serve a minimum of 10 years before becoming eligible for parole.

Justice Forrest described his behaviour as "truly reprehensible".

"The physical damage caused by your conduct and the associated emotional harm cannot adequately be described by me in words," he said.

Speaking after Peters' sentencing, Detective Paul Robotham said: "The sentence handed down today should serve as a warning to all, especially those in the health industry that any abuse of community trust will be thoroughly investigated."

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Jihad Boy Wears 9/11 Bomb T-Shirt To School

A woman and her brother have appeared in a French court after a three-year-old child named Jihad was sent to school wearing a T-shirt with the words "I am a bomb" printed on it.

The principal and teachers at the school in Sorgues, southern France, notified authorities after Boucha Bagour sent her son to classes dressed in the shirt.

Le Parisien reported that the words "I am a bomb" were inscribed on the front, and the words "Jihad, born September 11" on the back.

The expression plays on the popular French saying "Je suis la bombe", which translates roughly as "I am the best".

Ms Bagour, 35, and her brother, Zeyad Bagour, 29, were summoned to appear before the court after the school and local mayor complained.

Mr Bagour gave the shirt to the boy as a gift. He told the court he "had no intention to provoke or shock".

Speaking to the court, Ms Bagour defended herself, saying: "For me, this is the name of my son and his date of birth."

She also apologised to the court, saying she thought the shirt might "make people laugh".

However, lawyer Claude Avril said: "Idiocy is often the best alibi to hide the real intentions.

"The most scandalous thing is that they've used and manipulated a three-year-old child to voluntarily convey the words of a terrorist," she added.

Ms Bagour and her brother are facing fines of €1,000 (£860) and €3,000 (£2,600) respectively if they are found guilty of any offences.

The case will be decided on April 10.

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Italy: Berlusconi Given 12-Month Prison Sentence

Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has been sentenced to a year in prison over the publication of leaked transcripts from a police wiretap in one of his newspapers.

Mr Berlusconi, who faces two more verdicts this month for tax fraud and having sex with an underage prostitute, can appeal the conviction and so doing suspend the sentence under Italian law.

Italian sentencing guidelines indicate that people aged over 75 and with sentences of less than two years do not have to actually go to prison.

Mr Berlusconi, a billionaire media tycoon, is 76.

He stood accused of violating secrecy laws after his Il Giornale daily published transcripts in 2005 that were widely seen as an attempt to discredit a senior member of the centre-left Democratic Party ahead of elections in 2006.

The leaks were about the attempted takeover of BNL bank by insurance giant Unipol.

Mr Berlusconi's brother Paolo, editor of Il Giornale, was sentenced to two years and three months.

Despite everything Mr Berlusconi is hoping to make a political comeback

Silvio Berlusconi also faces a verdict possibly as early as March 18 in a trial in which he is accused of having sex with a then 17-year-old prostitute when he was prime minister.

He is also accused of abusing the power of his office by putting pressure on police to release her from custody.

A verdict in his appeal trial against a tax fraud conviction from last year in which he was also sentenced to a year in prison is also expected around March 23.

Italian court dates are often changed at the last minute and Mr Berlusconi's lawyers have tried to slow down all the trials, invoking "legitimate impediment" because of his duties as an MP.

The verdict will not prevent Mr Berlusconi from taking office in a new government.

His centre-right coalition finished third in recent parliamentary elections that saw no clear winner. Talks on forming a new administration are expected to begin on March 20.

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Syria Claims 'Spy Rocks' Planted By Israel

Syria's state-run news agency has said that Israeli spying devices have been found in Syria's coastal region.

The SANA report claimed the devices are designed to photograph, register and transfer data.

There were no further details on the objects or on the location of the find.

State-run TV aired footage of an object consisting of what looked like a camera and a satellite dish, and other objects that resembled rocks.

Plastic boxes resembling batteries and cables were shown lined up in a room.

Israeli warplanes carried out an air raid near Damascus in January.

US officials said the target of the raid was a convoy of Russian SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles, however Syria said a research centre was hit.

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Hugo Chavez Last Words: 'I Don't Want To Die'

'Go To Hell': Chavez In Quotes

Updated: 11:44pm UK, Tuesday 05 March 2013

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez repeatedly caught the headlines with his turns of phrase as he addressed his own people in his weekly TV show or spoke to the world on official engagements.

"You have a pig's tail, a pig's ears, and you snort like a pig. You are a pig."

- To opposition leader Henrique Capriles in February 2012.

"You are a donkey, Mr Danger."

- Referring to US President George Bush in his weekly television show Alo Presidente in March 2006.

"Don't mess with me, Condoleezza. Don't mess with me, girl."

- Responding to then US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in February 2006, who days earlier had called Venezuela a threat to regional democracy and a "sidekick" of Iran.

"Yesterday the devil came here. Right here. And it smells of sulfur still today."

- Speaking at the United Nations the day after President George Bush in 2006.

"The lord of war is Donald Rumsfeld, one of the dogs of the devil."

- Speaking about US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in 2006.

"You are an imperialist pawn. ... Go straight to hell."

- Speaking about then-Prime MInister Tony Blair in 2006.

"Go to hell, Yankee *****, here stands a dignified people. Go to hell a hundred times, we are the sons of Bolivar!"

- After Venezuela expelled the US ambassador in 2008.

"You are a fraud, Obama. ... Go and ask many people in Africa, who might have believed in you because of the colour of your skin, because your father was from Africa. You are an Afro-descendant, but you are the shame of all those people."

- Speaking about US President Barack Obama in 2011.

"Give me your crown of thorns, Christ, give it to me, so that I bleed; Give me your cross, 100 crosses, and I will carry them for you. But give me life, because I still have things to do for my people and my country. Don't take me yet."

- During a mass held for his health during his cancer treatment in April 5, 2012.

"We will live and will win!"

- After being diagnosed with cancer in June 2011.

"It would not be strange if they had developed the technology to induce cancer and nobody knew about it until now."

- Accusing the CIA of spreading cancer in Latin America in 2011.

"Marisabel, I'm giving you one tonight, get ready!"

- To his wife on Valentine's Day 2000.

"I am a president held prisoner, I have not resigned."

- During a short coup against him in 2002.

"Theirs is a victory of ****."

- On the failure of a constitutional amendment in 2007.

"If God gives me life and health, I'll be with you until 2021! Hey ho, Chavez will not go!"

- Launching a move to repeal term limits for presidents in 2008.

"Christopher Columbus (the Italian-born explorer) was the spearhead of the biggest invasion and genocide ever seen in the history of humanity."

- Speaking about indigenous rights in 2003

"Israel criticises Hitler a lot, so do we, but they've done something very similar, even worse, than what the Nazis did."

- Discussing Israel during a visit to Iran in 2006

"I promise you that at least I will make an effort not to be so lengthy."

- Before giving a nine-hour speech in 2012.

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North Korea Nuclear Test: UN Sanctions Agreed

New sanctions will be imposed on North Korea for its nuclear weapons test last month, after a unanimous United Nations Security Council vote.

A resolution passed by the 15-member body added three new individuals and two entities to the UN sanctions blacklist.

It also tightened restrictions on the North's financial dealings, including "bulk cash" transfers, linked to its weapons programmes.

The vote came after Pyongyang threatened to launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike against the United States.

An unidentified spokesman for the country's foreign ministry said the North will exercise its right for "pre-emptive nuclear strikes on the headquarters of the aggressors".

The spokesman claims Washington is pushing to start a nuclear war against North Korea.

Inflammatory rhetoric is common from North Korea, however it has become more regular in recent days.

The North has been angered by the possible sanctions and over upcoming US-South Korean military drills.

The UN Security Council vote means a fourth round of sanctions against Pyongyang in a fresh attempt to rein in its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

The resolution was drafted by the United States and China, North Korea's closest ally.

Although North Korea boasts of nuclear bombs and pre-emptive strikes, the country is not thought to have mastered the ability to produce a warhead small enough to put on a missile capable of reaching the US.

It is believed to have enough nuclear fuel, however, for several crude nuclear devices.

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Brits Kidnapped By Bedouin In Egypt Freed

A British couple believed to have been kidnapped at gunpoint by Bedouin tribesmen in Egypt have been freed.

The two were said to be taken in the Sinai Peninsula as they made their way by car from Cairo to the popular Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh.

They were released soon afterwards following "intense negotiations" with security officials.

The pair were freed after police promised their kidnappers they would release a detained relative who had been arrested and accused of smuggling weapons from Libya to Egypt.

An Egyptian military intelligence official said the couple were safe and in a security building in Ras Sidr in southern Sinai.

Security in the isolated desert region of the Sinai Peninsula has deteriorated since Hosni Mubarak was overthrown in the uprising in 2011.

Tourists have been targeted in the past by Bedouin in Sinai wanting to pressure police to free detained relatives. Tourists are typically not held for long before being released unharmed.

The Foreign Office advises against all travel to northern Sinai and advises against all but essential travel in southern Sinai except for the tourist areas around Sharm el Sheikh.

A spokeswoman for UK travel organisation Abta said: "In accordance with Foreign Office advice, our members are not currently operating excursions in the restricted areas of Egypt."

She went on: "The incident highlights the risks of making independent arrangements and the importance for British nationals and tourists to follow the FO's advice.

"The Red Sea resorts including those in the entire region of Sharm el Sheikh, Taba, Nuweiba and Dahab and the roads between these resorts and the airports of Taba and Sharm el Sheikh, are not included in the travel restrictions and are all operating as normal."

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