Baby found starved to death in Florida, parents charged with murder: police

 The parents of a 22-day-old baby found starved to death in Florida have been charged with first-degree murder, police said on Tuesday, accusing them of neglecting the suffering infant.

Ruby Stephens, 23, and Roy Stephens, 48, of Indiana were visiting relatives in central Florida on Dec. 23 when they called for emergency help after discovering the baby was unresponsive in their car, according to Lakeland Police.

Betsey Kee Stephens was declared dead at the hospital.

"She suffered tremendously over the 22 days that she was alive," Mike Link, assistant chief of Lakeland Police, told a news conference.

He called photographs of the baby "absolutely horrible."

A medical examiner later determined the death was a homicide resulting from "starvation due to neglect," according to an arrest report.

An autopsy found the infant weighed four pounds and one ounce (1.8 kg) at death, having lost about 2-1/2 pounds (1.13 kg) since her birth. Normal weight for her age was about eight pounds (3.6 kg), the medical examiner's office noted.

The baby was dehydrated and appeared not to have been fed for six to seven hours prior to her death, according to the report.
The mother initially told police that she had been breast-feeding the baby every few hours. But after police told her about the autopsy's findings, she acknowledged that the baby likely had not been fed for much of their day-long road trip, with highway traffic making it difficult to exit to feed her.
The mother later told police that the infant had shown signs of health issues, but she had missed an appointment to have her weight checked before the Florida trip.

Roy Stephens was not the biological father, the mother told authorities, and had not paid much attention to her from birth.

Police said the couple from Tennyson, Indiana, were traveling with two other children, ages 1 and 2. Both appeared healthy and have been taken into protective custody.

The mother told authorities that after arriving at a hotel earlier on Dec. 23, she had checked the baby's feet and covered them with a blanket because they were cold.

The family went to a restaurant to eat with relatives. When the mother went to take the baby out of a car seat, according to the arrest report, she noticed the baby was "completely unresponsive and cold to the touch."

Israeli police arrest Jerusalem church vandal

Israeli police say they have arrested a man who vandalized a cross at the Jerusalem church where Christian tradition says the Virgin Mary died.

Spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the 21-year-old jumped over a fence into the grounds of the Dormition Abbey on Tuesday. He said the man damaged a cross and a bench before a security guard apprehended him and called police.

Rosenfeld didn't immediately know the extent of the damage or the motives of the vandal, who was being interrogated by police.

Young man chokes his wife with gift wrapping paper

David Anderson Hampton Jr. 

By: Mahesh Sarin
A young man was arrested on charges of assault after choking his wife with gift wrapping paper, police in Missouri said.

St. Charles Police said that they arrested 26-year-old David Anderson Hampton Jr., after being accused of using a cardboard roll of wrapping paper to choke his wife.

Hampton was arrested after the incident, which unfolded in the couple's home in the 300 block of Della Drive. The woman told police that she lost consciousness during the assault.

Police do not know if the woman sought medical attention. Anderson was charged with felony domestic assault. He was booked into the St. Charles County Jail, and his bail was set at $50,000.

In August, a man was arrested, charged and convicted of assault after spanking his wife’s behind because she disrespected him, prosecutors in the United Kingdom said.

The Skegness Magistrate’s Court heard how 60-year-old John Smith, ordered his wife Kim to bend over and hit her behind five times, in a dispute over money.

When police officers arrived at the scene, Smith said that she deserved it. The court granted Kim a restraining order against Smith.

Gunmen Open Fire on LA Police Car, None Injured

Two men opened fire on a police car patrolling a tough part of Los Angeles, but the two officers inside were not injured and one was able to shoot back, authorities said yesterday. One of the suspects was later arrested and the other is on the loose.

The shooting occurred amid heightened tensions over attacks on police elsewhere in the U.S. After grand juries declined to indict white officers in the killings of unarmed black men.

Police have not yet determined a motive for the Sunday night shooting in South Los Angeles — an area plagued by gang violence — but said there were no indications it was linked to other attacks on police in the country.

"It was a complete unprovoked attack," LAPD Deputy Chief Bob Green said initially. "They were just driving on the street, and somebody struck out and tried to kill two policemen."

However, Green later said police also were looking into whether the officers might have driven into an ongoing incident and were inadvertently fired at.

"Last night the initial assessment, based on the reaction of officers and the adrenaline factor, was they were getting ambushed, but, you know, things change and it takes a lot to investigate this," Green said.

Officers arrested one man shortly after the attack. Christopher Taylor, 18, was booked on suspicion of shooting at an occupied vehicle.

An hours-long search followed for the other man, but he remained at large. Police found a handgun and rifle at the scene, and were looking for video evidence and conducting interviews to determine details such as why and how the shooting occurred.

The two officers were responding to an unrelated radio call and driving slowly in a neighborhood when they saw two men on a sidewalk and the flash of a rifle being fired, police said.

The officers stopped their car, and one got out and returned fire as the men fled. Police found one suspect, uninjured, a short time later along with a rifle and another weapon.

Police searched the neighborhood throughout the night for the other suspect, warning nearby residents to stay in their homes. Police stopped the search early Monday after the suspect was not found.

Chief Charlie Beck said at a news conference Monday that he was concerned that people might be targeting officers but added that the neighborhood had been marred by gang violence during the past several months and there had been a significant number of gang shootings.

QPR goes after Yakubu Aiyegbeni

QPR boss Harry Redknapp is chasing former Portsmouth striker Yakubu Aiyegbeni.
The Mirror says the Nigerian striker is among the names on Redknapp’s hit-list in January.
The QPR boss is exploring the option of signing Yakubu to take the pressure off top scorer Charlie Austin.
Yakubu, who plays for Qatari club Al Rayyan, was in the stands to watch Rangers’ 2-1 defeat at Arsenal on Boxing Day.
He has just six months left on his contract in the Middle East and is open to another crack in the Premier League.
Despite being 32, Redknapp believes ‘The Yak’ could be worth the risk as he chases firepower.

Kidnapped Ondo monarch’s wife found dead

AKURE—THE wife of Oba Lumure Ayelomi of Ayeka in Okitipupa area of Ondo State, Olori Dupe has been found dead 10 days after she was reportedly kidnapped.Vanguard learnt that she was allegedly murdered after her abductors collected N2 million ransom from the monarch. Her corpse was reportedly found where her abductors asked the family to bring the ransom to.It was gathered that the Olori was abducted by five kidnappers at her residence along Erinje Road, Okitipupa. Vanguard learned that the abductors, who later contacted the family two days after she was abducted, demanded for N30 million.The family reportedly pleaded with the kidnappers to consider the economic situation in the country and bring down the ransom. The abductors reluctantly agreed to take N2 million.Police sources hinted that a disagreement ensued among the abductors that the amount agreed upon was too meagre. However, the family was informed to come with the ransom and pick the Olori at Sagamu, Ogun State.They later changed it to Ode-Aye in Okitipupa Local Government Area of Ondo State. Vanguard gathered that after waiting endlessly till 3a.m. on the day, they left.On the following day, however, the family organized a search party and her corpse was later found in the outskirts of Ode-Aye, along Ore Road.Speaking with newsmen, one of the deceased’s children, Taye, said the incident had devastated the family of the monarch.Meanwhile, the corpse of the deceased has been deposited at the Okitipupa Specialist Hospital mortuary.The State Police image maker, Wole Ogodo, confirmed the incident, saying the killers will soon be arrested and brought to book

Touts drink to stupor as Guinness truck crashes in Delta

It was a bad yuletide for Guinness Nigeria Limited on Monday after one of its trucks lost control at the popular Orogbodo River in Agbor, Ika South Local Government Area of Delta State.

Instead of finding their way out of the gridlock that seconded the accident, motorists and commuters were busy treating themselves to the bottles of drinks the crashed truck carried.

Area-boys in the locality immediately took advantage of the incidence as over 100 of them trooped out from their hideouts to drink to stupor.

Some of them emptied several content of the product into their four and 10 litres gallons, which they took home, after drinking at the spot to their satisfaction.

The truck, The Eagle Online gathered, was coming from the company’s headquarters in Benin, Edo State before it ran into the ditch.

It was said to be conveying the company’s new product, Origin, to Asaba for the New Year festivity.

It took the combined efforts of the touts and men of the Federal Road Safety Corps before the gridlock was resolved.

Motorists and commuters plying the route from Lagos to the Eastern part of the country for the New Year holidays had hectic time before they could negotiate their way out of the traffic jam.

An eyewitness, who simply identified himself as Chinedu, a member of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, who had a spirit-filled day with some of the drinks, said the truck could not climb the undulating part of the expressway after it descended the sloppy axis of the road.

“The truck, carrying over 10,000 cartons of Origin beer was coming from Benin, Edo State but when it got to this part of the road, it became difficult for it to climb up. The driver struggled with the truck’s steering before he lost control and the truck fell into this ditch,” Chinedu said.

The driver of the ill-fated truck, who pleaded anonymity, lamented his plight.

He said he had to slow down after descending the hill because commercial motorcyclists, popularly known as Okada, were navigating the section.

US Sends Destroyer Ship to Search for Missing Jet

The US today deployed a destroyer ship to help search the AirAsia plane that went missing after taking off from Indonesia amid fears that the jet is at the bottom of the sea.

"Authorities in the region continue to lead the search and rescue effort. The US Navy is working closely with the government of Indonesia to identify additional surface or airborne capabilities that best assist their search efforts," the US 7th Fleet said in a statement.

USS Sampson is expected to be in the region soon, it said, adding that such a decision was taken after a request from the Indonesian government.

"The Indonesian government has requested US assistance in the search for AirAsia Flight 8501," the Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby said.

"The details of that request, which was made through the US State Department, are still being coordinated but could include some air, surface and sub-surface detection capabilities. We stand ready to assist in any way possible," Kirby said.

Earlier in the day, the State Department said that Indonesia had officially requested for US help.

"Our embassy in Jakarta is in close contact with Indonesian officials, and today, we received a request for assistance locating the airplane," said Jeffrey Rathke, a State Department spokesman.

"We are reviewing that request to find out how best we can meet Indonesia's request for assistance," he said, and confirmed that no American citizens were on the missing plane.

The Singapore-bound Flight QZ8501 lost contact with air-traffic control less than an hour after takeoff on Sunday. Contact with the plane was lost shortly after a request was made by the pilots to climb to a higher altitude to avoid bad weather.

The Airbus A320-200 was carrying 155 passengers -- one British, one Malaysian, one Singaporean, three South Koreans, 149 Indonesians -- and seven crew members -- six Indonesians and a French co-pilot.

Seventeen of the passengers were children.

There was also no distress signal sent out by the AirAsia jetliner.

Cameroon launches air strikes against Nigerian extremists

DOUALA, Cameroon (AP) — Cameroon's government launched its first ever air strikes against Nigerian Islamic extremists to dislodge about 1,000 fighters who had seized a Cameroonian military base, a statement said Monday.

Fighters from Nigeria's home-grown Boko Haram extremist group attacked five villages in Cameroon, near its northern border with Nigeria, over three days before they over-ran the military base in the same area Sunday, the government said.

Two bombing raids and a heavy firefighting Monday sent the insurgents fleeing from the Achigachia base, it said.

President Paul Biya ordered the first ever air strikes against Boko Haram to respond to "a change of strategy on the part of the assailants," the statement said. It gave no death toll.

About 10 days ago, the extremists for the first time directly attacked Cameroonian troops, exploding an improvised roadside device as a convoy of troops was passing and attacking another military base in the border town Amchide with some 5,000 fighters, the government had reported.

A week ago, the government reported that Cameroonian troops dismantled a border training camp run by the insurgents and freed dozens of young recruits.

Neighboring countries increasingly are being drawn into Nigeria's 5-year Islamic uprising, which has killed thousands and driven 1.6 million people from their homes, including across borders into Cameroon, Niger and Chad.

Boko Haram has been recruiting fighters in all three countries

IS releases interview with captive Jordanian pilot

The Islamic State group has published in its monthly English-language magazine an interview with the Jordanian pilot captured last week after his plane crashed in northern Syria.

In his statements in the extremist group's Dabiq magazine, First Lietuenant Muadh al-Kasasbeh says his F-16 was shot down on Wednesday by a heat-seeking missile near the Islamic State group's de facto capital of Raqqa.

He says he ejected from the aircraft and landed in the Euphrates River, where he was taken captive by IS fighters.

The United States has denied that the Islamic State group shot down the Jordanian aircraft.

Missing cleric found dead in Kenya

A missing cleric suspected to have been kidnapped has been found dead in Kenya’s Embu County, stoking tension in Garissa town.

The cleric cum business man, Mohamed Ali Kheir, alias Sheikh Dawara, had allegedly been handcuffed and kidnapped on Thursday by unknown people in Garissa town, according to the local Daily Nation newspaper.

The newspaper quoted his brother Yussuf Ali Kheir as saying on Sunday that after a long search, the family was informed that the cleric’s body had been found at a water pond.

Call for investigations

The director of security Aden Sahal condemned the death of the cleric, and asked the national government to thoroughly investigate his death.

He said it was high time that the national government devolved the security institutions starting from the basic ones like the administration and regular police.

Civil societies in Garissa town also registered displeasure over the killing of the cleric and called for an immediate investigation.