Honeymoon killing suspect's court date pushed back

A British businessman who is accused of having his wife killed during their honeymoon in South Africa was given two more weeks to prepare his defense against extradition, a judge ruled Thursday.

Shrien Dewani's next hearing will be February 8, the judge ruled. He is free on bail until that date, when the timing of the extradition hearing will be set.

Dewani is accused of hiring a crew of hitmen to kill his wife during a taxi ride in Cape Town, South Africa in November.

Dewani's wife, Anni Dewani, died in an apparent carjacking as the couple took a taxi ride in a crime-ridden neighborhood of Cape Town.

Dewani was allowed to leave South Africa, but prosecutors there later accused him of hiring the hitmen to kill Anni.

Dewani's lawyers say he is innocent and will fight extradition.

Granting him bail in December, British Judge Duncan Ousely rejected concerns from the South African government that Dewani would use his funds and international connections to flee before an extradition hearing.

Ben Watson, a lawyer for the South African government, cited hotel surveillance video that he said showed Dewani twice meeting with a cab driver as the sort of evidence indicating Dewani's involvement in a plot against his wife.

But Ousely ruled that Dewani, who did not attend the hearing, had a genuine interest in clearing his name and said he has cooperated with investigators from both England and South Africa.

Dewani's solicitor, Andrew Katzen, said he was "delighted" with the outcome but declined further comment following the court hearing.

In documents, prosecutors detail meetings that Dewani had with the taxicab driver during which he allegedly paid the driver 15,000 South African rand ($2,170) to have hitmen kill his wife and make it look like a carjacking.

"The alleged hijacking was in fact not a hijacking, but part of a plan of subterfuge which Shrien Dewani, the husband of the deceased and the accused, had designed to conceal the true facts ... that the deceased was murdered at the instance of the husband," South African prosecutors wrote in court documents.

The court documents do not say why Dewani allegedly wanted his wife dead.

The driver, Zola Tongo, was sentenced to 18 years in prison in South Africa after admitting to taking part in the killing.

At least 32 killed in attack on pilgrims in Iraq

At least 32 people were killed and 150 others wounded in two explosions targeting Shiite pilgrims Thursday in Karbala, about 60 miles (100 km) south of Baghdad, police officials said.

It was the latest of several terrorist attacks across Iraq this week that have killed at least 118 people and wounded 450 others.

The attack in Karbala came as tens of thousands of Shiite pilgrims are making their way to the city for Arbaeen, a religious observation. It follows 40 days of mourning for Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Mohammed who was felled in a 7th century battle in the Iraqi city.

Another attack Thursday also targeted Shiite pilgrims: one pilgrim was killed and nine other people were wounded by a roadside bomb in southern Baghdad as they made their way to Karbala. On Tuesday, five Shiite pilgrims were wounded in an attack in Taji, just north of Baghdad.

Meanwhile, in a separate attack Thursday, a suicide car bomb targeting a police checkpoint in Baquba killed at least four people and wounded 33 others, police officials said. Two of the dead and nine of the wounded were police officers, according to authorities, who said the attack bears the hallmarks of al Qaeda in Iraq.

A suicide bomber rammed a minibus loaded with explosives into the main gate at Diyala police headquarters in central Baquba. The headquarters was preparing an exhibition of weapons and ammunition confiscated by Iraqi security forces from insurgents in 2010.

On Wednesday, suicide bombers hit a pair of locations in Diyala province, killing at least 16 people and wounding nearly 100 others, authorities said. A suicide bombing that targeted a recruitment center in Tikrit on Tuesday killed 65 and wounded 160.Diyala was an al Qaeda stronghold until 2008, when Iraqi security forces, backed by U.S. troops, conducted major military operations in the province to push the militants out.

Awakening Councils also played a major role in hunting down al Qaeda fighters in the province. Awakening Councils, whose members are predominantly Sunni, have been recruited by the U.S. military to work against al Qaeda in Iraq and other militias.

Key security ministry positions remain vacant in Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government amid political wrangling. Al-Maliki serves as acting defense, interior and national security minister.

China's economy grew 10.3% in 2010

The Chinese economy continued its breakneck growth in 2010, expanding by 10.3%, according to government figures released Thursday.

Last year China's economic output eclipsed Japan to become the world's second largest economy with just over $6 trillion, completing a decade long gallop that saw it jump the economies of France, the UK and Germany. China's growth in 2009 was 9.2%.

The U.S. is the world's largest economy with an estimated $14.6 trillion GDP for 2010.

Interactive: The world's 10 largest economies

The yearend figures come out as Chinese President Hu Jintao makes a high-profile visit to the U.S., being feted at a state dinner by U.S. President Barack Obama -- the first such dinner for China in more than 13 years.The summit has also highlighted a range of issues between the world's two largest economies, such as the global economic crisis, international security, the environment and human rights.

Obama administration officials used the president's meeting with Hu to highlight economic progress between the two countries, announcing Beijing's approval of $45 billion in new contracts for U.S. companies to export goods to China. The contracts will support an estimated 235,000 American jobs, according to the White House.

The Chinese economy grew 9.8% in the last quarter of 2010, according to China's National Bureau of Statistics.

Consumer prices grew 3.3% year-on-year, ahead of China's 3% target. But more troubling for Beijing is the price of food rose 7.2%.

As the economy expands, inflation is a growing concern for China's economic minders, said Professor Patrick Chovanec at Tsinghua University in Beijing.

China has implemented price controls on food "but whether that deal with the underlying inflationary pressure is an entirely different problem," Chovanec said. "Nothing China has done so far has really tackled that."

Two chief U.S. economic concerns are China's currency, which critics say is widely undervalued, and increased access to U.S. businesses in the burgeoning China market.

Obama dismissed a reporter's question about U.S. fear of China's rising power, saying that China's explosive economic growth is good for the world and, more specifically, American businesses.

We want to sell China "all kinds of stuff," he said.

"We welcome China's rise," Obama said. Washington just wants to ensure it "reinforces international norms and international rules, and enhances security and peace as opposed to ... being a source of conflict."

While the meeting dealt with a range of topics, U.S. officials continued to focus intensely on the fact that the government-controlled People's Bank of China is artificially undervaluing the yuan, bringing down the cost of Chinese exports, which would give it an advantage in the international market.

GPs face losing control of flu jabs programme

GPs face losing control of managing the flu vaccine programme following supply problems in England this winter, the UK's head of immunisation says.

There is a "pretty compelling" case for the government taking charge of ordering and supplying jabs, said Professor David Salisbury.

GPs ran out of seasonal flu jabs earlier this month, forcing ministers to use swine flu vaccine stockpiles.

The BMA said changing the "complex and intense" programme would not work.

Most vaccines, including the entire childhood immunisation programme, are ordered by the Department of Health for the whole of the UK.

Flu is one of the few exceptions, with GPs in England ordering jabs direct from manufacturers and similar systems operating elsewhere in the UK.

Prof Salisbury said this was a "historic hangover" that now needed addressing.

He is leading a review into what happened this winter with the shortages. Even though there is plenty of the 2009 pandemic vaccine left it does not protect patients against all the strains of flu circulating."We compare that with the routine childhood immunisation programme where we have not had to suspend part of the programme because of shortage of vaccine for at least a decade. This argues that we do need to look very carefully at whether flu vaccine supply can be done on a more dependable basis."

The government has set up a tailored IT system that allows officials to supply vaccines to the NHS within hours of orders coming in. Those vaccines can then be tracked and there is an up-to-date record of how many are left in the system.

But Prof Salisbury said any move to take ordering away from GPs would take time.Doctors get paid for running the vaccine programme and Prof Salisbury conceded the payment issues would need resolving. He said the government would be seeking talks soon.

He suggested as an interim measure for next winter, the government in England may purchase an emergency stockpile as happens in Scotland.

He also suggested the shortages that were reported could have been down to GPs giving the vaccine to those who were not in high risk groups.

However, he added it would be wrong to blame anyone at the moment as the issue needed looking at thoroughly.

But the British Medical Association rejected the suggestions.

Dr Richard Vautrey, deputy chairman of the BMA's GPs' committee, said he did not believe doctors had relaxed restrictions. He said the shortage was more likely to be caused by the late surge and the fact that healthy pregnant women had been added to the risk groups fairly late on.

On the issue of handing control of the vaccination campaign to the government, he said: "I don't think a wholesale change like this would work. The flu programme is complex and intense as we have a lot of people coming for immunisation at once.

"That does not happen with childhood vaccines and so I am not sure a central system could cope with the volume of vaccine GPs need almost all at once.

"What we need is for an emergency stock to be held, perhaps regionally, in case doctors do run out."

Prof Salisbury also re-entered the debate about vaccinating healthy children - there have been calls for this to happen after a number of children died or became seriously ill this winter.

Current vaccination policy is based on immunising those most at risk of getting seriously ill. But he said there was "merit" in also vaccinating those who were the most likely to spread the disease - children - as a way of curbing the scale of future outbreaks.

He said this was a matter for the government's independent expert body, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, to consider and it needed to be proved cost-effective, but he said in his personal view it was an "attractive concept".

Prison sentence for US HIV sex airman David Gutierrez

A US Air Force sergeant has been sentenced to eight years in prison and dishonourable discharge for exposing sex partners to HIV at swinger parties.

David Gutierrez had been convicted of aggravated assault and of violating orders to notify partners of his status and to use a condom.

Gutierrez begged a Kansas military judge for a lower sentence, noting he had not infected anyone.

He feared he would be unable to afford HIV drugs without medical benefits.
Denials

But prosecutor Capt Sam Kidd argued on Wednesday he had risked his partners' lives: "The accused was not thinking about how his victims would pay for their medications."

Capt Kidd said Gutierrez was diagnosed with HIV, the virus that causes Aids, in 2007 while stationed in Italy.The sentence came a day after several women who attended sex parties with Gutierrez and his wife testified they would not have had sex with him if they had known about his HIV status. None testified they had contracted the virus.

They testified he repeatedly denied he had contracted the virus.

Banned in Britain: Pastor Terry Jones

Britain has denied entry to the Florida pastor who said last year that he was "praying about" whether to burn Qurans to protest the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

"The government opposes extremism in all its forms which is why we have excluded Pastor Terry Jones from the UK," a Home Office spokesperson said in a statement. "Numerous comments made by Pastor Jones are evidence of his unacceptable behaviour."

Jones vowed to take legal action to change the decision. "Just as a human being, I believe it is restrictive, against my right to travel, against my right to my opinion, to express my opinion, against basic principles of freedom of religion and freedom of speech," he said in a telephone interview.

He said he had planned to go to Britain February 9 and to spend a week to 10 days there with his church group. He has been invited to speak at several rallies in England and do book signings, he said.

Jones, the pastor of Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, threatened last September to burn the Quran. "We have firmly made up our mind, but at the same time, we are definitely praying about it.But he changed his mind after his proposal drew sharp criticism from Muslims around the world and from U.S. officials. Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, said the burning of Islam's holy books "could cause significant problems" for American troops overseas.

Hong Kong authorities seize 290 kilograms of cocaine

Some 290 kilograms (639 pounds) of "high-grade cocaine" was discovered in a shipping container at a Hong Kong terminal, the government said in a statement Wednesday.

The cocaine, worth some HK $260 million (U.S. $33 million) was found December 29 at the Kwai Chung Container Terminal, "in a container arriving from South America and destined for the mainland," Hong Kong's Information Services Department said.

Hong Kong's customs department has recently stepped up inspections of "suspicious consignments from South America" at the terminal, the statement said.

Customs officers intercepted two containers that purportedly contained "wood working products" from a container vessel from Chile, officials said. "Following inspection using the X-ray system and drug detector dogs, officers found a batch of cocaine in one of the containers, concealed inside 88 pieces of hollowed-out wood planks," the statement said.

The investigation was ongoing, authorities said, and no arrests have yet been made. Hong Kong is working closely with Chinese and overseas drug enforcement agencies, said John Lee, head of Hong Kong Customs' Drug Investigation Bureau, in the statement.

It was the largest seizure of drugs ever for the customs department. However, Hong Kong police last April had a larger bust, which saw the seizure of 372 kilograms (820 pounds) of cocaine with a value of HK $337 million, or U.S. $43.4 million. That seizure stemmed from a missing persons report that led to the discovery of the cocaine in a home. Eight people were arrested in that case, police said at the time.

Drug trafficking is a serious offense, the Hong Kong government statement said, with a maximum penalty of life in prison and a $5 million fine.

Japan hits 'critical point' on state debt

Japan has hit a "critical point" where it risks losing investor confidence if politicians fail to reach agreement on how to rein in the ballooning national debt, a cabinet minister has warned.

"We face a dreadful dream that one day the long-term interest rate might rise," Kaoru Yosano, the new minister for economic and fiscal policy, told the Financial Times.

"So we have to be very careful [to] ensure the credibility of our economy and the credibility of our government."

His stark comments highlight government determination to introduce a sweeping reform of the tax system that would include a hike in the 5 per cent consumption tax.

Naoto Kan, prime minister, drafted Mr Yosano, a veteran opposition politician, into the cabinet last week to help build cross-party agreement on fiscal reform. Worries about Japan's fiscal future have been fuelled over the past year by the sovereign debt crises suffered by eurozone countries, with Mr Kan warning last June that Japan could end up like Greece unless it tackled its rising debt.

Japan has no difficulties financing its deficit and there is no sign that it could face a sovereign debt crisis in the near future. The benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond trades at a yield of less than 1.25 per cent. But Mr Yosano warned it be would wrong to assume such a benign environment would continue indefinitely.

"Our fiscal status is at a critical point . . . the circumstances surrounding Japan may change overnight," he said.

The deep recession into which Japan plunged in 2008 has dramatically worsened its already chronic government deficits, with new bond issuance set to outstrip tax revenues for the third year in a row in fiscal 2012.

The surprise appointment of Mr Yosano, a fiscal conservative who previously served as economic policy minister under the former ruling Liberal Democratic party, has underscored the determination of Mr Kan to address the yawning state deficit. Japan's gross national state debt will soon rise above 200 per cent of gross domestic product.

Mr Yosano said he aimed to draw up a plan for funding fast-rising social security costs that could be the basis for cross-party discussion by June.

Many politicians, both in the ruling Democratic party and opposition groups, share Mr Yosano's conviction that a substantial increase in the consumption tax will be an essential part of returning to fiscal sustainability. However, opposition groups have shown little interest in joining cross-party discussions, preferring instead to put pressure on Mr Kan to call an early general election.

Mr Yosano suggested future consumption tax rises could be introduced over a period of years.

U.S., China pledge cooperation on key issues

U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao lifted glasses at a White House state dinner Wednesday night, with Obama saying that "while it's easier to focus on our differences of culture and perspective, let us never forget the values that our people share."

"A reverence for family, the belief that with education and hard work and sacrifice, the future is what we make of it and, most of all, our desire to give our children a better life," Obama said, enumerating what he called common values between the U.S. and China in toasting Hu.

Hu, toasting Obama at the first formal state dinner for China in more than 13 years, praised the U.S. president for bringing the two countries closer together.

"In recent years, particularly over the last two years since President Obama took office, China-U.S. relations have made strong headway," Hu said. "We have increased exchanges in cooperation in a wide range of areas, maintained close communication and coordination on major international and regional issues, and played a positive role in promoting peace, stability and prosperity in the Asia Pacific region and the whole world."

Hu said that he had reached "important agreement" with Obama during his visit.

"We agreed that our two countries should increase contacts at the top and other levels, strengthen strategic mutual trust through dialogue and communication, intensify exchanges and cooperation in all fields, and step up communication and coordination on international and regional issues," he said.

Earlier Wednesday, Obama and Hu met behind closed doors at the White House for several hours as top officials from both countries worked to address a range of issues tied to the global economic crisis, international security, the environment and human rights.

Obama administration officials used the president's meeting with Hu to highlight economic progress between the two countries, announcing Beijing's approval of $45 billion in new contracts for U.S. companies to export goods to China. The contracts will support an estimated 235,000 American jobs, according to the White House.

The two leaders acknowledged continuing differences on human rights, but they pledged to keep working on such issues in a "frank and candid way," according to Obama.

Hu, who started his three-day trip to the United States on Tuesday afternoon, was treated to a military honor guard and review at the White House -- part of the traditional pomp and circumstance reserved for visiting leaders of major powers.

Obama hailed Hu's visit as a chance to lay a foundation for the next 30 years of Sino-American relations.

"At a time when some doubt the benefits of cooperation between the United States and China, this visit is ... a chance to demonstrate a simple truth," Obama said. "We have an enormous stake in each other's success. In an interconnected world, in a global economy, nations -- including our own -- will be more prosperous and more secure when we work together."

Hu declared the relationship between the two powers to be one of "strategic significance and global influence."

Under "new circumstances, and in the face of new challenges, China and the United States share broad common interests and important common responsibilities," he said. "Our cooperation as partners should be based on mutual respect," he added. "China and the United States should respect each other's choice of development path and each other's core interests."

The formal state dinner for Hu on Wednesday evening is the third such occasion of his administration. Among the 225 dignitaries who attended were former presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton; former secretaries of state Madeleine Albright, George Schultz and Henry Kissinger; Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer; actor Jackie Chan; Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire; and designer Vera Wang. Herbie Hancock and Lang Lang were to provide entertainment after the dinner.

The last White House state dinner for China was in October 1997, when Clinton welcomed President Jiang Zemin and his wife, Wang Yeping.

At the request of Hu, Wednesday night's menu was an all-American feast that featured last summer's harvest of honey and produce from the White House's kitchen garden.

While Hu was at the White House, he joined Obama in a meeting with key business leaders. The list of corporate executives taking part in the discussion included Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs, HSBC's John Thornton, Intel's Paul Otellini, Motorola's Greg Brown, Microsoft's Steve Ballmer, GE's Jeff Immelt and Boeing's Jim McNerney.

American automakers were absent from the invitation list, despite their push to capture market share in China's booming auto industry.

Hu later met with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden at the State Department. He is scheduled to meet with congressional leaders on Thursday before heading to Chicago.

The Chinese leader attended a small dinner at the White House Tuesday evening with Obama, Hillary Clinton and National Security Adviser Tom Donilon.

The dinner provided "a bit of an informal setting in which to have some of these discussions," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said.

During a news conference with reporters Wednesday, Obama said he had received a promise from Hu to establish a more "level playing field" for U.S. trade. China's currency, Obama said, remains undervalued -- a key factor in America's trade imbalance with Beijing.

The two countries need to develop a "win-win situation as opposed to a win-lose situation," he said.

Hu conceded that key differences remain over economic policy, but he promised that Beijing would continue making attempts to resolve those differences.

Obama noted that he and Hu agreed on the need to reduce tension on the Korean peninsula and prevent further provocations from Pyongyang. A Korean peninsula with no nuclear weapons remains a key goal for both leaders, Obama stressed.

Human rights remained a key sticking point for the two men. The United States has objected for decades to, among other things, China's handling of Tibet and political dissidents such as Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Liu Xiaobo, who remains in prison.

Obama on Wednesday defended his administration's decision to engage with China despite those differences, pointing out that "China has a different political system than we do" and is at a "different stage of development."

"I have been very candid with President Hu about these issues," Obama told reporters, and "occasionally, they are a source of tension."

But "we can engage and discuss these issues in a frank and candid way," he said.

Hu defended his country's human rights record, arguing that "China recognizes and also respects the universality of human rights." At the same time, he said, it is important to account for "different national circumstances."

"We will continue our efforts to improve the lives of the Chinese people" and promote "democracy and the rule of law," he said. At the same time, Beijing is willing to engage with Washington on the basis of "mutual respect" and the principle of "noninterference" in domestic affairs.

Obama dismissed a reporter's question about U.S. fear of China's rising power, saying that China's explosive economic growth is good for the world and, more specifically, American businesses.

We want to sell China "all kinds of stuff," he said.

"We welcome China's rise," Obama said. Washington just wants to ensure it "reinforces international norms and international rules, and enhances security and peace as opposed to ... being a source of conflict."

While the meeting dealt with a range of topics, U.S. officials continued to focus intensely on the fact that the government-controlled People's Bank of China is artificially undervaluing the yuan, bringing down the cost of Chinese exports, which would give it an advantage in the international market.

Last week, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said China must do more to address its undervalued currency and dependence on exports, adding that such a move is in Beijing's best interest because it would control inflation.

Senate Democrats this week renewed their push to crack down on countries that manipulate their currencies, with China clearly in their crosshairs.

A bill introduced Monday by Sen. Charles Schumer of New York and two other Democrats would impose penalties, including possible tariffs, on nations that manipulate their currencies.

The senators told reporters in a conference call that China's currency and trade polices undercut U.S. manufacturers and are costing American jobs.

Hu has dismissed the argument that price stability is a reason for yuan appreciation, telling the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal that Chinese inflation is "moderate and controllable."

least 59 killed in Mexican city of Monterrey so far this year

At least 59 people have been killed in and around the region of Mexico's richest city, Monterrey, since the start of 2011, according to a tally kept by officials at the U.S. Consulate inMonterrey.We've been keeping running tabs. Some things are reported, some things aren't, so it's very difficult to keep an accurate record," Monterrey Consulate spokesman Bill Cook told
in a phone interview from Monterrey, which rests in Mexico's Nuevo Leon state.

"We've reminded everyone (at the consulate) of the danger," he added.

On Tuesday, authorities announced that five mutilated bodies were dumped about 50 miles south of the city in Montemorelos, a place that has historically been known as a peaceful Seventh-Day Adventist town, according to Cook.

On Monday, 10 people were killed in Monterrey and another eight were killed on Friday, victims in the latest rash of drug-related violence that has spread fear among residents.

Just five years ago, Monterrey was dubbed the safest city in Latin America and the commercial hub of Mexico. Now, it's fallen victim to the lawlessness and violence spreading throughout the country -- a cartel battleground where grenade attacks, shootouts and kidnappings dominate headlines.

The rest of the state has also seemingly been victimized by the violence.

The high-profile killings began in 2010 and continued into the first week of the year. Saul Vara Rivera, 48, mayor of Zaragoza in the municipality of Galeana, Nuevo Leon, was shot 23 times in the back.

The police forces patrolling Monterrey have been impacted too, with at least 12 officers killed since January 1, according to Cook.

"We are on permanent alert because the idea and philosophy that we have taken is to continue cleaning up this process of violence in the state," Monterrey Police spokesman Jorge Domene Zambrano told reporters last month.

Security measures were strengthened in the municipal bodies with support from federal and state forces, especially in Monterrey -- the state capital, he said.

In September, the U.S. State Department issued a travel warning for Monterrey and advised that "the immediate, practical and reliable way to reduce the security risks for all children is to remove them from Monterrey."

The consulate in Monterrey said they are not implementing any added security measures because of the violence, Cook said.

Romanian sex trafficking crime family convicted in UK

A father and son have been convicted of running a "family business" trafficking girls and women into the UK to force them to become sex slaves, British police confirmed Tuesday.

Marius Nejloveanu, 23, and his father Bogdan, 51, both from Romania, were found guilty by a Manchester court in northern England of deceiving at least five women, then aged between 15 and 23 years old, into coming to England and making them work as prostitutes in Manchester, Birmingham and on the continent.

"Each of them was identified as a potential victim either because they were young, could be isolated from their family, were low in intelligence or for some reason easily persuaded to come to the UK," prosecuting lawyer Rachel Smith said during the trial.

"All the women were promised they would be helped to find work in the UK. All arrived in the belief they would be offered a home, support and the chance of lawful employment when they arrived."

Detective Inspector Mike Sanderson from Manchester Police told CNN: "One of the victims in this case, when we actually rescued her... was assessed as having the mental age of 10 years old when the fact is she is a 22 year old woman. They are just very, very vulnerable women. They are very immature. They have no adult skills."

Marius Nejloveanu was found guilty of the most serious offenses, including repeated rapes, beating one of the women with a guitar until it broke and threatening another with a knife if she didn't obey him.

"Most of them were raped by him, some were subjected to the most extreme physical and sexual violence and sexual humiliation," prosecutor Smith said.Detective Constable Colin Ward, from the Sexual Crime Unit, said in a statement: "It is difficult to find the words to describe the physical and sexual abuse these women have endured.

"Marius in particular spun a web of lies to encourage the women to come to the UK, whether by declaring his love for them of promising a better life.

"Instead they became prisoners forced into prostitution. If they complained in any way they would be beaten and raped by Marius. He is a very dangerous man who sees women as a commodity whose only purpose is to serve him financially and sexually."

One woman, who declined to be identified out of a sense of shame and fear of retribution, recalled how Marius Nejloveanu lured her daughter into the prostitution ring. "She thought he wouldn't harm her, and look where she got," the woman, from a small village in Romania, said.

It was only when Marius and Bogdan Nejloveanu were arrested that she first realized something was wrong.

"All the time she was in England with Marius, she would laugh and say 'Mother, don't worry, everything is all right.' She couldn't tell me more, because he was with her all the time. Finally she admitted he beat her, molested her, to make her work for them."

Sanderson explained how the father and son team generated almost $20,000 each month by making the five young women work for 12 hours a day. Police say the exploitation went on for more than four years.

The court heard how Bogdan Nejloveanu gave his son practical help and advice so that he could set up his own prostitution business.

Marius Nejloveanu's phone calls and letters, intercepted by police and presented as evidence in the trial, showed how he even tried to keep trafficking women and prevent other victims from testifying against him, while he was awaiting trial in Manchester's Strangeways Prison.

In a letter to his cousin, Marius Nejloveanu asked him to take a girl to another relative in Spain because "he could bring her over to England to start her on some work and that would be great."

"Also tell her that I love her and that I want to marry her, because if you tell her I want to marry her, she'll fall for that," Marius Nejloveanu wrote.

In separate letter written to the same girl, Marius Nejloveanu implores her to come to the UK. "I want you to come over so I can see you because you are my only true love and I want to be with you for the rest of my life," he said.

"Don't listen to what people say because people are malevolent and evil and it's because of them that I'm in prison. I love you very much and can't wait to see you."

According to one police recording presented in court, Marius Nejloveanu phoned his mother from prison to ask for help in bribing two of the victims so that they wouldn't appear as witnesses in his case.Police told they began investigating the Nejloveanus after a social worker became concerned for the welfare of one of the women working at the Shangri-La massage parlor in October 2008. Brought to England on the promise of cleaning work, that woman testified that Marius and Bogdan Nejloveanu told her she had to pay off a $3,000 travel debt by sleeping with strangers for as little as $15.

"We rescued two young ladies who were being exploited and it took several days to actually get them to tell us about the horrible experiences," Sanderson told CNN. "And what we found was that there were three other girls who were from the same sort of brothels who were basically exploiting them.

"The three girls were arrested, we tried to speak to them but unfortunately they didn't want to speak to us and in this case they ended up getting charged with offenses," Sanderson added.

"At the end of the day it turned out that the three girls were doing what they were doing because of the oppression by Marius and Bogdan."

Juanita Huntington, who acted as a "receptionist" at the brothels admitted five counts of controlling prostitution for gain, according to police. She would give the money the girls earned to Marius and report back to him if any did not do as requested by clients. If this happened they would be beaten.

All three are due to be sentenced on Wednesday, January 26.

7/7 inquest: Pc feared bomb threat to more buses

One of the first police officers at the scene of the 7/7 bus bombing asked for all buses in the area to be searched for explosives, an inquest has heard.

Pc Christopher Mitchell said he "feared there were potentially more packages on other buses".

An injured woman told him she had seen a fellow passenger "fiddling" with a package before the blast, he recalled.

Hasib Hussain was one of four suicide attackers who killed 52 people on London's public transport network.

Hussain killed himself and 13 others when he detonated his device on the number 30 bus in Tavistock Square, and more than 100 people were injured.

Pc Mitchell said: "I remember turning around and looking back towards Euston Road and I could see buses moving still up and down - it was very surreal.

"And I feared there were potentially more packages on other buses possibly.

"So I certainly wanted buses in the immediate vicinity to be stopped and some form of search conducted," the former soldier told the inquest at the Royal Courts of Justice in London.

He added that is seemed to him "common sense" to halt other buses in the area and evacuate them, although this was not carried out.

Hussain, 18, the youngest of the four suicide bombers, detonated his device nearly an hour after explosions on three Tube trains at Aldgate, Edgware Road and Russell Square.

In total, more than 700 people were injured.

Councils in England announce thousands more job cuts

More than 2,000 jobs are to be cut at two county councils in a bid to make multimillion-pound savings.

About 1,200 jobs are set to be axed at Hampshire County Council under plans to save £55m for 2011/12.

It blamed the cuts on a £30.9m (14.3%) reduction in its government grant.

Meanwhile, Norfolk County Council said it would axe about 1,000 jobs in the next year. On Tuesday, East Sussex County Council revealed plans to shed up to 200 jobs.

In Hampshire, staff and unions are being consulted over the job cuts which affect 8% of the workforce.

The authority says it plans to save £7m by cutting senior management and implementing a recruitment freeze and save £10m by renegotiating contracts.Councillor Ken Thornber, leader of the Conservative-controlled authority, said: "There can be no debate over whether or not we make cuts, the withdrawal of government funding to meet the national debt leaves us without that choice.

"The issue is how we face up to these financial challenges, while laying strong foundations for the difficult years beyond.

"Included within this programme are plans to reduce our pay bill, which makes up 51% of our overall budget."

He said the council hoped to achieve this through voluntary measures and minimise compulsory redundancies.

"But sadly there will be some staff who will face compulsory redundancy," he added.

Other savings include a reduction in the county council subsidy it gives commercial bus operators to run less-used services.

Budgets for child protection, highways maintenance and schools will be protected, the authority said.The budget is due to be agreed by full council on 24 February.

Meanwhile Norfolk County Council announced 1,000 jobs would be axed - about 10% of its workforce.

But it said some cost-cutting plans would be dropped or amended. This included keeping a threatened subsidy for over-16s travel to school and a smaller than proposed cut to funds to help keep older people living in their homes.

The Conservative-run council leader Derrick Murphy is to recommend to cabinet on Monday the revised package to cut £155m from budgets over three years. The council said it had drawn up the plans following its "Big Conversation" consultation, which more than 9,000 residents responded to.

Mr Murphy said reductions in services were unavoidable in the light of the country's financial crisis.

"This budget has been prepared in the context of one of the most difficult financial periods faced in the county council's long history, if not the most difficult," he said.

But he said the revised package was designed to protect vulnerable people as far as possible and deliver the promised freeze in council tax.

East Sussex County Council has drawn up plans to shed between 150 and 200 jobs in 2011/12 as it looks to save £100m over the next four years.

All departments at the Conservative-led authority will have to make cuts, with £37m being saved in the first year alone. Council leaders said further job losses would be expected in the following three years but that the scale of cuts was broadly in line with their planning.

Elsewhere, staff at Dorset County Council will have to take 12 unpaid leave days a year under plans to save £55m by 2013/14.

The Conservative-run authority has already announced that 500 jobs are set to go while pay for unsociable working will be reduced.

Meanwhile, plans to cut 2,000 jobs at Manchester City Council are expected to be formally approved later.

The Labour-run council announced last week it needed to reduce its workforce by about 17% after changes to local authority grants left a huge hole in its finances.

The authority said it was hoping to avoid compulsory redundancies by increasing redundancy payments to encourage volunteers.

DR Congo army commander 'led mass rape' in Fizi

An army commander in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has been accused of leading the recent mass rape of at least 50 women.

One of the victims, as well as sources quoted in a UN report, all accuse Lt Col Kibibi Mutware of links to New Year's Day rapes in the town of Fizi.

There have been numerous cases of mass rape in DR Congo's conflict but this is believed to be the largest single incident allegedly involving the army.

Lt Col Kibibi has denied the charges.

He said that the soldiers who raided the town had disobeyed orders.

From an everyday fight between two men over a woman, violence escalated into a brutal punitive expedition by a group of government troops against the population of Fizi. A soldier was killed here right beside the hospital," explains Dr Faise Chacha, the head of Fizi hospital.

"That started the panic and all our patients fled. We came back at 0500 the next morning and we started taking in people who had been stabbed and others - women - who had been raped."

Dr Chacha and the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres have treated 51 rape victims so far, but they expect more as women who fled the attacks slowly return home.As in previous cases of rape in DR Congo, many victims are expected to keep their plight secret to avoid being abandoned by their husbands and families.

Two of them agreed to talk anonymously after medics told the BBC they had been raped.

"I was raped in front of my four children.This woman was not the only one accusing Lt Col Kibibi, current commander of the 43rd sector in the army's Amani Leo (Peace Today) operation against rebel groups which still roam eastern DR Congo eight years after the country's war officially ended.

"I'm ashamed, very ashamed. If I meet two or three people who are having a discussion, I assume they are talking about me, even though it is not the case."

The other woman was able to identify her attackers.

"It was 1900 [in the evening] and those who raped me were members of the military," she said in a low voice, her body wrapped in a colourful cloth.Several people who live near the hospital said they saw him ordering his troops to attack the population to avenge their dead comrade.

An internal report by investigators sent to Fizi by the UN peacekeeping mission Monusco and seen by the BBC also quotes local leaders and police sources who accuse Lt Col Kibibi of directing the atrocity.

Monusco sent patrols from the day after the violence from its Baraka base, just over one hour's drive away, and has maintained a 24-hour presence in Fizi since 5 January, which has encouraged the population to come back.

Lt Col Kibibi is a strong man with a small moustache and a boonie hat. When I met him, he was sitting behind a table on which only two mobile phones and one walkie-talkie were visible.

Speaking in the thatched hut from which he commands his troops, he dismissed all accusations levelled against him as rumours and said that those soldiers who committed the crimes had disobeyed his orders to stay in the camp. He added that he only left his base briefly on 1 January to assess the death of the lynched soldier, and only heard about the night's violence the next morning.Lt Col Vianney Kazarama, the army spokesman for operations in South Kivu province, acknowledged that government soldiers were responsible for the Fizi attack but he promised swift legal action.

"All those people who have abused the population have already been arrested. The zero-tolerance policy will be enforced on the spot in Fizi.In a statement, the UN's special representative on sexual violence, Margot Wallstrom, called on the Congolese authorities to conduct an investigation "thoroughly and without delay".

"Impunity for these types of crimes must not be tolerated," she added.

Lt Col Kibibi is a former member of the CNDP rebel group, which has previously been accused of numerous human rights abuses.

He was integrated into the national army as part of a peace agreement in 2009.

According to a local military source, his unit is a mixture of former militias based on Rwandan-speaking ethnic groups.

Those troops were deployed to Fizi where a conflict between the majority Babembe group and the neighbouring Banyamulenge - another Rwandan-speaking ethnic group - had been simmering for generations.

Fizi residents and soldiers also clashed in April 2010.

The 16 years of unrest in eastern DR Congo have become notorious for the widespread sexual abuse of women and young girls.

More than 300 women, men and children were raped by a coalition of rebel groups in the town of Luvungi and neighbouring villages in North Kivu within miles of a UN base in August.

Chinese consumer price inflation 'down to 4.6%'

Chinese consumer prices rose by 4.6% in the year to December, according to a report from Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV.

If correct this would represent a slowing from the 5.1% reported in November Consumer Price Index figures.

Beijing has been trying to control growth amid fears that the economy could overheat, and there are fears high prices could spark social unrest.

Phoenix TV also reported that China's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 10.3% last year.

The station said the figures had been leaked to it from an unnamed Chinese central bank official.

China is scheduled to publish the figures officially on Thursday.

Philippines eyes easier marriage annulment

A bill has been put forward in the Philippine Congress aimed at making it easier for poor people to get their marriages annulled.

The bill would make violence, infidelity and abandonment all grounds for annulment.

The Philippines is one of the few places in the world - alongside the Vatican and Malta - where divorce is still prohibited.

Annulments are currently too expensive for anyone but the rich to contemplate.

First, couples have to prove that their marriage licence is not valid or that one person is, in legal terms at least, psychologically incapacitated.

It is an expensive procedure, and Congressman Neri Colmenares says the system discriminates against those who cannot afford to hire lawyers and psychiatrists.

He wants the bill to be simplified, so that anyone who can prove their partner has been violent, abandoned the family home or is guilty of infidelity is automatically assumed to have a form of "psychological incapacity".

Mr Colmenares is from a minority party, and he is likely to face a tough challenge, not just from opponents in Congress but also the powerful Catholic Church.

But whether his bill succeeds or not, it highlights a glaring disparity - while poor people can be trapped for years in abusive marriages, it is not uncommon for the rich to have more than one marriage annulled.

Chinese president to attend state dinner, hold talks with Obama

President Obama will host a formal state dinner for his Chinese counterpart on Wednesday -- part of a day that will include bilateral talks and a joint news conference.

Chinese President Hu Jintao is on a three-day trip to the United States for talks on trade, currency and North Korea. It will be the eighth face-to-face meeting between the two leaders.

Hu will stress the importance of a comprehensive partnership between the two nations to help ensure stability worldwide, Chinese state media reported, despite their differences on issues such as human rights and currency controls.

In addition to Obama, the leader is scheduled to meet with top legislators and business executives and then visit Chicago.

Hu arrived at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Tuesday to a welcome that included an honor guard and a military band that played the national anthems of both countries. Vice President Joe Biden greeted him on arrival.Later Tuesday, he had a small dinner at the White House with Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and National Security Adviser Tom Donilon.

"This provides a bit of an informal setting in which to have some of these discussions," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said about the dinner.

On Wednesday, the two leaders will hold bilateral talks followed by a joint news conference. Hu will be the guest of honor at a formal state dinner in the evening.

This dinner marks the third state dinner of the Obama administration.

The last White House state dinner for China was 13 years ago, when President Bill Clinton welcomed President Jiang Zemin and his wife, Wang Yeping, in October 1997.

Before Hu's arrival, U.S. legislators and demonstrators criticized China's human rights record, including political repression, and called for Obama to press the issue in his talks with the Chinese leader.

"It is more important to honor and remember those who cannot attend this State Dinner rather than those who will be in attendance," Rev. Patrick Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition, said in a statement.

"While the guests are dining on expensive and extravagant food there will be scores who will be oppressed and placed behind bars by the Chinese government because of their faith and political beliefs; people like Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Liu Xiaobo who is in prison."

Gibbs said that Obama would raise human rights concerns with Hu.

"Obviously that is a topic of some significance that the two leaders will talk about," Gibbs told reporters. "We will continue to have difficult conversations" with China on the subject.

This week's meeting between the leaders of the world's two largest economies also put the spotlight on criticism that the government-controlled People's Bank of China artificially undervalues the yuan, bringing down the cost of Chinese exports, which would give it an advantage in the international market.

Last week, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said China must do more to address its undervalued currency and dependence on exports, adding that such a move is in Beijing's best interest because it will control inflation.

Senate Democrats this week renewed their push to crack down on countries that manipulate their currencies, with China clearly in their crosshairs.

A bill introduced Monday by New York Sen. Charles Schumer and two other Democrats would impose penalties, including possible tariffs, on nations that manipulate their currencies.

The senators told reporters in a conference call that China's currency and trade polices undercut U.S. manufacturers and are costing American jobs.

"China's currency is like a boot on the throat of America's economic recovery," Schumer said.

But Hu has dismissed the argument that price stability is a reason for yuan appreciation, telling the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal that Chinese inflation is "moderate and controllable

Premier: Australia flooding will 'whack' economy

Continued flooding in southern Australia and other parts of the country will cause a signifigant "whack" to the nation's economy, Victoria State Premier Ted Baillieu said Wednesday.

The month-long flooding has recently spread to Victoria, the southern Australian state that Baillieu oversees, inundating homes and devastating thousands of acres of crops.

At least 21 people have been killed and countless others have been left homeless.While still trying to keep an eye on rising rivers and help those who have had to be evacuated, Baillieu said he is also thinking about the country's economy.

"It is going to take some time. There is going to be a whack on our economy," said Baillieu. "And it will be that effect right across Australia from Queensland in the north to Victoria in the south."Baillieu said he has announced a $7 million dollar relief fund and other funds that will be used to help those that were affected.

Residents of the rural town of Kerang were told to quickly evacuate their homes Wednesday morning as it became clear the levee protecting the town had failed in several places, according to Victoria State Emergency Services.

"You should ensure you have left your property immediately," the agency said in an alert.

Baillieu said it appeared that the levees would hold in Kerang, but other nearby towns were still in peril.

Rains could taper off in Victoria Wednesday but there still was a threat for flooding in some areas, sad CNN International Meteorologist Jennifer Delgado said.

On Tuesday, search and rescue divers found the body of an 8-year-old boy who fell into the water near a river the day before, Victoria police said.

Authorities were still preparing a coroner's report and had not officially linked his death to floods. But earlier Tuesday, Prime Minister Julia Gillard mentioned the boy's disappearance as she briefed reporters on the country's flooding crisis.

"We know many communities are anxiously waiting as floodwaters rise, and many townships across Victoria have already been impacted by floodwaters," she said. "We also know that a small boy is missing, and so these are very difficult times in Victoria."

Gillard said she spoke with victims at a shelter in the state Monday -- many of whom had been evacuated from their homes and did not know what they would find when they return.

"Even in those circumstances, when I met with those Victorians, very many of them said to me that their thoughts are actually with the people of Queensland," she said.

Floods in that northeastern Australian state have killed at least 20 people, police said.

Suicide attacks kill at least 15, wound 85 in Iraq

A pair of suicide attacks Wednesday morning in Diyala province, north of Baghdad, killed at least 15 people and wounded 85 others, authorities said.

A suicide bomber drove a vehicle loaded with explosives into the headquarters compound of Force Protection Services in central Baquba during morning training, according to police officials in Baquba and Baghdad.

FPS is the Iraqi security agency responsible for protecting the country's government institutions.

At least 13 people were killed and 70 injured in that attack.Baquba is the provincial capital of Diyala province.

South of Baquba, a suicide bomber wearing a vest packed with explosives detonated near a convoy carrying the deputy head of Diyala's provincial council, Sadiq al-Husseini, police said. The attack in al-Ghalbiya, about 15 km (8 miles) south of Baquba, killed at least two people and wounded 15 others, including al-Husseini.

Al-Husseini's convoy was traveling with a procession of Shiite pilgrims.

The bloody attacks came a day after a suicide bomber wearing an explosives-packed vest detonated a police recruitment center in Salaheddin province, also in northern Iraq. That strike killed at least 65 people and wounded 160 others.

Diyala used to be an al Qaeda stronghold until 2008 when Iraqi security forces backed by U.S. troops conducted a number of major military operations in the province to push the militants out.

Awakening councils in the province also played a major role to hunt down al Qaeda fighters in the province. Awakening Councils, whose members are predominantly Sunni, have been recruited by the U.S. military to work against al Qaeda in Iraq and other militias.

Alcohol delays, breaks marriages, study finds

Alcohol dependency not only affects people who drink excessively, but also spouses, friends and family. Now a new study in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research finds that alcoholism has a strong connection to when people get married and whether those marriages are successful.

"For young adults who are drinking, if their drinking continues to levels of problem use, it could impact their likelihood of marriage as well as likelihood of having a really lasting marriage," said study author Mary Waldron, assistant professor in human development at Indiana University. "What we found is yes, it's true that alcohol dependence is a strong predictor of separation and we've known that for quite a while, it was really the predictor of delayed marriage that was surprising to us."The study looked at 5,000 Australian twins, ages 28-92, all of whom reported a history of alcohol dependence sometime over their lifetime.

The researchers found the association between alcoholism and getting married for the first time at a 23% lower likelihood for women. For men it was 36% lower only after age 29. For both sexes, the researchers concluded that the chance of separation was twice as likely and earlier. They also found that genetics played a role.What we found by using both fraternal and identical twins is that genetic influences appear to contribute to the association ... but the processes underlying the genetic effect, we really don't know yet and that will be a focus of future research," Waldron said.

She hopes the research will open doors to understanding the consequences of alcoholism on children.

"For us to really understand the impact of parental alcoholism on kids, we really need to examine parental marriage and divorce," she said.

According to the American Psychological Association, alcohol dependence, or alcoholism, is defined as losing reliable control of one's drinking, causing a higher tolerance and symptoms of withdrawal if the drinking's discontinued. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) says 17.6 million adults in the United States abuse alcohol or are dependent on alcohol.

Sargent Shriver is dead at age 95

R. Sargent Shriver, who was responsible for launching the U.S. Peace Corps after marrying into the Kennedy family and joining John F. Kennedy's White House, has died, according to his family.

Shriver, whose full name was Robert Sargent Shriver Jr., was 95. He had suffered for years from Alzheimer's disease.

The family released a statement, saying Shriver died Tuesday "surrounded by his five children, five children in-law, and his 19 grandchildren."

"He lived to make the world a more joyful, faithful, and compassionate place," the family's statement said. "He worked on stages both large and small but in the end, he will be best known for his love of others. No one ever came into his presence without feeling his passion and his enthusiasm for them."

President Barack Obama said he was "deeply saddened" over the death of Shriver, whom he called "one of the brightest lights of the greatest generation."

"Of his many enduring contributions, he will perhaps best be remembered as the founding director of the Peace Corps, helping make it possible for generations of Americans to serve as ambassadors of goodwill abroad," Obama said. "His loss will be felt in all of the communities around the world that have been touched by Peace Corps volunteers over the past half century and all of the lives that have been made better by his efforts to address inequality and injustice here at home."

After overseeing the Peace Corps launch in the early 1960s, Shriver went on to serve subsequent presidential administrations and kept up his activism throughout his life, becoming a chief architect of President Lyndon B. Johnson's war on poverty and later heading the Special Olympics, which was founded by his wife, Eunice Kennedy Shriver.

Shriver's entree into the Kennedy family was Joseph P. Kennedy, the family patriarch, who hired him to run a business venture in Chicago. According to the Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, the work led to an introduction to Eunice Kennedy, whose siblings included JFK, Robert F. Kennedy and Ted Kennedy.Shriver and Eunice Kennedy married in 1953.

Shriver served as JFK's Midwest campaign manager for his 1960 presidential bid before heading the Peace Corps' launch, which was seen as part of a new approach to the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union.

"He told me that everyone in Washington seemed to think that the Peace Corps was going to be the biggest fiasco in history," Shriver told Time magazine in 1963 of Kennedy's request that he head the program, "and it would be much easier to fire a relative than a friend."

In 2011, the Peace Corps is celebrating its 50th anniversary. More than 200,000 volunteers have served in 139 counties on issues ranging from education to public health to environmental preservation through the program, according to the Peace Corps' website.

The Peace Corps Tuesday mourned the loss "of our founder, friend and guiding light."

The Special Olympics, in a statement, said Shriver was an "advocate for the poor and powerless, and he compiled an unparalleled record of public service at every tier, from the local level to the world community."

After John F. Kennedy, his brother-in-law, was assassinated in 1963, Shriver was tapped by Johnson to launch the White House Office of Economic Opportunity, which comprised a handful of anti-poverty programs.

In a series of maneuvers that spoke to Shriver's penchant for working across the political aisle, he served as Republican President Richard Nixon's ambassador to France before becoming Democrat George McGovern's running mate in 1972, as the two unsuccessfully tried to unseat Nixon.

McGovern named Shriver as his running mate after his first choice, Sen. Thomas Eagleton of Missouri, stepped down after revealing he'd had psychiatric treatment that included electroshock therapy.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Shriver served as chairman of the board of Special Olympics International, which Eunice Kennedy Shriver founded in 1968. The organization sponsors sports training and events around the world for people with intellectual disabilities.

Shriver, who was born in Westminster, Maryland, in 1915 and who graduated from Yale, also was long active in the Roman Catholic Church.

President Bill Clinton awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994.

"We are greatly saddened by the passing of Sargent Shriver. He leaves behind an astonishing legacy of people helped, lives transformed, and communities improved," the former president and his wife, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, said in a statement. "Through his work and his passion, he helped build a better America and a more humane world. And he did it with boundless enthusiasm, infectious joy, and the deepest love for his family, his nation, and his work."

Eunice Kennedy Shriver died in 2009.

The Shrivers had five children including Maria Shriver, the media personality and former first lady of California; and Timothy P. Shriver, who now heads Special Olympics International.

Maria Shriver's husband, former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, said his father-in-law's life "is a blueprint for those of us who aspire to place the needs of others above our own."

Authorities: 14-year-old shoots 3 relatives, killing 2

A 14-year-old South Carolina boy used the rifle his father bought him as a birthday present to shoot the man to death, along with a great-aunt, and critically wound his grandmother, police said Tuesday.

The teenager, who was not identified because he is a juvenile, called police just before midnight Monday and reported that he had shot his aunt, his grandmother and his father, said Tony Fisher, director of the Spartanburg, South Carolina, Public Safety Department.

The boy told the dispatcher his father was dead, and said "in a calm, controlled, methodical voice that he would be waiting or come outside when police arrived, and he had laid the gun on the dining room table," Fisher told reporters Tuesday. As officers arrived, the teen came out with his hands up and was arrested, he said.

Police entered the house to find Joe Robert Lankford, the boy's 44-year-old father, shot to death in his bed, Fisher said. They found Virginia Gaston, 83, dead in her bed, apparently from a gunshot wound, he said. Gaston is believed to be the boy's great-aunt, Fisher said.

Rachel Gaston Lankford, 80, the boy's grandmother, was transported to a hospital where she is in critical condition, he said.

The teen told police he used the .22-caliber rifle that "was a birthday gift purchased by his father for him on his most recent birthday in September," Fisher said.

Authorities investigating the teen's background, including school records and information from neighbors, have found "there were no behavior issues that would in any way suggest the predictability of this violent behavior," he said.

Although the boy has talked with authorities, "he was not able ... to articulate a reason for his behavior," Fisher said.

The teen faces a detention hearing in the next couple of days, according to Spartanburg County Solicitor Barry Barnette, and prosecutors will look closely at whether he should be tried as an adult. He will face charges of murder and attempted murder, Barnette said.

Police previously had responded to "insignificant incidents in and around the house," Fisher said, but "nothing directly associated with or related to that family in particular."

Fourth person arrested in death of newlywed in Mauritius

A fourth person has been arrested in the death of an Irish newlywed at her honeymoon hotel on the island of Mauritius, police said Tuesday.

The arrest is "important" a police spokesman said, "as the man is involved in security work at the hotel."

Michaela Harte-McAreavey, 27, was found dead January 10 in her hotel room. An autopsy showed that she died of asphyxiation.

The three other suspects in her death are also employees of the luxury hotel, according to the Mauritius Police Force.

Room attendant Avinash Treebhoowoon, 29, and Sandip Moneea, 41, a floor supervisor, have been charged with murder. Room attendant Raj Theekoy, 33, faces a conspiracy charge. Police said one of the men has confessed and participated in the reconstruction.

The name of the fourth suspect was not given.

Authorities have said they believe the group was inside and burgling the room when Harte-McAreavey returned and surprised them, leading to the attack.

The killer used an electronic key card to enter the room, police said. The former beauty queen's husband was in the restaurant of the hotel when his wife was killed, and is not a suspect, authorities have said.

Thousands of mourners attended Harte-McAreavey's funeral on Monday at the same Catholic church in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, where she married Gaelic footballer John McAreavey on December 30. She was buried in her wedding dress in the graveyard next to the church.

In the Northern Ireland Assembly Monday, Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson said memories of the murdered honeymooner had united people in grief.

"Any life taken away by murder is a horrific event, all the more so when it is of a young person," he said. "The loss is even more harrowing and devastating because the victim in this case was a beautiful young woman who was on her honeymoon.

"This is one of the rare tragedies that has captured public attention and united the community in grief."

Socceroos edge South Korea in battle for top group spot at Asian Cup

Australia and South Korea claimed quarterfinal places at the 2011 Asian Cup with victories in Tuesday's final round of Group C matches in Qatar.

Australia edged top spot on goal difference after beating Bahrain 1-0, while fellow 2010 World Cup finals qualifiers South Korea won 4-1 against India.

That means the Koreans are set to face three-time champions Iran in the last eight, while Australia will play the Group D runners-up -- which will likely be titleholders Iraq or North Korea. The United Arab Emirates face unbeaten Iran in the other game on Wednesday.

The Socceroos, who defeated bottom nation India 4-0 first up before drawing 1-1 with two-time winners Korea, needed just a point against Bahrain to progress in a game played in steady rain at Doha's Al Sadd Stadium.

Bend it like Bhutia: Meet India's David Beckham

Midfielder Mile Jedinak scored the winning goal eight minutes before halftime with his second in as many matches following his equalizer against the Koreans.

The 26-year-old, who plays for Turkish club Genclerbirligi, fired home from long range -- and then tested goalkeeper Mahmood Mansoor soon after.

The Socceroos should have doubled their lead in the 52nd minute but midfielder Tim Cahill headed wide with the goal at his mercy after Harry Kewell beat the offside trap.

Australia's veteran keeper Mark Schwarzer made two crucial second-half saves from Bahrain striker Ismaeel Abdulatif, who scored four times in Bahrain's 5-2 win over India on Friday.

South Korea scored seven goals to Australia's six, but conceded three to their rivals' one -- meaning Sunil Chhetri's first-half penalty for India proved crucial.

The Koreans led 2-0 inside the first 10 minutes in the sodden conditions at Al-Gharafa Stadium as Ji Dong-won scored the first of his two goals with a header after keeper Paul Subrata failed to deal with Lee Chung-yong's cross.

The striker then headed into the path of Koo Ja-cheol following a cross by Cha Du-ri, and his forward partner doubled the lead.

Chhetri gave India hope in the 12th minute after he was fouled by Kwak Tae-hwi, but Ji made it 3-1 on 23 after Koo set him up inside the area.

The Koreans were then frustrated in their bid for more goals as several chances were squandered and efforts by Kwak, Ji and Hwang Jae-won were cleared off the line.

Substitute Son Heung-min hit the post in the 64th minute but finally made it 4-1 with nine to play with a fierce shot that went in off the underside of the bar -- but the midfielder saw another effort rebound off the woodwork.

Meanwhile, Jordan will be without Oday Al Saify for the rest of the tournament after the striker injured his hamstring in Tuesday's 2-1 win over Syria.

The 24-year-old, the only Europe-based player in Jordan's squad, will be ruled out for four weeks according to the tournament's website.

Al Saify, who scored the winning goal against Syria to set up a quarterfinal clash with Uzbekistan on Friday, joins Hatem Aqel, Anas Bani Yaseen and the suspended Basem Fathi on the sidelines.

Study: Sex, race and location may influence HIV outcomes

Women in the United States suffer from HIV-related illnesses more than twice as much as men according to a new study in The Journal of Infectious Diseases. The study also found minorities and people living in the South shoulder a much higher burden of HIV/AIDS related disease than anyone else in the country. Minority women have worse outcomes, according to the study.

During a ten-year period starting in 1997, researchers followed more than 2,000 patients within a year of diagnosis. Patients were tracked an average of four years. Researchers say they were surprised to find that women had the worst outcomes even though after diagnosis they had lower viral loads and higher CD4+ T cell counts than the men.
Viral load is the concentration of the virus in the blood. T cells help the immune system in fight infections.

Most of the men in the study were white, the majority of women were minorities. Half of these women were from the South. The study found 64% of minority women had HIV-related illness and 22% suffered from AIDS-related illnesses. By comparison patients from other race and sex groups had 21% HIV-related and 6% AIDS-related events.

78% of non-whites in the South had at least one HIV/AIDS-related illness versus 17% in other regions.

"To me that's just incredible," said Dr. Amie Meditz, University of Colorado-Denver and lead author. "We have to figure out why this group had poor outcomes and we have to develop strategies on how to fix this."

Study investigators also found minorities and patients living in the South were less likely to start antiretroviral therapy than their counterparts elsewhere. Standard antiretroviral therapy uses a combination of antiretroviral drugs to suppress the virus and stop the disease from progressing. But researchers say this may only be part of the reason for these differences. They say socioeconomic factors like access to care, lifestyle and environmental exposures may play a part in this increased rate of infection.

"Despite striking advances in the treatment of HIV-infection, this study points out that there are other factors that are beyond the sphere of science, medicine and the health care system that can substantially impact the health outcome of HIV-infected individuals," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who funded the study.

"Paramount among these is the influence of socioeconomic factors that often determine access to health care as well as contribute in a negative way to a lifestyle detrimental to optimal health outcomes in the acquisition and treatment of a number of diseases including HIV infection."

But Phill Wilson, dxecutive director of the Black AIDS Institute, says these disparities have been known for some time. He says the challenge is to determine why and find solutions.

"We need to be doing more studies to get a better understanding why people of color, women in general, men having sex with men in general, and black men having sex with men in particular do not fair as well, what are the core causes," Wilson said.

"We know one problem in the South is we have a high patient to physician ratio. We know a disproportionately high number of doctors in the U.S. are not experienced in treating HIV. We have an inferior health care system in the southeast region of the U.S. that attributes to poor HIV outcomes and we have an elevated level of stigma that delays diagnosis and increases risk."

Meditz says the study proves there's work to be done. "There's still race and sex differences in health care outcomes and there's an urgent need that we have to improve health care as it relates to HIV to make it equal for all groups."

Men have upper hand in sexual economy

It's not a new theory: As women progress in educational and professional opportunities, their odds of finding a committed man appear to go down. Women in their 40s and 50s have long heard this, but new research finds it's true for women just entering adulthood as well.

That's one of the findings in the new book "Premarital Sex in America: How Young Americans Meet, Mate and Think About Marrying," by researchers Mark Regnerus and Jeremy Uecker at the University of Texas at Austin.

They looked at the results from a number of national studies including the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health and the National Study of Youth and Religion, in addition to interviews with young people ages 18 to 23.

Researchers found that since women in the 18- to 23-year-old group feel they don't need men for financial dependence, many of them feel they can play around with multiple partners without consequence, and that the early 20s isn't the time to have a serious relationship. But eventually, they do come to want a real, lasting relationship. The problem is that there will still be women who will have sex readily without commitment, and since men know this, fewer of them are willing to go steady.

"Women have plenty of freedom, but freedom does not translate easily into getting what you want," Regnerus said.

The wide availability of pornography has also influenced the dynamics of relations between men and women, Regnerus said. A segment of 20-something men are content to have their sexual experiences by themselves, removing them from the pool of available partners. That means high-quality men - likely those who want monogamous, committed relationships - are still eligible for dating, but the overall dating pool has shrunk, meaning some women will be left unsatisfactorily single.

Researchers also found that marrying at or before age 20 constitutes the greatest risk for subsequent divorce, the data show. Early marriage doesn’t cause the divorce, but the partners are likely to be unprepared for the kinds of adjustments required, Regnerus said.

And here's perhaps some good news: Sexual behavior among this age group is less salacious than you might think. The "hookup culture" is most prominent when there is a Greek system present; otherwise, college students seem more inclined toward stable relations and have fewer sexual partners.

In case you were wondering, 16% of 18- to 23-year-olds are virgins, according to the surveys used in the book. In that age group there are more men than women who have never had sex. By age 27, the portion of virgins goes down to 8%.

Major earthquake strikes southwestern Pakistan

An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2 struck Wednesday morning in a remote area of southwestern Pakistan, but initial reports revealed no major damage.

The earthquake occurred at 1:23 a.m. (3:23 p.m. Tuesday ET) at a depth of 84 kilometers (52 miles), the U.S. Geological Survey said. It was centered 45 kilometers (30 miles) west of Dalbandin, and 1,035 kilometers (640 miles) west-southwest of Islamabad, the USGS said on its website.

Arif Mahmood, director of the Pakistan Meteorological Department, put the epicenter at 320 kilometers (about 200 miles) southwest of Quetta near Kharan, Balochistan, and said it had been felt in Punjab, Sindh, and Balochistan provinces in Pakistan, as well as parts of Iran and India.

Mahmood predicted major aftershocks. "Earthquakes with such magnitudes in the past have brought on aftershocks.

Residents near the epicenter in the districts of Kalat. some mud-walled homes were damaged but no one was hurt.

An official at Quetta's Civil Hospital said a female cardiac patient suffered a fatal heart attack during the earthquake. He said two residents raced to the hospital but they proved not to have been injured, just scared.Malik Muhammad Iqbal, the police chief of Balochistan province, said he was aware of no injuries.

"Things in the headquarters started shaking and books fell off the desks," Balochistan Police Inspector Sultan Mehmood told in a telephone interview. "We left the headquarters running into the streets -- scared for our lives."

In Karachi, Faraz Leghari, director general police, said he had heard no immediate reports of casualties or building damage.

USGS initially reported the quake at 7.4. Quakes of 7.0 to 7.9 are classified as major; anything over 8.0 is classified as great.

In Dubai, about 500 miles southwest of the epicenter, a reporter said he felt a moderate shaking that lasted for about 30 seconds.

Usman Zahid, a night manager at Serina Hotel in Quetta, Pakistan, felt the quake. He said it was "frightening" and estimated that it lasted about 20 seconds. It left "broken glass in the kitchen" and made a chandelier swing, but caused no major damage, he said.



In Dubai, "I was just getting ready to go to bed," said Leone Lakhani in Dubai. She said she texted her friends in Abu Dhabi and Bahrain.

"It's not uncommon for this region to have earthquakes," said Kurt Frankel of the Georgia Institute of Technology. It is where two tectonic plates come together, he said.

2 dead after small plane crashes into RV resort

Two people died Tuesday when a single-engine plane crashed into a recreational vehicle park near North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, a local official said.

The crash killed the plane's pilot and a woman inside a trailer at Briarcliffe RV Resort, according to North Myrtle Beach Public Information Officer Pat Dowling. The woman's husband was standing outside the trailer when the impact happened around 1 p.m. ET. He was taken to a hospital, Dowling said.

Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said the airplane was a Cessna 172.

The pilot had been coming in for a landing at nearby Grand Strand Regional Airport, Dowling said.

RV park member Cliff Douglas told CNN affiliate WBTW that he was inside his vehicle playing with his grandson when he heard the airplane's engine "screaming full tilt" overhead.

"Almost instantaneously you heard the impact," he said.

Dowling said neither of the dead had been identified.

Apple sets new record with sales of $27 billion

Apple reported results on Tuesday for its best-ever quarter, with revenue of $26.7 billion driven by holiday iPad and iPhone sales that were much better than forecast. Apple's profit of $6 billion also set a new record.

The Cupertino, Calif., company sold 7.3 million iPads in the quarter, easily surpassing the expectations of nearly every Wall Street analyst. Those sales essentially matched iPad sales from the previous two quarters combined. The iPad's success is coming from multiple sources. While Apple's Macintosh computers have always struggled for traction in the business world, Apple said the iPad is generating strong crossover interest from business customers. Around 80% of Fortune 100 companies have deployed the tablet for their employees.Apple also announced that it sold a record 16.2 million iPhones, just before the smartphone goes on sale on the Verizon Wireless network, beginning next month.

"We had a phenomenal holiday quarter," CEO Steve Jobs said in a prepared statement. "We are firing on all cylinders and we've got some exciting things in the pipeline for this year including iPhone 4 on Verizon, which customers can't wait to get their hands on."

The company sold 4.1 million Macintosh computers and 19.5 million iPods during the its fiscal first quarter, which ended Dec. 25. Mac sales were at an all-time high, but still a bit below analysts' expectations. On a conference call with analysts, that raised a question about whether the iPad was cannibalizing Mac sales.

"Yeah, I think there is some cannibalization, but there is also a halo effect," said Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook, referring to the way sales of one Apple product can lead to sales of other Apple gizmos. "If this is cannibalization, it feels pretty good."

The company also noted that iPad sales will likely fall back somewhat in the current quarter, since the tablet proved to be a hot holiday purchase. The iPod follows a similar trend, with holiday-quarter sales typically doubling the average sales from the other three quarters.

Apple continues to add new revenue streams. The $4.4 billion in iPad sales during the quarter come from a product that didn't exist a year ago -- the tablet computer first went on sale in April. The company also expanded its chain of retail stores, which reached $1 billion in sales for the first time.

The news comes a day after Jobs temporarily stepped down from his job, taking his second medical leave of absence in two years, and his third since 2004. In his stead, Cook will once again handle all day-to-day operations.

In the conference call following the financial results release, some analysts asked about Apple's business plan for the future -- especially if Jobs does not return to the company.

In response, Cook said the Apple team has "incredible depth of talent and a culture of innovation that Steve has driven, and excellence has become a habit."

He added: "We have incredible hope for the future of the company."

Apple usually provides a conservative outlook for the current quarter, but this time the company blew away analysts' forecasts. The company said it expects earnings of $4.90 per share on revenue of $22 billion this quarter, compared to Wall Street's expectation of $4.47 per share on $20.8 billion of sales.

Shares of Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) rose more than 1% afterhours, after closing down 2% on Tuesday, in the first day of trading following Jobs' announcement. To top of page