| Foul-smelling rapist bathed female victim
Porter, dubbed the "stinky rapist'' because of his foul-smelling body odour, bound and gagged the woman and repeatedly raped her. He then placed her in the bath and washed her in an attempt to remove evidence, before fleeing with the sheets from the bed and items of her clothing. The court was told Porter's sperm was later found on the woman's body and underwear. The court heard today that the woman did not contract the disease, which can cause chronic liver malfunction. Ms Wooldridge told the court Porter was a repeat offender who had been convicted of 140 offences during a 26-year period. These offences include armed robbery, for which he was sentenced in 1988 to eight-and-a-half years' jail with hard labour. Defence barrister Paul Richards told the court his client had no "capacity to focus'' because he was a member of Australia's indigenous stolen generation and was removed from his family as a child.
Loncar trial concludes first week: Prosecution works to refute asthma ...
Elko County District Attorney Gary Woodbury, right, questions Dr. Edward Leis during testimony Friday. Leis is a State of Utah medical examiner who challenged conclusions of an autopsy performed by Washoe County forensic pathologist Katherine Raven. (Doug McMurdo/Elko Daily Free Press)
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Protesters in Belgrade attack U.S. embassy
I have yet to read a report or news about the Spanish police or army or paramilitary forces going through the Basque reagon and terrorize the population there. This was happening in Kosova on a daily basis since the late 1980's. The Albanians had no choice but to declare independence. The big injustce was done in 1912 when huge chunks of the former Austro-Hungarian empire and Ottoman empire where given to Serbia as a "spoils of war" wihout considering the ethnicity of the population there. As far as you Slavic brothers being mistreated by the west it is silly because they wanted to join the west to escape the grip of the Russian empire. You know what I am talking about. If not please sign up at a college in Chicago and learn actual history. .
eLong, Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2007 Unaudited Financial Results
BEIJING, Feb. 26 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- eLong, Inc. (Nasdaq: LONG), a leading online travel service provider in China, today reported unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2007. Highlights - Fourth Quarter 2007 -- Total net revenues (net of business tax and surcharges) increased 27% year-on-year to RMB82.9 million. -- Travel revenues before business tax and surcharges comprised of hotel, air and other travel product and service revenues, increased 26% year- on-year to RMB84.6 million. -- Travel revenues before business tax and surcharges by product were as follows (figures in RMB 000's): Q4 % Q4 % Y/Y 2007 Total 2006(1) Total Growth Hotel commissions 67,345 80% 56,026 84% 20% Air ticketing commissions 15,971 19% 9,593 14% 66% Other travel revenues 1,242 1% 1,452 2% -14% Total travel revenues 84,558 100% 67,071 100% 26% -- Operating income improved year-on-year by RMB3.9 million to RMB2.7 million, driven primarily by increased revenue offset by greater sales and marketing, service development expenses, and decrease in shared- based compensation.
Goodbye Heath Ledger, Rest In Peace
The 28-year-old was born in Perth, Western Australia. He left school at 17, hitched to Sydney with barely a dollar in loose change in his pocket and got his first real break in a low-budget film called Blackrock (1997). A part in 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) put him on the map. He won plaudits for a cameo in Monster's Ball (2001), and revealed an unexpected talent for comedy in A Knight's Tale (2001). He could have played the beefcake, the heart-throb, over and over again: he was startlingly handsome with playful eyes and a broad-shouldered swagger. But he didn't. Reviewing his CV you realise it is littered with curios, parts he obviously took on for love or just the challenge, perhaps most notably his turn as Jacob Grimm in Gilliam's wonderfully bizarre homage to The Brothers Grimm.
Mitt Romney to withdraw from presidential contest
This is yet another reason why I support Obama. He's not playing any political games, his passion for this country speaks for itself. Senator Clinton always makes the comment that she has experience and that Obama does not. This may be yet another reason why she should not be president. She's used to the political games, etc. We don't need someone experienced in how to play the same games and use the same tired tactics that have been used for decades. We need someone who actually cares about the American people and is willing to do right whether or not he's losing votes. Obama is the real deal. Clinton's games prove that over and over again. .
The Legions of Frozen Yogurt Push East
Since the Korean chain Red Mango opened a store directly across from California-based Pinkberry in Greenwich Village in December, New York has become the second major battleground for the restyled, fluffed up, fruit-topped new wave of frozen yogurt. "I'd call it a quiet face-off on Bleecker Street," said Dan Kim, Red Mango's president for North America. Since 2006, Pinkberry has opened nine stores in New York, Red Mango has opened four, and competitors like Flurt, Berrywild and Yolato are scrambling to stay in the game. California is already gripped by tribal conflicts among Pinkberry partisans, Red Mango loyalists, and the fans of Yogurt World, a San Diego emporium where multiple flavors of yogurt and hundreds of toppings are available via self-serve: patrons wander around with an empty bowl and a wad of cash.
The Big Question: What was the Amber Room, and has it really been ...
If the claim turns out to be true, it could put an end to one of the greatest treasure hunts of modern history. What is the Amber Room? The Amber Room was an ornately decorated chamber created by Prussian and Russian craftsmen in the 18th century. The intricacy and detail of the design have led some to describe it as the eighth wonder of the world. It was handed to the Russian Tsar, Peter the Great, by the Prussian King, Frederick Wilhelm I, in 1716. It was then kept in Catherine Palace in Tsarskoye Selo, St Petersburg, until the palace was over-run by the Nazis in 1941. They then packed the contents of the Amber Room into 27 crates before destroying the palace and taking the Amber Room to the German city of Königsberg, near the Baltic Sea.
Next Weeks Almanac Digest
In 1987, Corazon Aquino was sworn in for a six-year presidential term under the new Philippine constitution. In 1990, Nelson Mandela, leader of the movement to end South African apartheid, was released from prison after 27 years behind bars. In 1992, one police officer was killed and four people injured in a terrorist attack on the U.S. ambassador's residence in Lima, Peru. In 1993, British Prime Minister John Majors said Queen Elizabeth II will pay income tax on all her personal income as well as being subject to capital and inheritance levies. In 1998, Olympic officials took away the gold medal of Canadian snowboarder Ross Rebagliati after he tested positive for a minute amount of marijuana. He blamed second-hand smoke. An arbitration panel restored his medal two days later.
Troup's Final March
Cabrillo coach Dan Troup stands with his players following their loss to San Luis Obispo at home on Tuesday in both teams' season opener. Troup begins his final season as head coach of the Conqs, following 11 total years of coaching - including five at the helm of the boys team.//Len Wood/Staff .
Tacoma School Board agrees to fund free full-day kindergarten
If you want smarter high school graduates, you'd better start feeding students bigger doses of reading, writing, math and even coloring right from the start, Tacoma school officials believe. So starting this fall, free all-day kindergarten will be on the menu at every public school in the city. The School Board unanimously approved the plan Thursday night. It will cost around $3 million in added teachers' salaries, learning materials, training and facilities changes during the next school year. It's an investment board members and administrators believe will pay huge dividends. "I can't wait! I can't wait!" said board member Kim Golding, sounding like an excited child, before the board unanimously approved the program. "To give Tacoma all-day kindergarten is a huge gift," she said.
Nick Robinson's Newslog
This brings us back to the raw politics. A weakened government faced by doubts about its competence may conclude that the fight for ID cards is not a fight worth having. POST PMQs UPDATE, 13:00 GMT: Much joy among Labour MPs that their man survived unscathed at PMQs. One Labour whip quoted joyfully the Guardian's Simon Hoggart who wrote this morning that David Cameron was not so much shooting fish in a barrel as "harpooning" a porpoise in a bath. Despite this, the whip said, the Tory leader missed the bath. Why? Well, Gordon Brown delivered three crucial things before the Tory leader could even get to his feet: an apology, an explanation (procedures had not been followed) and an announcement (even more reviews into data protection). But before Labour gets carried away, I pass on this view from the Tory camp: that given the public's real anger about this, David Cameron chose to be seen not playing party politics by linking this fiasco with other recent ones.
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