Global Oddities

A judge in Argentina has overturned a ruling that would have allowed the first gay marriage in Latin America.

Judge Marta Gomez Alsina, in the capital Buenos Aires, ordered Tuesday’s planned wedding of Alejandro Freyre and Jose Maria Di Bello suspended.

The court website said she had ordered the wedding blocked until the issue could be resolved by the Supreme Court.

The couple were granted permission to marry after successfully appealing against an earlier ruling.

But despite the last minute setback, their lawyer said they would still try to go ahead with the ceremony, AP news agency reported.

Maria Rachid said that the new ruling should not overturn the decision to let them marry.

The marriage had been scheduled at the Beruti registry office in the Palermo district of Buenos Aires.

The Argentine capital became the first city in Latin America to approve civil unions for gay couples in 2002.

However, the move has led to much legal and religious wrangling in Argentina.

Source: BBC news online, November 30, 2009

A woman who recently separated from her husband and had her hours cut at work says an image of Jesus Christ she sees on her iron has reassured her that “life is going to be good.”

Mary Jo Coady first noticed the image Sunday when she walked into her daughter’s room.

The brownish residue on the bottom of the iron looks like the face of a man with long hair.

The 44-year-old Coady was raised Catholic. She and her two college-age daughters agree that the image looks like Jesus and is proof that “he’s listening.”

Coady tells The Eagle-Tribune newspaper she hopes her story will inspire others during the holidays. She says she plans to keep the iron in a closet and buy a new one.

Source: AP, November 27, 2009

The Vatican on Thursday warned Italy’s bishops against letting deserted churches be transformed into nightclubs if the decision was taken to sell the places of worship.

Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, the Vatican’s new culture commissar, urged “the greatest caution” after announcing that Roman Catholic churches with few worshippers could be sold off.
He gave the example of a church in Hungary which was “transformed into a nightclub and where striptease took place on the altar.”
The archbishop, who is president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, said dwindling numbers of worshippers at some churches meant it now made sense to sell, or even destroy, the buildings.
“Faced with falling number of worshippers, a phenomenon which we are also unfortunately witnessing in the centre of Rome, churches without any artistic value and which need significant work can be sold or destroyed,” he told reporters.
Italian bishops’ groups would be responsible for deciding whether the sites should be sold, said Ravasi, adding each case would be separately assessed.

Source: AFP, November 26, 2009

Crashing a state dinner at the White House apparently takes a security breakdown as well as some kind of nerve.

The Secret Service is looking into its own security procedures after determining that a Virginia couple, Michaele and Tareq Salahi, managed to slip into Tuesday night’s state dinner at the White House even though they were not on the guest list, agency spokesman Ed Donovan said.

President Barack Obama was never in any danger because the party crashers went through the same security screening for weapons as the 300-plus people actually invited to the dinner honouring Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Donovan said.

Donovan confirmed the identities of the couple. The Washington Post, which first reported on their evening out, said the Salahis were well-known in the Virginia horse-country set.

The Secret Service learned about the security breach Wednesday after a media inquiry prompted by the Salahis’ online boasts about having attended the private event, Donovan said.

One of the many photos from the dinner posted on Michaele Salahi’s Facebook page shows the couple with a smiling Vice-President Joe Biden. In other photos, they appear alone or together with White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty, CBS News anchor Katie Couric, Republican Rep. Ed Royce and three Marines in their dress blues.

Donovan would not comment on whether the couple had been contacted by the Secret Service, how long they were on the White House grounds or other details of the investigation.

The Post said uninvited guests who got in could face a potential trespassing charge unless someone from inside the White House staff slipped them in.

Donovan would not comment on possible legal violations.

The agency’s Office of Professional Responsibility was reviewing what occurred. An initial finding indicated that a checkpoint did not follow proper procedures to ensure the two were on the guest list, Donovan said.

“It’s important to note that they went through all the security screenings – the magnetometer screening – just like all the other guests did,” Donovan said. And, he added, Obama and others under Secret Service protection had their usual security details with them at the dinner.

Source: AP, November 25, 2009

Detectives are waiting to question a father of two suspected of stabbing his four-year-old son to death before turning the knife on himself.
Neighbours dialled 999 after hearing a furious row at a flat in Southwark, south east London, on Monday evening.
Police officers arrived at the Lynton Estate property to find the body of the four-year-old boy.
The man’s 28-year-old wife was taken to hospital suffering a stab wound to the neck. She has since been discharged. A 17-month-old girl was found unharmed.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said the 31-year-old man remains under guard in hospital in a “serious” condition.
Officers from the force’s child abuse investigation command were waiting to arrest and question him.
The spokesman added that no-one has been arrested and officers are not looking for anyone else.
He said: “Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of a four-year-old boy in Southwark. We know the identity of the dead child but not all next of kin have been notified at this stage. The man remains in a south London hospital. His condition is believed to be stable.”
The death is being investigated by officers led by Detective Inspector Keith Braithwaite, based at Stratford.
The spokesman added: “At this stage, officers are looking into all the circumstances surrounding the child’s death. There have been no arrests and they are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident.”
Source: Press Association, November 24, 2009

A policeman was jailed for at least 18 years on Monday for the “brutal” murder of his fiancee, also a police officer, days before their wedding.
Martin Forshaw, 27, initially tried to pretend that 31-year-old Claire Howarth had died in a car crash, but changed his stance and admitted killing her with a mallet.
“This was a brutal killing,” said judge David Clarke, after the court heard that Forshaw felt “torn” between his fiancee and another woman, the mother of his young son, and told Howarth the wedding was off.
“Whatever immediately led up to it, you struck Claire Howarth at least five times to and around the head with a very heavy and dangerous instrument, designed to strike very hard blows,” the judge said.
Howarth died in hospital after a car crash in the early hours of May 7, Manchester Crown Court heard.
The detective in charge of the case, Andy Tattersall, said: “Unfortunately, we can only speculate about what made Forshaw do what he did on that tragic evening.
“On the one hand they were due to fly to the West Indies to get married, but it would also appear as if the couple were going through a trying and difficult time in their relationship.”
After the attack, in which she suffered “horrific head injuries,” Forshaw “panicked and drove Claire to a secluded spot …where he put her in the driver’s seat and deliberately crashed the car,” the detective said.
“He then lied to the emergency services and tried to make it look like an accident.”
“It was such a poor attempt to make it look like a crash that both the police and the ambulance service were immediately suspicious,” Tattersall said, noting her head injuries “could not have been caused by such a minor crash.”
Forshaw was jailed for life with a minimum term of 18 years.
Source: AFP, November 23, 2009

A rhinestone-encrusted glove worn by Michael Jackson the first time he performed the Moonwalk has been sold at auction for $350,000 (£212,000).
The glove, among 70 items belonging to the late singer which went on sale in New York, was sold for nine times the expected price.
A jacket worn by Jackson on his 1989 “Bad” tour was sold for $225,000 while a fedora hat went for $22,000.
The auction in New York attracted thousands of bidders around the world.
Auctioneer Darren Julien said the 1983 television appearance when Jackson first displayed the Moonwalk – wearing the glove – had been his “most historical performance”.

Mr Julien said he had had no idea the sale would be so big.
Prices for Michael Jackson memorabilia now outstrip those for items belonging to Elvis or Marilyn Monroe, he added.
“It’s a tribute to his life and career – he’s truly an amazing artist,” said Mr Julien.
The glove was bought by Hong Kong businessman Hoffman Ma on behalf of a hotel in Macau China, where it will now go on display.
Including taxes and fees, the final amount paid was $420,000.
Michael Jackson died at his home in Los Angeles in June at the age of 50 after a drugs overdose.

Source: BBC news online, November 22, 2009

Peruvian police said on Thursday they had broken up a gang that allegedly killed dozens of people and sold their fat to buyers who used it to make cosmetics.

Four Peruvians were arrested on suspicion of kidnapping, murder and trafficking in human fat.

The group stored the fat it collected in used soda and water bottles, which police showed reporters.

“We have people detained who have declared and stated how they murdered people with the aim being to extract their fat in rudimentary labs and sell it,” said Police Commander Angel Toldeo.

In addition to those taken into custody, police said they were searching for others who bought fat from the gang or might have worked with it.

Remains from some of the victims were found at a rural house in the region of Huanuco where the group worked, according police video.

Police said they were investigating 60 disappearances in the area that might be linked to the gang.

The investigation started this month after police heard about a shipment of fat that arrived in Lima by bus from Peru’s mountains.

Source: Reuters, November 20, 2009

The Oprah Winfrey Show is to end in September 2011 after more than two decades on air, the production company behind the programme has said.
Billionaire Ms Winfrey, 55, one of the most influential women in the US, has hosted the show since 1986.
A spokesman for the star’s Harpo production company would not say why Winfrey had decided to quit, but said she would discuss it on Friday’s show.
Winfrey is expected to focus instead on the launch of her own TV channel.
She already runs a satellite radio station, Oprah Radio, with presenters including Dr Maya Angelou and sex therapist Dr Laura Berman.
“The sun will set on the Oprah show as its 25th season draws to a close on 9 September 2011,” Tim Bennett, president of Winfrey’s Harpo production company, wrote in a letter to affiliates.
The Oprah Winfrey Show, currently syndicated in 145 countries, has transformed the star into a cultural phenomenon.
The show’s open atmosphere and frank conversation redefined the talk show genre and made Winfrey the wealthiest black woman in the world.
Her reputation was clearly appreciated by the big-name stars who opened their souls on her show, from Michael Jackson to Tom Cruise – who famously jumped on the sofa to announce his love for his future wife Katie Holmes.

The introduction of Oprah’s Book Club helped authors whose novels were selected become bestsellers overnight, and Winfrey’s support for US President Barack Obama was seen as crucial to his presidential election campaign.
Winfrey’s empire also includes a magazine, books and, from 2011, a cable TV network.
OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network is a joint venture between Winfrey and Discovery Communications and is set to replace the Discovery Health Channel in more than 70 million US homes.

Oprah is still the highest-rated US talk show with an average seven million daily viewers, but audiences are half what they were a decade ago.
The end of the programme will be a blow to distributor CBS, which earns a percentage of licensing fees – estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars – from the more than 200 local ABC TV stations across the US that broadcast it.
Many stations also built their schedules around Winfrey’s show, using it to promote other programmes while also delivering a large audience to their local news programming.

Source: BBC news online, November 20, 2009

A 20-year-old woman divorcee accused of committing adultery in Somalia has been stoned to death by Islamists in front of a crowd of about 200 people.
A judge working for the militant group al-Shabab said she had had an affair with an unmarried 29-year-old man.
He said she gave birth to a still-born baby and was found guilty of adultery. Her boyfriend was given 100 lashes.
It is thought to be the second time a woman has been stoned to death for adultery by al-Shabab.
The group controls large swathes of southern Somalia where they have imposed a strict interpretation of Islamic law which has been unpopular with many Somalis.

According to reports from a small village near the town of Wajid, 250 miles (400km) north-west of the capital, Mogadishu, the woman was taken to the public grounds where she was buried up to her waist.

She was then stoned to death in front of the crowds on Tuesday afternoon.
The judge, Sheikh Ibrahim Abdirahman, said her unmarried boyfriend was given 100 lashes at the same venue.
Under al-Shabab’s interpretation of Sharia law, anyone who has ever been married – even a divorcee – who has an affair is liable to be found guilty of adultery, punishable by stoning to death.
An unmarried person who has sex before marriage is liable to be given 100 lashes.
BBC East Africa correspondent Will Ross says the stoning is at least the fourth for adultery in Somalia over the last year.
Earlier this month, a man was stoned to death for adultery in the port town of Merka, south of Mogadishu.
His pregnant girlfriend was spared, until she gives birth.
Last month, two men were stoned to death in Merka after being accused of spying.
President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, a moderate Islamist, was sworn in as president after UN-brokered peace talks in January.
Although he says he also wants to implement Sharia, al-Shabab says his version of Islamic law would be too lenient.
The country has not had a functioning national government for 18 years.

Source: BBC news online, November 20, 2009