World News joined 2

[OMEN]

US presidential candidate John McCain said he believes the Iraq war can be won within four years, leaving a functioning democracy there and allowing most US troops to come home.

It was the first time the Arizona senator has put a date on when US troops could be withdrawn from Iraq.

The five-year war is unpopular with the US public and McCain's Democratic rivals for the White House, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, have pledged to begin bringing US troops home right away.

McCain has called such promises reckless. He has rejected withdrawal timetables and agrees with President George W Bush that troop levels should be governed by conditions on the ground.

McCain, who will run against either Obama or Clinton in November to succeed Bush in January 2009, laid out a scenario he thought was achievable within his first four-year term.

"By January 2013, America has welcomed home most of the servicemen and women who have sacrificed terribly so that America might be secure in her freedom," McCain said in a speech in Columbus, Ohio.

"The Iraq war has been won. Iraq is a functioning democracy, although still suffering from the lingering effects of decades of tyranny and centuries of sectarian tension. Violence still occurs, but it is spasmodic and much reduced," McCain said.

Under that scenario, US troops would still be present, but those soldiers would not play a "direct combat role" because Iraqi forces would be capable of providing order.

Speaking with reporters after the speech, McCain insisted he was not talking about a timetable for withdrawal but discussing what he believed would be achieved.

"I'm saying that we are succeeding in Iraq and we will have succeeded further in Iraq in 2013," he said.

McCain also predicted that al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden would be captured or killed within four years and the militant group's presence in Afghanistan would be reduced to remnants.

On the economy, he promised taxpayers the option of filing under a simpler system than the current multilayered code and said he would overhaul government spending practices that have led to "extravagantly wasted money."

Ohio is expected to be a hard-fought state in the general election and McCain's visit there came as Obama, the Democratic front-runner, moves closer to his party's nomination.

Obama has charged that McCain wants to keep the United States entangled in Iraq for 100 years, referring to a comment McCain made in January, when he asked how many years the United States might have a presence in Iraq.

McCain responded, "Maybe a hundred."

He has since said that remark was taken out of context and he was talking about a troop presence aimed at maintaining stability, like the US presence now in Japan, South Korea and Germany.

McCain said on Wednesday he recognized his party's battered image posed challenges for him.

"We've got a lot of work to do," McCain said. "I have a lot of work to do."


Reuters

[Black Widow]

Computer charges against woman whose daughter feuded with victim



Tina Meier holds two pictures of her daughter Megan, who committed suicide in October.



updated 5:49 p.m. ET May 15, 2008

LOS ANGELES - A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted a Missouri woman for her alleged role in perpetrating a hoax on the online social network MySpace against a 13-year-old neighbor who committed suicide.

Lori Drew of suburban St. Louis allegedly helped create a false-identity MySpace account to contact Megan Meier, who thought she was chatting with a 16-year-old boy named Josh Evans. Josh didn't exist.

Megan hanged herself at home in October 2006 after receiving cruel messages, including one stating the world would be better off without her.

Salvador Hernandez, assistant agent in charge of the Los Angeles FBI office, called the case heart-rending.

"The Internet is a world unto itself. People must know how far they can go before they must stop. They exploited a young girl's weaknesses," Hernandez said. "Whether the defendant could have foreseen the results, she's responsible for her actions."


She's denied sending messages
Drew was charged with one count of conspiracy and three counts of accessing protected computers without authorization to get information used to inflict emotional distress on the girl.

Drew has denied creating the account or sending messages to Megan.

U.S. Attorney Thomas P. O'Brien said this was the first time the federal statute on accessing protected computers has been used in a social-networking case. It has been used in the past to address hacking.

"This was a tragedy that did not have to happen," O'Brien said.

Both the girl and MySpace are named as victims in the case, he said.

MySpace is a subsidiary of Beverly Hills-based Fox Interactive Media Inc., which is owned by News Corp. The indictment noted that MySpace computer servers are located in Los Angeles County.

Due to juvenile privacy rules, the U.S. attorney's office said, the indictment refers to the girl as M.T.M.

FBI agents in St. Louis and Los Angeles investigated the case, Hernandez said.

Each of the four counts carries a maximum possible penalty of five years in prison. Drew will be arraigned in St. Louis and then moved to Los Angeles for trial.

Citing terms of MySpace service
The indictment says MySpace members agree to abide by terms of service that include, among other things, not promoting information they know to be false or misleading; soliciting personal information from anyone under age 18 and not using information gathered from the Web site to "harass, abuse or harm other people."

Drew and others who were not named conspired to violate the service terms from about September 2006 to mid-October that year, according to the indictment. It alleges they registered as a MySpace member under a phony name and used the account to obtain information on the girl.

Drew and her coconspirators "used the information obtained over the MySpace computer system to torment, harass, humiliate, and embarrass the juvenile MySpace member," the indictment charged.

After the girl killed herself, Drew and the others deleted the information for the account, the indictment said.

Last month, an employee of Drew, 19-year-old Ashley Grills, told ABC's "Good Morning America" she created the false MySpace profile but Drew wrote some of the messages to Megan.

A joke taken too far
Grills said Drew suggested talking to Megan via the Internet to find out what Megan was saying about Drew's daughter, who was a former friend.

TIMELINE: Megan Meier Internet suicide case

Introduction
A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted a Missouri mother for her alleged role in perpetrating a hoax on the online social network MySpace against 13-year-old Megan, who committed suicide.

September 2006:
Megan, of Dardenne Prairie, Mo., begins communicating online on MySpace with "Josh Evans," who she thinks is a good-looking boy living in her area.

Oct. 15, 2006:
She receives a message from Josh, saying he doesn't want to be her friend anymore.

Oct. 16, 2006:
Megan receives cruel messages through MySpace, including one from "Josh," allegedly telling her the world would be a better place without her. Megan runs upstairs. About 20 minutes later, Megan's mother finds her daughter has hanged herself in her closet.

Oct. 17, 2006:
Megan dies at a hospital, a few weeks before her 14th birthday.

Fall 2006:
Megan's parents learn from a neighbor that Josh was the creation of another neighbor, Lori Drew, her teenage employee Ashley Grills, and Drew's teenage daughter, a former friend of Megan. They are told the MySpace profile was created to see what Megan was saying about Drew's daughter online. Drew, through her attorney, later disputes she helped create the site or knew of mean messages prior to Megan's death.

Fall 2007:
Media accounts of Megan's suicide fuel public outrage in the case.

Dec. 3, 2007:
St. Charles County, Mo., prosecutor Jack Banas says he reviewed laws related to stalking, harassment and child endangerment and couldn't find statutes allowing him to file charges.


May 15, 2008:
A Los Angeles federal grand jury indicts the mother, charging her with one count of conspiracy and three counts of accessing protected computers without authorization.

Grills also said she wrote the message to Megan about the world being a better place without her. The message was supposed to end the online relationship with "Josh" because Grills felt the joke had gone too far.

"I was trying to get her angry so she would leave him alone and I could get rid of the whole MySpace," Grills told the morning show.

Megan's death was investigated by Missouri authorities, but no state charges were filed because no laws appeared to apply to the case.





msnbc.msn.com

[JohnCenaFan28]

Thanks for the news.

[JohnCenaFan28]

Wow... interesting read, thanks.

[JohnCenaFan28]

OMG, that's an awful sight...

[JohnCenaFan28]

Thanks for the story.

[JohnCenaFan28]

The war should be ended...

[JoshTheKiller]

What a fucking doosh..

[Edgehead82593]

Still wondering why she would commit suicide because some internet asshole said something

[OMEN]

Doctors will prescribe cannabis-based drugs to cancer, multiple sclerosis and AIDS patients in a planned NSW Government trial.

NSW Health Minister Reba Meagher will write to Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon in the next few weeks for permission to import and trial a drug expected to be Sativex, which delivers cannabis compounds through an oral spray.

"While the Iemma Government is opposed to the legalisation of marijuana, we do support a therapeutic trial of a cannabis-based drug," a spokeswoman for Ms Meagher said.

"We want the trial to start as soon as possible. However the support of the Rudd Government would be needed to get TGA [Therapeutic Goods Administration] approval of the drug for use in the trial. We're hopeful the Government will approve."

The Australian Medical Association welcomed the trial.

"We believe medicinal cannabis may be of benefit in HIV-related wasting and cancer-related wasting," said chairman of the association's public health committee Dr John Gullotta, adding that it might also relieve nausea and vomiting in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.

The Cancer Council NSW welcomed the move.

Ms Meagher may also ask for approval for other cannabis-based drugs.

UK company GW Pharmaceuticals, the manufacturer of Sativex, grows cannabis then extracts cannabinoids CBD and THC. "The formulation is believed to enhance the pain relief of THC while modulating the unwanted psychotropic and other THC-related side effects, such as tachycardia [rapid heartbeat]," the company says.

Sun Herald

[OMEN]

Rescue workers have plucked more than 60 more survivors from the rubble following Monday's massive earthquake in southwestern China, as a strong new aftershock hit and the death toll rose to almost 30,000.

The United States Geological Survey reported a tremor of 6.1 magnitude early on Sunday centred 80km west of Guangyuan, the latest in a series of aftershocks to hit Sichuan province.

The official Xinhua news agency said there was no immediate word of additional damage or casualties in the area.

In the provincial capital, Chengdu, some 200km south of the new tremor's epicentre, buildings swayed and people rushed out into the streets, risking a soaking from a passing storm.

At least 56 people were rescued in Yingxiu, close to the epicentre of Monday's 7.9 magnitude quake, but around 11,000 people are thought to remain trapped, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Soldiers engaged in relief work "have their hands stained with blood and earth after days of searches in the debris", Xinhua added.

"I was expecting to see my son's body. I never expected to see him alive," it quoted Long Jinyu, the mother of one of the survivors found in the rubble, as saying.

Other people were found alive in Beichuan county, also hard hit by the earthquake, Xinhua said.

Thousands of people have fled in the Beichuan area amid fears a lake could burst its banks, hampering rescue efforts after the deadliest earthquake in more than three decades.

At least one barrier lake, formed after rocks blocked a river, has burst its banks but caused no casualties, Xinhua said.

Rescue work has been complicated by bad weather, treacherous terrain and hundreds of aftershocks.

President Hu Jintao urged emergency workers not to give up efforts to find survivors. "We should put people first and saving people's lives is still the top priority of the relief work," he said.

Hu also praised international help given to China.

"I express heartfelt thanks to the foreign governments and international friends that have contributed to our quake-relief work," Xinhua quoted Hu as saying.

Offers of help have flooded in and rescue teams from Japan, Russia, Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore have arrived. Donations from home and abroad have topped 6 billion yuan ($NZ1.1 billion).

China has said it expects the final death toll from the earthquake to exceed 50,000. About 4.8 million people have lost their homes and the days are numbered in which survivors can be found.

Premier Wen said the quake was "the biggest and most destructive" since before the Communist revolution of 1949 and the quick response had helped reduce casualties.

China has sent 150,000 troops to the disaster area, but roads buckled by the quake and blocked by landslides have made it hard for supplies and rescuers to reach the worst-hit areas.

Reuters

[OMEN]

ILL: US Senator Ted Kennedy has been hospitalised after suffereing a seizure
US Senator Edward Kennedy, a leading Democrat and patriarch of a prominent American political dynasty, has been hospitalised after suffering a seizure at his Cape Cod vacation home.

Kennedy, 76, was rushed from the family compound at Hyannisport, Massachusetts, to Cape Cod Hospital at 9am Saturday (1pm Sunday NZT), before being airlifted to Boston.

"He is undergoing a battery of tests at Massachusetts General Hospital to determine the cause of the seizure," his office in Washington said in a statement.

"Senator Kennedy is resting comfortably, and it is unlikely we will know anything more for the next 48 hours," it added.

The Boston Globe reported Kennedy, youngest brother of assassinated US President John F Kennedy, suffered one seizure at his Cape Cod home and a second seizure aboard the helicopter transport flight to Boston.

The long-serving Massachusetts senator was joined by family members in Boston including his eldest son, Edward Kennedy Jr, 46, who was at the hospital, a Reuters photographer reported.

Kennedy, the second-longest serving member of the current US Senate, is a leading liberal voice in the United States and has actively campaigned for Barack Obama in his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.

"As I've said many times before, Ted Kennedy is a giant in American political history. He's done more for the health care of others than just about anybody in history," Obama told reporters during a visit to a hospital in Eugene, Oregon.

"We are going to be rooting for him, and I, I insist on being optimistic about how it's going to turn out."

Campaigning in Kentucky, Senator Hillary Clinton, Obama's rival for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, offered her wishes for the senator's quick recovery.

Kennedy has been a vocal critic of Republican President George W. Bush, particularly on his Iraq war, tax cuts for the wealthy and conservative nominees to the US Supreme Court who he fears will push the high court to the right.

But he also worked closely with Republicans on legislation including Republican presidential candidate John McCain on the controversial immigration issue.

"He is a legendary lawmaker," McCain said in a statement. "When we have worked together, he has been a skilful, fair and generous partner. I consider it a great privilege to call him my friend."

The white-haired senator has had other brushes with ill health. He had preventive surgery at Boston's Massachusetts General Hospital in October to unclog a partially blocked carotid artery in his neck.

The blockage was discovered during a routine check of Kennedy's back and spine, doctors said. A blocked carotid artery can lead to a stroke and death, they said at the time.

Kennedy has suffered from back problems since a plane crash in 1964 in which the pilot and one of Kennedy's aides were killed and the senator was pulled from the wreckage with a punctured lung, broken ribs and internal bleeding.

Kennedy came to the Senate in November 1962 to fill a seat earlier held by his older brother, then President John Kennedy. He currently serves as chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labour and Pensions.

He ran for the presidency in 1980 but lost the Democratic nomination to President Jimmy Carter who failed in his attempt at a second White House term.

He helped win an increase in the national minimum wage this year and worked with Republicans to produce broad immigration reform, which failed in the Senate after stiff opposition from conservative Republicans.

Edward Moore Kennedy is the youngest of four sons and five daughters born to millionaire businessman Joseph Kennedy and his wife Rose.

His oldest brother, Joseph Jr, died as a World War 2 flier when his bomber exploded over the English Channel. John became America's first and so far only Roman Catholic president in 1960 and was assassinated in 1963. Robert was assassinated during his 1968 presidential campaign.

Reuters

[JohnCenaFan28]

Thanks for the news.

[JohnCenaFan28]

Interesting news, thanks.

[JohnCenaFan28]

That's awful...:sad:

[OMEN]

Fijian military leader Frank Bainimarama held talks on Monday with former prime minister Laisenia Qarase, the man he forced from office in late 2006.

The 45-minute private meeting was the first between the military premier and Qarase since Bainimarama took power in a bloodless coup.

Qarase, who is facing two sets of charges related to his time in power, said the meeting had been informal and casual, but he refused to comment on what had been said.

"We discussed one or two issues. It was a good meeting. We have agreed to meet again in future to continue dialogue. It is a positive development," Qarase told Fiji media.

The meeting comes as Bainimarama seeks backing from political leaders for a range of political reforms for the country ahead of a return to democracy. He has promised elections for early 2009.

But Qarase's SDL party has so far refused to be involved in the reform discussions or moves to draft a new constitution.

Fiji, an island chain with about 900,000 people, has been hit by four coups and a military mutiny since 1987. The country remains deeply divided between ethnic Fijians, and Fijians of Indian background who make up 38 per cent of the population.

Bainimarama forced Qarase out of office in December 2006, claiming his government was corrupt and too soft on people involved in a coup in 2000.

Qarase has pleaded not guilty to two sets of charges that he acted beyond his powers by ordering public funds to be held in trust, and that he spent public money on personal Christmas gifts.

Reuters

[OMEN]

Zimbabwe's opposition has accused the government's military intelligence division of plotting to assassinate party leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who is due to contest an election run-off with President Robert Mugabe.

Movement for Democratic Change leader Tsvangirai postponed his return to Zimbabwe on Saturday after his party said it had discovered a plot to assassinate him. Tsvangirai had spent more than one month abroad.

"We know there are 18 snipers, and the military intelligence directorate is in charge of this," Tendai Biti, secretary general for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, said before a news conference in Nairobi.

Tsvangirai was due to return from Europe on Saturday to campaign ahead of the June 27 presidential run-off, and Biti said he would still return "very soon."

Zimbabweans hope the June poll will help end political and economic turmoil which has brought 165,000 per cent inflation, 80 per cent unemployment, chronic food and fuel shortages and sent a flood of refugees to neighbouring countries.

Tsvangirai won the first round on March 29, but not by enough votes to avoid a second round against Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe for nearly three decades.

Reuters

[OMEN]

A wave of xenophobic attacks spread through South African townships on Monday and mobs beat foreigners and set some ablaze in scenes reminiscent of apartheid era violence.

Two people were killed and more than two dozen shacks were torched in the Tembisa township near Johannesburg, the South African Broadcasting Corp. said. Police, struggling to restore order, said at least 13 people were killed over the weekend.

Immigrants from African neighbours are accused by many in the townships, among South Africa's poorest areas, of taking jobs and fuelling the high rate of violent crime. Local media report about 20 dead since trouble broke out a week ago.

The unrest is an embarrassment for a country that has vaunted its tolerance since the end of apartheid and an indicator of growing disaffection among South Africa's poor.

President Thabo Mbeki and ruling ANC party leader Jacob Zuma have called for an end to the violence, which threatens a new strain on an economy struggling with rising inflation, power outages and a skills shortage.

Hundreds of immigrants have taken refuge in police stations, churches and government offices.

"At the moment some of the people have been taken to the city hall as a place of safety, but some of them are still running around and do not know where to go," police spokesman Veli Nhlapo told SABC.

Police fired rubber bullets at gangs of youths, who patrolled unruly streets, armed with sticks, rocks and knives. Scores have been arrested in connection with the violence.

South African newspapers carried photos of a man who was set alight by a mob on the weekend. Callers to radio stations urged authorities to impose curfews and bring in the army to restore order in some of the most violent areas.

Among the immigrants are an estimated 3 million Zimbabweans who fled economic collapse at home. The immigrants say they more often the victims of crime than perpetrators.

The Zimbabweans, like others on the continent, have been lured by work in South Africa's mines, farms and homes, and by one of the world's most liberal immigration and refugee policies.

Aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres said the situation in the townships now amounted to a humanitarian crisis.

Reuters

[OMEN]

The Iranian authorities has detained six members of the Baha'i faith, an offshoot of Islam considered heretical by Iran's Shi'ite Muslim establishment, members of the religious group have said.

Five men and one woman were detained on May 14 and taken to Tehran's Evin prison, the Baha'i International Community said on its news website.

A relative of 57-year-old Behrouz Tavakkoli, one of those detained, said in an e-mail that intelligence agents who came to Tavakkoli's house took Baha'i books, papers and documents, and also other items such as computers and CDs.

Subsequently, the relative said Tavakkoli's wife obtained a reference number for her husband's case from Iran's Revolutionary Court, which handles cases that include issues considered a threat to national security.

It was not immediately clear what charges were levelled against the six Baha'is, whose members say they face discrimination and persecution in the Islamic Republic.

In Tehran, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman said any such cases were a judicial matter when asked for details at a news conference. There was no immediate comment from the judiciary.

Baha'is say hundreds of their faith have been jailed and executed since Iran's Islamic revolution in 1979. The government denies it has detained or executed people for their faith.

The Baha'i faith originated in Iran 150 years ago and Baha'is say the faith has 5 million adherents worldwide, including an estimated 300,000 or more in Iran.

The Baha'i International Community said the six people detained were members of a committee that tends to the needs of Baha'is in Iran. It said a seventh member, a woman, was detained in March in the eastern city of Mashhad.

Reuters

[OMEN]

FLASH HARRY: Police are investigating claims that Prince Harry was involved in a 160kmh car chase on a British motorway.
A convoy taking Prince Harry to a London nightclub was involved in a 160kmh car chase that placed lives at risk, says a motorist who was "intimidated" by one of the cars.

The Daily Mail reports that police were investigating claims that the Prince and his bodyguards took part in the high-speed chase on the way to Boujis nightclub last Saturday.

A company director, Tim Williams, told the paper the lives of his family, which includes an eight-month-old baby, were put at risk by the convoy's driving.

Mr Williams had been driving in the middle lane of the UK's M4 motorway at about 110kmh when he claims he was tailgated by Royal protection officers, who forced him to accelerate to speeds of 160kmh.

"It was about 8pm on Saturday, and we were driving from Marlborough in Wiltshire to London in the middle lane," he told the paper.

"I was about to pull out when I saw an Audi R8 in my mirrors. It came from nowhere. I let it pass. It was going a hell of a speed at least 100mph (160kmh).

"I then pulled into the outside lane. Immediately a Range Rover came right up behind us.

"It was very close. I thought they were going to nudge me. It was frightening. The middle lane was busy so I couldn't pull back in.

"I accelerated because the Range Rover was so close, ridiculously close. I thought perhaps the Range Rover was racing with the Audi. It really did scare us. It was intimidating.

"He then started flashing his lights, obviously wanting me out of the way.

"Then the blue flashing lights came on. I realised it must be an unmarked police car. I couldn't understand why he hadn't had his blue lights on when I first saw him if it was an emergency.

"I had no option but to accelerate, forcing me well over the 70mph limit to speeds I was uncomfortable with.

"As the Range Rover passed, the angry passenger in the front shook his fist and his mobile phone at me. They were doing well over 100mph."

A short while later, Mr Williams caught up with both cars at a traffic light. He saw Prince Harry in the passenger seat of the stationary Audi R8, he said. In the driver's seat was a man wearing a baseball cap speaking into his mobile phone.

Prince Harry tried to hide his identity by putting on sunglasses and placing his hands over his face, he said.

Later in the same evening, the Prince was seen partying at Boujis nightclub in Kensington until 3.30am, the paper said.

"How dare they put the lives of motorists at risk," Mr Williams told the paper.

"They intimidated me and my family. It was really dangerous and I'm furious that they think they can drive like this just because of who they are.

"Surely if the police have to tail Prince Harry, then that's all the more reason for his mate to drive slowly, or at least within the speed limit."

It was not clear who owned the Audi, but the Royal Family enjoyed a special deal with the car-maker, the Daily Mail reported.

Prince Charles has an Audi A8 limousine and two Audi estate cars, Prince William has an Audi S4 V8 saloon and Harry has an Audi A3 turbo-diesel, the paper said.

Thames Valley Police confirmed it had received a complaint from Mr Williams which had been passed to Scotland Yard, the paper said.

SMH