World News joined 0006

[OMEN]

Faith (left) died 23 days after her sister Hope
Conjoined twin Faith Williams died on Christmas Day, 23 days after the death of her sister.

Faith and sister Hope were joined at the chest when they were born on 26 November. Hope died in an operation to separate them on 2 December.

Faith's mother Laura, 18, from Shrewsbury, Shropshire, and father Aled, from Anglesey, were at her bedside when she died.

Great Ormond Street Hospital said it was a sad but not unexpected outcome.

Further procedures

A hospital spokesman said: "We were always clear that Faith was very sick.

"She required the full range of skills of our intensive care staff, and underwent a number of further procedures. However, she succumbed to the complexities of her condition."

Faith underwent surgery earlier this month to assist with her circulation.

A spokeswoman for the hospital said: "The aim was to ensure more blood flowed to her body and less through her lungs."

Mrs Williams is believed to be the youngest mother of conjoined twins in Britain.

Separate hearts

She underwent a Caesarean section at University College Hospital, London.

When Faith and Hope were born they weighed 4.8kg (10.5lb). They were joined from the breastbone to the top of the navel and had a shared liver but separate hearts.

Hope died because her lungs were too small to support her breathing.

Mr and Mrs Williams said they were very happy with the care they and their children received from Great Ormond Street Hospital, a hospital spokesman said.

BBC

[OMEN]

L/Cpl Whatley was said to have "an unbridled enthusiasm for life"
A Royal Marine who was killed in Afghanistan on Christmas Eve has been named as L/Cpl Benjamin Whatley by the Ministry of Defence.

The marine, from 42 Commando, died from enemy fire in the Nad-e-Ali district near Lashkar Gah in Helmand province.

L/Cpl Whatley, 20, from King's Lynn in Norfolk was described as "vibrant, happy person" by his family.

Some 136 UK troops have been killed in Afghanistan since 2001, including 11 Royal Marines in the past two months.

L/Cpl Whatley was killed in a fierce and prolonged battle while leading his men into action, the MoD said.

A statement released by his family said: "Ben was a vibrant, happy person who had an unbridled enthusiasm for life. He was so proud to be a Royal Marine. His death creates an irreplaceable loss for all his family and friends."

His commanding officer Lt Col Charlie Stickland, said: "Another 'Smiley Boy' from 42 Commando lost whilst doing the job he loved, in an environment in which he excelled and surrounded by his mates.

"His loss has rocked the entire Commando, particularly the tight and combat hardened band of warriors that are 'Lightening' Lima Company.

"L/Cpl Ben Whatley sat at the heart of a group of comrades bound together through rugged shared experiences, with strength of friendship that many cannot understand.

"He had truly earned his Lance Corporal's stripe and had so much more to give. All he served with knew him as a 'proper bootneck' and an uncompromising friend."

BBC

[OMEN]

Tainted milk made thousands of Chinese babies ill
Six men have gone on trial in China accused of making and selling the chemical at the centre of the tainted milk scandal.

The tainted milk is blamed for killing at least six children and making 300,000 other people ill.

The men are accused of adding melamine to raw milk to make it appear high in protein.

The company at the centre of the scandal, Sanlu, has already been declared bankrupt.

State television showed the two men in court in handcuffs, their heads bowed, being questioned by three judges.

Dairy chain

Police said Zhang Yujun and Zhang Yanzhang illegally manufactured and sold a "protein powder" composed mainly of melamine and malt dextrin, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Police said they had found an illegal workshop run by the two men in Shandong province in eastern China, where the men made 600 tons of the fake protein powder, and was the largest source of melamine in the country.

The trial started on Friday at the Shijiazhuang Intermediate People's Court, in the town where Sanlu is based.

Lawyers have speculated that sentences could start at 10 years.

When the scandal broke in September, a chain of melamine producers and middlemen was found to have been supplying milk dealers with the product.

The dealers added melamine to boost the apparent protein content of milk, which had often been watered down to spread the raw product further.

Major dairy companies bought the milk from such dealers, failing to test the milk for purity and nutritional value.

Tragic fallout

The result was widespread poisoning of babies, the group most vulnerable to tainted milk as it was their only food source.
Kidney damage was reported in hundreds of thousands of people and at least six babies were killed.

The government scrambled to fight off allegations that it reacted slowly to the scandal, and promised to bring the culprits to court.

Xinhua reported on Thursday that Sanlu has 1.1 billion yuan ($160m) of net debt.

So far, the courts have been rejecting lawsuits filed by the families seeking compensation.

Fonterra, New Zealand's largest dairy conglomerate that held a 43 percent stake in Sanlu, said this week that Sanlu would be managed by a court-appointed receiver who would sell off the company's assets and repay creditors over the next six months.

Fonterra has written off its $114m investment in Sanlu, the company said.

The scandal tarnished China's food industry far beyond its borders.

BBC

[OMEN]

A man has died after being stabbed in Nenagh, Co Tipperary.

Gardaí were called to an apartment in the Summerhill area of the town in the early hours of this morning and found the man being treated by ambulance staff.

The 29-year-old man had suffered a number of stab wounds and died at the scene.
His body will be taken to the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Limerick where a post mortem examination will be carried out.

A forensic examination of the scene will take place later today.

RTE

[OMEN]

Post mortem examinations are taking place on the bodies of a mother and her two young children who died in a house fire in Co Kilkenny yesterday morning.

The woman, who was in her 30s, and her daughters, who were aged seven and two, died after fire broke out at the two-storey rented farmhouse in an isolated rural area near the village of Windgap.

Gardaí are continuing their investigation into the deaths.
Emergency services got a call just after 9am on Christmas morning from a neighbour who noticed smoke coming out of the two-storey rented farmhouse a few kilometres from Windgap.

Firefighters got to the scene very quickly but the house was already ablaze.

The bodies of the three people who died were taken from the house.

It appears they died from smoke inhalation.

It is understood the bodies were recovered from the bedrooms where the mother and her children had been sleeping.

They may have been overcome by carbon monoxide poisoning while they slept.

RTE

[OMEN]

At least eight people have been killed after a man dressed as Santa Claus burst into a Christmas Eve party in the US and opened fire before later killing himself.

The body of Bruce Pardo, 45, was found with self-inflicted gunshot wounds early on Christmas morning, hours after he had launched an assault on a party hosted by the parents of his ex-wife in the Los Angeles suburb of Covina.

Pardo had knocked on the door of the home in a quiet residential neighborhood in Covina, 37km east of Los Angeles, just before midnight on Christmas Eve, police lieutenant Pat Buchanan said
An eight-year-old girl who answered the door was shot in the face but survived before Mr Pardo stormed into the home and began spraying the occupants with bullets with a semi-automatic handgun.

After partygoers fled the scene, he torched the house with a home-made incendiary device before making his getaway.

A rented car parked outside the property was discovered to be loaded with 300 rounds of ammunition and a pipe bomb.

The car burst into flames as bomb disposal experts moved in, reports said.

Mr Pardo was found dead from a single gunshot to the head at his home in Sylmar, approximately 40km away, a few hours later.

Police had received a series of emergency calls alerting them to the initial incident, and when they arrived, the house was engulfed in flames and guests were running out.

Neighbours reported hearing a loud explosion before the blaze erupted.

Two girls, including the eight-year-old who answered the door, were hospitalised with gunshot wounds and a 13-year-old girl was treated for injuries that were not life-threatening.

After the fire was put out, rescuers found three bodies in the basement.

Police are searching Mr Pardo's home for clues to the former aerospace engineer's rampage.

RTE

[OMEN]

A local al Qaeda chief known as Imad the Killer has escaped in a pre-dawn breakout from an Iraqi police station.

The jail break triggered a shootout that left 13 militants and Iraqi policemen dead.

Imad Ahmed Farhan, who police say has admitted to murdering at least 100 people, is on the run with two other local leaders of al Qaeda who broke out of their cells in a police station in the western city of Ramadi.
During an exchange of fire between prisoners trying to escape and police officers in the station, six policemen and seven prisoners were killed.

The three prisoners managed to flee but one was recaptured.

Ramadi police have imposed a curfew in the city following the incident, an interior ministry source said.

The source said a prisoner wanting to go to the toilet was escorted from his cell by a policeman at 2am, kicking off what appeared to be a well-planned operation.

The prisoners battled police for two hours before officers managed to regain control of the station, a local police official said.

RTE

[lɐuǝɯo⊥ǝɥԀ]

:o Thanks for the news

[lɐuǝɯo⊥ǝɥԀ]

Thats Sad, Thanks For The News

[lɐuǝɯo⊥ǝɥԀ]

Damn... Thanks For The News