China arrests over 900 in tainted pork crackdown
Beijing: At least 989 people have been arrested over the last six months as part of a national crackdown on the manufacture and sale of an illegal fat-burning drug, a Chinese public security official said Monday.
Clenbuterol, a toxic chemical, is sometimes used as an additive in pig feed, the official added.
Farmers sometimes use clenbuterol, which is banned as a food additive in China, to turn their pigs lean.
Police busted a criminal ring that was involved in the manufacture and sale of clenbuterol in 63 cities nationwide, Xinhua quoted Xu Hu, a senior official of the Ministry of Public Security as saying.
Authorities launched a food safety campaign in March of this year, with a focus on clenbuterol. A total of 2,000 police officers in the provinces of Hunan, Sichuan, Hubei and Henan, as well as Tianjin Municipality, participated in the latest bust.
Police seized 2.5 metric tonnes of clenbuterol and closed six illegal laboratories, 12 production lines, 19 processing and storage sites and 32 “underground” factories during the crackdown, Xu said. (IANS)
Russian man charged with cannibalism
Moscow: A 21-year-old man in Russia has been charged with cannibalism, as police said he invited a stranger to his house, knifed him to death and then ate him.
The incident took place in the Arctic city of Murmansk, investigators said.
Police believe the main motive for the crime was a “desire to eat human flesh”.
The man told police he wanted to try eating at least 10 people in the future.
The killer became acquainted with his victim on the internet, and lured him in sexually.
“One of them was seeking a sexual partner. Such people are not open, and they prefer to hide their contacts”, Investigation Committee chief Fyodor Bludenov said.
The accused stabbed his victim a few times, and after having assured himself that the man was dead, he cut up his body and ate him, he said.
After the victim’s mother went to the police, investigators analysed his circle of contacts and soon found the accused.
The accused faces up to 15 years in prison if found guilty. He will first face a psychiatric examination to see if he is fit to stand trial.
A cannibal struck in Moscow in May, when an unemployed schizophrenic man killed his drinking partner and butchered his body in his flat.
Another case occurred in St. Petersburg in 2009, when two cannibals who were members of a youth group killed a 16-year-old girl, cut her up and ate parts of her body.
The young men said at their trial that they were “very hungry”. They were found guilty of murder and sentenced to 18 years. (IANS)
Video on Facebook page threatens Trinidad and Tobago PM
Port-of-Spain: A video has been posted on a Facebook page threatening Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persaad-Bissessar, said an official.
Attorney General, Senator Anand Ramlogan, told the media here that an internet video was posted on his Facebook Page, with apparent threats to the life of the prime minister, as well as obscene language and potentially slanderous statements.
“It is a matter of grave concern and I have asked that the video be forwarded to the Commissioner of Police, Dwayne Gibbs,” he said.
The video that runs for three minutes and 48 seconds was posted on YouTube and later distributed through Facebook.
President George Maxwell Richards had Aug 21 declared a state of emergency in this oil-rich republic following a spate of murders and other serious criminal activities.
A nationwide curfew is in effect from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.
In one night alone, seven people were murdered in the northern and eastern parts of the country.
In the past week, 684 people were apprehended, some of whom are gang leaders who are involved in supplying drugs from Colombia and other Latin American countries for transhipment to US, and other countries.
So far, some 272 murders have been reported for 2011.
Indian-origin Persad-Bissessar is the first woman to become prime minister in May 2010.
This country’s population is made of some 44 percent of people of Indian extraction whose forefathers came from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar between 1845 to 1917 to work on the sugar plantations. (IANS)
Five Chinese women held for forcing kids to beg
Beijing: Five Chinese women have been detained for forcing their children to beg so that they can pay their tuition fees.
The women were detained for forcing their children, now on a summer holiday, to beg, the Shanghai Daily reported.
The women took 11 children for begging in Guangxi’s capital city of Nanning.
They were found in a dirty house where they had been staying for 20 days.
Police initially believed they were human traffickers, but later learnt that the women were mothers to eight of the 11 children. The other three were related.
They earned at least 20,000 yuan ($3,131) during the holiday and the women claimed that it was to pay for the children’s tuition. (IANS)
1,200 British kids expelled from school
London: Over 1,200 pupils aged under seven have been expelled from British schools in the last five years for persistent misbehaviour and violence, a media report said Tuesday.
Another 53,000 students were suspended and eventually allowed to go back to classes, The Sun reported citing a statement from the Department for Education.
In 2005-06, around 260 pupils aged seven and under were expelled, in 2006-07 it was 250, in 2007-08 it was 270, in 2008-09 and 2009-10, 220 were sent off each year.
Tory MP Dan Poulter said the then Labour government had lost control of the situation.
Education Secretary Michael Gove has now announced that teachers will be allowed to physically restrain violent pupils.
School staff will also be allowed to seize porn, mobile phones and video cameras. Schools which fail to control unruly pupils could face closure, reports said. (IANS)