My World Earth News: shocking death

Showing posts with label shocking death. Show all posts

Thursday, September 23, 2010

US grandmother set to be executed - High Court Clears Way for Va. Woman's Execution

Friday, May 28, 2010

Horror as woman stamps on her baby after being accused of stealing a mobile

This was the shocking moment a woman accused of stealing a mobile phone in China threw her baby on the ground and stamped on it.

The hideous incident came after a high school student had challenged the woman and a female friend, both holding babies, after being told by witnesses that they had stolen her phone.
The confrontation turned physical and the police were called in Zhengzhou, Henan province.

Officers arrived along with some of the student's relatives. One of these family members pushed one of the suspected thieves who, shockingly, responded by throwing her baby on to the road and stamping on it while shouting in protest.

For a few horrifying the moments the tiny child was left crying in the middle of the road as the woman was pulled away.

The two women suspects were eventually taken to the local police station.

Miraculously, the baby escaped uninjured.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Death toll in Brazil rains hits 60

The death toll on Brazil's southeast coast rose to 60 on Saturday as rescuers combed through mounds of debris after three days of pounding rain unleashed deadly mudslides, state officials said.

At least 41 people were killed when a large part of a mountain collapsed into mud Friday, sliding into the upscale Sankay Inn resort in Angra dos Reis, two hours west of Rio de Janeiro.

More than three inches of rain accumulated in Rio's western regions over the past day, according to Geo-Rio, the state official weather forecast center. Brazilian forecasters are predicting more rain to come in the next few days in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.

Angra dos Reis is a popular destination for wealthy vacationers and celebrities, many of whom were spending New Year's in the resort town. According to local reports, the 24-year-old son of French President Nicolas Sarkozy was among the vacationers in the area this week. Pierre Sarkozy, 24, was staying at the home of Ivo Pitanguy, a top Brazilian plastic surgeon and family friend, the reports said.

The town is also home to one of Brazil's major nuclear plants -- the Central Nuclear Almirante Álvaro Alberto complex, managed by Electronuclear. Officials at the power plant denied reports they would shut down operations due to safety concerns raised by local officials.

The inundations began Wednesday. Erosion caused by the deluge created a massive crack in the Rio-Santos Highway, forcing authorities to shut down the road Saturday night.

Rio de Janeiro's State Gov. Sergio Cabral on Friday declared three days of mourning and ordered the state's civil defense rescue teams on duty round the clock.

In the poorer suburbs of Rio de Janeiro's Zona Norte, several makeshift homes built on steep slopes fell victim to mudslides, leaving at least 350 people homeless, the officials said.

In nearby Jacarepagua, rescuers carried three bodies of a family of four from the wreckage of their hilltop home after it was hit by a mudslide.

CNN affiliate Record TV broadcast the rescuers' attempt to find the family's toddler, Mariana. After sifting through rubble, the rescuers heard her cries emanating from beneath the rubble, dug her out and carried her to safety amid cheers. But hours later, the television station reported that the girl had died.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told reporters he will send marine and naval forces to aid in rescues in remote coastal areas where more bodies were believed to be trapped.

Twenty-two people were found dead on Friday after a small hotel and surrounding homes collapsed in the beach resort of Angra dos Reis, one of Brazil's most exclusive tourism destinations, the Rio de Janeiro state's civil defense said.

Television footage showed the Sankay hotel and a number of homes in Angra buried under a mountain of mud. Rescue teams, aided by helicopters and navy boats, were struggling to reach the area where the hotel collapsed, Pedro Machado, head of the firefighters' corps, told GloboNews television.

Civil defense authorities said about 40 people were registered at the hotel. They told Reuters heavy rains forecast for the coming days could make rescue work harder and trigger more mudslides.

"Rescue crews told us there is just so much mud and water there which, coupled with that fact that the site is one of very difficult access, force them to remove all the mud manually basically, without the aid of heavy equipment," a civil defense spokeswoman said in a phone interview.

On Thursday, a heavy downpour that triggered mudslides and floods killed as many as 19 people across Rio state, Brazil's third most populous.

Rio has Brazil's biggest oil reserves and is a top tourism destination. Angra, the Ilha Grande island and other cities on the coast are often visited by foreigners at this time of the year.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva offered Rio state authorities immediate assistance from navy patrols to help speed up rescue efforts, state Vice Governor Luiz Fernando Pezao told GloboNews.

Local media said most of the deaths in prior days occurred as shacks located in some poor areas collapsed. Heavy rain was forecast for greater Rio de Janeiro, Brazil's second-largest city.

Intense rainfall also triggered mudslides along some points of the Rio-Santos highway, with traffic halted near the historic city of Paraty, authorities said.

Photo taken on Jan. 2, 2010 shows an aerial view of houses inundated by flood in Sao Luis do Paraitinga, about 140 km from Sao Paulo, Brazil, Jan. 2, 2010.

Rescurers carry a victim's body in Ilha Grande of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Jan. 2, 2010.

Thursday, December 31, 2009

6 Shot dead in Finland by gunman- Then shot himself.

The suspected gunman in Finland's New Year's Eve shooting
A Kosovan-born gunman shot dead four people in a Finnish shopping mall on Thursday and killed his ex-girlfriend in an apartment before killing himself in Finland's third shooting spree in as many years.

Police said Ibrahim Shkupolli, 43, killed three men and a woman at the Sello mall in Espoo, a town near Helsinki, as shoppers stocked up for the New Year holiday.

They confirmed that Shkupolli, as well as his ex-girlfriend who had worked at the mall, were among the dead after the five-hour incident.

"It has been confirmed that the sixth victim is the suspect (himself). He was found in his home," Chief Inspector Jukka Kaski told a news conference.

Police said Shkupolli was already known to them and had a foreign background, but refused to say what nationality he held.

However, a Kosovo police source said the gunman was from Mitrovica in the former Serbian province which declared its independence last year, and had visited the town last month.

Finnish police would not confirm his motive. However, they said Shkupolli had been under a court order banning him from contacting his ex-girlfriend, who was found dead at an apartment in Espoo, and that the shootings were probably linked to their relationship. Local media said the gunman had previous convictions for firearms offences.

The New Year's Eve carnage followed shootings at Finnish schools in 2007 and 2008, after which Helsinki tightened gun control regulations, with further restrictions planned.

A Reuters reporter at the Sello mall, one of Finland's largest shopping centres, saw helicopters overhead and fire trucks around the entrances after the shootings. The mall was shut down as police hunted the gunman.

"When we were going out I heard sounds like shots from the third floor, and then I left," said a mall employee, who declined to give her name.

"I paid for my groceries and I wanted to go to my car when I was told that you cannot go there," shopper Jorma Romo told Reuters outside of the mall. "They were hurrying people out and people were asking (why)."

A gunman has shot dead four people in a crowded Finnish shopping mall after killing his ex-girlfriend, then turned the gun on himself.

Ibrahim Shkupolli, dressed all in black, stormed into the mall near Helsinki, killing one woman and three men at the supermarket where his girlfriend had worked.

The body of 43-year-old Shkupolli was later found at his home nearby and his ex-girlfriend was found dead in her apartment.

The woman, a 42-year-old Finn, had taken out a restraining order against Shkupolli, police said.

Witnesses said panic erupted at the Sello mall, one of the country's largest, when the shots rang out. Hundreds of workers were evacuated, trains were halted and helicopters brought in as police launched a manhunt for the heavily armed killer.

Police refused to discuss Shkupolli's nationality, but he is believed to be an ethnic Albanian from Kosovo.

The attack shocked hundreds of people who had gone shopping early on New Year's Eve.

One witness told the state broadcaster YLE that the gunman began shooting at people on the second floor of the mall.

"There were loads of people who were crying, and many vendors who were completely panicked," he said.

Another woman said she saw the suspect carrying a long-barrelled pistol and rushing past the check-out at the Prisma supermarket.
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Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Gordon Brown leads furious outcry as China executes British drugs mule by lethal injection

Executed: Akmal Shaikh was put to death this morning after being convicted of heroin smuggling

(left).Soohail Shaikh, left, and Nasir Shaikh, cousins of Akmal Shaikh, pictured together this morning in a street in Urumqi where the Briton was held

Supporters of British national Akmal Shaikh hold a vigil at the Chinese Embassy in London

Anger: Gordon Brown attacked Mr Shaikh's execution in the 'strongest' terms

Death prison: Shaikh was held and executed at Xishan detention centre in western China's Urumqi province

Father-of-three Mr Shaikh was arrested in Urumqi in September 2007 and charged with smuggling almost 9lbs of heroin

Gordon Brown today led condemnation of China for executing a mentally ill British man who had been convicted of drug smuggling.

Akmal Shaikh, 53, was put to death by lethal injection just after 4am at Xishan detention centre in the western Urumqi province.

The father-of-five was buried immediately. He was the first European citizen to be put to death in China for 50 years.

In a statement shortly after Mr Shaikh's death, the prime minister said he condemned the exeuction 'in the strongest terms'.

He said he was 'appalled and disappointed' that persistent requests for clemency have not been granted.

'I am particularly concerned that no mental health assessment was undertaken,' he said.

'At this time our thoughts are with Mr Shaikh's family and friends and I send them our sincere condolences.'

David Cameron has also attacked the execution, saying he found the decision deplorable.

The British government has made 27 representations to the Chinese authorities about Mr Shaikh's case in the past two years.

A last ditch appeal from Foreign Office minister Ivan Lewis also fell on deaf ears.

Beijing, however, remained defiant.

Spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry Jiang Yu said Britain's robust response risked souring diplomatic relations.

'No one has the right to to comment on China's judicial sovereignty,' she said.

'It is the common wish of people around the world to strike against the crime of drug trafficking.

'We express our strong dissatisfaction and opposition to the British Government's unreasonable criticism of the case.

'We urge the British to correct their mistake in order to avoid harming China-UK relations.'
The Chinese embassy in London said Mr Shaikh had 'no previous medical record' of mental illness and that his rights and interests had been properly respected.

In a statement, officials said the Briton had been convicted of 'serious' drug trafficking, adding: 'The amount of heroin he brought into China was 4,030g, enough to cause 26,800 deaths, threatening numerous families.'
Mr Shaikh, from Kentish Town, North London, was arrested in September 2007 and convicted of trying to smuggle 9lb of heroin, worth £250,000, into the remote western Chinese city of Urumqi, 2,000 miles from Beijing.

He insisted he was tricked into carrying the drug but was convicted in 2008 after a half-hour trial.

Despite being sentenced to death, Mr Shaikh was not told about his impending execution by the Chinese authorities.
Instead, his cousins Suhail and Nasir Shaikh had to break the news yesterday when they visited him in prison.

In a statement after Mr Shaikh's execution, they said: 'We are deeply saddened, stunned and disappointed at the news of the execution of our beloved cousin, Akmal,' they said.

'This was carried out this morning despite repeated requests for clemency and a proper appraisal of Akmal's mental state.

'We are astonished at suggestions that Akmal himself should have provided evidence of his own fragile state of mind.

'We find it ludicrous that any mentally ill person should be expected to provide this, especially when this was apparently bipolar disorder, in which we understand the sufferer has a distorted view of the world, including his own condition.

'That this was regarded as sufficient grounds for refusal by the judicial authorities to order any mental health assessment is shocking to us.

'Despite our own and other pleas, the Chinese authorities have maintained their refusal to investigate Akmal's mental health.

'We are comforted that the authorities have confirmed that Akmal has been buried in accordance with his own and his family's wishes.'

His daughter Leilla Horsnell added: 'I am shocked and disappointed that the execution went ahead with no regards to my dad's mental health problems, and I struggle to understand how this is justice.'

The Chinese have also ignored repeated pleas from British-based prison charity Reprieve, who had worked on behalf of Mr Shaikh.

Speaking after his execution, the organisation's director Clive Stafford Smith said: 'Sad to say, I have watched six people die in execution chambers, and it is as ghastly as it is pointless.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1238454/A'Is the world somehow a better place today because China refused to show compassion for an obviously ill man?

'Of course not. China's refusal to even allow a proper medical evaluation is simply disgusting.'

Reprieve's legal director Sally Rowen had described Mr Shaikh as a 'gentle man who suffering from a tormenting illness.

'He fell through the cracks... as many people with mental illness do,' she added.

Mr Shaikh's case attracted support from mental health campaigners as well as those opposed to the death penalty.

'At this time our thoughts are with Mr Shaikh's family and friends and I send them our sincere condolences.'

Robert Westhead, spokesman for MDF, the Bipolar Organisation, described the execution as 'medieval rough justice' and an 'absolute tragedy'.
'How a society treats people affected by mental illness is always a good indicator of how civilised it is.

'The way the Chinese authorities have stubbornly failed to take account of this poor man's severe mental illness shows that China is still stuck in the dark ages.

'This execution is medieval rough justice gone badly wrong.'

Mr Shaikh's cousins visited him in jail for the last time yesterday.

Speaking exclusively to the Mail, Suhail said: ‘Akmal had lost some weight but he was in high spirits when we first met him because he still believed he could appeal one more time and have his sentence overturned and be saved.

‘He did not know a date had been set for his execution, and he said he was still waiting for an imminent change of heart from the Chinese who would overturn his death sentence and pardon him.’

'We had to break the news to him and tell him that he was to be executed within 24 hours.

‘He did not seem to believe us but we told him the final decision had been passed, and that we had done all we could as a tight-knit, heartbroken family to save him.

‘It was apparent to us that he was suffering from a mental illness. The things he was saying were not the things you’d expect a normal person facing the death sentence to say.

'He was a little tearful at the end. He said he appreciated us being there. We had to be strong for him. We said we had not given up hope.’

The brothers looked solemn as they emerged from the prison hospital into falling snow. They were carrying Mr Shaikh's personal effects in a plastic bag.

As night fell in London, supporters held a candlelit vigil outside the Chinese embassy.

Tom Scott, a freelance theatre director from Catford, said he had become aware of the case through a Facebook group called Stop the Execution of Akmal Shaikh.

He said: 'I am appalled by this case. I am against the death penalty any way in all circumstances but I think this is a particularly bad case - where a man who from all reports, clearly is mentally ill and suffers from delusions was duped by a drugs gang into taking a case which contained heroin into China.

Maya Farr, an 18-year-old customer services representative was also present at the vigil. She said 1,600 people had signalled their support for the Facebook campaign.

'I am personally against the death penalty, but there are so many aspects to this case which we are really opposed to. His mental history has not been assessed.'
Reprieve said new witnesses had emerged following publicity about the case who backed up the defence claim about his mental illness.

Mr Shaikh was obsessed with recording a song that would usher in world peace, the organisation said.

Two British men, Paul Newberry and Gareth Saunders, both quoted by the organisation, said they had helped Mr Shaikh record a song in Poland and that it was clear that he was mentally ill.

Mr Newberry, a British national who lives in Poland, told Reprieve that Mr Shaikh was a 'very, very ill' person.

He said in a statement issued by the organisation: 'I was probably one of the last people who saw Akmal before he left Poland in August 2007.

'I met Akmal in spring 2007 when he started hanging around the tent city that protesting nurses had set up outside the Polish prime minister's offices in Warsaw. The protest attracted a range of 'colourful' characters and he was one of them.

'As I was British and was with a British friend, Akmal latched on to us. Immediately it was clear that he was mentally ill, although he was a very likeable person, friendly and very open.

'However, he was clearly suffering from delusions and it seemed to me he was a particularly severe case of manic depressive.

'I told him a number of times that he should see a doctor, that he was ill, but he just laughed.

'Any person would have been offended had he been a normal person not in the middle of a psychosis.'

He said Mr Shaikh had shown them lyrics to the song 'Run Little Rabbit' written on a paper napkin and tried to convince them it would be a hit.

He said: 'For a few weeks he pestered us until finally we agreed to record it with him.

'I have no idea who paid for the recording studio but I think he used his charm and persistence to persuade the owner to let him record the song.

'I can't imagine anyone singing worse than he did on that recording and we told him so, but he was on such a high, convinced that he would have a huge hit.

'We told him that he was crazy, that it was the worst thing we had ever heard, but he just laughed in our face and repeated that it would be huge.'

CHINA'S DEADLY RECORD

China accounts for nearly three quarters of the world's executions every year, according to human rights campaigners.

Figures from Amnesty International show a minimum of 7,000 death sentences were handed down in China in 2008, with 1,700 executions taking place.

Amnesty International said the Chinese authorities refused to make public national statistics on death sentences and executions and the real figure was 'undoubtedly higher'.

Steve Ballinger, a spokesman for Amnesty International, said: 'China accounts for 72% of the world's executions and China executes far more than any other country by an awfully long way.'

Under Chinese criminal law, a mental patient who commits a crime, and has not completely lost the ability to recognise or control his own conduct at the time, still has criminal responsibility but may be given a lighter punishment.

Mr Ballinger said Amnesty, which campaigns against the use of the death penalty, was concerned that trials in China fall below international fair trial standards.

He said Akmal Shaikh was 'very unlikely' to have received a fair trial.

Other areas of concern to Amnesty in China include restrictions on freedom of expression, and the frequent use of torture in custody - although he said there was no evidence that Shaikh had suffered this.

Although there was still a 'long way to go', he said there had been some gradual improvement, with China earlier this year stating that the Supreme People's Court had to review all death penalty cases.

According to Amnesty International, the Chinese authorities stated their intention in 2008 to increase the use of lethal injection as a 'more humane' method of execution than firing squad.

The organisation said China voted in December 2008 against a UN General Assembly resolution calling for a worldwide moratorium on executions.

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Monday, December 21, 2009

Five men arrested after stolen Auschwitz sign 'Arbeit Macht Frei' is discovered sliced into three pieces

Stolen: The entry to the camp after the sign was stolen.Cut into three: The infamous sign - Arbeit macht frei (Work sets you free) - shown before it was taken on Friday

Evil deeds: Members of the Frankfurt War Crimes Court leave Auschwitz after a visit in 1964

The sign stolen from the entrance to the former Nazi death camp Auschwitz was found yesterday hundreds of miles away on the other side of Poland.

The infamous sign - which reads 'Arbeit Macht Frei' (Work sets you free) - was found cut into three pieces, each containing one of the words, authorities confirmed.

It had been taken before dawn on Friday.

Polish police said they arrested five men aged between 25 and 39 after finding the steel sign in northern Poland.

Police spokesman Katarzyna Padlo said the men had been taken to Krakow, the nearest city to Auschwitz in southern Poland, for questioning.

The sign over the entrance to the largest concentration camp of the Second World War became a symbol of the atrocities and cruelty of Nazi Germany.

More than one million people, mostly Jews, died at Auschwitz, which Germany built in occupied Poland.

It was still unclear last night why the sign was stolen. It had been suggested that figures from the shadowy Nazi memorabilia network could be behind the crime.

A piece such as the sign could be sold for a small fortune.

Poland's ambassador to Israel, Agnieszka Magdziak-Miszewska, said police information indicated the robbery was 'meticulously planned'.

She said the thieves skilfully avoided CCTV cameras monitoring the entrance to the camp that was opened by the Nazis in 1940 initially to incarcerate Polish political prisoners.

The Nazi slogan on the sign was meant to convey to the prisoners who passed under it that they could attain 'spiritual' freedom through hard work for the Fatherland.

But for most, it was the inscription on a gateway to a living hell.

Auschwitz museum official Pawel Sawicki said: 'It's a symbol of what Auschwitz stands for. But a place where hundreds of thousands died obviously doesn't mean anything to the thieves.'

After the sign went missing it was replaced by a replica. It is unclear whether the original will now be repaired and put back in its former position.

The camp, a former Polish army barracks, was converted by the Nazis into what became known to Holocaust planners as Auschwitz 1.

The linked complex at Birkenau several miles away - with railway lines that transported the Jews of Europe virtually to the doors of the gas chambers - was responsible for most of the 1.1million deaths.

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Thursday, December 10, 2009

Tiger tamer mauled in front of live audience.Fighting for life now.

Christian with the Bengal tigers during another performance

Taming the beast: Christian Walliser, with the tigers in an undated file photo. The tiger tamer is fighting for his life after being mauled by tigers during a dinner show on Tuesday night

An animal tamer is in a critical condition after being mauled by three tigers during a bizarre supper circus club show in Germany.

Christian Walliser, 28, was attacked by the big cats as 170 horrified diners at at Pagel’s Dinner Circus looked on.

Three of the five tigers mauled the trainer when he lost his footing.

Within seconds the animals had shredded Mr Walliser's left hand and inflicted serious injuries to his head and upper body.
Circus employees rushed to restrain the tigers using fire extinguishers and Mr Walliser was dragged to safety.

He was airlifted to hospital where he is now fighting for his life.

About 20 spectators were treated for shock at the Hagenbeck Zoo in Hamburg.

'He didn't stand a chance,' said one of the guests. 'They were on him in an instant.'

Circus chief Stefan Pagels insisted the tigers attacked Mr Walliser in a 'playful' manner and said they would not be destroyed.

He added: 'First of all, the tigers did nothing wrong. Secondly, we never punish our animals, we only ever reward them.

'Punishing them would serve no purpose and there is no reason to put them to sleep.

'What you sometimes hear about animals getting a taste for human blood is complete and utter rubbish. As soon as Mr Walliser is back, and we hope that will be soon, he will look after the animals again.

'There is a one-in-a-million chance that something will go wrong and it happened. We have a saying in the circus business that says "The show must go on." We are sure that Mr. Walliser wants us to go on.'

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Monday, December 7, 2009

Hillary Clinton called to review alleged anti american sentiment in Amanda Know Italy murder trial.Presence of evidence negligent.

Murder appeal: Amanda Knox's supporters have arranged to meet US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as they prepare to fight for her release. Found guitly prions sentence 26 years.Led to jail: Amanda Knox on Friday following her conviction for murder

Convicted: Rudy Guede (left) was jailed for Meredith's murder last October. Knox's former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito (right) was sentenced on Friday

Click to enlarge.Details witness of neighbour hearing scream of death from next door.

Disbelief: Knox's parents and sisters protesting her innocence, yesterday.'We'll appeal': The parents of Amanda Knox have vowed to fight to free her

Gruesome death: Sollecito (left) and Knox are said to have killed Kercher (right)

Meredith Kercher was stabbed to death in Perugia two years ago. Right, her killer Knox is pictured arriving at court to hear the verdict

Click to enlarge.List the reasons for appeal from DNA bad quality,questionable methodology of investigation,confession under duress,bad argument on murder weapon and others.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Capitol Hill.Said she will discuss with the Senator Cantwell whom said there was 'anti america' sentiment in the Italy trail tainted by evidence negligent.

Taking aim: Amanda Knox poses with a gun.Amanda Knox: Her mother had planned a trip to a spa and a Mexican meal for her homecoming.Jailed: Knox was sentenced to 26 years in prison

guity for stabbing to death Meredith.

Click to enlarge.
A dramatic new photograph of the crime scene where Meredith was stabbed to death

Hillary Clinton has been drawn into the battle to overturn Amanda Knox's conviction.

Amid a growing U.S. backlash against the verdict, the American Secretary of State has agreed to meet a senator from 22-year-old Knox's home state of Washington.

On Friday night, Knox was found guilty of the drug-fuelled sex murder of British student Meredith Kercher and jailed for 26 years.

Her conviction, alongside her Italian former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, came in tense late-night scenes in the Italian town of Perugia at the end of a year-long trial. Sollecito, 25, was jailed for 25 years.

Last night, Miss Kercher's family told of their anguish for the first time since her killer was jailed.

Her mother Arline, 64, said the entire family had been given a 'life sentence' and were 'living in a nightmare' for the two years since she was slain.

She also revealed how they keep the 21-year-old's bedroom exactly as it was when she left in the vain hope she will one day come home.

Miss Kercher's semi-naked body was found in November 2007 in a pool of blood in the bedroom of the home she and Knox shared in Perugia.

The court heard that Miss Kercher, from Coulsdon, Surrey, was subjected to a terrifying ordeal when she returned to her Italian home after an evening with friends.

Knox, Sollecito and another man, drifter Rudy Guede, attempted to involve the Leeds University student in a sex game, cutting her throat when she refused and leaving her to die in 'slow agony'. Guede, 22, was convicted of murder and sexual assault last year and jailed for 30 years.
After the verdicts, Knox's furious father Curt Knox vowed to fight to clear his daughter's name and spoke of his 'anger and disbelief' at the Italian justice system.

His campaign seems to be gaining support on Capitol Hill. Senator Maria Cantwell, from Washington state, declared there were 'serious questions about the Italian justice system'.

She said she was concerned there had been an 'anti-American' feeling at the trial and said she would be raising her concerns with Mrs Clinton.

'The prosecution did not present enough evidence for an impartial jury to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that Miss Knox was guilty,' she said. 'Italian jurors were allowed to view highly negative news coverage about Miss Knox.'

She said Knox, who called herself Foxy Knoxy on a web page, had been a victim of 'harsh treatment' and branded handling of evidence 'negligent'.

Mrs Clinton was asked about the trial in an appearance on a U.S. news programme.

She said: 'Of course I'll meet with Senator Cantwell or anyone who has a concern but I can't offer any opinion about that at this time.'

She said she had not expressed any concerns to the Italian government. Last night, Knox's Italian lawyer distanced himself from the senator's claims. Luciano Ghirga said: 'That's all we need, Hillary Clinton involved. I have the same political sympathies as Hillary but this sort of thing does not help us in any way.'

Prosecutor Giuliano Mignini said: 'This senator should not interfere in something she has no idea about. I am happy with how the trial went.'

Knox plans to appeal against her conviction, but if it is unsuccessful she is likely to have to serve the bulk of her 26-year sentence inside an Italian jail. As in Britain, prisoners can be released on licence, but Knox is unlikely to be eligible for even day release for at least 20 years.

She could make an application to serve her sentence in the U.S.

On Saturday, Knox's father, mother Edda Mellas, her sister and half-sisters visited her at Capanne prison, just outside Perugia.

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Sunday, December 6, 2009

NightClub fire 112 dead due to firecracker inside clun.Anger rising.Bad management blamed.200 stampede cause deaths.

Russian investigators blamed management negligence for a blaze at a provincial nightclub that killed 112 people as relatives gathered at a central morgue on Sunday to identify the charred remains of loved ones.

Eyewitnesses said sparks from fireworks set fire to wicker coverings on the walls and ceiling of the packed club on Friday, and that a stampede broke out as more than 200 guests rushed towards a single narrow exit.

An initial investigation found the club was not equipped with automatic fire extinguishers and that fireworks should not have been used there, Marina Zabbarova, head of the Russian Prosecutor General's Investigative Committee for Perm region, said.

'When will this complacency end?' Zabbarova asked at a news conference in Perm, an industrial city 1,150 km (720 miles) northeast of Moscow. 'It was impossible to save anyone there.'

Four people have been arrested, including the nightclub's management and the director of the company that supplied the fireworks, Zabbarova said.
Roughly three dozen locals stood in the snow outside the morgue on Sunday, while a small crowd laid red carnations and lit candles in front of the gutted Lame Horse nightclub.

'The authorities are directly to blame, along with corruption and the criminality of the firemen,' 51-year old Leonid Ryabov said while buying flowers near the club. 'They have been carrying out inspections for eight years...'

In addition to the dead, roughly 130 people are suffering from smoke inhalation and extensive burns. About 80 of the victims have been flown to hospitals in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Chelyabinsk.

'It was monstrous, young people died there, the future of Russia,' said Sergei Prokofiev, an 18 year-old student and a stepbrother of one of the victims.

An all-day memorial service was also under way at the Holy Trinity cathedral in Perm.

Flags were flying at half mast in the city, and President Dmitry Medvedev has declared Monday a national day of morning.

Vladimir Markin, a spokesman for the Russian Prosecutor General's Investigative Committee told the Itar-Tass news agency that prosecutors planned to charge the four suspects with causing reckless death by violating fire safety standards.

'This is not a premeditated murder, but this does not lessen the gravity of the crime,' Medvedev said on Saturday.

The Prosecutor General's office also said that the fireworks used at the nightclub were not authorised for indoor use.

Friday's fire was Russia's deadliest in decades, emergency officials said, and the worst nightclub fire worldwide since nearly 200 people died at a party in Buenos Aires in 2004.

Russian officials have in the past blamed poor fire safety standards for high death tolls in fires at orphanages, hospitals other institutions. More than 15,000 Russians died in fires last year, according to government figures.

Relatives carry out the coffin of a victim of a night club fire from a morgue in Perm

A relative of a victim of a fire cries outside the Lame Horse nightclub where the fire took place in the centre of Perm

A photo of a nightclub fire victim attached to flowers seen at the site of the tragedy

In this combination of images from amateur video, customers, some still carrying their drinks, press towards the exit, as fire and smoke start to fill a packed nightclub

Nightclub tragedy: An orthodox priest reads lists of the injured during the night club fire, plastered on a wall at a hospital in Perm

City in mourning: People light candles in front of the Lame Horse nightclub where a fire took place on Friday in the centre of Perm

Stretcher-bearers carry a body near a morgue in Perm

Grieving relatives of Timur Parfiliev, a victim of a nightclub fire seen at a cemetery in Perm, about 700 miles east of Moscow

The death toll from a blaze that swept through a Russian nightclub early on Saturday rose to 112 and dozens remained in critical care

Police officers and investigators work at the Lame Horse nightclub where a fire broke out late Friday and into the early hours of Saturday

Shocked residents of the Urals city of Perm laid carnations Sunday at the snowy scene of a cordoned-off nightclub where officials say at least 112 people died in a fire.

The blaze, in the early hours of Saturday, was thought to be sparked by fireworks that shot into the decorative twig ceiling of the Lame Horse nightclub during a pyrotechnics show. Nearly 100 were killed on the spot, and some 130 were hospitalized, many in critical condition.

Many victims were trapped in a panicked crush for the exit as they attempted to escape the flames and thick black smoke.

Emergency Ministry spokeswoman Darya Kochneva said Sunday the latest victim was a man who died of severe burns in a Moscow hospital where he was flown for treatment after the fire.

Mourning residents are indignant over what they call negligence on the part of the club's management, which President Dmitry Medvedev also criticized in a nationally televised videoconference on Saturday.

Officials said club managers had ignored repeated demands from authorities to change the interior to comply with fire safety standards. Authorities quickly arrested two registered co-owners of the club, its managing director and two other suspects. One other suspect was injured in the fire and remains in critical condition.

Medvedev demanded that lawmakers draft changes to toughen the criminal punishment for failing to comply with fire safety standards.

Enforcement of fire safety standards is infamously poor in Russia and there have been several catastrophic blazes at drug-treatment facilities, nursing homes, apartment buildings and nightclubs in recent years. The nation records up to 18,000 fire deaths a year, several times the per-capita rate in the United States and other Western countries.

Monday has been designated a national day of mourning, with entertainment events and television programs cancelled.

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