Albanian coza Nostra...[ 1374 ]

Albania's modern-day blood feuds

All over Albania, there are entire generations scared to venture outdoors in case they’re killed − all because of decades-old 'blood feuds’. And not even the law can help them.

The grave of a blood feud victim near Tirana Photo: Bevis Fusha

Shkurte, many of whose relatives have been killed in one of Albania's blood feuds, surrounded by her sons and daughter Photo: Bevis Fusha

Pal Deliaj, whose family has been ostracised, consults professional feud mediator Gjin Marku Photo: Bevis Fusha

Telegraph co. uk.,,By Colin Freeman
Published: 5:35PM BST 01 Jul 2010 

In the best tradition of Balkans quarrels, it all began with a mix of strong brandy, fiery tempers and very long memories. One hot summer's night in 2000, Pëllumb Morevataj, a man with a big thirst and a bigger ego, was out drinking in his village in northern Albania, when a friend made a chance remark about how the Morevataj family had backed down in a feud some half a century before. An argument ensued, and an evening that should have ended with nothing worse than bad hangovers all round saw Pëllumb shoot his drinking companion dead.The blood has not stopped flowing ever since. 
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Albania's modern-day blood feuds

She is not anorexic. ..[1373 ]

The girl who must eat every 15 minutes to stay alive

Lizzie Velasquez weighs just four stone and has almost zero per cent body fat but she is not anorexic.

 

Lizzie Velasquez has a rare and undiagnosed syndrome that prevents her from putting on weightPhoto: BARCROFT

Published: 12:09PM BST 28 Jun 2010
In fact, the 21-year-old from Austin, Texas, must eat every 15 minutes to stay healthy.

Miss Velasquez has a rare condition which prevents her from gaining weight even though she eats up to 60 small meals a day.

 

Despite consuming between 5,000 and 8,000 calories daily, the communications student, has never tipped over 4st 3lbs.
"I weigh myself regularly and if I gain even one pound I get really excited," said 5ft 2 ins Miss Velasquez, who wears size triple zero clothes.
"I eat every 15-20 minutes to keep my energy levels up.
"I eat small portions of crisps, sweets, chocolate, pizza, chicken, cake, doughnuts, ice cream, noodles and pop tarts all day long, so I get pretty upset when people accuse me of being anorexic."
She was born four weeks prematurely weighing just 2lb 10oz. Doctors found there was minimal amniotic fluid protecting her in the womb.
"They told us they had no idea how she could have survived," said Miss Velasquez's mother Rita, 45, a church secretary.

Doctors speculated Lizzie might have the genetic disorder De Barsy syndrome but soon ruled it out as it became clear she did not have learning difficulties.
"They kept on trying to figure out what was wrong with her but we treated her like any other child," said Mrs Velasquez, who charted her daughter's health in dozens of notebooks.
She was taken to see genetic experts but they still could not diagnose her.
Miss Velasquez's case has fascinated doctors all over the world and she is part of a genetic study run by Professor Abhimanyu Garg, MD, at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

Professor Garg and his team now believe Lizzie may have a form of Neonatal Progeroid Syndrome (NPS) which causes accelerated ageing, fat loss from the face and body, and tissue degeneration. People with PRS often have triangular and prematurely aged faces with a pointy nose.
He said: "I am aware of a small number of people that have similar conditions to Lizzie but each case is slightly different.
"We cannot predict what will happen to Lizzie in the future as the medical community are yet to document older people with NPS.
"However Lizzie is lucky to have healthy teeth, organs and bones so the outlook is good. We will continue to study her case and learn from her." Miss Velasquez has helped to write a book about her incredible experiences.
It is due to be released in September.

Supermodel Naomi Campbell to testify..[ 1372 ]

War crimes court orders Naomi Campbell to testify

By Richard Allen Greene, CNN

July 1, 2010 2:33 p.m. EDT

Supermodel Naomi Campbell is being compelled to testify about how she obtained a "blood diamond."

(CNN) -- A war crimes tribunal served a subpoena on supermodel Naomi Campbell Thursday, ordering her to testify in the trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor.
The court ordered her to appear July 29 to testify or "show good cause why" she cannot.
If she fails to comply she could face a prison term of up to seven years, a fine of about $500, or both, the subpoena says.

Campbell's lawyer, Gideon Benaim, had no immediate response, his secretary said.
Prosecutors asked the court in May to order the supermodel to testify about allegations she got a "blood diamond" from Taylor, and requested permission to reopen their case against him.
The court granted both requests this week.



Taylor faces war crimes charges over a brutal conflict in Sierra Leone which was fueled by rough diamonds, also known as blood diamonds or conflict diamonds.

The prosecution -- which rested in February of last year -- asked to reopen their case specifically in order to call Campbell, as well as actress Mia Farrow and a witness named Carole Taylor, court papers show.
Farrow and Taylor have indicated they will testify voluntarily, court spokesman Peter Andersen told CNN.
But Campbell and her representatives have refused to answer requests from the prosecution, Andersen said.

Campbell declined through a spokesman to comment on the issue for CNN Wednesday, before the subpoena was served but after it became apparent that it was likely to happen.
The tribunal does not have its own police, so it is not clear what power it has to enforce a subpoena, Andersen said.
"I am hoping that we don't have to find out," he said.
The court notice saying that it will serve the subpoena "respectfully requests the authorities of the state in which Ms. Campbell is residing to assist in the enforcement of this order."
That's the United Kingdom.

The prosecution says Campbell received rough diamonds from Taylor, and claimed her testimony would prove that the former president "used rough diamonds for personal enrichment and arms purchases," according to papers filed with the U.N.-backed court.

Campbell has said she does not want to be involved in the case, prosecutors said, forcing them to ask the court to issue a subpoena ordering her appearance.
"Her anticipated evidence rebuts the accused's testimony that he never possessed rough diamonds," prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said they learned in June 2009 that Taylor had given the supermodel a diamond in South Africa in 1997. The actress Mia Farrow confirmed it, they said.
Taylor, 62, has been on trial for more than three years. He is accused of fueling a bloody civil war in Sierra Leone that led to widespread murder, rape and mutilation.

Rough diamonds were a key component of that war, both funding it and being used as currency in it.

CNN's Brittany Kaplan contributed to this report.

Japan., Trial for postal discounts..[ 1371 ]

Bureaucrat on trial for alleged role in abuse of postal discounts says accusations false

Atsuko Muraki (Mainichi)

OSAKA -(Mainichi Japan) June 30, 2010- The defense counsel for a bureaucrat, on trial for allegedly ordering subordinates to forge an official document allowing a scam group to benefit from mail discounts for the handicapped, has argued that she is being falsely accused.

"Prosecutors investigated the case on the assumption that the defendant was involved, and forced those involved to testify to her participation. Moreover, prosecutors ignored objective evidence showing that the defendant is not guilty," the attorney told the Osaka District Court during the final hearing on June 29. "It's obvious that she was falsely accused."

"I hope that my innocence will be proven as soon as possible and want to lead an ordinary life," said the defendant, 54-year-old Atsuko Muraki. She is a bureau director general at the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry -- currently suspended from duty as she is standing trial.

It is highly likely that the court will acquit Muraki, legal experts say, as Presiding Judge Nobuyuki Yokota refused to accept key depositions of defendants and witnesses -- which prosecutors had submitted to the court -- as evidence on the grounds that the way prosecutors questioned them was inappropriate.

During proceedings, prosecutors asserted that Muraki instructed her subordinates to forge a document after Hajime Ishii, a ruling Democratic Party of Japan member of the House of Councillors, had asked a former department manager with the ministry to do so. However, both Ishii and the former manager have denied the allegations.

Prosecutors demand the defendant spend 18 months behind bars for falsifying and using an official document. The court is scheduled to hand down a ruling on Sept. 10.

Click here for the original Japanese story

Gulf of Mexico oil spill cleanup..[ 1370]

Storm hinders Gulf of Mexico oil spill cleanup

Kristen Hays and Tom Doggett

HOUSTON / WASHINGTON

Thu Jul 1, 2010 12:15am EDT

A resident takes pictures of the waves with his cellphone as Hurricane Alex approaches near Bagdad beach in Matamoros, Mexican state of Tamaulipas June 30, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Tomas Bravo

HOUSTON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - 

Waves and wind spawned by Hurricane Alex disrupted cleanup of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill on Wednesday while a senior U.S. official said a relief well intended to plug BP Plc's gushing deep-sea well remained weeks from completion.