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Shrien Dewani Tells Court He Is Bisexual

Written By Unknown on Senin, 06 Oktober 2014 | 20.48

A British millionaire accused of murdering his wife on their honeymoon in South Africa has told a judge he is bisexual.

Shrien Dewani, 34, denies orchestrating his wife's death by hiring three men to kill the 28-year-old as they drove through Cape Town's Gugulethu Township on 13 November, 2010.

Appearing at Western Cape High Court in Cape Town, the care home owner denied charges of murder, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, robbery with aggravating circumstances, kidnapping and defeating the ends of justice.

He told judge Jeanette Traverso: "I plead not guilty to all five counts, my lady."

Through a witness statement read to the court by his solicitor Francois van Zyl, he also told the court he was bisexual.

Video: Anni Dewani's Family Want Justice

In it, he said: "My sexual interactions with males were mostly physical experiences or email chats with people I met online or in clubs, including prostitutes."

Footage of the crime scene, including Anni's body inside the taxi, were also shown to the court.

The court heard Dewani had abnormally low levels of hormones and that he and his wife were unlikely to have children. He said he had discussed this with Anni, whom he began dating in summer 2009.

Their relationship broke down, but they got back together in March 2010 and married later that year in Mumbai.

Dewani said the carjacking in Cape Town was a "traumatic experience which resulted in the loss of my wife".

He added he has suffered "flashbacks, nightmares and anxiety attacks" since, which has affected his ability to remember clearly.

Mr van Zyl said his client remembered banging noises coming from the front of the car during the carjacking.

Dewani added: "The next thing I recall is somebody next to me, who told me to lie down. The person had a gun in his hand. He was waving the gun in the air."

Anni Dewani's family, including her father Vinod Hindocha and mother Nilam, were among those in a packed courtroom on Monday.

Prosecutors claim Dewani conspired with Zola Tongo, Mziwamadoda Qwabe and Xolile Mngeni to kill his wife. All three are already serving jail terms in connection with Anni's murder.

He claims he and his wife were kidnapped at gunpoint as they drove through the township.

The court heard Anni Dewani was screaming inside the taxi and he was ordered to keep her quiet as they were driven by another driver. Dewani said he was ordered to get out of the car with a gun to his head and he had to climb out of a window because the door would not open.

He added: "The last thing I had said to Anni was to be quiet and not to say anything."

Dewani was released unharmed, but his wife's body was found in the abandoned taxi the following day with gunshot wounds to the hand and neck.

Before the trial, he was detained in a hospital in Britain with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder and has spent the last three years fighting extradition to South Africa.

It is unclear if Dewani will give evidence in his defence. The case is due to run until December.

The trial continues.


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IS Raises Flag In Town Near Turkey Border

Islamic State militants have apparently captured part of a town close to the Syrian border with Turkey after days of fierce fighting.

The extremist group raised its black flag on a building on the eastern side of Kobani, where Kurdish fighters have been involved in clashes after a nearly three-week siege of the town, according to Reuters.

Idris Nahsen, a Kobani official, had said the militants were less than a mile from the town, which was hit by rockets and mortars during fighting over the weekend.

The US also carried out three airstrikes targeting IS positions near the town in Syria on Sunday.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claimed at least 33 IS militants and 23 Kurdish defenders were killed during the fighting.

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  1. Gallery: IS Attacks Town Near Turkish Border

    Turkish army tanks take up position on the Turkish-Syrian border near the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa Province

  2. Kurdish fighters vowed not to abandon their increasingly desperate efforts to defend the Syrian border town of Kobani from Islamic State militants pressing in from three sides and pounding them with heavy artillery

  3. Despite the heavy fighting, which has seen mortars rain down on residential areas in Kobani and stray fire hit Turkish territory, a Reuters reporter saw around 30 people cross over from Turkey, apparently to help with defence of the town

  4. Kurdish refugees from Kobani sit in front of their tents in a camp in the southeastern town of Suruc

  5. Islamic State is trying to seize Kobani, which is predominantly Kurdish, and has ramped up its offensive in recent days despite being targeted by US-led coalition airstrikes aimed at halting its progress

  6. Turkish Kurds look at Kobani as they stand on top of a house near Mursitpinar border crossing. Continue through for more pictures

One shell was fired from inside Syria and hit a house in the Turkish village of Buyuk Kendirci, injuring four people.

IS began its advance on Kobani on 16 September, forcing around 186,000 people to flee across the border into Turkey.

It has seized swathes of Syria and Iraq after declaring an Islamic caliphate in June, including a long stretch of the Syria-Turkey border.

The Turkish parliament authorised involvement in the campaign against IS last week, but no military operations have been announced.

It comes after a masked IS militant was filmed murdering British aid worker Alan Henning and threatening US hostage Peter Kassig in a video released on Friday.

Video: Militants Besiege Border Town

The 47-year-old former taxi driver, from Eccles in Greater Manchester, was captured as he drove an ambulance full of aid supplies into Syria on 27 December last year.

The Ministry of Defence said two Tornado fighters had dropped Paveway bombs on IS targets near Ramadi, in Iraq, on Sunday night.

The RAF jets, based in Akrotiri, Cyprus, attacked IS forces who were shooting at Iraqi troops from a building near the city.

A leader from the al Qaeda-linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), a Taliban ally that has been based in Pakistan's tribal belt since 2001, has declared its support for IS.

The group was set up in the 1990s and is listed as a terrorist group by the US.


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Australian Chef Kills And Cooks Girlfriend

An Australian chef has killed his girlfriend, dismembered her and boiled parts of her body before taking his own life, police say.

Marcus Volke, 28, was fleeing officers who had come to his Brisbane apartment after reports of a foul smell when he slashed his own throat in a bin.

Officers discovered body parts of Volke's girlfriend in a pot on the stove, while other parts of the Indonesian woman's mutilated body were found in garbage bins outside the apartment, according to local media.

The woman has been named locally as Mayang Prasetyo.

The couple had moved into the recently opened apartment complex in the wealthy riverside suburb Teneriffe just weeks ago, according to reports.

Volke had met his girlfriend while they were both working on international cruise ships. He had recently returned to Australia, his mother said.

"He was happy and he was coming home for Christmas, everything was normal," Dorothy Volke told the Courier-Mail from her home in Victoria.

Police said they were trying to establish the exact time of death.

They arrived at the apartment on Saturday night when other residents in the complex said a "rotting meat" smell had pervaded the area.

Volke then fled through a glass door and leapt over a balcony and hid in an alleyway where he killed himself.

Resident Courtney Reichart told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that she first noticed the smell on Wednesday and it got worse each day.

"On Saturday when I came out for a walk, it made your eyes water, it made you want to be sick," she said.

"The smell it was like as if somebody had put out some dog food or red meat and left it out for a few days.

"It makes you feel sick that that poor girl sat there for however many days and we've been walking past, living our lives and thinking 'hmmm what's that smell', but you don't put two and two together.

"You don't think that a bad smell equals a murder."

Ms Reichart had met the couple a number of times, telling the ABC that they were a "normal couple" and the girlfriend was "gorgeous".

Volke was originally from the Victorian city of Ballarat, where his funeral will be held.


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Briton Jailed In Morocco For 'Homosexual Acts'

The family of a British tourist jailed in Morocco for being gay are campaigning for his release.

Ray Cole, a retired magazine publisher from Deal in Kent, was arrested last Thursday and given a four-month sentence for "homosexual acts".

His son Adrian Cole told Sky News that his father had been in Morocco for about four weeks when he "suddenly vanished, the Facebook updates stopped, we couldn't reach him on his phone".

While his family looked for him with Interpol and the Foreign Office, Mr Cole managed to use the phone of a fellow inmate to communicate that he was in prison.

Adrian Cole said his father and a friend were waiting at a bus stop when they were approached by police and asked why they were together.

"They accessed my father's phone, and inside one of the folders they found a photograph that they said was compromising," he said.

"Based on that, they were charged with homosexuality."

He said his father, who came out as gay a few years ago, was respectful of Morocco's laws and that he is a "very discreet" person.

Adrian Cole said his father has been sleeping on the floor in a crowded jail, and that the conditions are starting to take a toll on the 70-year-old.

The family plan on launching an appeal.

"Our hope is that they (Moroccan authorities) would see fit to simply remove him from the country," he said.

They have also launched an internet campaign, with a Facebook page calling for his release and a #freeraycole hashtag set up on Twitter.

Former deputy speaker of the House of Commons Nigel Evans said he would talk to the Moroccan ambassador and ask her "to convey to His Majesty a plea from the gay community in the UK to release this man in order that he can return to the UK as soon as possible".

"I deplore the fact that Mr Cole is spending any time in a jail there," Mr Evans, a gay MP, told Pink news.

"I call upon MPs from Morocco to look again at the way they are treating gay people.

"Do they really want their country associated with such archaic laws, and do they really think it is wise to lock someone up for four months for something that is legal in so many countries around the world?"

A Foreign Office spokeswoman confirmed the detention of a British citizen in Morocco and said they are providing consular assistance.


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Alice Murder Hunt: Body Removed From Park

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 05 Oktober 2014 | 20.49

A body believed to be that of the man wanted for the murder of 14-year-old Alice Gross has been removed from a park in west London.

It is understood that Arnis Zalkalns was found hanged in woods at Boston Manor Park - a mile from where the schoolgirl's body was hidden.

The badly-decomposed body was taken by private ambulance to a mortuary in west London, and a post-mortem examination will be held later.

The convicted killer vanished from his flat in Ealing on September 4 - a week after Alice is thought to have been abducted and murdered while walking home along a canal towpath in Hanwell.

Alice was found dead in the River Brent on Tuesday after a five-week search.

Some people living near the park have voiced their alarm at the discovery.

Video: Alice's Movements Reconstructed

A 57-year-old called Zahra said: "I used to like this park, but now I feel it's not a safe place. I have been very upset about Alice Gross, I couldn't sleep when the body was found."

Zalkalns was filmed cycling along the same route behind Alice on the day she vanished on 28 August.

He reportedly sent his family a goodbye text the next day, saying: "I love you all."

His mother-in-law Gunta Mecize, 60 - whose daughter Liga Rubezniece, 34, married Zalkans after he was freed from jail for killing his first wife - does not believe he killed Alice or would take his own life.

"He is a good man. A very good man," she told the Sun On Sunday newspaper.

The Latvian labourer worked at a building site in Isleworth, west London, and is thought to have come to the UK in 2007.

Video: CCTV Footage Shows Alice Suspect

Authorities are facing criticism for apparently holding no record of his conviction for bludgeoning and stabbing his wife Rudite to death in Latvia.

It also emerged Zalkalns was arrested in London on suspicion of indecently assaulting a 14-year-old girl in 2009, but was never charged.

A post-mortem examination on Alice was inconclusive and further tests are to be carried out to find out how she died.

Police said "significant efforts" were taken to conceal her body in the water.

Zalkalns had not accessed his bank account or used his mobile phone since September 3, nor had he returned home to his partner and young child in Ealing. He also left behind his passport.


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British Teacher Held Hostage In Libya Freed

A British teacher who was being held hostage by militants in Libya has been released and reunited with his family.

David Bolam, who worked at the International School in Benghazi, was abducted earlier this year.

His kidnapping had not been reported at the request of his family and the Foreign Office.

Although it has not been officially confirmed who his captors were, a group calling itself the Army of Islam, a faction in Libya, released an online video of Mr Bolam dated 28 August pleading for his release.

The 53-second video showed him sitting in a room wearing a white T-shirt.

In it, he said: "My name is David Richard Bolam. I am a British citizen. I am a teacher.

"My health is good at the moment. I have been here a very long time."

He went on to plead for Britain to arrange a prisoner exchange or other diplomatic initiative to secure his release.

The Foreign Office said: "We are glad that David Bolam is safe and well after his ordeal, and that he has been reunited with his family.

"We have been supporting his family since he was taken.

"We do not comment on the detail of hostage cases. The family have asked for privacy."

There are unconfirmed reports a ransom was paid through "unofficial channels" in exchange for Mr Bolam's release.

The Foreign Office confirmed the Government had paid no money, saying: "HMG never pays ransoms. It is illegal to pay ransoms to a terrorist group."

While several Western governments have paid money to secure the release of hostages held by militants, the UK and US governments have a policy of refusing demands for ransoms.


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Queen Will Pay Mansion Tax, Says Ed Balls

The Queen and Prince William would have to pay mansion tax under a Labour government, the shadow chancellor has said.

Ed Balls suggested the Queen would need to pay tax on her properties at Sandringham and Balmoral, although Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle would be exempt under special rules.

He told Sky's Murnaghan Programme: "There aren't different rules for anybody."

Under proposals announced by Mr Balls at the Labour conference, homes valued at more than £2m would be subject to an increased tax.

He suggested the rules would include the Queen and Prince William, who is due to move into a large home on the Sandringham estate, but added there would be exemptions for those living in homes open to the public, such as National Trust properties.

He said: "There has always been a cross-party consensus that we have fair and tough rules for the financing of the Royal Household but members of the Royal Household pay taxes just like everybody else and rightly so.

"There aren't different rules for anybody. That's the nature of our society."

The idea of a mansion tax was first proposed by the Liberal Democrats, who are currently holding their party conference in Glasgow.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander told the Murnaghan Programme: "Immitation is the sincerest form of flattery."

Mr Balls admitted Ed Miliband had missed out his passage on the deficit during his speech to the Labour Party conference but still gave it "ten out of ten".

He said he had seen the speech two weeks ahead of the conference and it had a "strong passage about the deficit" in it but Mr Miliband had left it out in what Mr Balls said the Labour leader had described as a "mistake".

Mr Balls also hit back at Lord Prescott's criticism of the party's conference, saying it had been flat and uninspiring but admitted the party should learn from the party's 1997 election campaign.


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F1 Driver Suffers Severe Head Injury In GP Crash

Formula One driver Jules Bianchi is undergoing surgery after suffering a severe head injury in a crash at a wet Japanese Grand Prix.

The 25-year-old sportsman will be moved to intensive care where he will be monitored following the surgery, said world motor sport's governing body.

Bianchi lost control of his Marussia, travelled across the run-off area and hit the back of a tractor that was removing Adrian Sutil's stricken Sauber, the FIA added.

Sutil's car had "aquaplaned" off the wet track, coming off at the same turn a lap earlier and skidding into a wall.

Frenchman Bianchi was unconscious as he was transferred to hospital by road in an ambulance because the medical helicopter could not fly because of heavy rain from Typhoon Phanfone.

Video: F1's Sutil: Rain Got More And More

The driver is in a critical condition, his father reportedly said.

Typhoon rains had been forecast for the race which began behind the Safety Car - and the drivers were called back to the pits minutes later.

Following Sutil's crash, yellow flags were waved before the corner to warn drivers of the incident, according to the FIA.

The Safety Car was sent out after Bianchi's crash on lap 44 and the race was suspended two laps later with the rain getting heavier and the light rapidly deteriorating at Suzuka.

Sutil, who was not hurt in his accident, told Sky Sports F1: "The yellow flags were out after I aquaplaned at the corner as the rain got more and more.

"And one lap later with waved yellow flags Jules came around and had the same spin there.

"It was more or less the same crash, but just the outcome was a bit different."

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  1. Gallery: Profile Of Racer Jules Bianchi

    Frenchman Jules Bianchi is the grandson of three-time GT World Champion Mauro Bianchi

  2. The 25-year-old graduated from karting in 2007 and performed in senior Formula Three races

  3. He drove in the GP2 Series for ART, taking two pole positions

  4. In 2010 he suffered a back injury after spinning off the track and being struck head-on by another car

  5. He began his F1 career as a test and reserve driver at Ferrari in 2011

  6. Bianchi's Marussia debut was in 2013 when he finished 15th in the opening race in Australia

  7. His best result in the 2013 season was 13th at the Malaysian GP, beating teammate Max Chilton

  8. In 2014 he overcame the odds to score both his, and his team's first points in F1, in Monaco

  9. In Japan, Bianchi's car collided with a crane which was removing Adrian Sutil's car

Sutil said he felt the Safety Car should have been deployed after he crashed due to the risk of another driver going off at the corner.

"With respect to this corner I think everyone knows this is one of the most tricky corners and when it is getting late and the rain increases.

"Let's say when you have an accident there you should probably think about a Safety Car."

Williams driver Felipe Massa said "there was too much water on the track" and it was "dangerous".

He said: "In my opinion they started the race too early because it was not driveable at the beginning and they finished the race too late.

"I was screaming on the radio five laps before the safety car that there was too much water on the track. But then they just took a bit too long and it was dangerous."

FIA head of communications Matteo Bonciani told reporters: "The driver (Bianchi) is not conscious and has been sent to the hospital by the ambulance because the helicopter cannot fly in these conditions."

Video: Felipe Massa: Track Was Dangerous

The grand prix was won by Britain's Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes with German team-mate Nico Rosberg second.

Hamilton said: "Our first thoughts go to Jules - it overshadows everything else when one of our colleagues is injured and we are praying for him. Next to this, the race result doesn't seem significant at all."

After the prizes were presented, no champagne was sprayed on the podium and there were no celebrations.

Bianchi, a graduate of Ferrari's young driver academy, is seen as an up-and-coming talent in F1 after scoring Marussia's first ever points when he finished ninth at this year's Monaco Grand Prix.

Marussia is an Anglo-Russian team based in Banbury, Oxfordshire.

More follows...


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Even Al Qaeda Tried To Free Alan Henning

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 04 Oktober 2014 | 20.49

A filmmaker, who was involved in the early negotiations to free Alan Henning, has told Sky News how even al Qaeda thought holding him hostage was "not a good idea".

The terrorist group sent a member to bargain with the Islamic State fighters holding him but failed to secure his release.

The al Qaeda member, who was sent to bargain with the Manchester taxi driver's captors, said the jihadists were "difficult" and "tough".

Bilal Abdul Kareem told how Mr Henning, who was helping to make an aid delivery in Syria, was captured just an hour after arriving in al-Dana, around 30 minutes from the Turkish border, on Boxing Day.

He said Islamic State fighters had arrived in the town and detained all of those in the convoy but quickly released the Muslim members, holding only Mr Henning.

Video: Cameron Condemns Henning Murder

Mr Kareem said when Mr Henning was first taken he was set to be released later that day or even the next but when that did not happen people started to worry.

Then the jihadists claimed the 47-year-old, father-of-two as their prisoner and said they were planning to exchange him for people in British custody.

Mr Kareem said: "They had a course of action that they were going to take and nobody was going to be able to talk them out of it.

Video: PM Pledges 'All Assets' Against IS

"Even al Qaeda affiliates al Nusra went there to talk to them because nobody outside of ISIS thought this was a good idea, nobody thought that it was OK to do this, none of the other groups were doing that, nobody thought it was a good idea.

"When the al Qaeda representative went to go down and try to talk to them he returned, his face was different, he said something to the effect these guys are really being difficult, really being tough but they did say that they were going to release him.

"Everybody was anticipating that but that never happened."

Video: UK Muslims 'Disgusted'

On Friday the terrorists posted a video of Mr Henning's killing. In it he is pictured kneeling in front of a masked man, who speaks with a British accent and is believed to be the man responsible for previous beheadings.

The man makes a direct appeal to David Cameron saying: "The blood of David Haines was on your hands, Cameron. Alan Henning will also be slaughtered, but his blood is on the hands of the British Parliament."

Muslim leaders have condemned the beheading on the eve of the Muslim festival of Eid Al-Adha, which represents a day of mercy, and said they want to see justice done.

Video: Eccles Pastor: 'It's Gut-wrenching'

As the community of Eccles mourned, Mr Cameron said Britain would use all of its assets to destroy Islamic State.

:: Full coverage now on Sky News – watch Sky 501, Virgin Media 602, Freesat 202, Freeview 132.

Video: Shock At Murder Of Alan Henning

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  1. Gallery: Profile: Alan Henning

    Alan Henning, 47, was born in Salford, Greater Manchester. Friends gave him the nickname "gadget" due to his love of technology

  2. He was married for 23 years and he had a teenage son and daughter

  3. He worked as a self-employed taxi driver

  4. Mr Henning saw the plight of Syrian people and volunteered with a Muslim charity. He had been to the region at least three times

  5. He drove life-saving medical equipment from the UK to Syria in old ambulances. He left in December 2013 to make the 4,000-mile trip

  6. He was kidnapped by IS in Syria by masked men. He may have been held in Ad Dana near Aleppo, then Raqqa

Video: Wife Pleaded For Henning's Release
Video: Latest Analysis: Sky's Joey Jones

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Beheading Devastates Aid Worker's Home Town

By Nick Martin, North of England Correspondent, in Eccles 

News of the murder of Alan Henning has shocked those who live in his home town of Eccles in Greater Manchester.

The 47-year-old worked as a taxi driver here before deciding to join an aid convoy to Syria last Christmas.

Vigils had been held for Mr Henning in churches, mosques and community centres over the past two weeks.

The Rt Rev David Walker, Bishop of Manchester, said the "brutality" of the Islamic State would unite the community.

"In his life Alan Henning united people across the boundaries of nationality and faith.

"He did so both through his humanitarian actions and by the love that drove him on.

Video: Shock At Murder Of Alan Henning

"That his tragic death continues to unite people across Britain and beyond is demonstrated today by the range of people and organisations paying him tribute.

"To ISIS we say 'You no longer have the power to shock us, now you just sicken us.

"Your brutality, against any who don't share your narrow, perverted world view, doesn't undermine our determination, it stiffens our resolve.

Video: PM Pledges 'All Assets' Against IS

"Your destiny is not to be a force in human history, merely one of its sad footnotes'."

Orlando Napolitano, 68, who runs a cafe in Salford, where Mr Henning was a regular has spoken of his shock at his friend's murder.

"He was just a nice guy. I will never forget him," he told Sky News.

Video: UK Muslims 'Disgusted'

Local Pastor Bill Green, from the Gateway Community Church, had led some of the vigils.

He told Sky News: "Eccles is waking up to horrific news. People will be devastated. It's a close-knit community especially where Alan and his family live and I'd like to send my sympathies to Barbara and family at this time.

"The people of this town never lost hope we always thought there was a chance that he might come back and we came together and prayed that would happen. It hasn't happened."

Video: Al Qaeda Could Not Free Henning

Yellow ribbons adorned lamposts and railings across the town in a symbol of hope for Mr Henning.

Just days ago his wife Barbara made an emotional plea to the Islamic State for her husband's safe return.

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  1. Gallery: Profile: Alan Henning

    Alan Henning, 47, was born in Salford, Greater Manchester. Friends gave him the nickname "gadget" due to his love of technology

  2. He was married for 23 years and he had a teenage son and daughter

  3. He worked as a self-employed taxi driver

  4. Mr Henning saw the plight of Syrian people and volunteered with a Muslim charity. He had been to the region at least three times

  5. He drove life-saving medical equipment from the UK to Syria in old ambulances. He left in December 2013 to make the 4,000-mile trip

  6. He was kidnapped by IS in Syria by masked men. He may have been held in Ad Dana near Aleppo, then Raqqa


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