‘Mr Swirly’ paedophile jailed for three years

Bangkok A paedophile known as “Mr Swirly” because of his disguised internet image was jailed in Thailand after a judge said that photographic evidence against him was conclusive (Andrew Drummond writes).

Christopher Neil, 32, from Canada, admitted abusing an 11-year-old boy and was jailed for six years and six months, but the sentence was halved because he did not contest the case. He was the subject of an international manhunt after German police unravelled pornographic pictures that he had put on the internet.

The head of the man in the pictures was distorted into a swirl but police were able to clear the photo and Neil was arrested in Thailand last October.

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Summit boycott

Harare President Khama of Botswana is boycotting a weekend summit of southern African leaders because his country does not recognise the reelection of Robert Mugabe as President of Zimbabwe, the Foreign Ministry said. (Reuters)

Seven killed in blast

Bogotá Seven people died and nearly fifty were wounded in the most serious Colombian guerrilla attack this year when a bomb exploded at a festival in the town of Ituango. Officials blamed the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. (Reuters)

Ex-leader condemned

Ndjamena Hissene Habre, the former President of Chad, whose regime is blamed for 40,000 political murders, was condemned to death in abstentia for crimes against humanity by the country’s criminal court. Habre has lived in exile in Senegal since 1991.(AFP)

Gorilla dies aged 43

Dallas A gorilla named Hercules who once bit a keeper at Dallas Zoo but remained popular among visitors has died at the age of 43. The western lowland silverback died of a heart attack after a medical procedure for spinal disease, officials said. (AP)

Troops fire on buses, ‘killing 30 civilians’

Mogadishu Ethiopian troops opened fire on two civilian buses in the Somali town of Arbiska, killing at least 30 passengers.

They sprayed gunfire at the two vehicles, one travelling from Mogadishu, the capital, and the other from Afgoye, witnesses reported. Ahmed Husein Mohamed, a local who saw the killings, said: “I saw 37 dead civilians near Arbiska, where the Ethiopian forces indiscriminately opened fire on two civilian buses. They killed everyone.” It was not clear what prompted the troops – in Somalia to prop up the fragile Government, under attack from Islamist forces – to open fire. The troops had been attacked by insurgents on three occasions earlier in the day. (AFP)

Dress code death

Ventura The family of a gay teenager who was shot dead in class in California filed a claim for damages against his school district for not enforcing the dress code. They say that Larry King, 15, was shot for wearing make-up and feminine clothes. (AP)

Bus in ravine plunge

Beijing At least 11 passengers were killed when a bus veered off a mountain road and plunged into a ravine in central China, the official Xinhua news agency said. The accident happened in Mianchi county, Henan province. (Reuters)

Sentences reduced

Jakarta Indonesia will cut the sentences of more than 55,000 prisoners tomorrow to mark Independence Day. Inmates who have been convicted for terrorism, corruption, drugs or illegal logging will be excluded from the remissions. (Reuters)

Bear attacks camper

Bucharest A German camper was attacked by a bear that smelt food in his tent in the Bucegi Mountains of Romania. Cristoph Schultz, 26, who had camped illegally, was saved by a mountain rescue team who chased the animal away. (AP)

Dress code death

Ventura The family of a gay teenager who was shot dead in class in California filed a claim for damages against his school district for not enforcing the dress code. They say that Larry King, 15, was shot for wearing make-up and feminine clothes. (AP)

Record producer dies

New York Jerry Wexler, the producer who recorded Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles, has died at his home in Florida, aged 91. Wexler, a partner in Atlantic Records, also recorded stars such as Wilson Pickett, Percy Sledge and Dusty Springfield. (AP)

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