18-year-old Penelope Soto taught an important lesson to millions of young Americans when she was called before a Florida judge yesterday on a drug possession charge. Soto laughed when the judge asked if she had consumed any drugs in the last 24 hours and then said "adios" after he set her bail at $5,000. She stopped laughing when he asked her to return and raised the bond to $10,000.
"Are you serious?" Soto asked. The judge replied, "I am serious. Adios."
At that point, Soto apparently gave the judge the finger and shouted an expletive at him. He then asked Soto point blank, "Did you say 'fuck me'?" When she said she did, he found her in criminal contempt of court and sentenced her to 30 days in a county jail.
Bahrain activist jailed for insulting king on Twitter
A Bahrain activist has been jailed for six months after insulting the Gulf
nation's king on Twitter.
The Gulf emirate has faced
unrest since last MarchPhoto: Mazen
Mahdi/EPA
5:22PM GMT 01 Nov 2012
The online activist, who has not been named, was among four people arrested
last month for allegedly defaming Bahrain's monarch in cases that mirror other
social media crackdowns by Gulf Arab rulers.
Such prosecutions have brought strong criticism from media freedom groups.
The official Bahrain News Agency said the court Thursday also ordered the
activist's laptop and mobile phone confiscated.
The Gulf emirate has faced unrest since last March, when its forces crushed a
month of popular protests led by members of the Shiite Muslim majority who were
demanding greater rights and an end to what they claimed was discrimination
against them by the Sunni royal family.
The crackdown, which drew strong criticism from international rights groups,
was followed by a three-month state of emergency declared by King Hamad during
which protests were also banned.
Earlier this week, Bahrain banned all protests and gatherings to ensure
"security is maintained" after a series of violent clashes between the
Shiite-led demonstrators and Sunni government forces.
Court rulings on the three other Twitter activists are expected next week.
Source: agencies
Married New York mother who was killed in Turkey 'had sex with a man she met on the internet a day before she went missing'
Sarai Sierra, 33, was killed by a fatal blow to the head during solo trip
Witnesses 'report she was seen with sketchy characters before her death'
Authorities 'investigating she was involved in drug trafficking after she went on trips to Holland and Germany'
Man she met on the internet named 'Taylan' claims they had consensual sex
The married New York mother who was murdered while on a solo trip to Turkey had sex the day before she vanished with a man she met on the internet, he has claimed. 'Taylan K' has been interviewed at length by Istanbul police after they discovered his online communication with 33-year-old Sarai Sierra, but he had initially insisted they were just friends. Now Turkey's Vatan newspaper has claimed Taylan told police they had consensual sex a day before Sierra went missing. The duo had met online months before Sierra left for Turkey on January 7. It adds yet more intrigue to the circumstances surrounding Sierra's death after earlier reports she was hanging out with 'a criminal element' before she was killed. The FBI is also reportedly investigating whether she was involved in drug trafficking during her visit to the country. He added that he sent her a message on the day she vanished and asked her to meet, but she never responded. Police have taken a blood and sperm sample from Taylan and 21 others.
Turkey's Vatan newspaper reported that Taylan had sex with the married mother of two
Sierra's body was found stashed by Istanbul's ancient city walls on Saturday, more than a week after she failed to catch her flight home. Police said she died from a blunt force trauma. She was found with a head wound and a blanket near her body. She was wearing jeans, a jumper and a jacket, and still had her earrings and a bracelet on, but her iPhone and iPad were missing. The claims come on the same day as a source familiar with her murder investigation has suggested she had been hanging out with 'a criminal element' while on the trip. FBI agents investigating the killing do not believe she had only travelled to the country to take pictures, as her family has claimed. 'The first people she met up with were a criminal element,' the source told the New York Post. 'There are some witness reports that she was seen with sketchy characters.' Authorities are now trying to verify these claims amid reports that her casket will be sent back to the United States on Thursday, the Post reported. Among various lines of inquiry investigators are looking into a possible connection to drug trafficking. Sierra, who had been unemployed and had declared bankruptcy in 2005, had also travelled to Amsterdam and Munich while on the trip, which was her first time leaving the United States. She had initially planned to visit the country for three weeks, but after 12 days she posted online that she had to cut the trip short.
Her family, including her devastated husband Steven Sierra, have said she went to the country because of the photo opportunities. They say she used her iPad and iPhone to shoot the images. To pay for her funeral, her family began selling some of her images online on Tuesday and soon had enough to cover her expenses. The photos remain on sale online and any other profits will go to her two young sons, who are nine and 11, her family wrote on the website. Photographs on sale include images taken during her time in Istanbul and pictures of New York City. They are being sold as canvases, framed prints, greeting cards and iPhone cases for $39.95 each. 'Sarai's passion for photography and love for capturing the beauty we see in culture, architecture and scenery was her reason for traveling to Istanbul,' her brother, David Jimenez, wrote on the site.
Iran seeks to play down shoe thrown at Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Iran has sought to play down an incident in Cairo in which a protester tried
to throw a shoe at Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gestures at
the Al-Hussein mosque in CairoPhoto: REUTERS/Amr
Abdallah Dalsh
5:20PM GMT 06 Feb 2013
A Syrian protester in Egypt was released on bail after trying to attack
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
with a shoe as he came out of a Cairo mosque.
Despite a successful start to Mr Ahmadinejad's visit to Egypt, the first by
an Iranian leader since 1979, ideological, political and religious differences
soon came to the fore.
On Wednesday, Mr Ahmadinejad had to listen as his host, President Mohammed
Morsi, denounced Iran's close ally President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, at a
meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation. The day before, he had to
endure denunciations of Iran's promotion of Shia Islam by leading Sunni clerics.
The final insult came as he left the Hussein Mosque in Central Cairo on
Tuesday evening, when he was met by a small placarding-waving protest by
Syrians. One man tried to hit Mr Ahmadinejad on the head with his shoe, a
particular insult in the Islamic world, as the group shouted: "You killed our
brothers."
Iran Human Rights, February 4: According to reports from reliable sources, Iranian authorities are executing in increasing numbers in Rajai Shahr Prison, west of Tehran.
According to sources, prisoners are being transferred out of their wards daily and the execution of several of them have been confirmed.
On January 27, two prisoners, Masoud Alimoradi and Mahmoud Nezami were hanged in Rajai Shahr Prison.
None of the executions have been announced by the Iranian authorities. On February 3 one prisoner was transferred from ward 3 of Rajai Shahr Prison and on February 4 one prisoner identified as "Ali Mohammadzadeh" was transferred from ward 1 for execution.
Sources say that prisoners are normally transferred to Evin Prison for execution on Tuesdays, but for the past two months Iranian authorities have been executing prisoners in a hall newly built in Rajai Shahr Prison. Prisoners are removed from their ward for execution without prior notice. In some cases authorities allow visits to families the night before the execution. Executions can take place on any day of the week. Death row prisoners in Rajai Shahr Prison live each day in constant fear of execution.
Earlier today IHR published a report about weekly mass executions in Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad. Recent reports indicate that Iranian authorities have increased secret and unannounced executions. IHR urges the UN and the international community to intervene to stop the execution wave in Iran. Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the spokesperson of IHR said: "We are very concerned for Rajai Shahr prisoners. They live under constant fear and many of them might be in imminent danger of execution. We urge the international community to react now."
Maggie Parker, the diminutive cowgirl who is America's only female bull
rider
Maggie Parker stands at just 5ft 5inches tall and weighs just over nine
stone - but don't let her diminutive size fool you.
Maggie Parker's current
percentage of staying on bulls is 35-40 per cent - which is a normal average for
professional ridersPhoto: Incredible Features /
Barcroft Media
The slender Michigan native is America's only female bull rider to compete
against men, regularly taking on beasts that weigh in excess of 2,000lbs.
Aged just 20, she is already the veteran of nearly 200 rodeos, competing
alongside brawny cowboys in one of the most dangerous sports in the world.
Maggie Parker stands at just 5ft 5inches
tall and weighs just over nine stone (Incredible Features / Barcroft
Media)
"You're up against an animal and you don't know what he is going to do or
what he's thinking," she said. "You can't ride against them, you have to ride
with them."
Ms Parker became professional last June after tackling a bucking bull for the
full eight seconds needed to qualify as a pro. She relocated to Santa Maria,
California, where she is being trained by top mentor Gary Leffew.
Saudi Arabia beheaded two nationals in the southwestern city of Jizan on
Tuesday after they were convicted of armed robbery, the interior ministry
announced.
"Mohammed bin Ahmed Kharmi and Musa bin Mohsen Kharmi lured a man and opened
fire on him," the ministry said in a statement published by SPA state news
agency, adding the victim, whose identity was not disclosed, was wounded.
The pair "stole the money he was carrying which belonged to the company he
works for," said SPA. They were sentenced to death "due to the danger of their
crime".
In a separate statement, the ministry said a Palestinian identified as Wael
Anbar was beheaded in the Red Sea city of Jeddah for stabbing to death a Yemeni,
Naser Haqqash.
The beheadings bring to 56 the number of people executed in Saudi Arabia so
far this year, according to an AFP tally based on official reports.
Amnesty International puts the number of people executed in the Gulf country
last year at 79.
1 Comment 
Maggie Parker stands at just 5ft 5inches
tall and weighs just over nine stone (Incredible Features / Barcroft
Media) 