When faced with a shortfall in his copying budget, math teacher Tom Farber decided to pay for the paper he puts his calculus tests on by selling ad space on them.

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Kelly Layne Lau and her husband, Michael Schumacher, were in court for arraignment on charges of kidnapping and torturing a 17-year old boy who limped into a local gym earlier this week with a chain locked to his ankle.

The story so far
A bruised and dirty, badly emaciated boy wearing an ankle chain and shackle, jumps an eight foot fence and ends up under the counter of a local gym in foetal position saying "don't let them get me" over and over again.
Gym staff called the police and wrapped him in towels.

Officers arrived to interview the boy, who appeared to be dazed, confused, and very scared. He didn’t know where he was, he didn’t know exactly how long he had been held captive. He was able to give enough information to pinpoint the home from which he escaped and officers immediately sealed off the Schumacher residence. They questioned 30-year-old Kelly Layne Lau and her husband, 34-year-old Michael Schumacher. About 45 minutes later, they were both handcuffed and taken away. Their four children were taken into protective custody.

The Boy's History
Child welfare officials took the teen from his abusive father three or four years ago.
He was then placed with a woman once thought to be his aunt, 43-year-old Caren Ramirez.
When she was arrested for abusing the boy, he was placed in a foster home.
He was reported missing from the foster home in late 2007 after he ran away in search of his family.
The story of how the boy allegedly ended up with Lau and Schumacher has yet to be told.
However their former houseguest Caren Ramirez, 43, is expected to appear in court Monday. She had been described as the boy's aunt, but authorities now say they are not related.

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The 19-year-old son of former California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez and three other men have pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges in the stabbing death of a college student in San Diego.

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Iraq's presidential council on Thursday approved a security pact that sets out a three-year timeframe for U.S. troops to leave.

With a serious caveat that the proposal as to be voted on in a referendum by the Iraqi people by July 2009.

By July 2009 the pact will already be in effect.

This could be a poisoned chalice inherited by Barack Obama.
Policing a national referendum accepted as fair and democratic that doesn't attract unwanted attention is going to be challenging.

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Karen Matthews, the mother of nine-year-old Shannon, has been convicted of kidnapping her own daughter.

Matthews, 33, and her co-accused Michael Donovan, 40, were found guilty of kidnap, false imprisonment and perverting the course of justice.
The trial at Leeds Crown Court heard tat Mathews and Donovan kept Shannon "drugged, subdued and hidden from the public" so they could claim £50,000 in reward money. Shannon was held at Donovan's flat in Batley Carr, West Yorkshire, for 24 days.

The judge warned them that they face "substantial" jail terms when they are sentenced later.

 

The Story in Videos ...

 

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The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that two British men should not have had their DNA and fingerprints retained by police.
DNA swabs and fingerprints were taken and held by South Yorkshire Police, although neither man was later convicted of any offence.

The judgement  by 17 senior judges from across Europe could have major implications on how DNA records are stored in the UK's national database.
Under present laws, the DNA profiles of everyone arrested for a recordable offence in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are kept on the database, regardless of whether they are charged or convicted.

Democratic Society?
The judges said keeping the information "could not be regarded as necessary in a democratic society".
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said she was "disappointed" by the European Court of Human Rights' decision.
The database may now have to be scaled back following the unanimous verdict.

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Jacqui Smith has come under attack about the police raid on Tory MP Damian Green's Parliamentary Office.

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