Mother, boyfriend charged in death of toddler burned in oven

Remember the story about the little girl who was burned in the oven by her older siblings? Well her mum and her boyfriend have been charged with four counts of child endangerment.
Racqual Thompson, 25, and Cornell Malone, 21, were arrested Tuesday morning and held on bonds totaling $36,000 apiece.
Fox 26 reported, citing Child Protective Services officials, that one of Thompson's children, a 3-year-old boy, admitted to putting 19-month-old J'zyra Thompson in the oven of the couple's northeast Houston apartment on the evening of Nov. 16. According to court records prosecutors filed Monday, Racqual Thompson told police she had left the children alone for about 30 minutes to pick up Malone from work.
Later that night, Thompson and Malone again left the children alone after putting them to bed to go get some pizza and visit Malone's brother. The couple was gone for about two hours.
"Mr. Malone stated that when they returned and went into the apartment, he could 'smell something burning,'" according to a probable cause affidavit.

Thompson and Malone told police they found the three other children crying and pointing to the kitchen. In the kitchen, the oven had tipped over, with the oven's door face down on the floor, with J'zyra apparently inside, according to the affidavit.
Malone "stated he uprighted the 'range' and the next thing he noticed was J'zyra was lying on the floor. He stated that she was obviously burned and deceased," according to the affidavit. The oven had apparently been turned on "all the way.

How The Legal Weed Industry Is Squeezing Out Women Growers

On a warm September evening, about 70 women gather at The Peg House, a famed roadside burger joint on Northern California’s Highway 101. They arrive in a stream of 4x4 trucks and carpools of Subarus; some have driven hours from remote hillside homesteads. At the state park across the road, there’s plenty of room to pitch tents under the redwoods. The women are here for a campout hosted by Women Grow, a business launched by female entrepreneurs in Denver in 2014, with the goal of helping women find their footing in the fast-growing weed industry. Paying members of Women Grow can list their businesses in a national directory, or connect with other entrepreneurs through the organization’s weekly newsletter. There are local chapters in California’s Mendocino and Humboldt counties; the Peg House campout was their first joint meeting. Networking, a skill-share for seasonal farming advice, and a one-woman show prepared by Sherry Glaser, a dispensary owner and long-time veteran of the business, are on the agenda. As states across America choose to make medical marijuana legal, the promise of a noncriminal weed industry is creating a rush for jobs and cash. Women are getting in on the money—in July, Women Grow estimated that some 20 percent of marijuana-related businesses are owned by women.

Mum shares heartbreaking last picture of toddler before she was raped and murdered by stepmother

Treasured memory: The last picture taken of little Lily

A mum has shared the heartbreaking last picture she took of her daughter before she was sexually assaulted and murdered by her stepmother.

Lauren Furneaux posted the picture of two-year-old Lily, sitting by a Christmas tree, on Facebook.

With it she shared the horrific story of the toddler's death to raise awareness of child abuse five years on from the tragedy.

Lauren had handed Lily over to her father, Jeff Wolfenberger, 29, to spend time with him and his partner, Renee King, 28.

Horrific : Granddad describes how he drowned grandson in the bath tub

A man accused of murdering his own grandson today told how he drowned the youngster in a bath - but he continues to plead not guilty to murder.
Stewart Greene, 65, killed Alex Robinson, nine, while his mum was out shopping for a Christmas turkey.

Giving evidence in court he apologised to his daughter Joanne, ex-wife Andrea and Alex's dad John.
Greene said: "I'm so sorry to Joanne and Andrea and to John Robinson.

"The truth is I killed Alex. I thought about it the night before. "I walked Alex into the bathroom and put him in the bath. I'd run the bath before I called him. Two taps running quicker.

"I think at the time he asked me if I was going to wash myself. "I picked him up and put him in the bath and drowned him. He was struggling. He struggled until I drowned him."

Cops are freaking out about a new type of marijuana — users say it just gets you really high

Police in Illinois are warning the public about an extremely potent drug that is gaining popularity in the state, saying it can "cause users to disconnect from reality" and might even lead to "hallucinations and other types of psychosis." The drug is called "shatter," and it sounds awfully scary until you learn that's just a concentrated form of marijuana.

Shatter — also known as wax, sap, budder, and a number of other nicknames, depending on the presentation — is a type of cannabis concentrate that resembles honey or taffy. It can be inhaled for a stronger high per hit than marijuana buds, the part of the plant that is commonly smoked.

Shocker : Will Smith describes 20 year marriage to Jada as grueling and excruciating

47-year-old actor Will Smith opened up about his 20-year marriage to his wife, Jada Pinkett at the Nov. 23 premiere of his new movie, ‘Concussion,’ where he said despite their refusal to split, their relationship is both ‘grueling’ and ‘excruciating.’ He said this when he was interviewed by Entertainment Tonight, when they asked him how they keep their relationship so strong.

Photos show teen disposing of teacher's body

Surveillance photos shown in court Monday in Philip Chism's murder trial show the then-14-year-old outside the Danvers, Massachusetts, school, wheeling a recycling bin that prosecutors say held the body of his slain algebra teacher.

The photos, apparently taken from a security camera video, come a week after the prosecution showed school security video of Chism following his teacher into the restroom, where he allegedly killed her.

Prosecutors contend Chism, now 16, followed teacher Colleen Ritzer, 24, into a girl's bathroom on the second floor of Danvers High School at 3:16 p.m. on October 22, 2013.

The most complicated situation in the world just got even trickier

Russian warplanes have been conducting airstrikes over Syria since late September, sometimes causing tension with Turkey when its planes come too close to the Turkish border.

These tensions finally came to a head on Tuesday, when a Russian warplane allegedly violated Turkish airspace and was shot down by Turkish F-16s.

It was an escalation of the conflict that was "not entirely unexpected," said Jonathan Schanzer, vice president of the Washington, DC-based think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

Turkey released a map showing where Russia violated its airspace, and Russia countered

Turkey and Russia have released competing maps showing where a Russian warplane violated — or steered clear of, depending on the point of view — Turkish airspace before it was shot down early Tuesday.

Shortly after the jet was downed, the Turkish military published a radar map demonstrating the reported flight path of the jet it shot down, which Ankara is using as proof that the pilots violated the country's airspace:

The blue line is the Turkish border, and the red arrow is pointing to the spot at which the warplane reportedly entered Turkish airspace.

Chicago protesters march as police release video of officer shooting teen

Protesters took to the streets of Chicago late Tuesday after police released a graphic dash-cam video showing an officer shooting 17-year-old Laquan McDonald.

McDonald was killed in October 2014. The city's mayor has called for peace.

"I believe this is a moment that can build bridges of understanding rather than become a barrier of misunderstanding. I understand that the people will be upset and will want to protest when they see this video," Mayor Rahm Emanuel said. "We as a city must rise to this moment."

School 'in lockdown' after reports of gunshots fired at car outside primary

Investigation: Police are looking into reports of a discharged firearm this morning

A school is 'in lockdown' after reports gunshots were fired at a car outside this morning.

Police were called to an incident outside Anfield Road School in Anfield Road, Liverpool.

Residents are being told by officers to stay in their homes, and the road, which runs parallel to Anfield Road School, has been cordoned off and access is currently restricted.

A spokesperson from Anfield Road School told the Liverpool Echo they were unable to confirm whether an incident had taken place.

But police have issued a statement confirming an investigation is underway after reports from the public a car had been shot at.The spokesman said: “Merseyside Police is investigating reports of a firearms discharge in Anfield this morning.

"Patrols were called to Anfield Road at about 9am after several members of the public reported a shot was fired towards a car.

"Officers are in attendance and detectives are carrying out house to house and CCTVenquiries in the area.

"Patrols have been stepped up to reassure the community."

Read more: Police launch probe after gunfire heard near Barrowlands gig in Glasgow

Anyone who witnessed anything suspicious in the area this morning is urged to call the gun crime hotline on 0800 230 0600 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

More details on this breaking story as we get them.

Turkey shoots down Russian warplane on Syrian border

Turkey has shot down a Russian warplane on the Syrian border, a senior Turkish official has said. According to Al Jazeerah, the plane was shut down on Syrian territory in Latakia's Yamadi village.

The plane was downed by the Turkish military according to the rules of engagement because it violated Turkish airspace, the Turkish official said.

North Korea believed to earn a fortune from forced labor overseas, U.N. says

North Korea's catalog of abuses against its own people within the secretive country's tightly controlled borders has been widely reported. But Kim Jong Un's regime is also believed to be pocketing huge sums from tens of thousands of its citizens who are sent abroad to toil in forced labor conditions, the United Nations says.

The laborers are made to work as long as 20 hours a day without enough food and under constant surveillance, according to a new report from Marzuki Darusman, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in North Korea.

Syria : Kurdish forces dig in just outside ISIS headquarters in Raqqa

When Bahoz heard the blasts, he guessed they must have come from French jets. There were 14 of them, all around the time thatPresident Francois Hollande said France had started bombing Raqqa.

The capital of ISIS's self-declared caliphate is eerily close to Bahoz's position. A fighter with the Kurdish YPG units, he sits on a series of outposts along a lengthy earth trench that is essentially the front line with Raqqa -- about 20 miles away, across flat, hostile ground.

"Three days ago we saw 14 airstrikes suddenly hit just nearby, and then the French said they'd started bombing," he told CNN, when we were given rare access to his position near the town of Ayn al Issa.

"We will do our best to avenge Paris," he vowed.

Drunk Russian sailor crashes 7,000-ton ship into Scotland -- at full speed

What shall we do with a drunken sailor?

Don't put him in charge of a 7,000-ton, 423-foot (129-meter) cargo ship, for starters.

That's how a Russian mariner who drank half a liter of rum before work, according to investigators, managed to crash into the coast of Scotland last winter -- at full speed.

The Lysblink Seaways was on its way from Belfast, Northern Ireland, to Skogn in Norway when it slammed into the rocky shoreline near Kilchoan on the Ardnamurchan peninsula at about 2:30 a.m. on February 18.

When the ship was salvaged, it was so badly damaged that it had to be scrapped.