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'PHILADELPHIA — The Army plans to require that all 1.1 million of its soldiers take intensive training in emotional resiliency, military officials say.

The training, the first of its kind in the military, is meant to improve performance in combat and head off the mental health problems, including depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide, that plague about one-fifth of troops returning from Afghanistan and Iraq.

Active-duty soldiers, reservists and members of the National Guard will receive the training, which will also be available to their family members and to civilian employees.'

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'TRACY, Calif. — A San Joaquin County grand jury has indicted a Sunday school teacher on charges she kidnapped, raped and killed an 8-year-old girl and drugged two other people.

Melissa Huckaby, 28, broke down in tears as Judge Linda Lofthus read the indictment against her Monday.

Prosecutors convened a grand jury in late July rather than hold a preliminary hearing to determine whether Huckaby would stand trial. Lofthus said the grand jury transcript would not be made public.
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Huckaby is charged with murder with the special circumstances of rape, kidnapping and lewd or lascivious conduct with a child under 14, which could make her eligible for the death penalty if convicted.
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Huckaby also pleaded not guilty to drugging a 7-year-old girl earlier this year as well as a 37-year-old man, whom police believe she had dated. She is charged with two counts of furnishing someone a harmful substance and one count of child endangerment in the drugging case.'

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'HOUSTON — A Houston-area mother convicted of mutilating her infant by cutting off his genitals two years ago was sentenced Monday to 99 years in prison.

But minutes after the jury's sentence was read, Katherine Nadal, 28, yelled out that she did not hurt her son, prompting the boy's father to storm out of the courtroom.

Jurors deliberated for two hours Monday night before returning the sentence, which also included a $10,000 fine. The same jury had convicted her last week of first-degree felony injury to a child.

The jurors chose among possible sentences ranging from probation to life in prison. Nadal, who shook her head as the jury foreman read the sentence, will have to serve at least 30 years before she is eligible for parole.'

Just about everyone knows men can be victims of domestic violence:

• According to a 2006 Harris poll, 88% of Americans have heard about a male victim of domestic violence in the past year.¹
• Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy has noted, "We still have millions of women and men and children and families who are traumatized by abuse."²
• Nearly 250 scholarly studies confirm that fact.³

But a dwindling number of hold-outs still believe intimate partner violence against men isn’t even worth mentioning. Unfortunately, several of those persons currently work in the White House:

• Valerie Jarrett, director of the White House Council on Women and Girls, once said, "Domestic violence is still a major issue, not just for women but also for girls ⁴
• During a recent teleconference, Lynn Rosenthal, White House Advisor on Violence Against Women, repeatedly used the phrase, "violence against women." Lynn Rosenthal not once used the term, "violence against men," even though the call took place just two weeks after the murder of former NFL quarterback Steve McNair by his girlfriend.
• Despite repeated attempts to educate Vice President Joseph Biden about the truth of domestic violence, he continues to be a true believer in the myth that women never abuse.

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'Do-it-yourself DNA tests are being made available by chemists for the first time, allowing families to establish the paternity of children without the usual recourse to the legal system.

Anglia DNA Services, a testing laboratory, said yesterday that kits would be stocked in pharmacies across the UK from this week.

For just under £160, anyone aged over 16 will be able to establish paternity in less than five days — provided that the consent of all parties is obtained. Critics said that children could receive potentially devastating news about their parentage without having access to proper counselling, which would ordinarily be provided within the court system.

Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrats’ health spokesman, called for new regulation by the Human Tissue Authority, which oversees DNA testing. He said: “These DIY kits, inevitably, will cause enormous effect on those involved. There is an urgent need for new regulation to reflect this development because it has happened quite out of the blue.”

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'A woman who was on probation for feeding her toddler son pain pills in California now faces felony assault charges for doping her infant daughter with a near-lethal dose of morphine in Oregon.

Police said Sara Rose Dillard, aka Sara Rose Lubin, drugged her 2-month-old daughter June 4 in an alleged attempt to get attention from the child's father.

The infant was immediately rushed to the critical care center at Doernbecher's Children's Hospital in Portland and survived.

But it took several weeks for officers to unravel Dillard's past and her previous conviction of Willful Cruelty to a Child under the last name of Lubin in Los Angeles. In the previous conviction, Dillard was also accused of creating a medical emergency to get the attention of her child's father.'

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'Police say a New Jersey woman killed her four-year-old daughter, attempted to kill her six-year-old daughter and then tried to kill herself during a brutal attack Sunday morning.

Morris County prosecutors say 33-year-old Jenny Erazo-Rodriguez faces charges of murder, attempted murder and endangering the welfare of a child. Bail is set at $1 million.

Morris Township police responded to the home Sunday and found a neighbor administering CPR to an unconscious 4-year-old girl on the lawn.

Another neighbor was caring for the girl's 6-year-old sister. Officials say she was conscious, but lethargic.'

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'A fire in a wedding party tent that killed 43 women and children in Kuwait was started deliberately by the ex-wife of the bridegroom, a Kuwaiti newspaper said today.

Al-Qabbas said that the 23-year-old former wife had admitted pouring petrol on the cotton tent and setting it on fire, furious at what she called her “bad treatment” by her former partner before their divorce. There was no official confirmation of the alleged confession.

Firefighters said that the blaze took less than three minutes to rip through the marquee, in which as many as 180 women and children were celebrating the wedding party. Many of those who died were killed in the stampede for the sole exit.'

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'Judgment came this week in the family law case of the year, in which a woman sued her former partner - a prominent billionaire - for $56,000 per month in alimony and $50 million. Her claim? Federal marriage law and Quebec family law discriminate against unmarried couples. A Quebec Superior Court judge has now ruled against her. The woman's lawyer says she will appeal.

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'MORRILTON, Ark. — Authorities say the mother whose three young boys drowned when she drove into a central Arkansas lake had been drinking before the accident.

Conway County Sheriff Mike Smith said Friday that 26-year-old Amber Turley was arrested earlier that morning at her parent's house. She has been charged with felony endangerment in the April crash.

Prosecutor Tom Tatum says the alcohol was among several factors that resulted in the charges. It wasn't immediately clear whether Turley had an attorney. She has previously said the crash was an accident.

Smith acknowledged the emotions involved in bringing charges against the mother, but says he was acting on behalf of the children.

Turley has been released on $5,000 bond.'

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'Tradition is set to be pitted against the constitution in a landmark case around forced circumcision, which is due to go to trial on Monday.

But ahead of the start of proceedings, the Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (Contralesa) has declared that its position on circumcision - forced or otherwise - would remain unchanged, regardless of what a court may order.

Bonani Yamani, now 21, was abducted from his home shortly before dawn on March 3, 2007. He was tied up, taken to the bush, circumcised against his will, then forced to eat the skin taken from his penis.

Circumcision is against Yamani's personal religious beliefs, and he subsequently asked traditional leaders for an apology and an undertaking that no one would in future be subjected to forced circumcision.

Instead, Eastern Cape Contralesa chairperson Chief Mwelo Nonkonyana was quoted as saying that those who refused traditional circumcision should be ostracised by the community.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'The Law Reform Institute is reviewing the legalities of the procedure, after the Children's Commissioner found uncertainly over whether it can be legally performed on an infant male.

An issues paper has been prepared by a post-graduate student of the Law reform Institute, Warwick Marshall.

"The biggest issue with the law, [is] that there's no particular bit of legislation that deals with male circumcision so the general, criminal and civil law applies."

"So charges such as assault and wounding, grievous bodily harm for example which you'd usually associate with fist fights, could apply to male circumcision," he said.'

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'TRAUMATISED Bhisho officials believe that showing traditional surgeons the results of botched circumcisions may help prevent deaths among initiates.

The province’s health standing committee, led by ANC provincial Legislature member Mxolisi Dimaza, visited Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital and Mthatha General Hospital where injured initiates are being treated.

“I have never seen anything like this in my whole life … It was a bad sight indeed … gruesome. I did not sleep the whole night, but (stayed up) sobbing. We were really traumatised,” said Dimaza.

The multi-party committee embarked on the tour to find solutions following the deaths of 53 initiates this season.

Thirteen others suffered penile amputations, and about 40 young men are still being treated at the two hospitals.

“Apparently, some were taken very late to hospital and now doctors cannot do anything to help them. Their manhood is just falling off,” Dimaza said.'