'Sex gang groomed girls of 13': Asian men accused of luring teens and turning them into prostitutes

A gang of Asian men went on trial yesterday accused of a sickening catalogue of child prostitution offences against vulnerable teenage girls as young as 13.

The nine – six are married and one is a grandfather – face 55 charges, including inciting child prostitution, grooming and rape between 2007 and 2009.

The girls – who cannot be named for legal reasons – were said to have received cash, alcohol, drugs, meals and mobile phone credit in exchange for sex with some of the defendants.

Three of the men – Ahdel Ali, 23, his brother Mubarek Ali, 28, and Tanveer Ahmed, 39 – allegedly acted as ‘pimps’, passing two of the young girls among their friends and using them as sexual commodities.

Mubarek Ali is also accused of trafficking one of the girls, while Abdul Rouf, 34, and Mohammed Younis, 59, are accused of using their homes as brothels for child prostitution.

Deborah Gould, prosecuting, said: ‘The Crown say that the men in the dock variously trafficked, raped or sexually abused girls both over and under the age of 16 years over a considerable period of time.

‘These men ensnared these girls. They had cars, jobs and money which gave them both freedom and power. They enticed the girls, groomed the girls and then exploited them either for their own sexual gratification or for money.’

 Accused: Mohammed Islam Choudhrey (L) and Noshad Hussain are among the defendants facing trial at Stafford Crown Court

 Also accused: Mohammed Ali Sultan, left, and Marhoof Khan are on trial for sex offences

 Brothels: Defendants Mohammed Yunis, left, and Abdul Rouf are accused of using their homes for child prostitution

'Pimp': Tanveer Ahmed Tanveer Ahmed, 39, allegedly passed two of the young girls among his friends

Haiti earthquake children sold by their parents for less than 76p each to traffickers, say Unicef

* Over 76% of Haitians live on £1.50 a day
* Parents forced to sell children to traffickers
* They believe their young will have better life - but most don't

As Haiti continues to slowly rebuild following the earthquake which devastated the Caribbean island in January 2010, it has come to light that helpless children are being trafficked for as little as 76 pence each.

Registering 7.0 on the Moment magnitude scale, the earthquake - which struck on January 12, 2010, near capital city Port-au-Prince - killed between 100,000 and 300,000 people, and displaced well over a million.

Aftershocks were felt for weeks afterwards and, with conditions difficult to build in, there were further complications when there was a cholera outbreak in makeshift camps last year.

Over 76 per cent of the country are living on less that £1.50 a day, and just when you thought that the horror could not be any worse, charity Unicef have found that a number of children - many of whom lost their parents in the tragic earthquake - are been sold for next to nothing.

 Devastation: Men attempt the massive clean up job following the earthquake which killed up to 300,000 people.Displaced: Over one million people lost their homes after the earthquake in January 2010

Vulnerable: Young children in Haiti are being sold by their parents for as little as 76 pence

Mother shot twice with a Taser after she was arrested for leaving baby in car to go to tanning salon

 Arrest: Ashley Agerenza, 19, is accused of leaving her seven-month-old daughter in the back of her car while she went to a tanning salon

A woman had to be shot with a Taser twice after she was arrested for leaving her seven-month-old daughter in her car while she went to a tanning salon.

Ashley Agerenza, 19, has been charged with child abuse, resisting arrest and battery of a police officer after an incident outside Extreme Tan and Smoothies in St Petersburg, Florida.

Man, 24, arrested for paedophilia after girl, 12, gives birth to baby

A 12-year-old schoolgirl has given birth in Romania while the baby girl's 24-year-old father is being held on paedophile charges, say police.

The youngster, Claudia Feraru, had managed to keep her pregnancy secret from her parents in Bucharest for six months before confessing.

Her father, Sorin, said she had been scared 'like any girl who hides something from her parents' before the birth on Wednesday.

A street view of Bucharest, where a 12-year-old girl has given birth

Parents horrified as children run up massive bills Smurfing the web

Huge bills: Thousands of parents have downloaded the games assuming because they're free to download, they're free to play

Paying the cost: Kelly Rummelhart had an unexpected bill after four-year-old son Sawyer played The Smurfs' Village

Computer giant Apple has come under fire for introducing ‘hidden and underhand’ charges into children’s games which many parents thought were free to play.

The US firm has made millions of pounds by developing a new generation of games to play on gadgets such as the iPad and iPhone.

Thousands of British parents have downloaded the games, assuming that because they are free to download they are free to play.

But they have been horrified to discover that children have run up huge bills by buying credits which allow them to progress faster and farther through the game.

The offending games, which include The Smurfs’ Village, Zombie Farm and Tap Zoo, all operate along similar lines and encourage players to build up a virtual community.

Mother sues Tyra Bank's show for $3m after her daughter, 15, was flown to New York to appear in episode on sex addiction

Chat show host Tyra Banks is being sued for $3million (£2million) by the mother of a teenage girl who appeared on her show to talk about sex addiction.

Beverley McClendon has filed a lawsuit against the former model for allowing her 15-year-old daughter Jewel to appear without her permission.

She claims her daughter was paid to fly to New York alone and take part in the studio discussion on teen sex addiction.

Lawsuit: Beverley McClendon is suing The Tyra Banks Show after she claimed it flew her daughter to New York to appear on a show about teenage sex addiction

Girl, 15, who went on a post-Christmas diet dies from anorexia in a year

When Anna Wood said she was joining her mother on a post-Christmas diet, they expected to lose a few pounds then carry on life as normal.

But within months the grade-A student at an independent school was caught in the grip of a terrible eating disorder.

Her battle with anorexia took her through several crises, all the time reducing her frail body’s ability to survive.

And just over a year after starting the diet, she died aged 16.

A shadow of her former self: Anna in the grip of her anorexia and before she started the diet that ended up causing her death

Middle-aged blonde teachers 'plied young boys with drink and drugs at summer sex parties'

Two middle-aged teachers in the United States are facing up to ten years in jail after hosting summer sex parties for teenagers.

Blondes Sarah Lindsay and Audrey Grabarkiewicz plied boys with drink and marijuana at the illegal raves at their home.

Some of their victims were as young as 11.

Lindsay, 42, and Grabarkiewicz, 44, are being held in custody in Boiling Springs, South Carolina.

Fired: Audrey Grabarkiewicz has lost her job as a teacher at the church in Boiling Springs, North Carolina, over the sex party charges

Katy Perry cleavage is too sexy for sesame street chidren program.

Sesame Street pulls Katy Perry from show

Katy Perry's cleavage is fine for Russell Brand — not so for Elmo and Sesame Street. The children's show says it won't air a taped segment featuring the "California Gurls" singer and Elmo. The pop star — who is known for her risque outfits — wore a gold bustier top as she sang a version of her hit "Hot N Cold." But some felt it was too revealing for the kid set.

In this Sept. 12, 2010 photo, Katy Perry arrives at the MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles. Sesame Street says it won't air a taped segment featuring Perry and Elmo. The pop star , who is known for her risque outfits, wore a gold bustier top as she sang a version of her hit "Hot & Cold." But some felt it was too revealing for the kid set

Pope apologises for ‘shameful’ abuse

Pope Benedict apologised to victims of sexual abuse today, saying paedophile priests had committed unspeakable crimes and brought “shame and humiliation” on him and the entire Roman Catholic Church.

Hours after the apology, up to 10,000 chanting demonstrators snaked through the streets of London to protest against his handling of the abuse crisis and his views on homosexuals and the ordination of women.

Pope Benedict (centre) hope the “chastisement” contribute to the healing of the abuse victims.

Toddler's amazing escape: Youngster caught on camera crawling on to busy motorway

A relieved mother is counting her lucky stars today, after her young son had an amazing escape.

The curious toddler crawled out onto a busy highway in Turkey after waking up from a nap in a nearby park.

Video footage of the incident shows the child crawling at full speed into the busy road in Antalya, Southern Turkey, while traffic thunders past.

Close shave: A lorry passes just feet away from the boy who takes a moment to rest in the busy road

Philippines searches for mother of newborn left in plane

Philippine officials today were searching for the mother of a newborn boy found in the bin of a toilet onboard a Gulf Air flight to Manila.

Officials said the newborn was in good health after being found on a flight from Bahrain yesterday.

“The baby is now under our care,” Celia Yangco, an official of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, told Reuters.

“We’ll look for his mother. We’re giving his mother a chance to come forward.”

Playtime with an edge: Six-month-old girl given a PYTHON by her snake-catcher father

It's a sight to make most parents go cold with fear - a six-month-old girl playing with a python.

But Sidhi Siddharth Sinune who isn't even old enough to walk, never mind run away from the reptile, treats it as a plaything.

This is because it was given to her by her farmer father who earns extra cash as a snake catcher.


Giving it a squeeze: Sidhi Siddharth Sinune grabs the python with her little hands. It was given to her to play with by her farmer father who earns extra cash as a snake catcher in a remote area of Maharashtra, south-west India

Toddler comes face to face with escaped Bengal tiger in Miami zoo

Mother Diana Barrett says will not be renewing her family’s annual pass to the Jungle Island zoo in Miami after a tiger leapt from his enclosure to come within 10 feet of her two-year-old daughter.

Mahesh, a 230kg Bengal tiger, managed to jump over the 12-foot fence and roamed freely around the zoo for about 20 minutes.

Ms Barratt claims she walked around a corner to find her young daughter Dianita calmly staring into the eyes of the huge animal.

Miracle escape: Two-year-old Dianita Barrett was at the Jungle Island zoo in Miami when she came face-to-face with Bengal tiger Mahesh

On the prowl: Mahesh tiger is believed to have been agitated by a 'mischievous' gibbon named Watson

The moment a bus driver nearly runs over a baby sitting in the middle of a major road

Close call: Bus driver Mike Hubbard sees something up ahead in the middle of the road and as he gets closer he realises it's a baby

Stunned: Mr Hubbard jumps out of the driver's seat and rushes over to the wide-eyed baby

Out of the blue: Then in a matter of seconds, the child's father runs over and scoops up the baby

Lucky girl: The baby has recently been identified as Destiny Flores, who is now aged two

This is the moment a shocked bus driver comes to a screeching halt within inches of a semi-naked baby sitting in the centre of a busy road.

It was just after midnight when Mike Hubbard, on his usual bus route, noticed a mysterious shape wriggling on the road up ahead.

At first he thought the ghostly figure might be a dog, but as he approached, the San Antonio driver realised it was a baby wearing just a nappy.
Mr Hubbard stopped just in time to avoid running over the infant.

The Chinese boy saved from certain death by his big ears (or, how Ming Ming's head got stuck in a grate eight storeys up)

Close call: The flat in which Ming Ming lives, circled.Ming Ming appears to be praying as workers fight desperately to free him.Don't move, Ming Ming! Firefighters work to save a six-year-old boy whose head got stuck in a window grate... eight storeys up

A boy in China was saved from the certain death of an eight-storey fall when his head got stuck in the bars of a window after he fell through.

Ming Ming, aged six, was only prevented from plunging straight through the grate to his death by his ears.

Instead, he was left dangling high above the street, to the terror of passers-by below.

Fresh horror as Chinese farmer attacks schoolchildren with hammer in THIRD copycat rampage in three days

The latest attack comes after a knife-wielding man attacked chiildren in Leizhou No.1 Primary School on Wednesday in Leizhou, Guangdong province of China. Here, an injured student is taken to hospital after the attack

Experts say Wednesday's attack was a copycat rampage of two other episodes at Chinese schools in the past month

The latest attack comes after a knife-wielding man attacked chiildren in Leizhou No.1 Primary School on Wednesday in Leizhou, Guangdong province of China. Here, an injured student is taken to hospital after the attack

After the spate of copycat rampages, many schools are said to be concerned they will be targeted next

Following the attack yesterday, Chinese policemen have travelled to schools to show teachers and school workers how to defend themselves if they are targeted

Concern: Worried parents gather outside the gate of the kindergarten where a class of 4-year-olds were attacked

A farmer attacked and injured five primary school children with a hammer in eastern China today before burning himself to death.

The sickening attack is the latest in a string of horrific assaults on young students over the last month, state media reported.

The attacker used a motorcycle to break down a gate of the school in Shandong province's Weifang city, struck a teacher who tried to block him and then used the hammer to attack the children, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

The assailant then grabbed two children before pouring petrol over his body and setting himself on fire.
Xinhua said teachers at the Shangzhuang primary school were able to pull the children away to safety, and none of the injured children had life-threatening injuries.

Xinhua identified the attacker as Wang Yonglai, a local farmer, but had no further details.

US man names Pope Benedict in Milwaukee abuse lawsuit

Fr Lawrence Murphy died in 1998 with no official blemish on his record. Sex abuse victim sueing Pope and Vatican alleged abused by late Fr Lawrence.

A man who says he was the victim of an American paedophile priest is bringing a lawsuit against the Pope and the Vatican in a US federal court.

His lawyers want the Church to release any files it has on abuse cases involving priests.

The alleged victim, whose identity has not been disclosed, says he was abused by the late Father Lawrence Murphy.

Fr Murphy is accused of attacking up to 200 children during his 20 years at a school for deaf children in Milwaukee.

Chinese workers tie their youngsters up at work because they can't afford child care

The parents of these youngsters work in the factory while their children are tied to a workshop window to keep them safe

Chained: Two-year-old Chen Chuanliu was padlocked to a tree while his rickshaw driver father touts for customers in Beijing. After the picture was published a nursery boss offered the boy free childcare

Bewildered and tethered to a window these Chinese children reflect the desperate plight faced by migrant workers in the world's most populous country.

Unable to afford even the most rudimentary child care, the parents have to bring their youngsters to work with them.

These images were taken in a factory in the city of Jiaxing in the south east of the country where the parents toil for ten hours a day. There are an estimated 110million migrant workers in China aged between 16 and 40 years old.
But there is no creche where the children can be dropped off.