BY KUSH AZRAEL

Staff Reporter

 United States

ILLINOIS – Eight-year-old Jmyha Rickman was handcuffed and placed in jail for two hours after throwing a tantrum in school. School officials called the police to help handle the situation. The little girl said she wasn’t even allowed to put on her coat before being taken to jail. Rickman was reportedly out of control and had torn up two classrooms.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Education is investigating whether Seattle Public Schools discriminated against Black students by disciplining them more frequently and more harshly. Black students are suspended from school more than three times as often as White students. School officials have pledged cooperation. They have also set up two advisory committees, one called Positive Climate and Discipline, the other is Equity and Race, that are studying disproportionality in discipline.

 FLORIDA – 34-year-old Robert Burton of Miami Beach has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for beating and strangling a woman he forced to be a prostitute. Burton forced at least six women into prostitution and had children by three of them. Burton was accused of beating and choking a 31-year-old woman and abducting their 7-year-old son. Prosecutors say when police pulled Burton over and asked about the two women in the car, the child said, “Those are my daddy’s hoes.”

Africa

ZIMBABWE - Sharai Mawera went into the jungle to have sex and was killed when she and her mate were attacked by a lion. The man reportedly ran when the lion came up behind them, wearing noting but a condom. He made it to the edge of the bush and looking back only to see the lion attacking Mawera. People passing by refused to help because they though the man was crazy. Wildlife officials finally made it there but it was too late.

 DR CONGO – The UN peace force in the Democratic Republic of Congo has issued an ultimatum to two units within the army over allegations of mass rape. Unless legal action is soon taken against the accused perpetrators from within the retreating Congolese army by the end of March, the UN said it would stop working with their brigades. In December, it said it had evidence of at least 126 rapes by soldiers. Armed groups in eastern DR Congo often use rape as a weapon of war.

 South America

GUYANA – The Guyana government has launched an investigation into reports that several people have been beaten by police during an exercise to stop illegal mining operations. Media reports said that the clash involving police and miners have been captured on video and posted on the internet. The decision to investigate the alleged beatings follows the release of a Commission of Inquiry report that found police guilty of killing three protesters last year.