■CHILE
Limited time for politicians
Voters tired of slick, endless election campaign broadcasts may finally have a sanctuary. Ahead of the Dec. 13 general elections, independent candidates have been allotted as little as two seconds of air-time to put their case to voters, thanks to rules that distribute time according to how a party fared in the previous election. Candidates cannot buy air time because the law forbids TV channels from accepting cash for broadcasts.
■UNITED STATES
Deported German charged
A German man has been charged with trying to extort US$100,000 from former model Cindy Crawford and her husband Rande Gerber over a photo of their daughter gagged and bound to a chair, authorities said. Edis Kayalar was charged in absentia in federal court in Los Angeles on Thursday. The photo was apparently taken by the then seven-year-old’s nanny as a joke and it came into the hands of Kayalar, a friend of the nanny. Kayalar contacted the couple over the summer, seeking money from them for the photo. He was arrested in September and deported to Germany for being in the country illegally, but he phoned the couple again this month and demanded US$100,000.
■UNITED STATES
Evangelist sentenced
Evangelist Tony Alamo was sentenced on Friday to 175 years in prison for taking underage girls across state lines for sex, effectively punishing him for the rest of his life for molesting children he took as “brides”’ in his ministry. Alamo, 75, was convicted in July on a 10-count federal indictment. Alamo’s lawyers said they planned to appeal the sentence.
■UNITED STATES
Survivor dog euthanized
A dog that survived being thrown off the roof of a six-story Brooklyn building this summer has been euthanized, despite pleas from animal activists to spare her life. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals says the one-year-old pit bull mix named Oreo was euthanized on Friday. The group said Oreo was too dangerous to be placed in a home or to live among other dogs. The decision sparked outrage among animal activists. Oreo suffered two broken legs when she was thrown off the roof on June 18. Nineteen-year-old Fabian Henderson pleaded guilty to aggravated cruelty to animals.
■UNITED STATES
Cash-for-grades plan killed
A North Carolina principal is retiring after school district leaders halted a cash-for-grades fundraiser she approved. Wayne County Public Schools said on Friday that Rosewood Middle School principal Susie Shepherd has gone on leave for the rest of the month and will retire at the beginning of next month. The Goldsboro middle school had planned to allow students to buy 20 test points for a US$20 donation. Shepherd says she approved the idea after a parents council presented it as a way to raise money for new technology for the school.Officials stopped the fundraiser last week, saying no students will get extra credit and any donations will be returned.
■UNITED STATES
Woman faked illness
Texas authorities say a woman lied about having breast cancer and spent US$10,000 raised at a benefit to have her breasts enlarged in a bid to save her marraige. Trista Joy Lathern, 24, reportedly shaved her head to look like a cancer patient undergoing chemotherapy. The Waco Tribune-Herald reports that Lathern has been charged with theft by deception.
■SWEDEN
Hundreds of reindeer drown
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