Chinese teenager 'kills eight in knife attack'

A teenager has killed eight people and wounded five others in a knife attack in China's Liaoning province, state media says.

The attack happened late on Wednesday in Yongling township, a Xinhua report said.
Those killed included two relatives of the suspect's girlfriend and six other people, the report said. The injured were receiving treatment, it added.
The suspect has been detained by police.
According to the Legal Daily, the incident followed a row between the suspect and his girlfriend.
No other details were immediately available.

Australian outlaw Ned Kelly's remains to go to family

 

Ned Kelly's body was thrown into a mass grave after he was hanged in 1880

The remains of Australian outlaw Ned Kelly will be handed to his descendants for burial more than 130 years after he was hanged for murder.

The headless remains of Kelly, who led a gang in Victoria in the late 1800s, were identified last November through DNA tests.
The bones were found in a mass grave outside the former Pentridge Prison.
The site's property developers wanted to keep the remains but Kelly's family wanted the bones returned.
State officials have issued a new licence for exhumation, which means that the developers will not be able to keep the remains for display in a museum, Australian media reported.
"The Kelly family will now make arrangements for Ned's final burial," Ellen Hollow, a great-granddaughter of Kelly's sister, said in a statement.
"We also appeal to the person who has the skull in their possession to return it... so that when the time comes for Ned to be laid to rest his remains can be complete."
Ned Kelly was seen by some as a cold-blooded killer and by others as a folk hero who fought colonial authorities.
The bushranger killed three policemen before being captured in Victoria in 1880 and was hanged for murder at Old Melbourne Jail in November of the same year.
But his body went missing after it was thrown into a mass grave. The bodies in the grave were transferred from the prison to Pentridge Prison in 1929 and then exhumed again in 2009.
The exploits of Kelly and his gang have been the subject of numerous films and television series, including a portrayal by Rolling Stone Mick Jagger in a 1970 film.

Syria conflict: Regime 'kills dozens' in Damascus

 

 Government troops have set up roadblocks in several areas of Damascus

Syrian government forces launched two operations in Damascus to root out rebel activists on Wednesday, killing at least 70, the opposition has said.

Troops reportedly went from house to house demanding to see people's papers, activists said, with many of those questioned killed on the spot.
Syrian state TV said "dozens of terrorists" surrendered or were killed in the operation.
Meanwhile, rebels said they attacked an airport near the second city of Aleppo.
Opposition commanders said they used a tank captured from the army to bombard the Menagh air base, which lies between Aleppo and the rebel-held town of Azaz near the Turkish border.
They said government forces had used the air base as a staging post for attacks on nearby areas.
Bloody footage The fighting in Aleppo city appears to have settled into a stalemate.
State TV, which had initially forecast that the city would be cleared of rebel fighters in just a few days, is now reporting only a few clashes with "terrorist mercenaries".
The BBC's Jim Muir in neighbouring Lebanon says the momentum seems to be with the rebels, who have managed to open a direct corridor to the Turkish border.
He says they are clearly bent on making Aleppo the heart of a "liberated zone" in the north, which would hugely increase pressure on the government in Damascus.
But some of the rebels' tactics are proving controversial.
Video posted online shows rebel gunmen killing several prisoners who were said to belong to a pro-government militia in the city of Aleppo.

Amateur video shows rebels preparing to kill alleged Assad loyalists

The prisoners, some of them bruised and bloodied, were put up against a wall half-naked and shot with Kalashnikov rifles.
The opposition Syrian National Council has criticised rebels, and Human Rights Watch has said the incident could be a war crime.
In other developments:

• Syrian soldiers fired on Jordanian troops who were waiting to take in refugees at the border, according to Jordanian officials
• US media report that President Obama approved an order earlier this year allowing the CIA and other agencies to aid the rebels
• Russian President Vladimir Putin is visiting the UK on Thursday and is expected to discuss the Syrian crisis with Prime Minister David Cameron
• The UN's Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) says almost three million Syrians need help with food and farming

'Bodies recovered' Witnesses and activists described heavy shelling and a ground assault on Wednesday in Damascus's south-western suburb of Jdeidet Artouz.
One resident told Reuters news agency the soldiers had inspected his ID, and then let him go.
He later saw bodies of at least 35 men.
"Almost all of them were executed with bullets to their face, head and neck," said the man, who identified himself as Fares.
On Thursday, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights published a more detailed account of the assault, saying said pro-government forces arrested about 100 people and tortured them.
"On Thursday morning after the operation the bodies of 43 people were recovered. Some of them had been summarily executed," the organisation said in a statement.
Other activist groups gave higher figures for the number of deaths.
An army spokesman told state TV that a number of armed men had clashed with government forces who had raided a farm.
Another regime assault on the southern Damascus suburb of Yalda also resulted in the deaths of at least 27 people, activists said, without providing any further details.
Activists estimate some 20,000 people have died since anti-government protests erupted in March last year.

Woman lifts car, saves her father

(CNN) -- A Virginia woman is being hailed as a hero after she reportedly lifted a car off her father and performed CPR, saving his life.

Alec Kornacki was in the family garage Saturday working on a car when a jack holding it up slipped, according to Kristen Kornacki, another one of his daughters.

Lauren Kornacki, the daughter who rescued him, found her father pinned to the ground and unresponsive.

"She proceeded to lift up the car, pull him out and then give him CPR," said Kristen Kornacki.

People lift SUV off man in wheelchair

Bystanders lift burning car, save biker

Lauren Kornacki, 22, who lives in Glen Allen, near Richmond, is trained as a lifeguard, according to CNN affiliate WWBT.

"It flashed like, oh my God, I'm going to lose my dad," she told the affiliate. "I knew I had to get his heart beating again."

Alec Kornacki is being treated at the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center. A call seeking comment on his condition was not immediately returned.

He has several broken ribs, some numbness and other fractures, but likely suffered no permanent damage, according to WWBT. He is still in the ICU.

According to his daughter Kristen, Alec Kornacki is "healing fantastically." His family shot a brief video of him walking in the hospital hallway, slow but steady.

"He is walking and talking and laughing and joking. He's feeling pretty good," she said. "He's Superman, that's for sure."

Andy Carroll out of Liverpool squad for Europa League qualifier

Andy Carroll has not travelled with Liverpool for Thursday's Europa League qualifier against FC Gomel in Belarus.

The England striker was withdrawn from the squad with a slight groin strain on Wednesday morning but his future remains increasingly unclear.
West Ham are still trying to persuade Carroll to join them after having a £2m loan offer accepted by Liverpool.
Newcastle retain a strong interest in their former player but have adopted a watching brief on the situation.

Uefa rules allow a player to represent one club in the Europa League qualifying round and another in the group stages.

That means that, if Carroll plays for Liverpool during qualifying, he could potentially play for Newcastle, who have secured a place in the group stages.
New Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers is also without Luis Suarez and Craig Bellamy, both of whom are on Olympic duty, while new signing Fabio Borini, like Carroll, has recently returned from an extended holiday after Euro 2012.
Although West Ham's loan offer was accepted, Carroll has indicated he does not want to join the Hammers, on loan or on a permanent deal.
Newcastle remain confident that if Carroll leaves Anfield he is interested only in returning to Tyneside.
Liverpool, who signed Carroll for a club record £35m in January 2011, have already turned down Newcastle United's bid to re-sign the player.
Meanwhile, the deadline for Demba Ba to activate a £7m escape clause in his Newcastle contract passed without a bid yesterday.
Despite interest from Galatasaray and Rubin Kazan, Ba looks certain to begin the season on Tyneside

Syria conflict: Fate of nation at stake, says Assad

 

Bashar al-Assad called his forces "heroic"

The conflict between rebels and government forces across Syria will decide the fate of the nation, President Bashar al-Assad has warned.

In a written statement marking armed forces day, he praised soldiers for confronting "armed terrorist gangs".
The anti-regime uprising has in recent weeks seen fighting on the streets of the capital Damascus and the second city Aleppo.
Activists estimate some 20,000 people have died since March last year.
The latest reports suggest fighting has broken out for the first time near two Christian areas in the Old City of Damascus.
In Aleppo, state media said government troops had inflicted heavy losses on the rebels and were mopping up remnants of terrorist groups.
But activists and reporters on the ground said rebels appeared to still have control over large parts of the city.
The BBC's Jim Muir in neighbouring Lebanon says the rebels have reportedly been receiving shoulder-firing anti-aircraft guns from across the border in Turkey.
He says this may further diminish the ability of government forces to regain control of Aleppo.
Mr Assad has not spoken in public for two weeks, but issued a statement to mark armed forces day.
"The fate of our people and our nation, past, present and future, depends on this battle," the statement said.
He praised the armed forces as "heroic" and described them as the defender of "just causes" in the statement, which was published in an army magazine and reported by state news agency Sana.
Reinforcements Meanwhile, Amnesty International says in a report that government forces committed crimes against humanity this month in the second city, Aleppo.
In the report, based on research carried out in May, the rights group appealed to the UN Security Council to refer Syria to the International Criminal Court and impose an arms embargo on the country.
Amnesty accuses security forces and pro-government militiamen, known as shabiha, of firing on peaceful protesters and bystanders, including children. It also says medical teams were targeted and those arrested were often tortured.
In Aleppo, rebel sources say fighter jets and helicopters have been pounding rebel positions.
Activists have also told the BBC that a large military column is heading towards Aleppo to reinforce the army units engaging the rebels. However, this has not been confirmed by the government or independent sources.

Florida man wrongfully convicted of rape 30 years ago accused in recent shooting

By Associated Press, Published: July 31

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Ever since he was exonerated of rape and released from 24 years in prison, Alan Jerome Crotzer has been an outspoken advocate for those wrongfully held in Florida’s prisons.
On Tuesday, the 51-year-old was back in jail on a charge of attempted murder, accused of firing eight shots and wounding the driver of a car next to him on a well-known street in Tallahassee that leads directly to the state Capitol.

The allegation stunned those who have known Crotzer since he was released from prison in 2006.
“I don’t know how to describe the reaction as anything but truly shocking, and based upon my experience over the course of the past several years, it is completely out of character,” said Mark Schlakman, chairman of the board of directors of the Innocence Project of Florida. “In many respects by my personal experience with him, he’s an extraordinary individual.”
Crotzer was arrested on Monday night and was being held in a Leon County jail without bond.
His attorney, Thomas Powell, says he has not yet had time to discuss the charges with Crotzer, but he planned to file a plea of not guilty.
Powell, who met Crotzer a year ago when he handled his divorce, called the allegations “bizarre” and “inconsistent with the Alan Crotzer I have known for the past year.”
Tallahassee police say the shooting victim, Antoine Davis, told them Crotzer threatened him a couple of months ago after they had an argument over a CD he sold Davis’ girlfriend. On Sunday night while leaving a Best Buy store, Davis said he saw the car that belonged to Crotzer’s girlfriend. While driving away he said he saw a second car owned by Crotzer entering the parking lot.
Davis said he tried to make a U-turn right after leaving the store, but the car followed him. He alleged Crotzer fired at him while both cars were going about 40 miles per hour. Davis said he did not know Crotzer’s name but police found Crotzer based on the description of his car. They said that Davis picked him out of a photo lineup.
“That’s him, that’s the guy who shot me,” Davis told police, adding later that “he was trying to kill me.”
Crotzer spent more than 24 years in prison after being convicted in 1982 of robbing a Tampa family and kidnapping and raping a 38-year-old woman and a 12-year-old girl at gunpoint.
Crotzer said he was nowhere near the scene and witnesses corroborated that, but he had a previous robbery conviction when he was 17 and a witness picked him out of a lineup. He was sentenced to 130 years in prison.
Years later, another man convicted in the robbery told police that Crotzer wasn’t with them that night and revealed the real rapist. DNA testing along with the other evidence then convinced prosecutors that Crotzer wasn’t involved. He was released in 2006.
In 2008, then-Gov. Charlie Crist pardoned Crotzer for stealing beer in 1979 when he was 18 and bringing marijuana into prison in 1991. Crotzer said he had turned his life around.
“I’m not that monster they try to make me be. I am a new person,” he told The Associated Press in October 2008.
Crotzer is on the board of directors of the Innocence Project of Florida and has made public appearances speaking out on those who are wrongfully convicted by the state.
Schlakman said Crotzer is a powerful and compelling speaker, adding that he “has not evidenced any deep-seated bitterness based upon what he endured by way of his wrongful conviction.”
The Florida Legislature in 2008 approved a bill that paid Crotzer $1.25 million for his time spent in prison. Crotzer and the state signed an agreement that guaranteed him a $6,700 a month payment for 20 years as well as a $250,000 lump sum.
The measure was a top priority of then-Senate President Ken Pruitt, but other top legislators supported the measure including then-House Speaker Marco Rubio.
___
Associated Press Writer Bill Kaczor contributed to this story.