http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/009200902221211.htm

Rihanna puts on brave face after attack, thanks fans

London (IANS): Singer Rihanna has put on a brave face in her first public outing since ex-boyfriend Chris Brown allegedly attacked her almost two weeks ago. She has also thanked her fans for their support.

The Umbrella singer was photographed wearing a pair of sunglasses in a car in Los Angeles on Thursday night, the same evening that a website published a picture appearing to show her beaten and bruised, contactmusic.com reports.

The injuries are said to relate to a fight between Rihanna and Brown on February 8, which reportedly left her in need of hospital treatment.

Reports suggest Rihanna flew to Barbados to escape the media and to celebrate her 21st birthday on Friday.

The star also released her first statement since the alleged attack via her spokesperson on Friday, thanking fans for their support.

"She (Rihanna) wants to assure her fans that she remains strong, is doing well, and deeply appreciates the outpouring of support she has received during this difficult time," the statement said.

Brown was charged with making criminal threats following the incident and faces jail time if convicted.

Teen vanishes on way to school

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/02/22/amber.dubois/index.html

(CNN) -- Last Friday the 13th was supposed to be a special day for 14-year-old Amber Leeanne DuBois.

Loved ones say Amber Leeanne DuBois, 14, would never go anywhere without telling her parents or friends.

She left her home in Escondido, California, around 7 a.m. for school with a check in hand, a down payment on a baby lamb that she was going to raise and care for as part of her Future Farmers of America class.
It was a day that she'd been looking forward to for more than a year, her family says. But she never made it to school and hasn't been heard from since, prompting authorities to launch a massive search for the missing teen.
"She would not have given up that lamb for anything," her mother, Carrie McGonigle, said. "She's a wholesome kid. She doesn't run amok like most teenagers. She did not run away, I guarantee it."
Her cell phone was turned on once for about 20 seconds the day after she disappeared and has not been turned on since then, Escondido Police spokesman Lt. Bob Benton said.
Her mother and her live-in boyfriend voluntarily submitted to polygraph tests and passed, Benton said. Amber's father, who lives in Orange County, California, and other relatives have been interviewed, he added.
A classmate reported seeing Amber a week ago on Sunday, walking with an unidentified person about half a mile from her home, Benton said.
"We don't know the circumstances of her disappearance or the person she was walking with, but being 14 years old and missing as long as she has without ever having gone missing before is very suspicious," Benton said.

Student Tells How 2 Classmates Pretended To Rape Him

http://www.wpbf.com/mostpopular/18713253/detail.html

Student Tells How 2 Classmates Pretended To Rape Him
Teen Says 2 Classmates Held Him Down, Simulated Sex Acts
POSTED: 9:50 pm EST February 13, 2009
UPDATED: 11:54 pm EST February 13, 2009

JUPITER, Fla. -- A former Jupiter High School student spoke out on Friday, saying two classmates held him down and pretended to perform sex acts on him at school.
Richard -- who did not want his last name revealed -- said he feared for his life after the incident and is now living in another part of Florida.

He said he doesn't know why the teenagers did it, but he wants them to pay for their actions.
He's 6 feet tall, 175 pounds and attended Jupiter High School until early January.
He said in November, two male classmates pretended to rape him in the locker room.
"After I got dressed, the two boys came over and started sexually assaulting me," Richard said. "They spread my legs, acting like they were having sex with me."
Richard said Storm Stockstill, 18, and a 16-year-old classmate were the ones who pretended to rape him.

He said it happened five different times on campus, sometimes in front of other students in the locker room and even in the presence of several physical education teachers.
"I was embarrassed and humiliated and I lost a lot of friends from the incident," Richard said.
He said he eventually built up enough courage to tell his mother and then school police. Stockstill and the other boy were suspended for 10 days. But Richard said it didn't solve the problem.
"When they came back, they threatened to kill me," Richard said. "I stayed indoors. I did not go outside. I was afraid to pick up my sister."

Richard's mother said the incident has damaged his spirit.

"He has become angry," she said. "It affected his GPA. His grades fell. His attendance in school was affected."
Police arrested Stockstill and the 16-year-old this week. They both face charges of felony battery and stalking a minor under 16.

Since Stockstill is 18 years old, Richard said he thinks he should be charged as a sex offender.
"I think that's good," Richard said. "He deserves it. If he didn't want to face the consequences, he shouldn't have done what he had done."

Richard said he moved to a different part of the state because he feared for his life.
The school district said the alleged incidents are under police investigation and the school took immediate and strong action.
Richard has enrolled in a school where he is living. His mother said he is doing fine.

Killer decapitates Va. Tech student, police say

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/01/22/virginia.tech.death/index.html

(CNN) -- A female graduate student at Virginia Tech was killed Wednesday night when a man she knew attacked her with a knife and decapitated her, a school spokesman said.

Virginia Tech police Chief Wendell Flinchum talks about the first slaying on campus since the 2007 shooting massacre.

Virginia Tech spokesman Mark Owczarski said Thursday that Xin Yang's killing was the first on the campus since April 16, 2007, when a shooter killed 32 people before turning a gun on himself.
Yang, 22, from Beijing, China, was killed at the Au Bon Pain restaurant in the Graduate Life Center at around 7 p.m., school spokesman Larry Hincker said in a written statement.
Campus police took Haiyang Zhu, 25, into custody at the scene. The Ningbo, China, native has been charged with first-degree murder and is being held without bail at a local jail, Hincker said.
Zhu did not say anything to the arresting officers, said campus police Chief Wendell Flinchum.
"There was blood on him," Flinchum said. The young woman and the suspect "were not seen arguing, or anything of that nature," he added, citing witness statements.
Authorities said the two students knew each other. "Based on emergency contact records maintained by the university, it is known that Zhu and Yang knew each other," Hincker said. No other details were provided.
The young woman had only arrived at the university two weeks ago to begin studies in accounting, he said in the statement.
Zhu is a graduate student pursuing a doctorate in agricultural and applied economics. He began studies at Virginia Tech in fall 2008, Hincker said.
"Our hearts go out to the victim and her family," President Charles W. Steger said in a letter to the campus community.
"An act of violence like this one brings back memories of the April 16 tragedy and I have no doubt that many of us feel especially distraught."
Authorities say on April 16, 2007, Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 students and professors before killing himself.