Authorities in Switzerland have decided not to extradite film director Roman Polanski to the US to face sentencing for a case dating back to 1977. Polanski, 76, has been under house arrest in his Swiss chalet since December 2009 pending the decision. He is wanted in the US over a conviction for unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl. Swiss Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf said the "restrictions on his liberty have been lifted." A Swiss official said the US cannot appeal the decision.
Authorities in Switzerland have decided not to extradite film director Roman Polanski to the US to face sentencing for a case dating back to 1977.
Polanski, 76, has been under house arrest in his Swiss chalet since December 2009 pending the decision.
He is wanted in the US over a conviction for unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl.
Swiss Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf said the "restrictions on his liberty have been lifted."
A Swiss official said the US cannot appeal the decision.
Independent - Johann Hari - So that's OK then. It's fine to abuse young girls, as long as you're a great film director
So now we know. If you are a 44-year-old man, you can drug and anally rape a terrified 13-year-old girl as she sobs, says "No, no, no," and pleads for her asthma medication - all according to the victim's sworn testimony - and face no punishment at all. You just have to meet two criteria - (a) you have to run away and stay away for a few decades; and (b) you need to direct some good films. If you do, not only will you walk free, there will be a huge campaign to protect you from the "witch-hunt" and you will be lauded as a hero.
Guardian - Agnes Poirier - The prurient hounding of Roman Polanski is over at last
Roman Polanski is a free man, at long last. Justice and reason have finally prevailed after nine months of mass hysteria on both sides of the Atlantic, hysteria and moralistic prejudices.
AFP - Fugitive burglar and Internet folk hero, the "Barefoot Bandit," was nabbed by Bahamas police Sunday after one last daring attempt to evade capture -- this time in a stolen boat. Bahamian authorities said 19-year-old Colton Harris-Moore was arrested seven days after they found the wreckage of a stolen plane he is believed to have flown to the archipelago. "In an effort to avoid capture, the suspect engaged in a high-speed chase, by boat, with police," a police official told reporters. "After a brief chase, the suspect was taken into custody without incident," he said, adding that Harris-Moore was arrested with a firearm and other evidence.
After decades of success which ranged from one of the medium's earliest self-publishing triumphs to a mainstream crossover that would defy all expectations for the phrase "comic book movie," one of the comics greatest stories has come to an end as The Cleveland Leader has confirmed that writer Harvey Pekar died this morning at the age of 70.
In one of strangest -- though most welcome -- reviews in The New York Times in recent years, Alessandra Stanley openly mocks the three-hour (yes, you read that right) PBS documentary about Nixon/Reagan strong man George F. Shultz. She makes fun of the length over three Mondays -- even Jefferson only got three hours, and from Ken Burns, famous for going overlong -- and we even get a shot at the sponsors. Well, at least the film reveals that the buttoned-down Shultz has a small tattoo of a Princeton Tiger on his butt.
Afghanistan's Taliban insurgents are training monkeys to use weapons to attack American troops, according to a recent report by a British-based media agency. Reporters from the media agency spotted and took photos of a few "monkey soldiers" holding AK-47 rifles and Bren light machine guns in the Waziristan tribal region near the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The report and photos have been widely spread by media agencies and Web sites across the world.
chinaganda ~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~
he's back! ~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~
