Turkish Girl, 16, Buried Alive 
Turkish police have recovered the body of a 16-year-old girl who was believed to have been buried alive by her relatives in Adiyaman, south-eastern Turkey as a punishment for having relations with the opposite sex. The girl was found in a sitting position with her hands tied, in a two-metre hole, outside her home. A post-mortem examination revealed large amounts of soil in her lungs and stomach, indicating that she had been alive when buried.  Police made the discovery after a tip-off from an informant; the informant notified the police that she had been killed following a family “council” meeting. Her father and grandfather are said to have been arrested and held in custody pending trial. The incident will reopen the debate about “honour” killings that account for around half of all murders in Turkey. They remain particularly high in the impoverished south-east.

Ancient Tribal Language Becomes Extinct 
The death of Boa Sr of the Andaman Island breaks link with 65,000-year-old culture. Boa Sr was the last native of the island chain who was fluent in Bo. Taking its name from a now-extinct tribe, Bo is one of the 10 Great Andamanese language, which are thought to date back to pre-Neolithic human settlement of south-east Asia. Boa Sr spent the last few years of her life unable to speak to anyone in her mother tongue. The Andaman Islands, in the Bay of Bengal, are governed by India. The indigenous population has steadily collapsed since the island chain the colonised by British settlers in 1858. The number of Great Andamanese has declined in the past 150 years from about 5,000 to 52. Boa’s loss is a bleak reminder what we must not allow this to happen to the other tribes of the Andaman Islands.  

President of South Africa Admits Love Child 
Jacob Zuma, the President of South Africa has admitted fathering his 20th child with a woman who is neither one of his three wives nor a fiancée. Critics accuse the 67-year-old President of undermining the country’s campaign against HIV-Aids. In his statement Mr Zuma attacked the critics saying “It is mischievous to argue that I have changed or undermined government’s stance on the HIV and Aids campaign. I will not compromise on the campaign. Rather we will intensify our efforts to promote prevention, treatment, research and the fight against the stigma, attached to the epidemic”.  

Iran Embraces E-Shopping 
A technology group linked to the state has launched the country’s first online supermarket Meydoonak.com that is aimed at revolutionising the shopping experience in a country generally lacking the gleaming superstores that can be found elsewhere. The website is offering 2,500 grocery and household items at competitive prices.  The marks significant progress where the countries leadership holds a hostile attitude to the internet, the Paris-based group Reporters Without Borders has included Iran among the world’s worse enemies of the internet. In recent months Iran has continued to filter opposition websites as well as social networking sites to silence the criticism that greed Ahmadinejad’s disputed election victory last June. 


Thailand to Kick Out Burmese Refugees
Thousands of refugees who fled Burma for safety in Thailand after their country’s government launched a military offensive could be forced to return home where they could face torture or event death, campaigners believe. While the Thai authorities insist that no one will be forced to return to Burma against their will, they have said that those who want to go home can start returning immediately. However it has been claimed that officials have already been putting pressure on some of the refugees. Zoya Phan, of the Burma Campaign UK  said “sending these refugees back to Burma is sending them back to possible death, slave labour or forced recruitment as soldiers”.