Peace sparks opposing expectations

Woman? Woah, man!

Zimbabwe police have charged one of the country’s foremost junior… Woman? Woah, man!

Zimbabwe police have charged one of the country’s foremost junior athletes with impersonation after it was revealed that the “woman” who won a number of gold medals in regional tournaments is, in fact, a man.

Samukeliso Sithole, 17, maintained her femininity at a court appearance, in contrast to the findings of a doctor’s report, according to the state-run Herald newspaper

Charges were brought against Sithole when fellow athlete Melita Mudondiro lodged a complaint after she undressed in Sithole’s presence, believing Sithole was woman.

The Herald reported that Sithole, who won medals in javelin, triple jump and shot put, was born with female and male sexual organs.

Sithole told the court her penis returned after it disappeared because the traditional healer she had visited for the operation was not paid in full.

Rugby fan celebrates, castrates himself

Think football fans get excited about victory in this country? After Wales’ triumph over England in the Six Nations rugby tournament, Geoff Huish, 26, cut off his own testicles in celebration.

The British tabloid the Daily Mirror reported that Huish was watching the game at a bar in Caerphilly, south Wales, when he said, “If Wales wins, I’ll cut my balls off.”

Friends might have thought he was joking, reported the Daily Mirror.

But, at the game’s completion, the triumphant fan, who was convinced England would win, went home and proceeded to remove his testicles with a knife, and then returned to the bar.

He was later rushed to hospital, where he remained last week in serious condition.

Peace agreement brings hope and cynicism

There have been many peace agreements in the Middle East. Observers and residents in Israel and the Palestinian territories hope this one will endure.

Tuesday’s peace summit at the Sharm el-Sheikh resort culminated weeks of diplomatic wrangling about the wording of the ceasefire agreement, and it ended with a handshake between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

But continued violence across the region and Arab media skepticism may have undermined the accord.

The four-year conflict of the current Intifada — meaning “uprising” — that has claimed the lives of 1,027 people on the Israeli side and 3,458 on the Palestinian side, according to an Associated Press tally, remained in force after the summit’s completion.

A day after the agreement was met, Palestinian militants shot at Israeli motorists in the West Bank in an attack that resulted in no injuries.

On the same day, a Palestinian man remained in serious condition after he was shot at from an Israeli settlement next to Rafah refugee camp in southern Gaza.

Officials from the group Hamas said one of its members, Hassan Alami, was killed in a “work accident,” also in southern Gaza. The Guardian reported that this meant he was “either building a bomb or trying to plant one.”

Many members of the Israeli press expressed optimism, with the Maariv newspaper running the headline “Maybe this time” above a photo of the handshake, and the Jerusalem Post declaring “An end to violence.” Arab newspapers, on the other hand, did not share the hope.

“The whole world classifies [Sharon] as a war criminal, and yet he was welcomed and given a place at a round table as if his hands were clean of Palestinian blood,” read an article in the Al Hayat newspaper, which is published across the Arab world.

Hamas has promised a tentative truce at Abbas’ urging, and Israel has pledged to relinquish some of its military control of the West Bank towns of Jericho, Bethlehem, Ramallah, Tulkarem and Qalqiliya during the next month.

Small baby born, survives

What may be the smallest baby to survive birth has been discharged from a Chicago hospital after spending four months in intensive care.

Rumaisa Rahman was born weighing 8.6 ounces on September 19, 2004. Reuters reported this to be about as heavy as a cell phone.

The Loyola University Medical Center said she is “the smallest surviving baby in the world known in medical literature.”

Sailor sets record for global voyage

A female British sailor braved Antarctic icebergs and mountainous Pacific waves to set a new record last week for the fastest solo circumnavigation of the globe.

Ellen MacArthur, 28, who set the current records for the youngest person and the fastest woman to sail around the world in 2001, beat the previous record by more than 32 hours.

Her 27,354-mile journey took 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes and 33 seconds, reported the British Broadcasting Corporation.

After she crossed the finish line in Brittany, France, Macarthur sailed on to greet the several thousand supporters who lined the coast at Falmouth, on the southwest tip of England.

Mohawks rock, scalping does not

Police in Boise, Idaho, said last week that a 16-year-old girl was found tied up and scalped. Authorities believe it was an act of revenge by another woman, reported the Associated Press.

She is recovering at home after doctors said they could not reaffix her scalp.

“When I say this gal was scalped, she was truly scalped,” said Chief Deputy Bill Braddock. “The top of her head, her hair, was completely cut off.”

The girl sported a Mohawk haircut before the attack and hung out with a punk crowd.

“The motive, as near as we’ve been told by witnesses, was retaliation for acting in a way that the adult perceived as being offensive to women as a gender,” said Braddock, adding, “According to their creed, if you disrespect women, you are not allowed to wear a Mohawk.”

Judge faces lewdness charges

Criminal charges have been made against Judge Donald Thompson in Creek County, Ok., after it was revealed that he masturbated with a pump under his robes during a number of trials, including murder cases and a libel suit that paid out $3.7 million.

The Associated Press reported Thompson “seemed so distracted some jurors thought he was playing a hand-held video game or tying fly-fishing lures behind the bench.”

The allegations could result in appeals by defendants, who may claim that Thompson was not paying adequate attention during cases.

Investigators discovered semen on samples of carpet, the judge’s robes and his chair.

A court reporter, Lisa Foster, told police she saw Thompson with the pump on 10 occasions during trials. The first time was in 2000, she said, but she did not reveal what she had seen.

“I didn’t want to be found dead in a ditch somewhere,” she said.

Police Chief Jim Wall said “[This is] the most powerful man in Creek County, and I think a lot people were intimidated by him.”

Thompson resigned last summer after the allegations came out. Only last week were charges brought against him.

“We’re certainly saddened by the thought that the prosecutor filed charges,” said Thompson’s lawyer, Clark Brewster.

“We thought all this was dealt with when he resigned. We didn’t feel like anything that was alleged rose to the level of criminal charges.”