French mother, 32, set to become first woman to be jailed for wearing banned Islamic veil

Hind Ahmas, left, could be sentenced to two years in prison in France

A 32-year-old mother from France is set to become the first woman ever to be sent to prison for wearing an Islamic veil.

Hind Ahmas refuses to accept the legitimacy of a Paris court which has ordered her to spend 15 days learning her civic duties.

She was sentenced by magistrates in Meaux, a Paris suburb, yesterday - after being arrested wearing an outlawed veil outside the Elysee Palace in the French capital on April 11.

That was shortly after Nicolas Sarkozy's government introduced a ban on all forms of Islamic head coverings, including the niqab and the burka.

Ahmas was not allowed into the hearing at Meaux Criminal Court because she refused to remove her face covering.

But prosecutors made it clear to her lawyer, Gilles Devers, that Ahmas now faces two years in prison and a £27,000 fine.

'There is no possibility of me removing the veil,' Ahmas said.

'I'm not taking it off. The judge needs citizenship lessons, not me.'

Ahmas, who has already refused to pay a fine of around £100 for wearing a veil on another occasion, intends to take her case to the European Court of Human Rights.

She has launched a pressure group, Do Not Touch My Constitution, along with Kenza Drider, another veil wearer who wants to run for president in the Spring.

If Ahmas does become the first woman in the world to go to prison for wearing a veil, then it will be seen as a huge propaganda coup for Islamic-rights campaigners.

Mr Sarkozy said the ban on head coverings was not aimed at persecuting Muslims, but merely to make France a more tolerant, inclusive society.

When it was introduced, he said the ban was aimed at stopping criminals – from terrorists to shoplifters – disguising their faces from security staff and CCTV.

But the sight of a young mother being led away to the cells merely because she refuses to take off her veil will cause outrage around the world.

Mr Devers said the veil ban was 'unconstitutional', while senior police officers have told judges that it is unenforceable without persecuting women.

France became the first country in Europe to outlaw the veil, while similar legislation has since been passed in Belgium and Holland.

One has been mooted in Britain by a number of politicians, including Conservative backbenchers, but there are no immediate plans to introduce one.

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Dead Friend Buried Beneath Christmas Presents: Patty White Accused Of Murder

Patty White

Police arrested a woman they said killed her friend and hid her body under a pile of Christmas presents in Florida, TV station WBTV reports.

Then, the suspect, Patty White, hightailed it back to her home in South Carolina, making withdrawals with the dead woman's ATM cards along the way, according to TV station WJXT.

Police accuse White, 40, of beating and strangling Michele O'Dowd, 67, in the older woman's apartment. O'Dowd was found dead by her twin brother on Friday, who looked for her when she didn't show up for work according to FirstCoastNews.com.

The debit card transaction enabled Jacksonville police to easily track White. Surveillance cameras at the ATMs supposedly recorded White getting cash, The Charlotte Observer says.

O'Dowd was described as a family friend of White. She invited White to move in with her a few months ago, but the the relationship soured and White returned to live in York, S.C. But White made another trip to O'Dowd's home last week in what authorities describe as a robbery attempt gone wrong, according to WBTV.

The deceased woman's apartment was ransacked.

York City Police, teaming up with Jacksonville cops, pulled over a car on Friday where White was the passenger, TV station WBTV says. York City police say they brought White to a station house where they say she confessed the murder and robbery to Jacksonville detectives.

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Authorities foil NY protest bid to shut Wall Street

Wall Street, U.S.A

(Reuters) - New York police prevented protesters from shutting down Wall Street on Thursday, arresting at least 177 people in repeated clashes with an Occupy Wall Street rally that grew to several thousand strong.

Occupy Wall Street protesters took to the streets in rainy New York and elsewhere in the U.S. for a day of action seen as a test of the momentum of the two-month-old grassroots movement against economic inequality.

Demonstrators targeted bridges they considered in disrepair in cities such as Miami, Detroit and Boston to highlight what they said was the need for government spending on infrastructure projects to create jobs.

In the biggest New York protest since a police raid broke up the protesters' encampment in a park near Wall Street on Tuesday, organizers and city officials had expected tens of thousands to turn out.

A crowd that disappointed organizers throughout the day grew to several thousand after the standard workday ended and labor union activists joined a march across the Brooklyn Bridge, where last month more than 700 people were arrested during a similar march.

"If you look at the crowds today, they are getting larger and more diverse. It's wonderful when you see the unions get involved. It truly shows this movement represents people from all different walks of life," said Terri Nilliasca, 38, a United Auto Workers member from New York.

Many protesters complained of police brutality, pointing to one media image of man whose face was bloodied during his arrest and another of a woman who was dragged across the sidewalk by an officer.

Police reported seven officers were injured, including one whose hand was cut by a flying piece of glass and five who were hit in the face by a liquid believed to be vinegar.

Police barricaded the narrow streets around Wall Street, home to the New York Stock Exchange, and used batons to push protesters onto the sidewalk as they marched through the area to try and prevent financial workers getting to their desks.

Workers were allowed past barricades with identification and the New York Stock Exchange opened on time and operated normally.

Protesters banged drums and yelled "We are the 99 percent" -- referring to their contention that the U.S. political system benefits only the richest 1 percent.

At the Union Square subway stop, one of the busiest in the city, protesters tried to crowd the entrance but police repeatedly moved them against the walls to make way for subway riders.

"The mayor wanted to shut us down at Zuccotti Park, but try shutting this down," said Travis McConnell, 27, of Brooklyn. "They can't. This movement is now worldwide and the more politicians and police try to stop us, the stronger we become."

PROTESTS ACROSS U.S.

In St. Louis, more than 1,000 protesters marched through downtown in support of the Occupy St. Louis movement which was evicted last week from its campsite near the Gateway Arch. The Thursday march was by far the largest since Occupy St. Louis began in support of the New York demonstrators.

In Los Angeles, hundreds of anti-Wall Street demonstrators blocked a downtown street, snarling traffic on surrounding freeways, before police moved in and arrested 23 people.

The Los Angeles protest took place near demonstrators' encampment on the City Hall lawn, and a handful of people in grinning Guy Fawkes masks -- a style hallmark of the Occupy movement -- joined the march.

"I think we're all saying the same thing, but in a million different ways," said Good Jobs LA organizer Sandra Gonzalez, 42, in explaining the relationship between her group, which organized the march, and the nationwide Occupy protests.

At least 300 people gathered at Chicago's Thompson Center, giving speeches in English and Spanish. The protest was focused on jobs with signs reading "We need jobs, not cuts" and "Jobs, schools, equality: end the wars."

The Washington gathering was smaller than hoped for by organizers. One protester in McPherson Square said he expected about 1,000 people while perhaps 200 showed and many left within the hour.

In Dallas more than a dozen people were arrested when police shut down their six-week-old camp near City Hall.

Before dawn on Thursday, police cleared away a protest camp from a plaza at the University of California, Berkeley, where 5,000 people had gathered on Tuesday night.

Protesters say they are upset that billions of dollars in bailouts given to banks during the recession allowed a return to huge profits while average Americans have had no relief from high unemployment and a struggling economy.

They also say the richest 1 percent of Americans do not pay their fair share of taxes.

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Obama officially open the summit of the Asia-Pacific to Hawaii

Barack Obama

AFP - U.S. President Barack Obama officially opened Sunday the summit of the Forum on Asia-Pacific Economic (APEC) in Hawaii, dominated by a proposed free trade area comprising half of the 21 member countries. "We now have the opportunity to move toward our ultimate goal: a regional economy without hindrance," said Obama, who announced Saturday an agreement on the outline of a proposed free trade agreement between 10 countries Asia-Pacific.

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Expected large student demonstration in London today

Large student demonstration in London

REUTERS - Thousands of students should show Wednesday in the streets of London against the austerity measures the government, framed by a large deployment of police officers anxious to avoid all violence. The protests, aimed in particular the policy of the Conservative government in education, should be the most important since the four days of riots that hit London and other cities in England in August. End of 2010, other events had escalated into clashes with police. The limousine of Prince Charles and his wife Camilla Parker-Bowles had been particularly attacked by the crowd.

Students denounce plans to reform the education system, which they say is similar to the privatization, and have continued to challenge the increase in university fees decided last year. The slogan of the event, however, has expanded to denounce the reform of social minima in the context of austerity imposed by the government, anxious to reduce a budget deficit reaching almost 11% of gross domestic product. Students could be reached by including electricians and taxi drivers, who have provided their own groups, as well as demonstrators of the movement "Occupy" camped in the square of the Cathedral of St. Paul.

Anarchist movements have also announced their intention to make the trip. Wednesday's rallies have a test case for the London police, heavily criticized after the riots of August. Police planned to mobilize some 4,000 officers Wednesday, almost double a typical day. The planned route of the event is the lead near the London Stock Exchange, and police have warned that a device would be put in place to ensure that the site is targeted.

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