Britain Labour MP Suspended for sending sexually explicit texts to teenager

Simon Danczuk has been a persistent critic of Jeremy Corbyn PA

Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk has been suspended from the Labour party after allegations that he exchanged sexually explicit text messages with a teenager.

 

Mr Danczuk, who is 49, sent the messages to 17-year-old Sophena Houlihan after she asked him for a job, according to a report inThe Sun newspaper.

Mr Danczuk has been an outspoken critic of the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn in recent months. 

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Simon Danczuk 'sent explicit text messages to 17-year-old girl'

During the party’s leadership contest he said MPs would be plotting to oust Mr Corbyn “from day one” if he became leader.

A spokesperson for the Labour party said: 

“The General Secretary of the Labour Party has today suspended Simon Danczuk's membership of the Party, pending an investigation into allegations published in the media today.  

“A full investigation will now take place under the authority of the National Executive Committee, which will be responsible for determining any further action.”

The Sun reports that in the course of a series of what appear to be flirtatious texts between the two, the MP asked the girl if she wanted “spanking” and explained that he was “horny”.

She also sent him a number of sexually-charged text messages.

Mr Danczuk allegedly asked Ms Houlihan to meet at the Labour party conference and reportedly suggested that she join him on a trip to Spain.

The Sun reports that she turned him down and the pair never met in person. There is no suggestion that Mr Danczuk has broken any law.

Mr Danczuk prominently led a campaign to expose his predecessor as Rochdale MP, Sir Cyril Smith, as a paedophile.

The age of consent is 16 years old in the United Kingdom. 

The Sexual Offences Act 2003 however defines the age of consent as 18 when a person is “in a position of trust” over someone else.

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South African King Jailed 12 Years for Kidnap and Assault

King Of Nelson Mandela's Clan Jailed For 12 Years In South Africa

World | Agence France-Presse | Updated: December 31, 2015 19:41 IST

AbaThembu King Buyelekhaya Zwelibanzi Dalindyebo speaks to journalists after handing over a memorandum to government officials in Pretoria July 10, 2013. (Reuters Photo)

JOHANNESBURG:  A South African traditional king from Nelson Mandela's Thembu ethnic group began a 12-year prison sentence today for arson, kidnap and assault of his subjects, after a long battle to stay out of jail.

King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo reported to the Mthatha Correctional Centre in Eastern Cape province overnight after failing in an 11th-hour bid to evade incarceration by seeking a retrial or a presidential pardon.

In 2009, the controversial king was convicted of manslaughter, arson and assault charges for offences committed more than two decades ago.

He was sentenced to 15 years in 2009, but in October the Supreme Court dropped the manslaughter charge and reduced his sentence to 12 years on appeal.

This week he sought to further extend his bail, but a High Court judge in Mthatha, the largest city near Mandela's rural home of Qunu, threw out the request.

"We confirm that King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo handed himself to the head of Mthatha Correctional Centre," the justice ministry said in a statement.

He is expected to serve his sentence in Wellington Prison, outside Mthatha.

The 51-year-old king, a self-confessed marijuana smoker, was found guilty of torching dwellings that housed some of his subjects and tenants who had resisted eviction.

He was also convicted of publicly assaulting three young men who had already been brutally beaten by his henchmen, and of kidnapping a wife and children of one of his subjects whom he considered a dissident.

The Supreme Court concluded that the king "ruled with fear and trepidation" and that "his behaviour was all the more deplorable because the victims of his reign of terror were the vulnerable rural poor."

It also accused him of "obstructive" action for changing his lawyers 11 times, causing 34 postponements of the case.

Dalindyebo became king of the Thembu, a Xhosa ethnic group that boasted Mandela as its most prominent clan member, in 1989.

The royal family will meet next week to discuss whether a successor should be chosen due to their monarch's imprisonment.

Kings have no official power in modern South Africa, but still command loyalty among millions of people.

They are recognised in the constitution as traditional leaders and receive government funding.

Two years ago the king publicly disparaged President Jacob Zuma, an ethnic Zulu, but later apologised.

Story First Published: December 31, 2015 19:22 IST

2016 - New Year Celebrations at Dubai accident in Burj Khalifa

 

Blaze engulfs Dubai tower near fireworks display

Thursday, 31 Dec 2015 | 6:19 PM ETThe Associated Press

Fire engulfed a luxury building Thursday near where tens of thousands of people gathered for Dubai's massive New Year's Eve fireworks display.

It was not immediately clear what caused the fire, which ran up at least 20 stories of the building. The blaze broke out at the five-star Address Downtown, a 63-story hotel and residential building.

Burning debris rained down from the building as firetrucks raced to the scene. The building was evacuated, and Dubai's media office said 14 people suffered minor injuries.

Fireworks went off as the celebration started shortly after midnight while the fire continued to burn.

Ahmed Jadallah | Reuters

People run away after the burning The Address Hotel in downtown Dubai in the United Arab Emirates on Dec. 31, 2015.

Dubai officials said reports suggest the blaze started outside the 20th floor of the building, but they maintain the fire has not spread inside the structure. Four squads of firefighters responded and were working to stop the fire's spread. 

About 15 minutes before midnight local time, large explosions could be heard from inside the burning building. It was not clear what caused the blasts.

Officials said the fire was 90 percent contained. But shortly before midnight, flames still laced the side of the building as smoke billowed around it.

The building sits near the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest skyscraper at 828 meters (2,716 feet).

Dubai tweet

U.S. officials do not yet know what caused the blaze, though they have been cautious about potential threats to celebrations, a senior counterterrorism official told NBC News.

The fire broke out about two hours before midnight local time, when the fireworks display was set to begin. The display ended up starting shortly after midnight.

Tens of thousands of people whistled and cheered at the show taking place at the Burj Khalifa. Organizers had installed 400,000 LED lights on the Burj Khalifa and used some 1.6 tons of fireworks for the seven-minute extravaganza.

From there, the fireworks were to light up the sky around the sail-shaped Burj Al Arab and later down near the Dubai Marina. Fireworks also will be on display in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the country of seven emirates.

Nearly an hour after the fire began, some onlookers began to leave while others stood, pressed against crowd barricades, watching the blaze. Among them was Chris Browne, a tourist from London, who watched the blaze with her husband, Stephen, standing behind her. They said they hoped no one was injured.

"It's pretty scary stuff," she said.

Standing nearby, Stuart O'Donnell, a British intensive care nurse who works in Dubai, said he was worried for those inside the building.

"You feel sad for the people inside. ... It spread so quickly when it started," he said.

He and others in the crowd wondered what had started the blaze. "I do feel suspicious of when a fire breaks out on New Year's Eve," he said.