Crime-fighting leech cracks Australian cold case

If not for a lowly leech, Peter Alec Cannon might not be in the heap of trouble he’s in now. In what Australian officials are calling a first in their country — and possibly in the world — police used DNA extracted from a leech that bit Cannon eight years ago to convict him of robbing an elderly woman.

Share

Social workers threaten to thwart teen sailor’s record bid

A Dutch Court will decide the fate Friday of 13-year-old Laura Dekker, either making her a potential world-record-breaking sailor, or returning her to school. Welfare services in the Netherlands have taken legal action to try to stop the teen from attempting to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world because they believe the voyage will be too dangerous.

Share

Argentine soldiers sue officers, alleging torture

In 1982, they were young men serving their obligatory military service — Argentine conscripts who fought against the British that year during the Falklands War. More than 25 years later, many of those former combatants are in a legal battle against their former officers, alleging torture, starvation and murder at the hands of their own military

Share