Okay, make that three stories in a week

Olympian Pistorius In Custody After Woman Killed

Oscar Pistorius is an athlete who is a double-amputee whose legs were amputated below the knee before his first birthday due to a congenital condition. He campaigned to be able to run in the regular Olympics, and competed in the last Summer Games. I had followed a little of his story out of curiosity, and he's also visited at least one of our hospitals, I think, as an inspiration and role-model for children in similar situations.

Many South African media outlets had reported that the dead woman was Pistorius' girlfriend Steenkamp and that he may have mistaken her for a burglar and shot her.

It was reported that the she may have been trying to surprise Pistorius for Valentine's Day and he thought she was an intruder breaking into his home. The shooting prompted discussions on talk radio shows about the country's gun control laws.

How awful.

UPDATE: Pistorius has now been charged with murder. Police have been called to the house before for incidents of a 'domestic nature' and neighbours heard shouting at the time of the shooting. It remains to be seen what really happened.

Strange story of the week

Whale of a tale! 40-ton mammal lands on yacht

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Fortunately no one (including, apparently, the young Southern Right Whale) was injured.

Sick

South Africa gangs using rape to 'cure' lesbians: Gay support group cites 10 new cases of 'corrective rape' a week in one city

In the past decade, at least 31 lesbians have been reported raped and murdered, although that number is probably higher because the South African criminal justice system does not recognise hate crimes based on sexual orientation. Of those, only two cases went to court and only one conviction was obtained. Far more have survived rape, but at great cost, with the very real threats of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases and the physical and emotional scars. The justification is that if a man has sex with a lesbian, it will 'cure' her of her homosexuality. The violence is especially bad in townships where homosexuality is taboo, despite the fact that South Africa was the first country in Africa to allow gays to marry back in 2006.

Let's hope there will be changes.

Disturbing

Police patrol South Africa riot zone

22 people have been killed and 13,000 displaced by xenophobic violence against foreigners, many of them other Africans.