Recently in International News Category

An Australian radio station is in hot water after the nurse who answered their prank call at the hospital where Kate Middleton is staying allegedly committed suicide, Huffington Post reported.

"A nurse at the hospital who was duped by a prank call from two Australian radio DJs concerning Prince William's pregnant wife, Catherine, has apparently committed suicide, the hospital confirmed Friday," CNN reported.

A day after Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, was admitted to King Edward VII Hospital in London, two radio hosts from Sydney, Australia, prank called the hospital. The two hosts from 2Day FM called the hospital pretending to be Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles. When they called, the radio hosts were successfully got past the receptionist who transferred them to Middleton's nurse, Huffington Post reported.

Host Mel Grieg talked to the receptionist as she pretended to be the Queen. Once the receptionist transferred her to Middleton's nurse, Grieg continued to pretend to be the Queen and talk in a fake accent while her co-host Michael Christian played the part of the Prince of Wales, Huffington Post reported.

Initially, the radio station and its host received numerous negative reviews for the prank, but "the outcry grew exponentially" after the receptionist who transferred the call died of an apparent suicide, CNN reported.

London's Metropolitan Police said they were notified around 9:30 a.m on Friday that a woman was found unconscious. She was pronounced dead at the scene and later identified as Jacintha Saldanha, the receptionist who answered the prank call, CNN reported.

The hospital said Saldanha had worked there for more than four years as an "excellent nurse," well-respected by co-workers. Police are said they are treating the death as "unexplained," CNN reported.

Police are looking for a 9-year-old boy who was snatched by a crocodile as he was swimming in a river in northern Australia on Saturday, the Huffington Post reported.

Northern Territory police say the boy was swimming at Port Bradshaw with a group of people when he was taken by the crocodile. People who were in the river near the boy, attempted to kill the crocodile with spears. The crocodile took the boy further into the water though, the Huffington Post reported.

Two weeks ago, a 7-year-old girl who was swimming at a Northern Territory waterhole was snatched by another crocodile. The girl's remains were found the next day inside of the crocodile after it was fatally shot, USA Today reported.

"Saltwater crocodiles, which can grow up to 25ft and weigh more than a ton, are plentiful in the Northern Territory and signs have been erected near waterways warning visitors to stay away from the water and river banks," the Daily Mail reported.

Police planned to continue searching on Monday, but they are not optimistic that the boy will be found alive, the USA Today reported.

A heavy storm that hit parts of ENgland and Wales has left two people dead and more than 800 homes flooded, BBC News reported.

A 70-year-old man died during the storm after his car crashed into a swollen river in Cambridgeshire. On Saturday night, a 21-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree in Exeter. Furthermore, hundreds of homes have been flooded in Devon and Cornwall, the two areas that seemed to be among the spots that have been hit the worst. It has been confirmed by The Environment Agency that 816 homes have been flooded because of extreme rain, BBC News reported.

"Officials said the situation was stabilizing in southern England, but weather forecasters said persistent rain would continue in the north of England and Scotland on Sunday," Fox News reported.

David Cameron, the prime minister, has talked of "shocking scenes of flooding." Through a message on his twitter, Cameron also said the government "will help ensure everything is being done to help," BBC News reported.

Fox News reported that the Cameron has also pledged to make sure that all the flood victims get the help they need.

The BBC Weather Centre said, "further heavy rain is expected to affect Wales and south-western parts of England during Sunday afternoon and evening," BBC News reported.

Across the streets of France on Saturday, anti-gay marriage groups protested President Francois Hollande's plan to legalize gay marriage and adoption, USA Today reported.

Hollande said he would enact his "marriage for everyone" plan within a year of coming to power in May. However, many anti-marriage groups including some religious leaders and politicians. The opposition from these groups and parts of rural France has divided the country, USA Today reported.

The Saturday protest, called the "March for Everyone," consisted of several thousand people marching in Paris while holding signs promoting heterosexual marriage. Many of the marchers were from pro-family and Catholic groups. Some of their signs read with slogans such as "One child (equals) one father + one mother," USA Today reported.

Some Femen activists showed up to the march topless while chanting "in gay we trust," and sprayed white powder from bottles. This aggravated some of the anti-gay marriage protesters, resulting in them hitting and pushing the Femen members to the ground, Fox News reported.

Holland's draft law could mean that marriage and adoption could be legalized for homosexual couples as early as next year, Fox News reported.

During a riot at a Sri Lanka prison, 27 inmates were "gunned down," a spokesman for the main opposition party said, BBC News reported.

The incident, which happened in Sri Lanka's Colombo's Welikada prison, is being referred to as a massacre and one of the bloodiest prison violence in almost three decades. In addition to the 27 inmates that were killed during the massacre, 43 others suffered injuries, said Prisons Minister Chandrasiri gajadeera. He also claimed that 13 police commandos, four soldiers and two civilians were apart of the 43 who were injured, BBC News

After rioting prisoners broke into the armory and momentarily attained control of part of the Welikada prison, the clashes erupted between the inmates and the army and the police commandos. The police commandos shot at the prisoners after the inmates opened fire on them with weapons they had taken from the armories. The violence began on Friday and by Saturday morning the situation had been controlled, and the prison's normalcy was restored, the New York Times reported.

"The prison is now totally under our control," said Sri Lanka's Commissioner General of Prisons P.W. Kodippili. Authorities recaptured five prisoners, said police spokesman Prishantha Jayakody, who had managed to escape during the riot. Although Kodippili refused to comment on exactly how many inmates may have gotten away, he did say search operations were in motion to try to locate those who possibly escaped, the New York Times reported.

Although authorities and prison official seem to be satisfied with how the situation was handled, Mangala Samaraweere of the United National party is not happy with how the events of incident transpired. During the riot, most of the prisoners killed were shot dead by police commandos and soldiers, said Samaraweere. "It's a massacre that has to be condemned. It shows the breakdown of the rule of law in the country," he said, according to Reuters. "[The] information I have is that most of the prisoners were cold-bloodedly gunned down," added Samaraweere added, BBC News reported.

28 people were wounded in the same prison last January because of a conflict between the inmates and the guards; the prisoners were protesting the authorities' attempts to reduce drug smuggling into the prison. There are nearly 4,000 inmates incarcerated at the prison, the New York Times reported.

Following a night of partying on Halloween, a US student is now recovering at a hospital in Rome after he was stabbed 25 times by his best friend, ABC News reported.

The victim is 19-year-old Fabio Malpeso from New Jersey who was partying at a Rome nightclub late Halloween night. He was at the club with his longtime friend from New Jersey 20-year-old Reid Alexander. Alexander allegedly stabbed Malpeso in the early morning sometime after they had returned to their apartment from their night of partying, ABC News
reported.

Schepis told police that he was on both ecstasy and alcohol the night of the stabbing. He claimed this was the first time he'd ever used drugs and that he has no memory of the events that followed his night of partying. Schepis told authorities that he doesn't remember going into Malpeso's room, where he was sleeping, and stabbing him, ABC News
reported.

Schepis' attorney Vincenzo Comi claims that Schepis is extremely upset over the situation: "Every time that his friend was named, Reid became profoundly upset and cried while apologizing for what he had done," he said, ABC News
reported.

"Reid is a good kid; he comes from a good family," Comi told NBC News. "Fabio and Reid were the best of friends. They were both in their second year of university but knew each other from before," said Comi. "Even their parents knew each other. This is another dramatic aspect of the whole tragedy. They were all friends," NBC News reported.

Authorities are saying the motive for the early Thursday attack are currently unclear. However, detectives suspect "drug- and alcohol-related delirium" might be a factor, NBC News reported.

A Brazil man stunned relatives when he showed up for his own funeral on Monday at his mother's home in Alagoinhas, Brazil, ABC News reported.

The family of Gilberto Araujo, a 41-year-old car washer, received a call from police telling them to come to the city morgue to identify Araujo because he had been shot. Jose Marcos, Araujo's brother, was the one who identified the body as Araujo. He brought the body back for a wake at his mother's house, Travelers Today reported.

"The confusion started when news started circulating that a car washer had been shot dead," Jose Marco's wife, Ana Paula, told the UOL Internet news portal. "Police called my husband and told him that his brother had been killed and his body was at the morgue." Police inspector Roberto Lima said Genivaldo Santos Gama was the man whose body was in the morgue. "The two men closely resembled each other and both worked as car washers," Lima said, ABC News reported.

Lima said Araujo found out about the funeral being held for him when "a friend of Gilberto's saw him walking down the street and told him that his family was mourning him." When Araujo went to his funeral to inform everyone he was alive, people were extremely shocked to see him alive, ABC News reported.

After spending her time mourning, Araujo's mother, Marina Santana, is thrilled and relieved that her son is not dead. "I am overjoyed. What mother wouldn't be after being told her son is dead and then sees him alive," Santana said, according to the Associated Press, Travelers Today reported.

Lima was not able to provide any additional information on Gama, the car washer who was killed and whose body was mistaken for Araujo, ABC News reported.

A zookeeper is now in stable condition and is recovering in Royal North Shore Hospital after being crushed by a young elephant at Sydney's Taronga Zoo on Friday.

The Zookeeper, 40-year-old Lucy Melo, was left unconscious and not breathing after being pinned to a post by a 2-year-old elephant. The incident happened around 11:30 a.m. on Friday at Targona Zoo while Melo was participating in a routine training activity with the 2-year-old elephant known as Pathi Harn. After being pinned to the post, Melo stopped breathing for five minutes until being revived, Yahoo! News reported.

Melo was freed from the elephant after two other zookeepers, who were close by at another stall, were able to get the elephant off of her. The two zookeepers then called for an ambulance, CNN reported.

"We're all relieved to hear Lucy's condition remains stable and we're continuing to provide support for her family and her fellow keepers, while we continue our programs for the whole herd," said Taronga's director Cameron Kerr. "The elephant keepers are caring for the herd and continuing the normal daily activities to support the elephants, including Pathi Harn." Yahoo! News also reported that Taronga said in a statement that, "The Zoo's elephant herd, including the young male calf Pathi Harn, 2, which was involved in yesterday's incident, is calm and well and in the elephant paddock as usual."

Melo had cared for the elephant, Pathi Harn, since he was born. Pathi Harn is an Asian elephant who was expected to be dead until his mother gave birth to him after being in labor with him for eight days; On March 10, 2010 Pathi Harn was eventually born alive and well. On the zoo's website, Pathi Harn is described as a "very happy calf who is always looking for attention," CNN reported.

At the time of the accident the zoo, a harbourside institution that is very popular among tourists, had been opened to the public. Taronga is embarking on an investigation regarding the accident that happened at the zoo on Friday; however it is still uncertain why the elephant turned on Melo during a routine training session, Yahoo! News reported.

A 32-year-old woman from Argentina, who was kidnapped and forced to work in a prostitution ring, was permitted an abortion by the Supreme Court.

On her 10th week of pregnancy, the Argentinian woman was finally allowed to go through with an abortion after people protested and debated over her case for days,BBC News reported. The woman, a victim of rape after being forced to work as a prostitute, was originally denied an abortion by a judge.CBS News reported that the judge claimed that there was no evidence supporting that the woman had in fact been a victim of rape.

Generally, abortion is allowed in cases of rape or the mother's safety, however, the judge did not believe that the woman had been raped, so the operation was denied. This led to outrage across Argentina especially from woman's advocates in Buenos Aires,CBS News reported.
However, the Supreme Court quickly over ruled the judge's decision and immediately approved the operation.

Although the woman was allowed the abortion, she still had to deal with the backlash of anti-abortion protestors. The woman's lawyer, Pablo Vicente, claimed that the hospital staff on the woman's case gave her personal information and private location to the anti-abortion protestors. This led to the protestors threatening and harassing the woman.CBS News reported.

BBC News reported that some of the doctors and nurses would not participate in performing the woman's operation because they did not want to be "conscientious objectors." Therefore, to ensure the safety of those involved, Argentina's Health MInistry stepped in to specify the matter; they stressed that anyone who participated in the operation would not be subjected to punishment and that they would be performing a legal procedure.

Despite all the controversy, the woman was able to proceed with her abortion on Friday morning.