Veronica Guerin Murder Suspect Caught

From Irish Central:

The suspected murderer of Irish journalist, Veronica Guerin, has been arrested in Holland.

Dublin criminal John Traynor (62) fled from Ireland following the murder of Veronica Guerin in 1996.

Veronica Guerin was shot dead in her car by the passenger on a motorbike. The murder took place at traffic lights on the Naas Road in Dublin.

According to officials Traynor was Guerin's main contact in the underworld. He has been on the run from the law for 18 years after failing to return to custody in 1992 when he was serving seven years for fraud. He was due to return to HMP Prison Highpoint, Suffolk, after a home leave. It is understood that he has spent the last 18 years in Spain and Portugal.

See also:
The Second Fall of Veronica Guerin
Biography of Veronica Guerin from wikipedia

USA: First Female Cop Was Irish

From Irish Central:

A retired federal agent's research has uncovered the records which show that the United States first female cop was an Irish woman.

While researching the history of Chicago law enforcement, Rick Barrett, a former Drug Enforcement Administration agent and amateur historian, discovered records of Sergeant Marie Owen, the first female cop in the United States and an Irish-born woman.

Barrett spent over three years researching Owens. He spend his time travelling all over the city befriending archivist pulling in favors with pension records, civil service documents and cemetery plot listings. Eventually it paid off.

Nell Leyshon - First Women of the Globe

From the Independent:

As the first play penned by a woman opens at Shakespeare's Globe today – breaking a 411-year tradition – top theatre directors report a surge in prominent female playwrights, with a wave of talented women coming to the fore in Britain's male-dominated theatres.

Nell Leyshon will make history at the Globe in central London with her new play Bedlam, which chronicles the goings on at London's notorious Bethlem psychiatric hospital in the 18th century. Following the story of a young country girl admitted to the asylum, the dark comedy looks at the terrible treatments administered to unfortunate inhabitants, and the gin craze that was sweeping London.

That the 48-year-old Leyshon, who is also a successful radio playwright and novelist, has cracked the Globe is seen as a symbolic breakthrough for women theatre writers.

UK: Women & Prisons

Two reports on the state of women's prisons in the UK.

From UK Press Association:

The UK's largest and most high profile women's prison is "extremely difficult to run safely and effectively", with almost six out of 10 inmates feeling unsafe at some point, inspectors said.

Threats and intimidation from other prisoners at Holloway in north London were rife, with one inmate describing it as "a very scary place for a first-time prisoner".

Many of the problems were long-running and stemmed from badly designed residential units that made it hard for staff to see inmates, but there were also reports of inappropriate behaviour by male prison officers, the inspectors found.

Nigel Newcomen, deputy chief inspector of prisons, said managers and staff were hampered by the "unsafe and unsatisfactory design of the prison" and "the lack of strategic direction and effective operational management within the women's prison system in general".

Which brings us onto our nest report from the London Evening Standard:

An investigation is under way into alleged sexual harassment of prisoners by officers at Holloway, Britain's largest women's jail.

Government inspectors revealed today that the inquiry centres on claims of “inappropriate behaviour” by male guards.

Some prisoners have complained about the “disconcerting” way in which guards watch them at night through the hatches in their cell doors. Others said “favouritism” by officers is making it difficult to maintain “appropriate boundaries” in their relationships.

Other findings by the prison inspectors include high levels of intimidation, with 60 per cent of women saying that they had felt unsafe, and “disturbing examples” of “poor or dismissive” treatment of inmates by a minority of staff.

There is also strong criticism of the “lack of strategic direction and effective operational management within the women's prison system in general” which the inspectors say must be addressed.

Poll: World's Ugliest Women

From Christian Today:

British women won 22.4 per cent in the survey conducted by the Real Holiday Reports website, followed by American women with 16.7 per cent.

The results suggest that while many British women are attracted to the ladette image, the rest of the world does not share their opinion.

The results of the survey were published in today’s Daily Mail. Germany came in third place with 15.7%, followed by Eastern Europeans, Spaniards and Turks.

Gary Hewitt, who runs the website, said Britain women needed to sharpen up their behaviour abroad.

Congo: Rape of 240 Women

From AFP:

Suspected rebels have raped at least 242 women within a few days in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's Nord-Kivu province, according to an American medical charity.

Rapes and beatings took place at the end of July and the beginning of August and "242 women have been taken into medical care," Cris Baguma, a local Congolese doctor with the International Medical Corps (IMC) at Walikale, told AFP on Thursday.

Most of the rapes were in Luvungi, a settlement of some 2,160 people, and in surrounding villages, the IMC said, blaming the attacks on Hutu rebels of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and local militias.

"The most striking cases were those of two pregnant women and another who had given birth two weeks earlier," said Baguma, adding that the eldest of the victims was 75 and the youngest 16.

Northern Ireland: Women Rescued From Prostitution

From the Guardian:

Fifteen women have been rescued from sex traffickers in a major crackdown on brothels in Northern Ireland, it was announced today.

The women, who are from EU countries, were being forced to work as prostitutes in Belfast, the PSNI said. Police arrested three people in connection with the raids.

Detective Chief Superintendent Roy McComb, head of the PSNI organised crime branch, said: "This is modern-day slavery where human beings are treated like commodities by sophisticated organised crime gangs who are making substantial criminal profits from the sex trade.

"These gangs have no thought for the health and well-being of their victims. They see them simply as instruments to help them generate cash."

Every Body Counts

From the Sydney Morning Herald:

Fifteen Perth women ranging in sizes from eight to 16, including one sprightly 60-year-old wannabe model, will hit the catwalk for the Every Body Counts show.

The parade aims to showcase 'real women', as opposed to the typical skinny tall model that graces the average catwalk.

Each of the women chosen to participate have enjoyed a photo shoot and clothes fitting and will get the rundown on ruling the runway this weekend before hitting the stage in front of the Perth Fashion Festival crowd.

Women - their own worst enemies

From the Herald Sun:

FORGET the so-called men's club - Tracy Grimshaw reckons women are their own harshest critics.

This TV journalist, an experienced professional who survived the blokey times of the 1980s and '90s, thinks the way women treat other women is sometimes disgraceful. It's borne of competitiveness and unwarranted insecurity.

"Women can be extremely judgmental of other women. It's not like it's one big happy sisterhood out there ... I think it would be nice if we cut each other a bit of slack," she says.