Christmas Eve plane crash

Five people, including four members of one family, were killed when their twin-engine plane crashed during takeoff Sunday morning at a small airport about 40 miles east of Tampa.

The plane, a Cessna 340, was taking off from Bartow Municipal Airport just after 7 a.m. in a dense fog when it crashed and caught fire, said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd.

There were no survivors and "no chance of survival," he said.

6 bodies found hanged from bridges in Mexico

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The bodies of six men were found Wednesday hanging from bridges in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur, the state's attorney general's office said.

Four bodies were found in the municipality of Los Cabos, the other two near the state capital of La Paz. The bodies were found suspended from three bridges located near the two main international airports and the highways leading to the popular beach resort of Cabo San Lucas.

Authorities have not released the identities of the deceased nor said who they believe to be responsible for the deaths.

Eniola Balogun sentenced to 21years for raping 5 teenage girls in London

A US citizen who raped five teenagers, aged 13 to 16, while living in London after blackmailing them online has been jailed.

Eniola Balogun, 20, persuaded girls through social media websites Snapchat and Instagram to send him intimate photos.

He then threatened to distribute them unless they had sex with him.

Some of the victims were even told to perform sex acts via video on more than one occasion.

And detectives fear there may be even more young victims, who have not been traced, and urged any to come forward.

Balogun, of no fixed address but who had been living with relatives in the Tottenham area of north London, pleaded guilty at Wood Green Crown Court in September to four counts of rape on four separate teenage girls, aged between 13 and 16. He also pleaded guilty to possessing indecent images of a child.

He had been found guilty of a further three counts of rape following an earlier trial at the same court in March. These offences related to a 16-year-old girl.

Balogun was sentenced at Wood Green Crown Court to a total of 21 years' imprisonment.

Christmas Party Disaster

A Christmas party in Melbourne, Australia, had a horrific ending after a balcony collapsed, killing two and injuring 17 people on Saturday (16 December).

The balcony floor gave way at around 10.30pm local time, after a group of around 30 people gathered to take a Christmas photo at their office party, according to a witness.

Cheryl Taylor, 59, and another 37-year-old woman, who has not been named, were killed in the fatal collapse. Seventeen people were taken to hospital to be treated for fractures and soft tissue injuries.

Switzerland set to return Gen. Abacha loot to Nigeria

The Swiss government is to return $321 million to Nigeria that was seized from the family of former President Sani Abacha.

The assets were confiscated as part of criminal proceedings against Abba Abacha, son of Sani, who ruled Nigeria for five years until his death in 1998.

Nigerian investigators believe the former president stole more than $4 billion during his time in office.

Nigeria is also pursuing $480 million that has been seized in the US, but faces a laborious legal process to reclaim it.

Man found guilty of killing stepson over messy room

A Pittsburgh man will spend the rest of his life in jail, without the possibility of parole, after he was found guilty of killing his fiance's eight-year-old son.

Orlando Williams, was charged with homicide and endangering a child in June 2016 after the boy suffered severe head trauma. Williams, 39, slammed the boy onto the floor because his room was not clean.

ILLEGAL BUT NOT GUILTY

A San Francisco (US) jury on Thursday acquitted an illegal immigrant charged with killing Kate Steinle who was shot in the back as she and her father strolled along Pier 14 in San Francisco on July 1, 2015.

Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, a much-deported illegal immigrant from Mexico who was charged with killing Steinle, had been released from jail, even though federal immigration authorities had sought to detain him.