News Makers

Mafia boss kills himself in prison

A suspected mafia boss arrested on Tuesday in a police swoop hung himself in his prison cell, police sources said on Wednesday.

Gaetano Lo Presti, who was already convicted of mob-related crimes prior to his latest arrest, was found dead in Pagliarelli prison in the Sicilian capital of Palermo.

He was one of the 99 people apprehended on Tuesday suspected of trying to rebuild the top ranks of the Sicilian Mafia.

Actress avoids jail for adultery

A court in the Republic of Korea (RoK) yesterday handed out a suspended prison sentence for adultery to a popular actress who was trying to overturn the law that criminalises extra-marital affairs.

Prosecutors had been seeking 18 months in jail for Ok So-ri who admitted to having an affair with a singer. The court sentenced her to eight months in prison but she avoided jail because it was suspended for two years.

The RoK enacted its adultery law more than 50 years ago to protect women who had few rights in a male-dominated society but critics say now it is a draconian measure no longer fit for a country with an advanced civil and family court system.

In October, Ok lost a case she had brought to the country's Constitutional Court, which ruled against the actress, saying society would be harmed if it overturned the law that can send a person to jail for up to two years for adultery.

Ok's lawyers said in a petition to the court: "The adultery law ... has degenerated into a means of revenge by the spouse, rather than a means of saving a marriage."

Affleck shoots film for Congo

US actor Ben Affleck and Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger yesterday unveiled a film to raise awareness about refugees in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The film, Gimme Shelter, is directed by Ben Affleck and features the Stones' hit, the UN refugee agency said in a statement.

The film features footage shot last month in the strife-torn Nord-Kivu region, where a quarter-million people have been forced to flee their homes since fighting between rebels and government forces flared in August. "We made this film to focus attention on the humanitarian crisis in the DRC at a time when too much of the world is indifferent or looking the other way," said Affleck.

Agencies

(China Daily 12/18/2008 page11)