Philippine bank guard kills five in first gunfight

Manila – A security guard on Wednesday shot dead five armed men who had robbed one of the Philippines’ biggest commercial banks in what he said was his first-ever gunfight. Virgilio Joseco, pitting his 12-gauge shotgun against the robbers’ Uzi automatic weapons, picked them off one by one as they stormed out of the Bank of the Philippine Islands in a Manila suburb towards their getaway car, police said. Police recovered the 245,000 pesos ($9,800) and $7,000 in cash that the robbers had grabbed from the tellers’ counters. The bank said Joseco would receive a bonus but the amount had not been decided.

Uncle beats niece to death over 52 cents

Beijing – A man in northern China beat his 12-year-old niece to death with a wire whip, brooms and a washboard after accusing her of stealing a few cents from him, a local newspaper said. Sun Chang Sheng, who was sentenced to two years in prison for assault in 1983, whipped his niece Jia Yu for two hours on April 20, Monday’s edition of Shanxi Daily said. He justified his action saying the girl stole three yuan (52 cents) from him. At first he and his wife told the local hospital that the girl had fallen to her death from a window, but a doctor diagnosed she was beaten, the newspaper said.

Student bombed Hanover because he was introverted

Hanover, Germany – A 22-year-old student dubbed the “Bomber of Hanover” told a German court on monday he detonated three bombs that injured at least 23 people because he was introverted and had a passion for weapons. The student was arrested last October after a two-year manhunt and confessed to planting the bombs in the North German city in 1990 and 1991. He also admitted attempting to blackmail Hanover’s mayor for cash, diamonds and weapons. “I never had very much contact with other people,” the engineering student, named only Stefan S., told the court on the first day of his trial.

Debauched police chief dies by firing squad

Rabat – A Moroccan police comissioner was executed by firing squad on Monday for a three-year orgy of rape and sexual violence. The trial of Mohamed Mustapha Tabet, 54, created a sensation in March. He told the court he had had sex with 1,600 women. Prosecutors showed videos he took with hidden cameras in a Casablanca flat kept for his orgies. He was sentenced to death for rape, deflowering virgins [ouch!], abducting women, inciting debauchery, violence and assault. Moslem fundamentalists demanded Tabet be put to death by stoning or crucifixion.