Iraq farmer marries 2 women in 1 night

Abdul Rahman Nayef al-Obeidi, a 22-year-old Iraqi farmer, fell in love with two women, but instead of choosing between them, he married both in one night in a small village in central Iraq.

The wedding ceremony for Obeidi and two of his cousins, Intidhar (17) and Suad (22) was held on April 6 at his family home in Al-Laqlaq village, north of Tikrit.

The ceremony was attended by the families of his two brides, relatives and friends, who were happy and surprised.

Obeidi, the youngest of five sons, said that he informed his parents about his plan to marry his two cousins in one night and they encouraged him, though many of his relatives were against the idea.

“It took me less than one month to make a final decision because the two families are my relatives and I love the two girls,” Obeidi said.

The most important step was to persuade the two young women. Intidhar said: “He told me, ‘We will marry, me, you and Suad, in one night, so what do you say?’

And I told him it is all right, if you treat us both the same way.”

Islam permits men to marry up to four women, but stipulates that the wives must be treated equally. Suad said she was surprised when Obeidi told her about his idea, but he persuaded her to go along.

Obeidi’s older brother Salman played the role of mediator in the negotiations with the two families.

His father, Nayef Hamid said he feels proud of his son, although he is the only one of the five sons to marry two women. Hamid said that he is ready to support all his sons if they decide to marry twice.

Obeidi’s mother, Rasmiya Mohammed too said she supported her son and did not want him to feel sad because he loves the two women. 

Woman denies killing three babies found in coolers

BERLIN: A German woman suspected of killing three babies found in camping coolers in a basement denied murder on Thursday, according to prosecutors, who are nevertheless continuing their investigations.

The 40-year-old mother "has declared that they were stillborn," said Ute Sehlbach-Schellenberg, a prosecutor in the western town of Giessen.

She said however that there was "an initial suspicion of three counts of intentional homicide. We must now see whether we can refute her plea."

The woman, who has other living children, has not been arrested.

An autopsy has shown that two of the corpses were of baby boys. The sex of the third baby remained unclear.

Police made the grisly discovery this week in an apartment block and garage rented out to the woman, who has not been named.

Germany has seen several similar cases in recent years, notably of a woman who was jailed for 15 years in 2006 for killing eight of her newborn babies and hiding the remains in flower pots and a fish tank.

6-year-old threatens, kicks principal

INDIANAPOLIS: Police in a small Indiana town hauled a six-year-old from his elementary school and charged him with battery and intimidation after he kicked and threatened a principal, police said on Wednesday.

The incident followed one earlier in April where police handcuffed a 6-year-old girl who was screaming and crying and had injured a principal and damaged property at an elementary school in Milledgeville, Georgia. She was not charged.

The Indiana student, who had been suspended from school recently for biting and hitting a staff member, was arrested April 18 at Hendricks Elementary School in Shelbyville, which is about 30 miles southeast of Indianapolis.

"This was not an isolated incident," Shelbyville Police Lieutenant Michael Turner said.

School officials called police, reporting that the student, who was not identified, had kicked Principal Patrick Lumbley and told him and Assistant Principal Jessica Poe that he was going to kill them, a Shelbyville police report said.

The student was yelling and screaming and lying on the floor of Poe's office when police arrived, the report said.

Poe led the student to a police car where an officer placed him in the back seat, buckled him in and drove him to the police department, the report said. He was not handcuffed.

Turner said he hoped the filing of juvenile charges would help get the child needed help.

"Putting him into the system can open up avenues perhaps the parents don't have," Turner said.

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