NJ student suspended for organizing contest in which boys voted on school’s hottest girls

September 16th, 2009 Boys charged in beating can't return to schoolLYNN, Mass. — A ruling says four boys accused of severely beating a Guatemalan immigrant will remain indefinitely suspended from school, but they'll receive tutoring.

September 2nd, 2009 Beach Boys concert in Anchorage was freeANCHORAGE, Alaska — Word of mouth and outdoor music attracted about 700 people to a free Beach Boys concert in a bowling alley parking lot in Alaska. The Daily News reports The Lucky Strike Lanes and Lounge couldn't advertise the Monday night concert in Anchorage because it would have conflicted with Sunday's Beach Boys performance at the state fair, where the admission was $35.

August 27th, 2009 No contest on sex charges for ex-school officialLOS ANGELES — A former assistant principal has pleaded no contest to molesting four girls at two Los Angeles schools. Steve Thomas Rooney entered the plea Thursday to one count of a lewd act on a child under 14, one count of unlawful sexual intercourse and two counts of a lewd act on a child between 14 and 15.

August 6th, 2009 Malaysia teacher makes student smoke to punish himKUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — A Malaysian teacher forced a student to smoke 42 cigarettes for four hours as punishment after a cigarette and lighter were found in his locker, a news report said Thursday. A school official confirmed that the English teacher subjected the student to the unusual punishment, but said the teenager was made to smoke fewer than 42 sticks.

July 2nd, 2009 Vietnam sees alarming rise in boy births vs girlsHANOI, Vietnam — For every 100 girls born to Vietnamese families, there are 112 boys born, a disparity in the sex ratio that has been rapidly increasing in recent years, an official said Thursday. Duong Quoc Trong, deputy director general of the General Office for Population and Family Planning, blamed the rising imbalance on a cultural preference for boys who can "continue the bloodline." He added that the belief that boys can better care for parents as they age has exacerbated the use of abortions to select for sex.

June 11th, 2009 KANPUR - Why don't colleges focus on training women in martial arts and empower them to counter harassment instead of banning jeans, asked an outraged student Thursday as criticism against the decision by four colleges here to prohibit jeans gathered force. With the avowed intention of stemming harassment, the Acharya Narendra Deo College, Dayanand Girls Degree College, Sen Balika College and Johari Devi Degree College in this Uttar Pradesh city have banned students from wearing jeans on the campus.

June 5th, 2009 Pope meets with Irish churchmen after abuse reportVATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI has met with Ireland's top churchmen following the publication of a damning report detailing decades of rapes, humiliation and beatings at church-run reform schools in Ireland. The Vatican says they briefed the pope on the report.

May 12th, 2009 89 Afghan girls sick in alleged school poisoningMUHMUD RAQI, Afghanistan — Officials and doctors say 89 Afghan schoolgirls have been hospitalized in the third case of alleged gas poisoning in eastern Afghanistan in less than three weeks. Dr. Aziz Agha says scores of students have been admitted with symptoms such as headaches, vomiting and shivering.

April 29th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Boys will be boys and girls will be girls, because gender specific personality traits develop along typical lines, according to a new study. Researchers from Penn State, Hawaii and Purdue universities looked at first-and second-born siblings from nearly 200 mostly white, middle-class American families.

April 29th, 2009 Usher unveils childhood snapshot on billboardATLANTA — Grammy-winning artist Usher credits the Boys & Girls Club of America for making a difference in his life, so the least he could do was lend the group a slightly embarrassing photo of himself as a 7-year-old. "I can only imagine how many accidents are going to happen in result of this being here," the 30-year-old Usher joked Wednesday as he glanced at a new billboard on one of Atlanta's busiest streets.

January 22nd, 2009 CHENNAI - Indian boys finished with a silver medal as Malaysia stamped their dominance by completing a clean sweep of the titles in the team championship of the 14th Asian Junior Championship here Friday. Indian girls won the bronze in the team championship.

January 21st, 2009 CHENNAI - India entered the final in the boys section while the girls went down in the semi-finals of the Asian Junior Squash championship at the ICL Academy courts here Thursday. India defeated Korea 2-0 in the boys semi-final clash and will take on Malaysia who got past Hong Kong 2-1.

January 15th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Bowing to a Taliban diktat, some 400 private schools in the picturesque but restive Swat Valley in Pakistan's northwest have discontinued girls' classes, depriving more than 40,000 students of their basic right to education. Additionally, 84,248 girl students of state-run institutions are unlikely to attend school due to the fear of Taliban militants, who now control the entire area, despite the resolve of the local administration to reopen the schools March 1, The News reported Friday.

January 15th, 2009 KOLKATA - India's Chandril Sood and Tanvi R. Shah have got the top billing among boys and girls respectively in the ONGC-International Tennis Federation (ITF) Junior Tennis tournament to be held from Jan 19-24 here.

January 14th, 2009 CHENNAI - Mahesh Mangaonkar, winner of the boys under-15 title at the British Open junior championship earlier this month, will spearhead India's challenge in the 14th Asian Junior Squash Championship starting here Friday. Also in the squad is Dipika Pallikal, the finalist in the girls category at the British Open.