A Saudi woman was beheaded on Monday following a conviction of practicing sorcery, which the ultra-conservative kingdom bans.

The Saudi Arabia’s interior ministry announced the exectution of Amina bint Abdulhalim Nassar which took place in the northern province of Jawf for “practicing witchcraft and sorcery”.

This brings the number of executions in the kingdom up to 73 this year, Amnesty International said. The exact number of women executed remains unknown, but another woman was beheaded in October after being convicted of killing her husband by setting his house on fire.

“The charges of ‘witchcraft and sorcery’ are not defined as crimes in Saudi Arabia,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty’s interim director of the Middle East and North Africa.

“To use them to subject someone to the cruel and extreme penalty of execution is truly appalling,” he said in a statement, stressing the “urgent need” to stop executions.

Saudi Arabia’s strict interpretation of Islamic Shariah law calls for the death penalty for offenses such as rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking.

It looks like the mass animal deaths are beginning again!

Millions of small fish, including anchovies, mackerel and sardines, washed up dead in the middle of the night in King Harbor Marina on Redondo Beach, California. This has authorities puzzled and looking for a cause.

‘We’re having millions of anchovies die off in our harbour. At this point it’s an unknown reason,’ Redondo Beach Police Sgt Phil Keenan said.

Some reasons put forward for this event are:

1) Fish were attempting to escpade from red tide. This is where a naturally rapid growth of algae poisons fish or deprives them of oxygen.

2) Strong winds last night swept the fish into the harbor where they died from oxygen starvation.

3) They died following an unexplained drop in oxygen in the water.

4) Poisons from the BP oil spill and cleanup are affecting the fish and birds.

‘All evidence points to oxygen deprivation as cause of death. There is no oil sheen, nor is there a chemical sheen,’ California Department of Fish and Game spokesman Andrew Hughan said.

Fish and Game are currently collecting samples for analysis while people are attempting to dispose of the corpses before they start rotting in the 20C temperature.

The following is an odd post I found on ATS today. I’d be interested to read your thoughts on these revelations by a 3-year-old.
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My son, who is 3, woke up this morning and started to make some really bizarre statements this morning. He woke up early as usual and related this tale to his great aunt (I was still in bed, being Sunday and all). It went as follows:

Son: “You’re gonna die.”
Aunt: “What?!”

“Yep, the Erf [sic] is gonna start spinning faster and faster and toooo fast and everything is gonna’ go upside down!” He then demonstrated by spinning rapidly and then doing a dramatic tumblesault on the living room carpet, finished with an “umph” for emphasis. After that, he asked for some breakfast.

My aunt then queried him as to what would happen to other members of the family. He responded that “Dadda will die, mumma will die, everybody is gonna’ die.” He was not upset in the least by these proclamations. They were just made as matter of fact. My aunt then asked him if he would die too. He responded, “no”.

So my aunt asked him how he will survive. He stated that, “I’m gonna be ok. They will take care of me.” When asked who are ‘they’ he replied “the other people will look for me, I’m ok”. (Bear in mind, this is a 3 year old so his definition of everybody and everything is still a loose term)

Read more:

Phantoms and Monsters

Historical accounts of individuals who apparently prophesied the precise moment of their deaths.