KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (BNO NEWS) — Three crew members were killed on late Monday morning when a U.S.-owned helicopter crashed in southern Afghanistan, its owner said. There were no survivors.

The accident happened at around 10:45 a.m. local time when a helicopter belonging to AAR Airlift, a unit of Chicago-based AAR Corp., crashed in the Nad Ali district of Helmand province. The aircraft was conducting operations for the U.S. Department of Defense, although it was not part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

“The Company has confirmed that there were three crew member fatalities,” AAR Airlift said in a brief statement. “The families of all three crew members have been contacted. The Company reports that no passengers were aboard the aircraft at the time of the accident.”

AAR Airlift said the cause of the accident was not immediately known and gave no other details. However, district police chief Major Omar Jan told Pajhwok Afghan News that the aircraft caught fire, possibly as a result of a technical fault, while attempting an emergency landing.

But Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi claimed its fighters had shot down the aircraft. “The attack took place at 11:00 am today as the enemy aircraft took off from a base while carrying troops away when it came under an armed attack in Shawal area, catching fire in mid-air before violently crashing onto the ground, instantly killing all invaders and crew onboard,” he said.

Contrary to the Taliban claim, ISAF said no service members were on board the aircraft and the casualties are believed to have been U.S. civilians. The Taliban frequently exaggerates its statements for propaganda purposes, but is also known to falsely claim credit for accidents.

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LIMA, PERU (BNO NEWS) — Dutchman Joran Van der Sloot was sentenced to 28 years in prison on Friday for the murder of a young woman he met at a casino in Peru, prosecutors said. Van der Sloot is also a suspect in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.

Van der Sloot, 24, appeared in court wearing a green T-shirt. During the lengthy reading of the verdict, taking more than two hours as an interpreter translated it to Dutch, he appeared to be nervous, confused, sweating and in disbelief as he wiped out some tears.

The Dutchman is also a suspect in the disappearance of American teenager Natalee Holloway, who went missing on May 30, 2005, during a high school graduation trip to Aruba. Despite international media attention, her body was never found and a court in Alabama ruled her legally dead on Thursday.

Exactly 5 years after Holloway’s disappearance, on May 30, 2010, Van der Sloot took 21-year-old Peruvian woman Stephany Tatiana Flores to his hotel room in Lima after meeting her at a local casino. She was found dead there several days later after being strangled to death, and Van der Sloot was eventually arrested in Chile and deported to Peru to face trial.

The court in Peru sentenced Van der Sloot to 28 years in prison and ordered his deportation after he completes his prison time on June 10, 2038. He was also ordered to pay a 200,000 soles ($74,200) fine, which will be paid to Flores’ family.

Van der Sloot earlier pled guilty to killing Flores after she apparently looked at his laptop and found out he was linked to the disappearance of Holloway. Although Van der Sloot said he was sorry for what happened, the three judges did not believe his apology was sincere.

Van der Sloot’s lawyer, Jose Luis Jimenez, said they would appeal the sentence.

After Van der Sloot is released in 2038, he could face deportation to the United States where a warrant for his arrest was issued in 2010 after he allegedly tried to extort $250,000 from Natalee Holloway’s mother in exchange for the location of her remains and the circumstances surrounding her death.

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DETROIT (BNO NEWS) — Three of the four women who were found dead in Detroit last week were all working as escorts who advertised their services on BackPage.com, police said on Monday, raising fears of a possible serial killer.

The first victims were found at around 3 p.m. local time on December 19 in the trunk of a 2009 Chrysler 300C which had been parked in the driveway of a vacant dwelling on Detroit’s east side. The victims were identified as black females, 23-year-old Renisha Landers and 24-year-old Demesha Hunt.

Two more bodies were found on Christmas Day, at around 1 a.m. local time, after the Detroit Fire Department responded to a vehicle fire on Lanette, also on the city’s east side. After extinguishing the fire, the bodies of two black females, aged 28 and 29, were found in the trunk of the 1997 Buick LaSabre.

Detroit Police Chief Ralph Godbee said the first two victims had no outer signs of trauma to the bodies, and their causes of death are still being investigated. The other two victims were burnt beyond recognition due to the car fire, and their causes of death were also not immediately known.

“At this time, we are awaiting the Medical Examiner’s final report for the determination of the cause of death for each of the females,” Godbee said, adding that detectives are investigating all four deaths as homicides.

The chief said at least three of the victims were working as escorts and had posted ads on BlackPage.com, a website which is similar to Craigslist but allows postings for adult services such as escorts, massages, strippers and fetishes. “The link between the three females and this website specifically dealt with prearranged adult dating services,” he explained.

Police stopped short of calling it the work of a possible serial killer, but Godbee warned people using the site to be careful. “We are not passing judgment on any individual who is utilizing this website, yet we felt it was imperative to alert the public that deciding to meet unknown persons via the internet, can be extremely dangerous,” he said.

“We implore people to be careful and always let someone know exactly when and where that intend on meeting this person or persons, which should be in a public place. Our sole purpose is for the public to be cognizance of this website when engaged in adult activities,” the chief added.

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MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE (BNO NEWS) — A Tennessee high school teacher was indicted on three counts of statutory rape on Thursday after she allegedly had sex with three underage students, U.S. prosecutors said. She faces more than 50 years in prison.

Stacy Hopkins, 28, was arrested in early May after her ex-boyfriend contacted the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office to report that her ex-girlfriend had sent inappropriate text messages to two Arlington High School students, where Hopkins worked as a teacher since August 2005.

Upon further investigation, police determined Hopkins had sent nude, sexually explicit images to two underage students and engaged in sexual intercourse with three underage students at various times in the course of a year. The victims were two 17-year-old male students and a 16-year-old male student.

On Thursday, the Shelby County District Attorney General said Hopkins has been indicted with three counts of statutory rape by an authority figure, which is a Class C felony, and two counts of soliciting sexual exploitation of a minor by electronic means.

If convicted on all counts, Hopkins faces at least 11 years imprisonment and a maximum of 57 years. The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office previously said Hopkins had confessed to having sex with the students.

The age of consent in Tennessee is 18.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) — Real estate mogul and television personality Donald Trump on Tuesday afternoon announced he has decided not to host the Newsmax presidential debate because he is unwilling to give up his right to run himself.

Conservative website Newsmax announced earlier this month that Trump, who is the CEO of The Trump Organization which owns the Miss Universe and similar franchises, would host a presidential debate on December 27 in Des Moines, Iowa. The debate would have aired online and on broadcast network ION.

But, as Trump went on television networks to criticize presidential candidates about their policies and personalities, all but two of them decided not to take part in the Newsmax debate as many observers believed it would turn into a circus.

“The Republican Party candidates are very concerned that sometime after the final episode of The Apprentice, on May 20th, when the equal time provisions are no longer applicable to me, I will announce my candidacy for President of the United States as an Independent and that, unless I conclusively agree not to run as an Independent, they will not agree to attend or be a part of the Newsmax debate scheduled for December 27,” Trump said in a statement released on Tuesday.

Trump added: “It is very important to me that the right Republican candidate be chosen to defeat the failed and very destructive Obama Administration, but if that Republican, in my opinion, is not the right candidate, I am not willing to give up my right to run as an Independent candidate. Therefore, so that there is no conflict of interest within the Republican Party, I have decided not to be the moderator of the Newsmax debate.”

The businessman made headlines earlier this year when he said he was considering to run for president himself, but he decided in mid-May to not do so amid polls in which a majority indicated they would not vote for him. It followed similar statements in 1988 and 1999 when he also said he would consider to run for the White House, but in both cases declined to do so at the last moment.

“The American people are embarrassed by the gridlock currently taking place in Washington,” Trump said in Tuesday’s statement, which keeps the door open for a presidential run as an independent. “I must leave all of my options open because, above all else, we must make America great again!”

Trump thanked presidential candidates Newt Gingrich, who is leading the polls, and Rick Santorum for having the ‘courage, conviction, and confidence’ to immediately accept being part of the Newsmax debate. “I believe this would not only have been the most watched debate, but also the most substantive and interesting debate,” he added.

It was not immediately clear if Newsmax would still go forward with the debate.

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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS (BNO NEWS) — Former Illinois Governor Rod R. Blagojevich was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison on Wednesday after being convicted of numerous counts of corruption, prosecutors said.

Blagojevich, who is to turn 55 on Saturday, was convicted on 18 felony counts of corruption during his tenure as governor, including his effort in 2008 to illegally trade the appointment of a United States Senator in exchange for $1.5 million in campaign contributions or other personal benefits.

Blagojevich, a lawyer and former state prosecutor, state legislator, and U.S. Representative, was arrested on December 9, 2008, while serving as the governor of Illinois. A two-term Democrat, he was removed from office in January 2009.

The governor was accused of using his office in numerous matters involving state appointments, business, legislation and pension fund investments to seek or obtain financial benefits as money, campaign contributions, and employment for himself and others, in exchange for official actions, including trying to leverage his authority to appoint a United States Senator to replace then President-Elect Barack Obama.

In the summer of 2010, Blagojevich went to trial and was convicted of lying to FBI agents when he falsely told them in an interview on March 16, 2005, that he did not track, or want to know, who contributed to him or how much money they contributed to him, but the jury was deadlocked on all remaining counts.

During trial, prosecutors relied heavily on wiretap tapes in which Blagojevich spew profanity and speculated about getting a Cabinet job in exchange for the Senate seat. His attorneys, however, said he was a big talker but never actually engaged in corruption.

Earlier this year, Blagojevich was convicted on 17 additional counts, including 10 counts of wire fraud, two counts of attempted extortion, two counts of conspiracy to commit extortion, one count of soliciting bribes, and two counts of conspiracy to solicit and accept bribes.

Blagojevich was sentenced for shaking down the chief executive of a children’s hospital for $25,000 in campaign contributions in exchange for implementing an increase to pediatric reimbursement rates. In addition, he was sentenced for holding up the signing of a bill to benefit the Illinois horse racing industry in an attempt to illegally obtain $100,000 in campaign contributions and lying to the FBI in 2005.

After a two-day hearing, U.S. District Judge James Zagel imposed the 14-year sentence, stating that “the harm here is not measured in the value of money or property… the harm is the erosion of public trust in government.”

Blagojevich was ordered to surrender to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons on February 16, 2012, to begin serving his sentence. The prison term is the longest-ever imposed on a former governor in the Northern District of Illinois.

The judge also imposed a fine of $20,000 and two years of supervised release after completing his prison term. Blagojevich also must pay a special assessment of $1,800, or $100 on each count of conviction.

“Blagojevich betrayed the trust and faith that Illinois voters placed in him, feeding great public frustration, cynicism and disengagement among citizens,” said Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. “People have the right to expect that their elected leaders will honor the oath they swear to, and this sentence shows that the justice system will stand up to protect their expectations.”

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CANTON, GEORGIA (BNO NEWS) — A 7-year-old girl who went missing from her apartment complex in the U.S. state of Georgia last week was found dead in a nearby dumpster on Monday afternoon, investigators said.

Jorelys Rivera went missing on late Friday afternoon from the River Ridge apartment complex in Canton, a city in and the county seat of Cherokee County. She was last seen at around 5 p.m. local time at the building’s playground and never returned after going to get a drink.

Vernon Keenan, the Director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), said the body was found on early Monday afternoon when investigators searched a dumpster about 100 yards (91 meters) from the apartment complex. “She was in the dumpster. It appears from the examination of the agents at the scene that she was severely beaten. We believe that she was sexually assaulted,” Keenan said.

“This is going to be a very, very horrendous crime. I am convinced of that after having observed the body,” the GBI Director said. “A child death is always a terrible thing but a child who dies under extreme violence is the absolute worst thing that can happen to a human being.”

The body of Rivera was later transported to the GBI Crime Laboratory where an autopsy took place on Monday evening. The cause of death was not immediately disclosed, and there were no immediate suspects.

“We are pursuing several leads but, quite frankly, at this point, we do not have a strong suspect. We’ve not focused in on anyone,” Keenan said during a news conference. “We very much need information from the public who may know something about the abduction of this child and the child’s subsequent murder. So we welcome information from the public.”

Investigators believe that both the abduction and the murder occurred at the apartment complex. “Evidence thus far points to that and the fact that the body was disposed of in a dumpster that was located at the apartment complex,” Keenan said.

Some residents criticized investigators for being too slow to respond and said the dumpster should have been searched earlier. Police did not issue a Levi’s Call – the state’s Amber Alert system – because there were no witnesses who were able to confirm the child had been abducted.

Keenan said Rivera’s mother is not a suspect, but she nonetheless lost custody of her two younger children following the abduction. “We don’t think the child’s mother had anything to do with her disappearance at this point,” Canton Police Detective Candy Worthy told local media. “We just think that she was not supervising well enough to keep all of the children safe.”

But the mother, Joselin, appeared in a family court on Monday to try and get her children back. “I’m a very good mother,” Joselin was quoted as saying by 11Alive News. “I’m a very hard-working mother. My kids have everything they need. Everything is in order. They have their room. They have their food. They don’t want for anything.”

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ATLANTA, GEORGIA (BNO NEWS) — Republican Herman Cain says he is suspending his presidential campaign.

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ATLANTA (BNO NEWS) — An Atlanta woman came forward on Monday evening to claim she had a 13-year-long affair with Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain, just weeks after a series of claims regarding sexual harassment. Cain has denied the latest allegations.

The woman, 46-year-old Ginger White, made her allegations in an exclusive interview with WAGA-TV in Atlanta. She said her off-and-on affair with the presidential candidate ended about eight months ago, just before Cain announced he is running for the White House.

“I’m not proud,” she said, adding that she did not want to come out but felt she had no other choice after an unidentified person contacted several media outlets. “It was pretty simple. It wasn’t complicated. I was aware that he was married. And I was also aware that I was involved in a very inappropriate situation, relationship.”

White said she met Cain during a presentation in the late 90s in Kentucky when he was the head of the National Restaurant Association (NRA). She claims they shared drinks afterwards and Cain invited her back to his hotel room. “[He said], ‘I would like to, definitely, see you again. You are very beautiful to me and I would, you know, love for us to continue this friendship,” White told WAGA-TV.

During the next 13 years, Cain allegedly flew her to cities where he was speaking and ‘lavished her with gifts.’ She said Cain never harassed her, never treated her poorly and was ‘the same man’ you see on the campaign trail.

White said she had planned to keep the relationship a secret until she watched reports of different women who accused Cain of sexual harassment. She told the television channel that she was not surprised by the allegations, but that she was bothered by the way Cain fought back.

“It bothered me that they were being demonized, sort of, they were treated as if they were automatically lying, and the burden of proof was on them. I felt bad for them,” White said. When someone contacted the media about herself, she felt she had no other choice but to come forward.

“I wanted to give my side, before it was thrown out there and made out to be something filthy,” she said. “Some people will look at this and say that is exactly what it is. I’m sorry for that.”

Overall, the woman described the alleged affair as ‘fun’ and ‘exciting’, but provided no evidence to substantiate her claims. WAGA-TV said White had provided cell phone records which showed calls and text messages between her and Cain’s number, but the woman provided no copies of the actual text messages.

An investigation by WAGA-TV revealed that White filed a sexual harassment claim against an employer in 2001, but the case was settled. White’s former business partner also once sought a “stalking temporary protective order” against her for “repeated e-mails/texts threatening lawsuit and defamation of character.”

The case was dismissed; but was followed by a libel lawsuit against White. A judge entered an order in favor of the business partner because White failed to respond to the lawsuit. The woman also filed for bankruptcy 23 years ago and has a history of eviction notices, the most recent one earlier this month.

Responding to the latest allegations, Cain confirmed he knows White and thought she was a friend. “But I did not have an affair, okay?” he said during an interview on CNN, which aired before White’s interview on WAGA-TV. “I acknowledge that I knew the woman. I acknowledge that I have known her for about that period of time but the accusation that I had a 13-year affair with her? No.”

After the interview aired on WAGA-TV, Cain released a statement in which he said the American public is tired of dirty politics and smear tactics. “I am running for President of the United States of America and the reality is that there are individuals out there that favor the status quo of higher taxes, more government and political cronyism and they are afraid of a Cain Presidency,” he said.

Cain added: “I have spoken directly to the American people and have been 100 percent honest with them. My plan is to continue to spread my vision on how I would renew America and keep her safe. I will not fight false claims as it is not what America needs or wants.”

Cain spokesman J.D. Gordon said the campaign is not surprised by the new allegations. “Detractors are trying once again to derail the Cain Train with more accusations of past events that never happened,” Gordon said. “The Cain Campaign is not surprised that another female accuser has come forward due to the fact that earlier allegations were unable to force Herman Cain to drop his presidential bid to renew America.”

Earlier this month, a Chicago woman called Sharon Bialek came forward to allege she was sexually assaulted by Cain when she sought his help in 1997. Bialek was previously employed at the Educational Foundation of the National Restaurant Association (NRA) as manager of industry relations and was fired before the alleged incident happened.

Bialek said she first met Cain at a convention in Chicago about a month before she was terminated. “Mr. Cain sat next to me at that luncheon and spoke to me extensively,” she said. “Mr. Cain was the keynote speaker at the luncheon. He was incredibly inspirational. When he sat down I said to him, ‘when are you running for President?’”

During the final night of the conference, Bialek claims, Cain sat at a table with her and her boyfriend. “He was warm and attentive to both of us and invited us to join him at the after party in a suite at the hotel, which we did,” she said. “I felt very honored to be included in this select gathering.”

But several weeks later, Bialek was suddenly let go by the Foundation because she had not raised enough money. “I was devastated. I loved the job and the industry and in the short time that I had been there I felt we were doing well in terms of fundraising,” she said.

According to the woman’s accounts, her boyfriend suggested to reach out to Cain to see if he was able to help her find another job with the Foundation or in some other capacity. “I told [Cain] I had been let go. He said that he was unaware of it,” she said. “I asked if he could meet me for coffee. He said that he would and that I should call once I had firmed up the dates and the arrangements.”

Bialek’s boyfriend then proceeded to book a room for her at the Capital Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C. where the two met. “When I went to check into the room I was shocked to be taken to a palatial suite,” she said. “I told the bellman that there must be some mistake, but he insisted that there was no mistake. I later found out that Mr. Cain had arranged for the suite, though at the time I thought that perhaps my boyfriend had decided to surprise me.”

During the evening, at about 6.30 p.m. local time, Bialek said she met Cain in the hotel lobby where they had drinks. “He asked me how I liked my room and I explained that I was surprised. I said that I could not believe that I was given this gorgeous Senator’s suite. Mr. Cain smirked and then said, ‘I upgraded you.’”

Bialek said Cain then took her to an Italian restaurant where they had dinner, during which she explained that she needed a job after being let go. “He said that he would look into it,” she said.

After the dinner, Cain allegedly told Bialek that he would show her where the National Restaurant Association offices in D.C. were. “He parked the car down the block,” she said. “Instead of going in he suddenly reached over and put his hand on my leg, under my skirt and reached for my genitals. He also grabbed my head and brought it toward his crotch.”

Bialek said she was ‘surprised and shocked’ and told Cain that she did not come for that. “Mr Cain said, ‘You want a job, right?’ I asked him to stop and he did. I asked him to take me back to my hotel which he did,” she said during a press conference.

Cain also denied those allegations.

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NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA (BNO NEWS) — A production crew member working on the Louisiana film set of ‘G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation’ was killed on Tuesday while moving part of the set, local authorities confirmed on late Wednesday.

Michael Huber, 54, of Ponchatoula, Louisiana, was hired as a crew member to work on the set of the movie, which is being filmed in the city of New Orleans. But he reportedly fell from part of the equipment on the set, causing his death.

Another crew member told local news media WDSU that Huber was working on a high-powered scissor lift at the Michoud facility where NASA built the external fuel tanks for the space shuttle program, when the machine tipped over. According to reports, he was dismantling the set when the accident happened.

No other information was immediately released, as Paramount Pictures spokeswoman Virginia Lam only identified the name of the victim on Wednesday but revealed no other details. She said the studio has been cooperating with authorities.

“Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the [crew member's] family at this time,” the film studio said. ”The safety of our cast and crew is our top priority and the studio is fully cooperating with all investigating agencies as they examine the circumstances surrounding this unusual accident.”

‘G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation’ is set to be released next summer on June 29, following the successful ‘G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra,’ which was released in 2009. The sequel features action movie star Bruce Willis, as well as Channing Tatum, Dwayne Johnson, also know as ‘The Rock,’ Adrianne Palicki, Ray Stevenson and RZA, among others.

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