A defendant on trial over a fatal gang-rape of a student on a bus in India last December is in a "very critical" condition after being attacked by fellow prisoners, his lawyer said Wednesday. Vinay Sharma was rushed to the state-run Lok Nayak Hospital in New Delhi on Tuesday with chest injuries after he was assaulted in Tihar Jail, lawyer A. P. Singh told AFP, also alleging that his client's food had been poisoned. "He was vomiting blood and running a very high fever. He was also suffering from chest pains. He is in a very critical condition," Singh said.

A 52-year-old US man has been charged with kidnapping and rape in connection with the abduction in Cleveland of three women who went missing a decade ago, a city prosecutor said Wednesday. Ariel Castro is accused of raping Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight during their time in captivity in his home, city prosecutor Victor Perez told reporters. His two brothers, who were also arrested, were not charged. bur-sst/dc

A US Air Force officer in charge of preventing sexual attacks has been arrested for assaulting a woman, police said Monday, in the latest setback for a force struggling to stem a pervasive rape problem. Lieutenant Colonel Jeff Krusinski, head of the Air Force's sexual assault prevention and response program, was drunk when he "approached a female victim in a parking lot and grabbed her breasts and buttocks," according to a police report from Arlington, Virginia, just outside the US capital.

HALIFAX - The executive director of a Nova Scotia outreach group for sex workers said a two-year funding commitment from the province to help communities address sexual violence is a positive step, but such money is needed over a longer period of time in order to be effective. Rene Ross of Halifax-based Stepping Stone welcomed the $900,000 funding announcement Thursday, but added that organizations such as hers constantly have to fight with the provincial government to get the support necessary to help victims of violence.