The violence in Borno state is the latest bloody example of how the Islamist sect Boko Haram has unleashed chaos in northern Nigeria.
The group – whose official Arabic name translates as "People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad" – says it is fighting to overthrow Nigeria's government and establish an Islamic state. Dubbed Boko Haram or "western education is sinful" by locals for its rejection of European values, the sect was founded in the early 2000s by cleric Mohammed Yusuf and gained a steady following in the northern city of Maiduguri, preaching against secular values in a nation which is split between large Muslim and Christian populations.
Yusuf, who was killed by Nigerian security forces in 2009, retained support by providing meals and economic schemes, including a youth empowerment programme and support for trading. He also arranged cheap marriages between sect members.
The provision of economic and social support by Boko Haram has led some to ascribe the group's growth to a failure of governance in Nigeria. The sect began using violence against government and police in 2003. Its first large attacks came in Bauchi and Maiduguri in July 2009, with more than 700 people killed in a five-day uprising. The death of Yusuf days later did little to stem the violence.
Since then the group has become increasingly sophisticated in its operations. In 2010 it freed hundreds of prisoners from Bauchi jail, and then went on to launch bombings in Jos and New Year's eve attacks in federal capital city Abuja. A sustained campaign of deadly church bombings has left hundreds dead, while attacks on telecommunications and infrastructure have caused millions worth of damage. Boko Haram is also believed to have advanced its operations in recent months by attracting funding and support from other terrorist groups such as al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and al-Shabaab, and joining forces with militant groups waging war in northern Mali
Snoop Lion has revealed he worked as a pimp back in 2003.
The No Guns Allowed rapper claims he managed several prostitutes and had a lot of famous clients, including top athletes.
The 41-year-old rapper - formerly known as Snoop Dogg - told the new issue of Rolling Stone magazine: 'I put an organisation together. I did a Playboy tour, and I had a bus follow me with ten b***hes on it.
'I could fire a b***h, f**k a b***h, get a new h*: It was my program. City to city, t***y to t***y, hotel room to hotel room, athlete to athlete, entertainer to entertainer.
"If I'm in a city where where the Denver Broncos or the Nuggets play, I get a couple of they players to come hang out, pick and choose, and whichever one you like comes with a number. A lot of athletes bought p***y from me.'
However, Snoop insisted that he only did the job out of 'fascination' and never made any money from the illegal transactions.
He added: 'I'd act like I'd take the money from the b***h, but I'd let her have it. It was never about the money; it was about the fascination of being a pimp.
'As a kid I dreamed of being a pimp, I dreamed of having cars and clothes and b***hes to match. I said, "F**k it -- I'm finna do it." '
The father-of-three, who has been married to his high school sweetheart Shante Broadus since 1997, insists he is still in love with his wife.
He said: 'I love her to this day because she coulda shook out on a n***a, but she stayed in my corner.
'So when I decided to let it go, she was still there.'
Chikago Tribune-- A key panel of Senate lawmakers advanced legislation Wednesday that would allow patients with certain illnesses to use marijuana to ease their symptoms.
The measure was approved on a 10-5 vote by the Senate Executive Committee despite concerns raised by law enforcement officials that the bill would not prevent medical marijuana card holders from driving while under the influence.
The proposal has already passed the House. Gov. Pat Quinn has said he is "open minded" to the legislation but must give the matter further review.
Under the bill, a four year pilot program would be established to allow doctors to prescribe patients no more than 2.5 ounces of marijuana over two weeks. Patients would have to buy from one of 60 dispensing centers across the state and could not grow their own.
Sponsoring Sen. Bill Haine, D-Alton, said the rules were the toughest in the nation. A former State's Attorney, Haine promised the bill is "not an opening to legalization" of recreational pot use.
Opponents said they acknowledged the relief marijuana could provide but questioned unintended consequences.
The Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police and the Illinois Sheriffs' Association sent a letter to the governor and lawmakers warning the proposal would create a "public safety nightmare" because card holders could "take a toke then take the wheel."
They argue the legislation should include blood and urine testing to allow police to determine whether a card holder had marijuana in their system while driving.
Supporters of the legislation contend laws already exist to prosecute anyone who drives under the influence of marijuana while noting that there is no standard to determine a driver's level of impairment.
Terrafugia has announced its Transition design, which is part sedan, part private jet with two seats, four wheels and wings that fold up so it can be driven like a car, will be on sale in less than two years.
The Massachusetts-based firm has also unveiled plans for a TF-X model that will be small enough to fit in a garage, and won't need a runway to take off.
Last year, the Transition successfully flew at 1,400 feet for eight minutes.
Commercial jets fly at 35,000 feet.
However, it will not be cheap - the Transition will cost £190,000 ($300,000)
The Transition can reach speeds of around 70 miles per hour on the road and 115 in the air.
It flies using a 23-gallon tank of automotive fuel and burns 5 gallons per hour in the air. On the ground, it gets 35 miles per gallon.
It has rear-wheel drive when on the road.
The Transition comes with two passenger airbags, and a full-vehicle parachute.
And Terrafugia says owners must have pilot's licenses, and will need to pass a test plus complete 20 hours of flying time to be able to fly the car.
Despite the advances in technology the Transition demonstrates, critics have said that it is still not the vision of flying cars seen in many sci-fi films.
To answer these critics, Terrafugia has now also released designs for a TF-X Model of its Transition range.
Whereas the Transition requires a runway, the TF-X can take off from a vertical position because of motorised rotors on the wings.
These rotors will work in a similar way to helicopter rotors.
Being able to take off from standstill means owners will be able to go from the road to the air straight from their driveways, car parks and even when stuck in traffic.
Although you will still need at least 100 feet in diameter in order to open the wings.
According to Terrafugia, the vehicle will carry four people 'in car-like comfort'.
It is expected to be able to fly, nonstop, for 500 miles.
The TF-X model has not been tested yet, and prices haven't been announced.
Terrafugia hopes to have working models of the TF-X available for sale within eight to 12 years.
Like with the Transition, you will need 20 hours of flying and a pilot's licence to drive it, though.
The flying car has always had a special place in the American imagination.
Inventors have been trying to make them since the 1930s, according to Robert Mann, an airline industry analyst who owns R.W. Mann & Co. in Port Washington, New York.
But Mann thinks Terrafugia has come closer than anyone to making the flying cars a reality.
The government has already granted the company's request to use special tires and glass that are lighter than normal automotive ones, to make it easier for the vehicle to fly.
The government has also temporarily exempted the Transition from the requirement to equip vehicles with electronic stability control, which would add about six pounds to the vehicle.
Mann said Terrafugia was helped by the Federal Aviation Administration's decision five years ago to create a separate set of standards for light sport aircraft. The standards govern the size and speed of the plane and licensing requirements for pilots, which are less restrictive than requirements for pilots of larger planes.
Mann questions the size of the market for the Transition. The general aviation market has been in decline for two decades, he said, largely because of fuel costs and the high cost of liability for manufacturers. Also, fewer people are learning how to fly.
'This is not going to be an inexpensive aircraft to produce or market,' he said.
'It has some uniqueness, and will get some sales, but the question is, could it ever be a profitable enterprise?'
Mann sees the western US as the most likely market, where people could fly instead of driving long distances.
Terrafugia has been working on flying cars since 2006, and has already pushed back the launch once. Last summer the company said it would have to delay expected 2011 deliveries due to design challenges and problems with parts suppliers.
A plastic surgery addict injected cooking oil into her face when doctors refused to give her any more silicone.
Former model Hang Mioku has been left permanently disfigured following the DIY beauty treatment.
After injecting an entire bottle of black market silicone into her face, Hang resorted to using cooking oil that left her face severely swollen and scarred.
Her plights was featured on Korean television and viewers donated thousands of pounds to pay for corrective surgery.
During the first of 10 operations, surgeons removed 60g of silicone, oil and other foreign substances from her face and 200g from her neck.
However, Hang is still disfigured and she said she wishes she could have her old face back.
Hang had her first procedure aged 28 and then moved to Japan where she had repeated treatments.
She quickly became obsessed with having smoother and softer skin.
Doctors eventually refused to carry out any more work on her after her face became noticeably enlarged.
However, she managed to get hold of a bottle of silicone and a syringe to self-inject but when that ran out she resorted to use cooking oil.
Her face was so altered that her own parents did not recognise her and local children also used to call her 'standing fan' because her face was so large compared to her small body.
Numerous operations paid for by donations have managed to reduce the size of her face and neck but she is still significantly disfigured.
Recently the former model was working in a recycled clothes shop, called The Beautiful Shop, and receiving handouts from the state.
Balding men would do almost anything to have a full head of hair, but the latest 'cure' might be a painful step too far even for them.
Scientists have been able to regrow hair on bald patches by injecting the heads of follicular-challenged volunteers with a solution from their own blood.
The 'vampire ' treatment stimulates new stem cells below the skin which can assist regrowth, believe researchers.
In the latest research by scientists at the International Hair Research Foundation, the University of Brescia in Italy and the Hebrew University Medical Centre in Israel, used 45 sufferers with alopecia areata, affecting two per cent of the population.
The patients had injections on one half of their head. Some were given the PRP, some traditional steroid cream, while others received a placebo.
Three treatments were given every month. Hair growth was checked by measuring the area where new hairs grew on the bald scalp.
Results showed the plasma injections led to significant hair regrowth in the bald patches, compared with the placebo and the steroid treatment.
Following the publication of the study in the British Journal of Dermatology, the scientists are hoping to develop a cream, so needles won't need to be used.
Dr Fabio Rinaldi told the Telegraph the new treatment could also help those suffering more common hair problems like male-pattern baldness.
He said: 'We think it can help to regrow hair on people with androgenic alopecia. We believe it is the best treatment available, apart from surgery.'
Nina Goad, of the British Association of Dermatologists, said: 'Alopecia is known to lead to overwhelming effects on the patient's quality of life and self-esteem. This could offer hope to thousands.'
Floyd Mayweather Jnr came out of prison to elevate boxing to an art.
To describe this maestro simply as the welterweight champion of the world is to do him an enormous disservice of understatement.
To call him the best boxer on the planet is closer to reality but Mayweather transcends that comparison, also.
He made a rough, tough challenger with six world titles of his own at four weight levels to his credit look like a lumbering ox.
Robert Guerrero was so massively outclassed that the 117-111 scoring by the three judges also sold Mayweather short.
On my card Mayweather dropped only the second round in a 119-109 masterclass.
The first had been reasonably close but once Mayweather found his range in the third he set about impaling Guerrero on his lightning rights. Inevitably, the challenger was cut – beside the left eye in the eighth as it happened.
The longer it went the more comfortable Mayweather looked against one of the southpaw breed who have been a minor irritant to him in the past.
So when he let the left join the party we thought it was because he wanted to have more fun. In fact he hurt the right with one of the countless shots to the head.
Without that minor handicap he probably would have stopped Guerrero.
Mayweather was fighting for the first time since coming out of prison, Guerrero almost certainly for the last time before taking his turn in the penitentiary.
Only in boxing.
Mayweather had expressed relief that his two months for battering the mother of his children are behind him but claimed to be unaffected as a boxer by the experience.
Guerrero is thought to be facing at least two years for carrying a gun into a New York airport but denied being distracted from this job in hand.
One thing was certain, there was bad blood between them. So for this one night they focussed on inflicting the kind of damage on each other would get them both arrested and incarcerated if they did it in the street.
There was a mixture of cheers and jeers as the cameras picked out Amir Khan among a raft of celebrities at ringside.
Khan had flow into Vegas during the afternoon hoping to press his claims for a super-fight with Mayweather next year.
The loudest roar before the fight was for former world heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield.
But although the Garden was full and animated there was not quite the buzz and intensity of anticipation for previous Mayweather fights.
Guerrero came into the ring wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the legend God Is Great, perhaps hoping for divine intervention.
Mayweather arrived in a gold and black robe which resembled a frock coat, befitting the man who considers himself to be almighty.
Guerrero was eager in the early stages of the opening round but despite connecting a couple of times, was mostly picked off by Mayweather’s accurate counters.
The underdog landed with big left early in the second session and, encouraged, did so two or three more times in similar fashion while Mayweather had to be at his most elusive to avoid further punishment.
But by the third round, Mayweather was getting his timing going and connecting with several punishing rights while Guerrero was already wary about throwing the left for fear of leaving himself exposed.
The speed of Money’s right hand continued to bewilder Guerrero and Mayweather also started to introduce more stinging lefts as the fight moved into the fifth stanza. Mayweather, not usually comfortable against southpaws, was easing into command.
Into the sixth round and Guerrero began trying to maul but just couldn't find the champion not only of the world but the defensive arts. The Ghost has a reputation as a dirty fighter and was by now beginning to get desperate as still the rapier right kept stabbing into the his reddening, swelling face.
Mayweather continued to lure his man in and Guerrero was left in a quandary. Aching to land a miracle left, he was clinically lacerated with Mayweather’s right whenever he dared attempt the shot.
Former child actor Mark Lester believes he's the biological father of deceased superstar Michael Jackson's children Prince Michael, 16, Paris, 15, and Blanket, 11, and he's will to undergo DNA testing to prove it.
The Oliver! star alleges the Prince of Pop asked him to donate sperm one year prior to the births of the children, whom Lester claims now closely resemble his own four teenagers.
The Daily Mirror reports the 54-year-old even delivered an impassioned message to the children, with whom he's remained out of contact since Jackson's memorial service in 2009: 'I’m here, come and visit England, we’ll look after you.
Lester asserted he briefly blocked thoughts of the donation process, which occurred in the early 1990s: 'After Michael asked me to donate sperm for him I completely forgot about it.'
Yet speaking to the outlet apparently jogged his memory, as he continued: 'I remember Michael ringing and saying, ''Oh, you don’t have any fertility difficulties do you?''
'Then out of the blue about a year later, he mentioned sperm donation and I agreed.'
He explained of the slightly uncomfortable process: 'Michael set it up for me to turn up to a clinic in Harley Street, London to do it. It was weird.
'I went in a couple of times to donate but we never talked about it ever again. It was a really strange request but while Michael was alive I never gave it another thought. I didn’t donate to get something out of it.'
The two friends met in 1978 after a Jackson 5 concert at London's Rainbow Theatre.
Both grown child stars, they got along swimmingly.
Lester gushed of their relationship: 'We ended up great friends. Michael had so many people and security around him but had very few people that knew him really closely. I became one of those lucky few.'
Their friendship endured through decades, with Jackson even naming Lester the godfather to his three children, born in 1997, 1998 and 2002 with ex-wife Debbie Rowe, to whom the hitmaker was married between 1996 and 1999.
Lester's own four children often spent holidays and weekends with Jackson's offspring.
He reminisced: 'Every time Michael came to the UK, which was at least six times a year, I used to take my children to see his. They always got on really well.
'We always used to stay at an isolated cottage at the Cliveden House hotel in Berkshire. I even took the kids to his home in the US. We were like one big happy family.'
Still, Lester maintains he never doubted the paternity of Jackson's progeny while the Beat It singer was alive.
Only after Jackson's drug-induced death at 50 did the lifelong pal entertain the idea that he may be the father of the grieving youngsters.
'I noticed the likenesses in my own children and his,' he explained. 'My daughter Olivia looks like Paris. People have also pointed out similarities between myself when I was younger and Prince.'
He continued of Jackson: 'He was a great dad to them, brought them up and was brilliant with the kids so I just didn’t go there but there is obviously a good possibility (that I could be the biological father).'
After Lester raised the question to the Jackson family, the clan severed ties with the scorned godfather in a move that he deems 'not what Michael would have wanted.'
The family has not responded to Lester's resultant pleas despite his insistence that he remains willing to undergo DNA testing to confirm whether he is the children's biological father.
Friend Uri Geller corroborated Lester's claims in 2009, saying: 'I have no reason to doubt Mark’s story, simply because I remember years ago in New York, Michael implied to me that he wanted Mark to help him father a child for him.
'I don’t want to tell them what to do. I just want to reconnect and be the godfather that Michael made me.'
Among Lester's other allegations is the revelation that prior to his untimely death, Jackson hid a collection of unheard recordings in a vault in his Neverland Ranch.
The actor said of the unreleased tracks: 'I’m amazed no one has got their hands on them yet.
'He couldn’t read or write music so whenever lyrics came to him he just had to quickly write things down. If he got a beat he would tap it out on to a portable tape recorder. The tapes and words exist somewhere because I’ve heard some of them. One was about a mystery girl.
'I don’t know if they were found when his estate was wound up. Either way they will be worth a bit of money,' he finished.
A Japanese woman has undergone a startling physical transformation that has so far involved more than 30 cosmetic procedures at a cost of 10 million yen or $102,000.
The lady, a model known as Vanilla Chamu, has said she intends to keep having surgeries until she has achieved her lifelong goal – to look like a French doll.
Photos of Vanilla prior to her first procedures reveal a rather mousy Japanese teenager whose facial features are virtually unrecognizable from the bizarre and undoubtedly more ‘western-looking’ appearance that she now possesses.
Certain plastic surgery treatments, including double-eyelid surgery and nose jobs, are increasingly popular amongst Asian woman wishing to look more western.
Vanilla has unquestionably had those treatments, but her long list of procedures also includes liposuction, eyelash implants, dimple creation, and breast implants, reports BuzzFeed.
Still her current look isn’t enough for Vanilla in her quest to become a ‘perfect living French doll’.
She has recently had even larger breast implants fitted and her next procedure promises to be her most extreme yet as she plans to undergo height lengthening surgery.
Vanilla underwent her first plastic surgery when she was 19 years old and keeps her current age a well-guarded secret.
She has become something of a cause célèbre in her native land, making countless television appearances and launching a pop career.
Her unusual appearance undoubtedly makes her guaranteed to stand out in any crowd, but she does possess a very unusual view of what a french doll should look like.
A French doll can also be known as a porcelain doll, bisque doll or china doll and means a doll partially or wholly out of bisque porcelain.
Traditionally they are characterized by their realistic, skin-like matte finish and were at the peak of their popularity between 1860 and 1900. Such dolls are now highly collectible and worth thousands of US dollars.
With her inflated pout and fake breasts, Vanilla certainly doesn't resemble a classic children's toy, but she is undoubtedly her own creation.
A perverted computer expert took thousands of intimate pictures of his neighbours after infecting their computers with a virus that allowed him to spy on them through their webcams.
Police in Zaragoza, Spain, arrested the 34-year-old man and confiscated his computer hard drive which contained images of hundreds of people who had absolutely no idea they were being spied on.
He had gained access to their computers through wi-fi (wireless) networks before infecting them with a trojan-type virus which he had designed.
As almost all modern laptops, and many desktops, now come with a built in web cams it meant he could spy on them in their own homes, quietly watching them going about their daily business.
Pictures were taken of unwitting computer owners while they were in the bathroom or in the bedroom.
Some of the pictures were of couples having sex.
The man was also able to obtain the sensitive information such as passwords.
Investigators said the man, who they described as someone with high technical expertise and few friends, had used a very advanced computer virus.
Child pornography was also discovered on the man's hard drive.
The first woman ever placed on the FBI’s list of top 10 most wanted terrorists is a convicted New Jersey cop killer who shot a state trooper execution-style in the head.
Joanne Chesimard, AKA Assata Shakur, happens to also be the godmother and aunt of the late rapper Tupac Shakur. She was an outspoken member of the radical Black Liberation Army when she shot and killed New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster.
The FBI announced Chesimard's addition to the list today, recognizing the 40th anniversary of Foerster's slaying.
‘She is absolutely a threat to America,’ said Special Agent Aaron T. Ford from the FBI, at a press conference held for the announcement in Newark, New Jersey Thursday.
Prior to this announcements, the reward for Shakur’s capture was already a shocking $1 million. However, officials announced the bounty has now been increased to $2 million on the anniversary of Chesimard’s crimes.
While driving down the New Jersey Turnpike in 1973, an hour south of New York City, Chesimard and two men—James Coston and Clark Squire—were pulled over by state troopers James Harper and Werner Foerster.
The 26-year-old Chesimard was already known to the FBI for her membership in the Black Panther movement.
She was also wanted for several felonies, including bank robber counts in New York.
From the passenger seat, Chesimard fired first with a semi-automatic pistol.
Passenger James Coston fired as well and was shot and killed by Officer Harper.
The shootout continued until Chesimard, having shot and killed Werner Foerster execution-style in the head, fled the scene with Squire.
Both were apprehended by police shortly thereafter.
Chesimard denied having shot anyone and pointed to her radical affiliations as the basis for her being singled out.
Nonetheless, four years after the Jersey Turnpike shootout, Chesimard was convicted of first-degree murder, assault and battery of a police officer, assault with a dangerous weapon, assault with intent to kill, illegal possession of a weapon, and armed robbery.
Chesimard was handed life behind bars. She began her sentence at a maximum security prison in West Virginia, but was transferred to a minimum security prison in New Jersey.
That’s where, in 1979, Chesimard escaped.
With the help of three people who were visiting her, security guards were held at gunpoint and forced to open prison gates. The group escaped in a prison vehicle and took Chesimard to a safe house in New Jersey, where she managed to stay hidden for years.
Chesimard’s next whereabouts were in Cuba, where she was granted political asylum in 1984.
She has lived there ever since, under the name Assata Shakur. Chesimard's brother was the stepfather of late American rapper Tupac Shakur. She had also reportedly served as the rapper's godmother.
Tupac Shakur was a massively successful rapper, whose career was cut short when he died at the age of 25 in a Las Vegas shooting.
His parents had been active in the Black Panther Party.
Current superintendent of the New Jersey State Police, Col. Rick Fuentes, spoke alongside Ford.
‘To this day, from her safe haven in Cuba, she been given the pulpit to preach and profess,’ Fuentes said, and ‘flaunts her freedom in the face of this horrific crime.’
Officials said they remain committed to holding Chesimard accountable for her crimes.
A 2-year-old girl was accidentally shot and killed by her 5-year-old brother while he was playing with a child-size rifle given to him as a gift, authorities in Kentucky say.
Caroline Starks, a blonde, blue-eyed girl, was fatally shot in the chest by her brother's .22-caliber rifle only minutes after her mother says she stepped outside their home in Burkesville on Tuesday.
The single-shot weapon fired is a rifle specifically marketed to children as 'My First Rifle' by company Keystone Sporting Arms, according to authorities
It was given to the 5-year-old as a gift last year, Cumberland County Coroner Gary White told the Lexington Herald-Leader.
'It's a Crickett,' White identified the weapon used. 'It's a little rifle for a kid. ...The little boy's used to shooting the little gun.'
'Accidents happen with guns,' he continued. 'They thought the gun was actually unloaded, and it wasn't.'
'It was god's will. It was her time to go, I guess,' Caroline's grandmother, Linda Riddle, told Lex18 on Wednesday.
'I just know she's in heaven right now and I know she's in good hands with the lord,' Riddle said.
The company, Keystone Sporting Arms, produced 60,000 Crickett and Chipmunk rifles in 2008, according to its website.
It also makes guns for adults, but most of its products are geared toward children. The smaller guns come in all sorts of colors, including blue and pink.
The company's slogan is 'my first rifle' and its website has a 'Kids Corner' section where pictures of young boys and girls are displayed, most of them showing the children at shooting ranges and on bird and deer hunts. The smaller rifles are sold with a mount to use at a shooting range.
The shooting highlights a cultural divide in the gun debate. While many suburban and urban areas work to keep guns out of the hands of children, it's not uncommon for youths in rural areas to own guns for target practice and hunting.
'Down in Kentucky where we're from, you know, guns are passed down from generation to generation.
'You start at a young age with guns for hunting and everything,' White said on Wednesday.
What is more unusual than a child having a gun, he said, is 'that a kid would get shot with it.'
'The goal of KSA is to instill gun safety in the minds of youth shooters and encourage them to gain the knowledge and respect that hunting and shooting activities require and deserve,' the website says.
The coroner said the gun was kept in a corner and the family didn't realize a shell was left inside it.
It's 'just one of those crazy accidents,' White said.
In a brief news release, state police said the shooting occurred when the boy was 'playing' with the rifle, but did not elaborate.
It is not clear whether any charges will be filed, said Kentucky State Police spokesman Trooper Billy Gregory.
'I think it's too early to say whether there will or won't be,' Gregory said.
An autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday.
Burkesville is a small town, with a population of just under 1,800.
Lil Wayne's failure to say the simple words 'I am sorry' after rapping a crude reference to brutally murdered teen Emmett Till, has left the family of the civil rights figure hurt and still wanting an official apology.
The rapper sparked outrage when he made reference to the 1955 murder - which became a pivotal event in the civil rights movement - in comparison to a sex act and, after the family demanded Lil Wayne apologise, he wrote them a letter.
The letter, obtained by TMZ, falls short in the Till family's eyes as the rapper merely 'acknowledges' the hurt he caused but stops short of saying that he is sorry.
Lil Wayne had featured in the song by Future called Karate Chop, but it was pulled by Epic Records after it was bought to the company's attention that the rapper uses the late Till, who was just 14 at the time of his death, as a way to describe having rough sex with a woman.
Lil Wayne raps: 'Beat that p***y up like Emmett Till.'
In his letter to the family the 30-year-old said he supported the decision to pull the song: 'It has come to my attention that lyrics from my contribution to a fellow artist's song has deeply offended your family.'
'I would like to take a moment to acknowledge your hurt, as well as the letter you sent to me via your attorneys.
'As a father myself, I cannot imagine the pain that your family has had to endure.'
Lil Wayne - who this week was hospitalised after suffering a seizure - has promised never to make reference to Till - who was tortured to death for 'flirting' with a white woman - again.
However, Till's cousin and Executive Director, Mamie Till Mobley Memorial Foundation Airickca Gordon-Taylor told TMZ the family does not view the letter as a formal apology.
She said to TMZ on Wednesday: 'While it’s commendable that he has vowed to respect the legacy of Emmett Till and his memory to ''not use or reference Emmett Till or the Till family in his music,'' this statement falls short of an apology, as none is mentioned.'
Gordon-Taylor said the family want the platinum-selling New Orleans rapper to understand how his comparison of a sex act to the 14-year-old Chicago native's torture death in Mississippi is hurtful to the black community.
'It was a heinous murder,' Gordon-Taylor said. 'He was brutally beaten and tortured, and he was shot, wrapped in barbed wire and tossed in the Tallahatchie River.
'The images that we're fortunate to have (of his open casket), they demonstrate the ugliness of racism.
'So to compare a woman's anatomy - the gateway of life - to the ugly face of death, it just destroyed me. And then I had to call the elders in my family and explain to them before they heard it from some another source.'
Till's death became a symbol of the inequalities faced by the African-American population in society and the legal system.
Till was just 14 when he went to Mississippi to visiting family when he was killed for flirting with a white woman.
He was beaten, had his eyes gouged out and was shot in the head before his assailants tied a cotton gin fan to his body with barbed wire and tossed his body into a river.
Two white men, including the woman's husband, were acquitted of the killing by an all-white jury.
Only months later, protected from being re-tried due to double jeopardy, the killers admitted in a magazine article that they had indeed murdered the teen.
Till's body was recovered and returned to Chicago where his mother, Mamie Till, insisted on having an open casket at his funeral.
The pictures of his battered body and the trial were were early flashpoints in the civil rights movement.
Bob Dylan even wrote a song about it: 'The Death of Emmett Till.'
Lil Wayne was hospitalised after suffering another seizure.
According to reports the rapper was taken to Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles on Tuesday night by his bodyguards.
He suffered a single seizure and was released on Wednesday morning, TMZ claims.
The 30-year-old appears to be feeling much better and tweeted to his 11million plus followers that he was on the mend.
'I'm fine. Thank u,' he wrote late on Wednesday morning.
In March Lil Wayne, real name Dwayne Carter, Jr. spent six days in intensive care after suffering multiple seizures.
He later explained in an interview that he is epileptic.
'The reason being for the seizures is just plain stress, no rest and overworking myself,' Dwayne said at the time. 'That's typical me, though.'
It is understood that the star fell ill while shooting Nicki Minaj's music video for High School, a track which he features on.
He was released the following day but suffered more seizures later that day and after being discovered by one of his bodyguards, was taken to hospital.
That was not the first time Lil Wayne has suffered seizures and back in October, he was onboard a flight from Texas to LAX when he started to convulse.
The flight was immediately diverted to Louisiana where he was admitted to hospital.
Lil Wayne has also apologised to the family of Emmett Till after rapping the disturbing lyric 'beat that p***y up like Emmett Till' on Future's Karate Chop.
'It has come to my attention that lyrics from my contribution to a fellow artist's song has deeply offended your family,' the star says in a letter. 'I would like to take a moment to acknowledge your hurt, as well as the letter you sent to me via your attorneys.'
He adds: 'As a father myself, I cannot imagine the pain that your family has had to endure ... I have tremendous respect for those who paved the way for the liberty and opportunities that African-Americans currently enjoy.
Whoever said money can't buy happiness was very wrong, new research has found.
According to an economic study, the more money a person has, the happier they are.
The latest study of 1,014 people contradicts previous research that said the correlation between money and happiness diminishes when the basic needs of a person are met.
People were asked to rate their levels of happiness and their income was recorded.
Economists Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers say in their paper the May 2013 American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings that there is no evidence of a 'satiation' point in the link between money and happiness.
They wrote: 'While the idea that there is some critical level of income beyond which income no longer impacts well-being is intuitively appealing, it is at odds with the data.'
Everyone with an income of £306,250 a year or more classed themselves as 'very happy'.
The University of Michigan study found that all those earning £61,250 a year or more also described themselves as either very or fairly happy.
However, only 35 per cent of people taking home £6,125 - the equivalent of $10,000 in the exchange rate used in the study - claimed they were happy.
A total of 21 per cent in that income bracket said they were 'not too happy'.
The economists wrote: 'The income-well-being link that one finds when examining only the poor, is similar to that found when examining only the rich', according to AFP.
They added: 'We find no evidence of a significant break in either the happiness-income relationship, nor in the life satisfaction-income relationship, even at annual incomes up to half a million dollars.'
The latest study comes after a separate study found people who splash out on ‘experiences’ such as days out and concert tickets are happier than those who buy possessions.
Psychologists asked 9,600 people about their shopping habits, as well as questions to ascertain personality traits, values and life satisfaction.
'Experiential shoppers', who bought treats such as concern tickets or weekends away, rather than clothes or gadgets, reported greater life satisfaction, according to the study led by San Francisco State University Assistant Professor of Psychology Ryan Howell.
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