Shoe News Weekly

- Oliberté Launches 1st Urban-Casual Shoe Company Made in Africa. Headquarted in Canada, Oliberté has launched the first international footwear company to work exclusively in Africa. Designs for men and women shoes are urban-casual inspired and sold online (www.oliberte.com) and in select stores this Fall in Canada and the United States. This should be a great boost for Africa’s economy and people. [prweb]

- In San Francisco a woman was charged after beating a woman with a high heel shoe because the victim’s brother cooperated with police while investigating the 2008 killings of a father and his two sons. The victim was left with four holes in her face from where Melendez’s stiletto heel landed, police said. [sfgate]

- Payless ShoeSource©a Topeka, Kansas footwear company, known for its affordable line of shoes by top fashion designers, plans to open stores beginning in 2010 in Russia. The agreement calls for between 95 and 150 stores to be built within five years. [wsj]