Friday, August 27, 2010

Mid Day International News

Mid Day International News

A real 'Aal is Well' story

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A woman in Australia cuddled her premature baby back to life even though doctors had told her he was dead, a media report said on Friday.

Kate Ogg gave birth to twins in a hospital in Sydney. They were delivered at 27 weeks, weighing just two pounds each, and though Ogg's little girl Emily survived, her brother Jamie was not breathing, Sky News reported on its website.

After battling to save him for 20 minutes, medical staff told Ogg Jamie had not survived.

"The doctor asked me had we chosen a name for our son," said Ogg. "I said 'Jamie' and he turned around with my son already wrapped up and said: 'We've lost Jamie, he didn't make it, sorry'.

"It was the worst feeling I've ever felt. I unwrapped Jamie from his blanket. He was very limp."

Ogg told Channel 7's Today Tonight programme that she wanted to hold him next to her skin. "I took my gown off and arranged him on my chest with his head over my arm and just held him," she recalled.

"He wasn't moving at all and we just started talking to him."

"We told him what his name was and that he has a sister. We told him the things we wanted to do with him throughout his life."

After two hours, he began showing signs of life. "Jamie occasionally gasped for air, which doctors said was a reflex action," Ogg explained.

"But then I felt him move as if he were startled, then he started gasping more and more regularly. I gave Jamie some breast milk on my finger, he took it and started regular breathing normally."

"I thought 'Oh my God, what's going on?' A short time later he opened his eyes. It was a miracle."

"Then he held out his hand and grabbed my finger. He opened his eyes and moved his head from side to side. The doctor kept shaking his head saying: 'I don't believe it, I don't believe it'."

It is thought that the warmth of Ogg's body acted like an incubator to keep the baby warm and stimulated. It adds weight to the theory of "kangaroo care", named after the way marsupials care for their young in their pouches.

Some experts believe a skin-to-skin approach is more beneficial that taking newborn babies into intensive care incubators. Jamie is now a healthy five-month old.

His father David told the Channel 7 programme: "Luckily I've got a very strong, very smart wife. She instinctively did what she did. If she hadn't done that, Jamie probably wouldn't be here."

No Indian movies in Pakistani cinemas on Eid

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The Pakistani government has decided against allowing any new Indian film to be released in cinemas on Eid following demands from the local film industry.

Federal Minister for Culture Pir Aftab Shah Jillani said the decision had been taken to support the local film industry.

"If more Pakistani films are released, the industry might be able to sustain in Pakistan," he said.

After the ebb in cultural activities in the month of Ramadan, Eid is considered an occasion to revive it.

Indian films were banned in Pakistani cinemas after the 1965 war between both countries. After a gap of over 40 years, the government of former president, Gen Pervez Musharraf, allowed the screening of select Indian movies subject to the censor board's approval.

Bollywood movies have a huge fan following in Pakistan and pirated copies of these movies are readily available in local markets.

Coupled with the decline in local film industry, the government decided to allow films from across the industry.

However, local film producers and actors are generally not in favour of this decision.

They view the competition from Bollywood movies as a "killer blow" for the Pakistani film industry and have been advocating a ban on allowing Indian movies in local cinemas.

Addressing a press conference here, actress-turned-director Sangeeta, Mustafa Qureshi and several other artists favoured the ban imposed on Indian movies for the coming Eid.

They warned that the actors, producers, directors, writers and technicians involved with the film trade will be forced to take to the streets if any such move was allowed.

Five Pakistani movies, they informed, were ready for release during Eid and demanded the government to allow the local industry to flourish.

Cinema owners, however, have a different take on this as they consider Indian movies a big source of raking in revenues. The film exhibitors' association has said that they will take up the ban with the federal government and will try to get a relaxation.

The local industry does not produce enough movies and also lack in quality as compared to Indian movies, which makes it difficult to attract masses to the theatres, the cinema owners association argues.

About a dozen movies were made and released in Pakistan last year in different languages.


Miss Universe's agenda includes Osama and Jennifer Aniston

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Jimena Navarrette, the new Miss Universe has a long list of things to do, which includes capturing Osama Bin Laden, becoming an American Idol judge and sorting out Jennifer Aniston's love life.

The 22-year-old Mexican beauty made an appearance on Late Show with David Letterman and read out the Top Ten Ways Miss Universe Plans to Make the World a Better Place.

At number 10 Jimena said, "Inspire peace and unity by looking hot." She then offers up her house for those who want to change their cars' oil and proposed herself to become the new American Idol judge. Number 6 caused the loudest laughs when she said, "I will offer Osama Bin Laden a meet-and-greet. When he shows up, bam, we grab him."

The list got cynical along the way with number 4 stating, "Give world what it really needs, a new celebrity perfume." On number 3 was, "Bring peace and stability to Jennifer Aniston's love life".

Jimena Navarrette won the title of Miss Universe on Monday, August 23. She is the second woman from Mexico to win the Miss Universe crown, the first one being Mexican Miss Universe Lupita Jones in 1991.


Tiger cub found among toys in Bangkok airport

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A two-month-old tiger cub was found sedated and hidden among stuffed toys inside a woman's luggage at the Bangkok airport, wildlife officials said.

Wildlife trade monitoring network Traffic said the Thai woman was trying to board a flight to Iran but had difficulty with a large bag at check-in. X-rays aroused suspicion among airport staff who said they saw an image resembling a real animal. Wildlife officers were called in, who discovered the tranquilised cub, the BBC reported on Thursday.

The tiger cub is now being cared for at a rescue centre of the department of national parks, wildlife and plant conservation.

Chris Shepherd, South-East Asia deputy regional director for Traffic, said: "We applaud all the agencies that came together to uncover this brazen smuggling attempt."

"If people are trying to smuggle live tigers in their check-in luggage, they obviously think wildlife smuggling is something easy to get away with and do not fear reprimand."

Al-Qaeda terror plot in Canada traced to Pak-Af, Iran

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An Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist plot in Canada unearthed on Wednesday with the arrest two suspects has been traced back to Pakistan, Iran and Dubai even as police arrested another plotter Thursday.

The suspects were just 'months' away from carrying out the first terrorist attack on Canadian soil, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said.

While 30-year-old Hiva Mohammad Alizadeh and 26-year-old Misbahuddin Ahmed - reported by his landlord to be of Indian origin - were arrested on Wednesday in Ottawa, 28-year-old Khuram Khan was nabbed on Thursday morning form the city of London, south-west of Toronto.

Khan, who comes from Pakistan, had taken part in the 2007 Canadian Idol contest wearing the Pakistani national dress of salwar-kameez.

The three suspects have been charged with hatching a terror plot in collaboration with their Canadian co-conspirators - Zakaria Mamosta, Rizgar Alizadeh and James Lara - and people in Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan and Dubai. They have also been charged with financing terror groups in Afghanistan.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have seized more than 50 electronic circuit board which can be used in making improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

The plot has been in the works since February 2008, and was unearthed after a year-long surveillance of the suspects, police said.

"This group posed a real and serious threat to the citizens of the national capital region (Ottawa) and Canada's national security. Our criminal investigation and arrests prevented the assembly of any bombs and the terrorist attack," Royal Canadian Mounted Police superintendent Serge Therriault said.

Reacting to the smashing of the jihadist plot, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said "Canada does face some very real threats in the troubled in which we live.''

He said terror networks targeting Western nations have a global reach.

"They exist not only in remote countries but through globalization and the Internet, they have links in our country and all through the world,'' the prime minister said.

It is the second Al-Qaeda-linked terror plot to be smashed in Canada after the famous Toronto-18 plot which was unearthed in June 2006 with the arrest of 18 Toronto-area Muslim youths for conspiring to blow up major targets and storm parliament to take leaders hostage and behead the prime minister.

Eleven of these 18 plotters were convicted.

Canada has more than one million Muslims in its population of 34 million, and their population is projected to triple in the next two decades.

Empire State Building snubs Mother Teresa

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Managers of the iconic Empire State Building (ESB) declined yesterday to commemorate what would have been Mother Teresa's 100th birthday by lighting white and blue bulbs atop the building.

Not ready: Empire State Building has denied to light up the building in white and blue on (inset) Mother Teresa's 100th birth anniversary. File pics

At nightfall, the lights on top of the 102-storey building will instead be red, white and blue in honour of the 90th anniversary of the women's right to vote in the United States, the managers of the tallest building in New York city said.

In June, building manager Anthony Malkin turned down a request from the Catholic League, a conservative activist group, to light blue and white bulbs to honour the August 26 birth centenary of Mother Teresa, who won the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize for her work with the sick and dying in the country.

The lights would represent the colours of Mother Teresa's religious order.

The skyscraper managers have honoured a string of personalities and historic events over the years by changing the colours of the lights atop the building.

The lights were purple and gold for the recent visit of Queen Elizabeth II, red and yellow for the 60th anniversary of the Chinese communist revolution, green for Saint Patrick's Day, blue for Frank Sinatra's eyes, and even yellow honouring The Simpsons -- the animated TV characters.

"The Empire State Building celebrates many cultures and causes in the world community with iconic lightings, and has a tradition of lightings for the religious holidays of Easter, Eid-ul-Fitr, Hanukkah, and Christmas," Malkin said in June.

However, he added, "As a privately owned building, ESB has a specific policy against any other lighting for religious figures or requests by religions and religious organisations."

Mother Teresa admirers were outraged, and vowed to hold a protest at the foot of the building.

However, progressive Catholic activists, including Catholics for Choice, a group that supports abortion rights, supported Malkin's decision.

New York city tabloids linked the event to Malkin's failure on Wednesday to halt construction of a nearby skyscraper. "Saint 1, Empire 0 in 'high' drama -- Teresa's revenge as council OKs rival skyscraper," read the New York Post headline.

Several Times Square billboards were lit in white and blue late yesterday, and blue and white lights have been lit outside Brooklyn city hall since Wednesday honoring the "Saint of the Gutters."


Activist arrests blots U2 Russian gig

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Irish band's first Russian concert marked by human rights arrests

Irish super group U2's first Russia concert was marred yesterday after police detained rights campaigners at the jam-packed venue and tore down tents to prevent them gathering signatures for petitions.

Some 75,000 fans flocked to Wednesday evening's showpiece in a Moscow stadium, which came the day after U2 front man Bono held talks with rock-loving President Dmitry Medvedev on issues including preventing the spread of polio and HIV.

Bono praised Medvedev as "gracious" in front of the crowd but also as a finale invited Russian rock star Yury Shevchuk -- famous for his outbursts against the Kremlin -- to the stage for a duet.

Police not only forced out activists handing out leaflets and gathering signatures but also U2's own charity fund, the ONE Campaign against AIDS, activists said.

"The tents of Amnesty International, Greenpeace and the ONE foundation were removed by police and we were not allowed to collect signatures and to talk to people," Greenpeace Russian director Ivan Blokov said.

"Our activities were agreed with U2's management, so we are very surprised," he said.

Moscow police however said the concert was not the moment to mix music and politics. "All of that held the unquestionable trappings of an unsanctioned picket," said a policespokesman.

Amnesty International's Russia head said that five of the rights watchdog's activists were detained ahead of Wednesday's concert.

"It is sad that in Russia, which is considered a civilised country the collection of petition signatures worries the authorities," Sergei Nikitin said.

"You get the impression that the authorities are afraid of their own citizens."

He protested that Amnesty had carried out similar awareness work with U2's encouragement throughout the band's European tour and that two of its activists had in fact travelled with U2 from the United States.

"I don't know if Bono knows about what happened to us," he said.

For the finale, Bono invited Soviet rock star turned anti-Kremlin activist Shevchuk onstage for a rendition of the Bob Dylan classic Knocking on Heaven's Door, hailing the veteran Russian singer as a "great man."

Shevchuk on Sunday appeared in front of 2,000 people for a banned concert in Moscow protesting plans to build a motorway through a forest, when he was forced to sing without any amplification.

US restaurant chain sued for sacking 'too fat' waitresses

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Two busty waitresses have launched a multi-million dollar law suit against restaurant chain Hooters after they were fired for being "too fat".

Cassandra Smith, 20, and Leanne Convery, 23, who were fired after being put on "weight probation" by bosses at the bar chain, claim in the law suit filed in Michigan, USA, that their civil rights were violated.

A judge has given them the go-ahead to press on with their action, citing a 1976 state law, which bans weight discrimination, the Sun reported.

Chiefs at Hooters, which has more than 435 restaurants across the US, say the law should not apply, as its waitresses are "entertainers", whose appearance is a "legitimate concern".

Smith filed the lawsuit on May 24 this year after being told by her managers to "improve her uniform fit" and being offered a gym membership.

Convery filed her claim in June, saying she was booted out in July last year after being told she had 30 days to make her uniform "fit more properly".
Posted by Harshad at 7:30 AM

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