Mid Day International News |
- Man kept wife in cellar for 16 years, lived with another woman
- Shane Warne wooed Liz Hurley back with Ping Pong the parrot
- World 'faces chocolate drought in 2014'
- 85-year-old woman sexually assaulted at busy train station
- Oprah Winfrey's secret: A surprise half-sister
| Man kept wife in cellar for 16 years, lived with another woman Posted: A man in Brazil locked up his wife in a cellar for 16 long years as he lived upstairs with another woman, it was reported here. Joao Batista Groppo has been arrested on suspicion of keeping his wife locked in the squalid cellar for 16 years, the Daily Mail reported on Friday. Sixty-four-year-old Sebastiana Aparecida Groppo was found by the police in the cellar of the house in the city of Sorocaba in Sao Paulo state on Wednesday. The woman was living in pitiable conditions as the floor of the cellar was littered with faeces and dead cockroaches. "She was found without clothes, wrapped up in a blanket," police official Ana Luiza Salomone was quoted as saying. He said the windows had been shuttered and were covered in mould. Joao Batista told police that he had locked up his wife of 42 years as she was mentally ill and aggressive. The police said that Joao apparently kept his wife locked up for two periods totalling 16 years, the second period began after 2003 when their son died in an accident. An official said that Sebastiana showed signs of mental problems that could have been caused by her captivity.
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| Shane Warne wooed Liz Hurley back with Ping Pong the parrot Posted: Spin bowler Shane Warne gifted lover Liz Hurley a lovebird called Ping Pong in order to woo her back. The Aussie cricket legend is thought to have had the parrot delivered to Hurley in LA last week. And she is now planning to teach the blue-fronted Amazonian bird, Ping Pong, to sing Waltzing Matilda, reports the Daily Star. She told the Aussie: "Trying to teach her to sing Rule Britannia. Maybe I'll attempt Waltzing Matilda too so she can serenade you....." The romance first the headlines at the end of last year when they were caught kissing outside a London hotel.
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| World 'faces chocolate drought in 2014' Posted: The world is facing a 'chocolate drought', according to an expert, whose warning is prompted by fears that the globe's sustainable cocoa supplies could be exhausted by 2014. Political unrest in the Ivory Coast, the source of almost half the world's cocoa beans, has depleted the number of cocoa farmers there. Many have fled the country or are smuggling the crop into Ghana, where it is selling at a far higher price, says British chocolatier Angus Kennedy. Chocolate makers are now facing the highest cocoa prices for more than 30 years. Prices jumped by 10 per cent this month alone following a curb on international cocoa exports initiated earlier this week by Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara. Kennedy said that chocolate producers were facing "one of the biggest challenges to hit the industry in recent history". "Supplies of sustainable cocoa are set to run out, it's that simple. The Ivory Coast is a complete no-go area for cocoa traders as it's too dangerous, so training new farmers and trying to cut problems in the region is now impossible. "So in effect, its sustainability is not sustainable. Prices can't go up as it's reported because there basically isn't enough certified cocoa left to sell. Things could get nasty now as producers start to fight over the last stocks," the British media quoted him as saying.
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| 85-year-old woman sexually assaulted at busy train station Posted: An 85-year-old woman was sexually assaulted at one of Melbourne's busiest train stations in broad daylight. Sergeant Doug Smith, of the sexual crime squad, said a man aged about 60 confronted the woman as she was going to a toilet about 1 pm on Thursday at the Southern Cross Railway Station, in central Melbourne. "She was confronted by a man outside the disabled toilets who then dragged her into the disabled toilet and at this time he severely assaulted her by bashing her, punching her to the face and head area and then he sexually assaulted her," News.com.au quoted him as saying. While the man made an initial demand for cash, he fled the scene empty-handed after 10 minutes, he said. Smith said the victim remains in hospital 'black and blue' with bruises and had a fracture to the face. "It's a very audacious attack. It happened in the middle of the day, it happened when there were many, many people in the area going to and from the toilets," he said. He said police were confident of making an arrest and they had clear images of the man from CCTV footage. Police describe him as aged about 60, with white short hair, about 185 cm tall. He was wearing a dark polo shirt; light coloured shorts and possibly glasses.
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| Oprah Winfrey's secret: A surprise half-sister Posted: Oprah Winfrey has a half-sister named Patricia who was given up for adoption by Winfrey's mother, Vernita Lee, shortly after her birth in 1963. That's the big secret.
Patricia lived in foster homes until she was seven-years-old, including some that were "not so good," she said. Patricia said she always hoped her birth mother would return for her. By 17, Patricia was a single mother. She has two grown children, a daughter and son. "Oh my God, I have a family" was her reaction when she found out she had three siblings, Patricia said. One of those siblings, the only one still alive, is Winfrey. Just before Thanksgiving, Winfrey said, she was told "a bombshell family secret." The story would have become public and been "exploited" eventually, Winfrey said, "So I wanted you to hear it from me first." Patricia is several inches shorter than Winfrey, but the half-sisters are similar in appearance, with round faces and the same smile. Winfrey said she had no idea her mother had given up a baby when she was nine and living with her father Vernon Winfrey in Nashville. Winfrey said in previews for the show that the news "literally shook me to my core" and called the reunion "a miracle." Winfrey called their first encounter "a beloved moment."
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