Mid Day International News

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• The girl who is paid to eat cake
• Is she designing wedding gown?
• Protesters sing for US president
• Maid of honour Pippa parties at Holly Branson's engagement
• Sorry, I'm busy!
• French police unions outraged over lunchtime alcohol ban

The girl who is paid to eat cake Posted: It's no surprise that Laura Fagan is smiling - she has the sweetest job in existence. The 29-year-old knows better than most what being full up on sweet treats tastes like... as she gets paid to eat chocolate, desserts and cakes. And in case that doesn't quite sound like a good enough job, Laura also gets to travel for work. Despite She has sampled everything from gourmet chocolate in France to New York cheesecake in the US. As chief chilled dessert and cake developer for supermarket giant Tesco, Laura gets paid to try as many as 20 desserts in one day. She could find herself eating apple crumble as early as 8 am and might still be trying out a new range of profiteroles at 6 pm before she leaves for home. Despite her high-calorie career, svelte Laura remains in great shape, with her only worry being her pearly white teeth. The food and consumer management graduate, who lives in London with her boyfriend, said she loves her job and is often told by her female friends they would love to do it. She said, "I travel around the world tasting the finest gateaux to cheesecake to pana cotta, banana splits, doughnuts and custard tarts." Asked her about the health aspect of her job, and she added, "Of course, I worried about the calories when I started the job but I try to get down to the gym as often as possible. The main thing is my teeth, I don't think my dentist would be happy if I told them what I do, so I try and brush as often as possible." One of her latest projects saw Laura spending months researching doughnuts including their texture, filling, weight, aroma and consistency in order to create a new variety.

Is she designing wedding gown? Posted: Brazil-born Daniella Helayel is only designer to bag an invite Kate Middleton has invited one of her favourite fashion designers to her wedding giving the strongest hint yet that she will be making the wonderful white wedding gown fit for a princess. According to a royal wedding invite list released by The Sun, Brazilian-born Daniella Helayel will join the 388 strong party at Westminster Abbey to be a part of the wedding of the decade. Yay, I get to go! Helayel has created Kate's engagement outfit The designer created Kate's engagement outfit and has previously made clothes for A-list celebs such as Madonna and Sharon Stone. Kate has kept the designer and style of her dress a secret, with Palace officials saying the bride wants to surprise her groom when she walks down the aisle. Despite the secrecy, speculation about the dress has been rife since the pair announced their engagement. Joanna Marschner, the senior curator at Britain's Historic Royal Palaces who looks after Queen Victoria's gown and other dresses worn by past royal brides, said, "The dress has to rise to the occasion," she said. "It has to be big, it has to stand up to the scale of the space and stand up to the scrutiny of all those eyes. It has to carry the day, it has to say something about our time, and it has to be the choice of the bride. She has to be comfortable in it."

Protesters sing for US president Posted: Supporters of Bradley Manning, soldier accused of giving classified data to WikiLeaks break into melodic tune at Rs 15.5 lakh Obama fundraiser US President Barack Obama last night faced an unusual singing protest over the detention of Bradley Manning, a US soldier held for allegedly passing classified documents to WikiLeaks. On a campaign-style swing, Obama was headlining a fundraising breakfast where tickets cost $35,800 (Rs 15.5 lakh) when a woman in a white suit rose to interrupt him, saying she and her friends had written him a song. Free Bradley: Demonstrators protest against Obama and showed their support to Bradley Manning (inset) who has been transferred to Fort Leavenworth. Pic/AFP The woman, who stripped off her jacket revealed a black T-shirt that said 'Free Bradley Manning', and others at a table for 10 then sang a song that noted they had just contributed to Obama's 2012 reelection bid and went on to criticise his detention. "Dear Mr. President we honour you today sir/Each of us brought you $5,000/It takes a lot of Benjamins to run a campaign / I paid my dues, where's our change?" the song began. "We'll vote for you in 2012, yes that's true/Look at the Republicans -- what else can we do/Even though we don't know if we'll retain our liberties," it continued. The protesters also handed out small signs that read 'Free Bradley Manning' or bore his picture. "That was a nice song," said Obama. The woman was escorted out, two others at her table left, but others stayed and applauded Obama's speech when he finished it. Manning was transferred Wednesday from a military prison at Quantico, Virginia, to another in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, according to the Pentagon. The 23-year-old Welsh-born US army intelligence officer, who allegedly provided WikiLeaks with a trove of secret military and diplomatic documents, has been imprisoned at Quantico since July 2010. Manning's detention conditions, which have included solitary confinement and being forced to sleep naked, have drawn the attention of Amnesty International, the American Civil Liberties Union and the British government. The White House played down the incident, with spokesman Jay Carney saying the singing "broke his flow a little bit" but that he "thought it was kind of funny" and quipped "you don't get that every day" as he left the room. Transferred Bradley Manning suspected of giving classified data to WikiLeaks was moved to a medium security prison following international criticism of his treatment at Quantico. Rs 15.5 lakh cost of the ticket for the fundraising breakfast

Maid of honour Pippa parties at Holly Branson's engagement Posted: No riotous antics for Kate Middleton's sister Pippa as she celebrated the engagement of one of their pals on Thursday. The party was for Virgin boss Richard Branson's daughter Holly, who will marry her shipbroker fianc � Fred Andrews on November 20. Party girls: Kate Middleton's younger sister Pippa (right) hit the town in London on Thursday to celebrate the engagement of her friends Holly Branson (left) and Fred Andrews. file pics/getty images And Pippa, pretty in a peach mini dress, looked as fresh-faced on leaving as on arrival. Also on their best behaviour at the do were Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie. Holly and her fianc � are invited to all three parts of the wedding celebrations in Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace. She said, "To me they're just two good friends and I'll be happy to be there watching my two good friends get married."

Sorry, I'm busy! Posted: King of Cambodia snubs royal wedding, hasn't even responded to invite Prince William and his fianc �e Kate have been sensationally snubbed by the King of Cambodia. King Norodom Sihamoni (in pic) has not replied to the couple's wedding invitation. He is the only Royal out of dozens worldwide who has failed to respond. Sihamoni (57), a shaven-headed former ballet dancer and instructor, is not the first Cambodian king to snub a British royal wedding. In 1963 his dad Sihanouk refused to attend Princess Alexandra's wedding after being told he would not get a guard of honour and could not stay at Windsor Castle. Sihamoni, who took the throne in 2004, lived under house arrest with his dad in the 1970s while the Khmer Rouge regime murdered 1.5 million Cambodians. "The King can not come to the Royal Wedding because he has a very tight schedule," a spokesman said. "He has another important engagement." According to The Sun, the guest list includes 388 close friends and associates invited by groom Prince William, 28, and his bride-to-be Kate Middleton. Among them are Posh and Becks, Rowan Atkinson, TV presenter Ben Fogle, rugby supremo Sir Clive Woodward and Lock Stock director Guy Ritchie. Also listed are 254 relatives and friends of the Middleton family -- including Kate's infamous uncle Gary Goldsmith and Reading FC chairman John Madejski. The Queen and Prince Charles have drafted a list of 255 VIPs and aristocrats -- including 62 foreign Royals (see box) and heads of state. Royals on the list CROWN Prince of Abu Dhabi. THE Aga Khan. QUEEN Sofia and Crown Prince Felipe of Spain. CROWN Prince of Bahrain. KING of Bhutan. SULTAN of Brunei. KING and Queen of Bulgaria. QUEEN of Denmark. KING and Queen of Greece. SHEIK Al-Sabah of Kuwait. PRINCE Seeiso of Lesotho. GRAND Duke of Luxembourg. KING and Queen of Malaysia. PRINCE Albert of Monaco. PRINCESS Lalla Salma of Morocco. PRINCE Frisor of Holland. KING and Queen of Norway. EMIR of Qatar. KING and Crown Princess of Romania. PRINCE bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia. KING of Swaziland. PRINCESS Maha of Thailand. KING Siaosi of Tonga. CROWN Princess Victoria of Sweden. CROWN Prince Alexander and Crown Princess Katherine of Yugoslavia.

French police unions outraged over lunchtime alcohol ban Posted: France's police unions have expressed outrage over an official decree that suggested Compagnies R �publicaines de S �curit �, or CRS officers, would no longer be served wine or beer with their meals. As of now, it has been a tradition to serve a glass of wine or beer to these officers, even while on duty, The Guardian reports. However, authorities were angered by pictures published on the website in October last year, which showed police drinking beer from cans on the sidelines of a sixth-formers'' street-protest against pension reforms in Perreux-sur-Marne, north of Paris. The website claimed these uniformed officers telling locals that it was very dangerous to go outside during the high-school demo before stopping for beer on a street. Paul Le Guennec, of the biggest riot police union, Unit � Police SGP-FO, said the French public were not shocked at the notion of a CRS officer drinking at lunch. "Does the fact that having a glass of wine while eating prevent any kind of worker from carrying out their job? I don't think the chief of police drinks water when he's having a meal," Le Guennec told the paper Le JDD. The Union insisted that having a small drink with wine is not against the French labour law.

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