Mid Day International News |
- Nepalese man claims to be shortest in the world
- Pak professor receives threat after Hijab remarks
- CIA has 52 graphic Osama death photos, but wants to keep them secret
- Divers abandon search on Italian cruise shipwreck
- Newsreader who 'buried Putin' is a star on the Internet
- South Africa recalls 1.35 mn leaky condoms
- Assange to guest star on Simpsons
- Violin played by band on Titanic finally discovered
- Man takes Church to court for refusing to nullify his baptism
- Millionaire leaves chauffeur Rs 5 crore
| Nepalese man claims to be shortest in the world Posted: A 72-year old Nepalese has sought inclusion of his name in Guinness World Records, claiming to be the shortest living man on the globe. He is a resident of Purandhara Village of Dang district of western Nepal. Dangi is the fourth son of his parents among the six siblings and weighs just 12 kilograms. He, however, is healthy and claims to have never took medicines or visited a hospital, his family members were quoted by the daily as saying. Dangi can play flute and Madal (Nepali traditional drum) and enjoys dancing in tune with the music. Meanwhile, a local organisation Bageshwori Dangi Bandhu Trust has been constituted to carry forward Dangi's cause and to make necessary preparations for applying for the Guinness World Records, according to sources. Till now, Junrey Balawing of Philippines, who measures 23.5 inches, is the shortest living man in the world on record. He had broken the record of 26-inches-tall Khagendra Thapa Magar from Baglung in western Nepal.
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| Pak professor receives threat after Hijab remarks Posted: A senior professor of a reputed medical college in Pakistan's most populous Punjab province has received threats after he asked a student not to wear the 'hijab' or headscarf in his classes. Shaharyar, the head of the oncology department of King Edward Medical University in Lahore, had asked a girl attending a fourth-year MBBS class not to wear the hijab. "It s better if you wear the hijab outside the classroom," Shaharyar had said while delivering a lecture a few days ago. Following his remarks, students affiliated to the Islami Jamiat Tulba, the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami, boycotted Shaharyar's classes and protested against him. The IJT activists demanded that the Vice-Chancellor should take action against Shaharyar or else they would not allow him to enter the campus. Shaharyar said: "I have received threatening messages on my cell phone. I have done nothing wrong as I had just told the girl student that the hijab was unnecessary in class." Though Shaharyar apologised to the student concerned following pressure from extremist elements, the members of the IJT have not withdrawn their demand for "anti-Islam" elements to be thrown out of the campus. IJT leader Akhtar Nazir said, "The professor's action is highly objectionable and we are not ready tolerate it. We demand action against him." Some students have submitted a written complaint against Shaharyar to the varsity s administration. Vice-Chancellor Asad Aslam told PTI that the university was seriously considering a proposal to transfer Shaharyar after his "controversial" remarks about the hijab. "There has been unrest in the campus after his remarks and to restore peace in the varsity, we have no other option but to transfer him," Aslam said.
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| CIA has 52 graphic Osama death photos, but wants to keep them secret Posted: Though there has been a clamour for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to release secret images and videos of Osama bin Laden's death, the agency wants to keep them classified and secret. Now it appears a reluctant U.S. government might be forced into revealing some of the 52 graphic photos thanks to a lawsuit filed by an activist group. The government is legally obliged to respond to the Judicial Watch lawsuit, the Daily Mail quoted a former top privacy official, as claiming. Former Justice Department Office of Information and Privacy director Dan Metcalfe told The Atlantic Wire he had looked closely at the brief. "It in effect concedes that there are reasonably segregable, non-exempt portions of the records that are legally required to be disclosed," he was quoted, as saying. The 'graphic' images include 'post-mortem images of Osama's body', CIA National Clandestine Service director John Bennett wrote in September. 'They depict the fatal bullet wound to Bin Laden''s head and other similarly gruesome images of his corpse,' he added, reported ABC News. Judicial Watch filed the lawsuit through a Freedom of Information request three days after Osama bin Laden was killed by Navy SEALs in Pakistan. The CIA, however, is worried that if any photos are released they could be inflammatory by inspiring terror attacks on U.S. targets by other extremists. Bin Laden was buried at sea following Muslim traditions to avoid creating a shrine to his extremist followers. Privacy expert Dan Metcalfe said President Barack Obama went too far in trying to keep all of the death images of Bin Laden a secret.
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| Divers abandon search on Italian cruise shipwreck Posted: Italian divers today gave up their search on the wreck of the Costa Concordia, in which 32 people are feared to have died, as workers prepared to start pumping out fuel to avoid an oil spill. "We have definitively stopped the underwater search inside the ship," said Luca Cari, fire brigade spokesman on the island of Giglio, explaining that conditions inside the giant half-submerged liner were becoming too risky. "The conditions are no longer acceptable," he told AFP. The civil protection agency, which has been overseeing rescue efforts following the January 13 disaster, said in a statement it had contacted the families of the missing and foreign embassies involved to explain its decision. It added that rescuers would continue to inspect the above-water part of the liner and use specialist equipment to check for corpses on the seabed in an 18-square-kilometre area around the wreck. The 114,500-tonne Costa Concordia with more than 4,200 people aboard ran aground on rocks off Giglio and lurched on to its side as passengers were settling down to dinner shortly after the start of a Mediterranean cruise. Seventeen bodies have been recovered from the sea and the wreck and 15 people remain missing. The search has had to be suspended several times due to choppy seas and small movements of the wreck, which sparked fears that the massive ship could slip off the rocky shelf it is resting on and sink entirely.
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| Newsreader who 'buried Putin' is a star on the Internet Posted: A newsreader who slipped up and said bloggers were debating whether Prime Minister Vladimir Putin should be buried has become an Internet sensation and received thousands of grateful posts in Russia. Maria Bukhtuyeva, a newsreader from the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, made the mistake when wanting to say presidential hopeful Mikhail Prokhorov had proposed holding a referendum on whether Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin should be removed from a Red Square Mausoleum and buried.  "Shall we bury Vladimir Putin?" Bukhtuyeva of Krasnoyarsk's TVK television channel inquired instead last week. "This topic is now being actively discussed on the Internet." The Russian blogosphere exploded with delight, with thousands of commentators sending her virtual flowers and leaving numerous posts on the young woman's page on the social site VKontakte, a Russian version of Facebook. "Masha is the voice of the people," read one post, referring to her by her diminutive name. "Masha, you said everything right," read another post. In a bid to address the controversy, Bukhtuyeva's colleague asked her on air how she managed "to become an Internet star in a matter of 26 seconds," noting that the recording uploaded on YouTube was viewed half a million times over three days. She said it was just a slip of the tongue. Putin is seeking to reclaim his old Kremlin job in the March presidential election, but is wrestling with growing unpopularity. Tens of thousands took to the streets in Moscow last month, and the nascent protest movement is hoping to muster another big rally in Moscow on Saturday.
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| South Africa recalls 1.35 mn leaky condoms Posted: More than a million condoms ordered for delegates attending the African National Congress centenary celebrations have been recalled after claims that they are faulty. The 1.35 million government-issue contraceptives were delivered to guesthouses, hotels, restaurants and bars before the conference began in Bloemfontein earlier this month and all bore the South African Bureau of Standards stamp (SABS).  The 'Choice' condoms were aimed at promoting safe sex among the 1,00,000 party faithful, some of whom were dubbed "pantypreneurs" by the local media because of their penchant for late-night bars and bed-hopping. The problem with the condoms was discovered after people complained to the HIV charity, Treatment Action Campaign (TAC). "People would claim that the condoms burst. When we investigated the complaints, it turned out the condoms are porous," said Sello Mokhalipi, of the TAC. The Free State health department has now recalled the batch of 8,700 boxes amid fears of unwanted pregnancies or HIV/Aids transmission. Jabu Mbalula, a spokesman for the department, said it was investigating how the condoms got SABS approval, and they would now be subjected to laboratory tests. "There is no reason for people to panic," Mbalula said. Not the first leak The last major recall of condoms in South Africa was in August 2007 when 20 million were recalled after "hundreds of thousands" were found to be faulty. Did you know? South Africa has one of the highest infection rates of HIV -- the virus that causes Aids -- in the world.
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| Assange to guest star on Simpsons Posted: Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, is about to meet his yellow-skinned alter-ego in a cameo appearance on the hit US show, as he enters the final round of his extradition battle He may be accused of sexual molestation and currently under house arrest, but that hasn't stopped Julian Assange from appearing on one of his favourite TV shows.  Aye carumba: Julian Assange will play himself and be a part of the 500th episode in which he will be the Simpsons' new neighbour after they run away from Springfield. File pic The silver-haired activist, who is still under house arrest in the UK, will play himself in a special airing of the animated series, celebrating the programme's 500th episode. Assange recorded his lines from a secret location, after show creator Matt Groening heard a rumour that he was interested in appearing on the television programme. In the episode, which will air on February 19 in the US, Simpsons characters Homer and Marge hear that Springfield residents have been holding secret meetings to evict the troublesome family from the town. "The Simpsons go off the grid to this very rugged place where they meet [Assange], who's sort of their new Flanders," said Al Jean, executive producer of the show. However, aside from being their new next door neighbour, the similarities between Flanders and Assange end there. When the Simpsons are invited to watch a home movie with Assange they find themselves watching an Afghan wedding being bombed. "He's a controversial figure, and there's a good reason he's controversial," said Jean. "There was discussion internally whether or not to have him on the show, but ultimately we went ahead and did it."  Battle continues WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's two-day hearing at England's Supreme Court gets underway today, in the latest stage of his lengthy battle against extradition to Sweden to face rape allegations. If the court rejects his case, the 40-year-old Australian will have exhausted all his options in Britain but he could still make a last-ditch appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, prosecutors have said. The Supreme Court, England's highest, granted Assange permission to appeal in December. It said his case raised an issue of "great public importance", namely whether Sweden's state prosecutor had the right to sign the European arrest warrant under which he was held. The case will be considered by seven judges, rather than the usual five. The Supreme Court usually takes about 10 weeks to deliver a judgement but the parties have requested that this case be speeded up. Today marks 421 days since the arrest of the former computer hacker, who has been living under tight bail conditions at the country mansion of a wealthy supporter in Norfolk, eastern England. Assange was arrested in Britain in December 2010 after two women made allegations of sexual molestation and an accusation of rape in Sweden, which he strongly denies. He says the sex was consensual and claims the allegations are politically motivated. Assange's extradition to Sweden was initially approved by a lower court in February. An appeal to the High Court was rejected in November, but it subsequently granted him permission to appeal to the Supreme Court. If this appeal fails, the WikiLeaks founder will have only one other option to stop his extradition -- an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
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| Violin played by band on Titanic finally discovered Posted: Heroic Wallace Hartley and his band defiantly played on as the doomed Titanic sank. Now experts believe the violin he was using has been discovered. Tests are being done to prove if it is the instrument band leader Wallace used when he and his seven fellow musicians drowned in the disaster 100 years ago.  Treasure trove: Other items salvaged from the ship displayed at Guernsey's Auction House in New York. File pic/afp Author Steve Turner, who wrote a book about the Titanic band, said: "I was suspicious at first but when I looked closely I could only conclude that this was the real thing or the result of an extremely elaborate, and well informed, hoax. I am convinced it is genuine." When Wallace's body was found in the Atlantic, his violin was reportedly strapped to his chest. But its whereabouts have been a mystery ever since. The person who claims to now own the violin lives in the UK but is not one of the musician's relatives. The owner says Wallace's fiancee, Maria Robinson, was sent the instrument after the tragedy. Among the evidence is a 1912 diary in which Maria, who moved from the US to Bridlington, East Yorkshire, drafted a letter to authorities in Nova Scotia thanking them for returning it to her. It is claimed the violin's case has the initials WHH and on the instrument is the inscription: "For Wallace on the occasion of our engagement. From Maria." If sold it would smash the record for a Titanic artefact - �101,000 for post office keys in 2007. Auctioneer Henry Aldridge has spent thousands establishing if it is Wallace's violin. Aldridge said: "The owner has not decided if they want to sell but it is more likely it will go on exhibition if proved genuine. We hope to have a definite answer this year."
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| Man takes Church to court for refusing to nullify his baptism Posted: An elderly French man is fighting to make a formal break with the Catholic Church, in a case that could have far-reaching effects. Rene LeBouvier (71) has taken the church to court over its refusal to let him nullify his baptism after losing his faith in the religion. Though he was raised in a community where Catholicism dominated, Rene changed his views in the 1970s after spending time with 'free thinkers'. As he didn't believe in God anymore, the pensioner thought it would be more honest to leave the church and wrote to his diocese and asked to be un-baptised in 2000. Ten years later, LeBouvier wanted to go further. Paedophile scandals and the Pope preaching against condoms in AIDS-racked Africa, helped strengthen LeBouvier's opposition to the religion. Again, he asked the church to strike off his name from baptism records, but when the priest told him it wasn't possible, he took the church to court. French law states that citizens have the right to leave organisations if they wish and, last October, a judge in Normandy ruled in his favour. However, the diocese has since appealed and the case is pending. Loup Desmond, who has followed the case for the French Catholic newspaper La Croix, says he thinks it could set a legal precedent and open the way for more demands for de-baptism.
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| Millionaire leaves chauffeur Rs 5 crore Posted: Alan Meltzer, lonely after his wife left him, repaid his driver and doorman who gave him a shoulder to cry on -- by making them rich after his death A childless multimillionaire music executive reportedly left $1.5 million (Rs 5 crore) to his faithful doorman and driver when he passed away. Alan Meltzer, also a prolific poker player, left $1 million to his chauffeur and $500,000 (Rs 2.47 crore) to his doorman after his sudden death last October.
His beneficiaries were stunned by Meltzer's generosity. Chauffeur Jean Laborde said, "I don't know what to do exactly with the money, but one thing I know for sure -- every year, I'm going to bring the guy some flowers at his grave." The 54-year-old father of five, from Irvington, New Jersey, added, "He was such a nice guy. He left me money, but it's not a good deal for me because it means he's no longer here." His doorman Chamil Demirag from Brooklyn, New York said, "He was a generous guy. He was a really good friend of mine, and I was a good friend of his. It's a surprise. Peace and rest to him. That's all I can say." Meltzer founded New-York based Wind-Up Records with his wife, Diana in 1997. Wind-up, the largest independently-owned record label in the world, has bands including Evanescence and Creed on its books. Wife speaks Meltzer and his wife, a former model, divorced in 2010 after 13 years together. Diana said she 'could care less' that she received nothing of her former husband's $10 (Rs 50 crore) million fortune. "He can leave it to whoever he wants to. I'm doing fine. I could care less," she said. "If he wants to give it to the bums, he can give it to the bums. He can give his money to whoever he wants. We're divorced. The man is dead." The cause of Meltzer's sudden death is still unknown. Before forming Wind-Up, Meltzer was a pretzel vendor on the streets of Brooklyn, New York. He went on to form CD One Stop, a chain of record stores in New York and Connecticut. The entrepreneur was also a well-known face on the poker circuit and appeared on cable television show High Stakes Poker in 2009. He had owned a series of extravagant properties in his lifetime, including a penthouse in the celebrity-filled One Beacon Court on New York's Upper East Side.
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