Mid Day International News |
- Philippines bus hostage drama ends, hijacker shot dead
- Sex cult smashed in China
- A woman who is terrified of bananas
- Brit woman allergic to money and more
- Taliban video game sparks outrage
- Dismissed cop seizes tourist bus in Philippines
- A woman who is terrified of bananas
- Captive soldier turns rogue?
- Miss USA opposes Ground Zero mosque
- Brit woman breaks text message record
| Philippines bus hostage drama ends, hijacker shot dead Posted: Philippine police in helmets and flak jackets crouched beside a bus with 15 Chinese tourists held hostages inside on Monday after firing shots at the tires in a bid to end a daylong standoff led by a dismissed policeman. There was no immediate word on casualties. But the Filipino driver who escaped moments before police surrounded the bus in downtown Manila said the hostage-taker, armed with an M16 rifle, had opened fire at the tourists, police officer Roderick Mariano said. Police used hammers to smash side windows, door and windscreen, but still did not enter the vehicle and there was no movement seen inside. Dismissed police officer Rolando Del Rosario Mendoza fired several gunshots inside and outside the stationary bus in a seaside park in Manila. "I just shot two hostages," Mendoza told DZXL radio station as screams and crying were heard before the line was cut off. The bus driver, a Filipino identified only as Alberto, escaped during Mendoza's outburst. Heavily armed police officers launched an assault on the bus immediately after the gunshots and Mendoza's claim that he shot two of the remaining hostages. Mendoza seized the bus nearly 10 hours earlier and demanded that authorities review his dismissal from the force in February 2009 due to extortion and harassment. He has denied any wrongdoing and filed an appeal. There were 25 people inside the bus when it was seized, including 20 Chinese tourists and a travel guide from Hong Kong and four Filipinos. Six Chinese tourists, including three children, and three Filipinos were subsequently freed unharmed as "gifts" to negotiators, said Manila city vice mayor Isko Moreno. "He released a couple of the hostages as a goodwill gesture to the negotiations," he said. Police said 15 Chinese nationals and one Filipino were still being held hostage by Mendoza. Before Mendoza opened fire, a 44-year-old Chinese woman told DZXL that she and her 15-year-old daughter were among the hostages. "We are okay but we are afraid," she said. Alberto also told the radio station that he and the Chinese nationals were okay but tired. He added that they were all just sitting down. "I hope they give in to the demand of police officer Mendoza so this will end," he said. "To my family, don't worry about me. I am just okay here."
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| Posted: A cult, which advocated sexual liberation, was smashed by the police in China's Xiamen city. The cult leader lived with some of his women followers and had group sex activities with them. Sex cult leader Chen Keyong even persuaded some women to bring teenage girls to his training courses, Shanghai Daily on Monday quoted Xiamen police as saying. Police acted on a tip-off that 54-year-old lived with some of his women followers and held group sex with them. The women followers had given up their careers and even family life to follow Chen's "green land health community". The followers paid Chen for training courses. A two-day training course cost 2,500 yuan ($368) while a session of 21 days was priced at 18,000 yuan. The training sessions were to advocate free sex or group sex plus other meditation and wild dancing, police said. Chen claimed that he was a disciple of well-known Indian cult leader Osho or Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh.
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| A woman who is terrified of bananas Posted: A woman in Britain is so afraid of bananas that even looking at it can make her hyperventilate, sweat and throw up. Unfortunately, Fran Dando's two-year-old son Harrison loves bananas. So, she wears rubber gloves to feed them to him. Fran, of Hastings in East Sussex, told The Sun: "I make the exception because he's my little boy. But when someone takes one out or has some in their house I have to leave the room." "It is embarrassing and friends have tried to snap me out of the fear but nothing works." When Dando was seven-years-old, her brother had hid a banana in her bed. "I felt this horrible slimy thing. It frightened the life out of me. Suddenly I was hyperventilating and sweating. I was frozen in panic. Ever since then if I see one, the same feeling comes back," she said.
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| Brit woman allergic to money and more Posted: A British woman is allergic to almost everything. She even gets a reaction from touching money and rainfall on her head. Yvonne Simon suffers from allergy from almost every food and touching money make her glands swell and bring out a rash, The Sun reported on Monday. She is also allergic to minerals found in bottled sparkling spring water. So, what does she eat? She survives on a diet of filtered water, lentils, brown rice, carrots and apples. Simon always carries an umbrella in case it rains and she wears gloves when handling money or newspapers and books. Doctors said that they have never seen such a wide range of allergies in a single person. Yvonne started getting allergic reactions when she was eight. "I hate being this way and would love to live a normal life. I wish there was an expert who could help me," Yvonne, of Purfleet, Essex, was quoted as saying.
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| Taliban video game sparks outrage Posted: A video game in which the players pretend to be heavily armed Taliban guerrillas has sparked anger, with British Defence Secretary Liam Fox calling for a ban and a security expert stating that "the Afghanistan campaign isn't a game - it's happening". The video game is the updated version of "Medal Of Honour" that is scheduled to be available in October. The game allows players to 'attack' brave British Forces in Afghanistan using AK-47 rifles. The players are reportedly told to stop the security forces "at all costs", and they are awarded points for each Allied soldier they kill. Defence Secretary Liam Fox called for a ban on the game. "It's shocking someone would think it acceptable to recreate the acts of the Taliban," The Sun Monday quoted Fox as saying. Security adviser Andy McNab called the video game "insensitive" and added: "The Afghanistan campaign isn't a game - it's happening." However, a spokesperson for the game's developer Electronic Arts said: "It reflects the fact every conflict has two sides."
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| Dismissed cop seizes tourist bus in Philippines Posted: A sacked police officer on Monday seized a tourist bus in the Philippines with 22 Chinese nationals from Hong Kong and three Filipinos aboard, police said. Six of the Chinese hostages, including three children, were freed unharmed one hour later after negotiations, said Chief Superintendent Rodolfo Magtibay, the Manila City police chief. The suspect, armed with an M16 assault rifle, hitched a ride with the bus and announced the hostage-taking as the tourists prepared to take a tour at the seaside Luneta Park, Magtibay said. Police cordoned off the tourist bus, which was parked in front of a grandstand in Luneta Park. Some of the hostages were seen peeking through window curtains that had been drawn. The suspect, identified as police officer Rolando Del Rosario Mendoza, was dismissed from service in January for extortion and harassment. "The police officer insists he has done nothing wrong and wants authorities to look at his appeal," Magtibay said. Police initially identified the hostages as South Korean tourists but later clarified that they were from Hong Kong.
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| A woman who is terrified of bananas Posted: A woman in Britain is so afraid of bananas that even looking at it can make her hyperventilate, sweat and throw up. Unfortunately, Fran Dando's two-year-old son Harrison loves bananas. So, she wears rubber gloves to feed them to him. Fran, of Hastings in East Sussex, told The Sun: "I make the exception because he's my little boy. But when someone takes one out or has some in their house I have to leave the room." "It is embarrassing and friends have tried to snap me out of the fear but nothing works." When Dando was seven-years-old, her brother had hid a banana in her bed. "I felt this horrible slimy thing. It frightened the life out of me. Suddenly I was hyperventilating and sweating. I was frozen in panic. Ever since then if I see one, the same feeling comes back," she said.
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| Posted: Taliban captured US private converts to Islam, teaches bomb making skills A captured American soldier is training Taliban fighters bomb-making and ambush skills, according to one of his captors and Afghan intelligence officials. Private Bowe Bergdahl disappeared in June 2009 while based in eastern Afghanistan and is thought to be the only US serviceman in captivity. The 24-year-old has converted to Islam and now has the Muslim name Abdullah, one of his captors said. Bomb making skills A Taliban deputy district commander in Paktika, who called himself Haji Nadeem, said that Bergdahl taught him how to dismantle a mobile phone and turn it into a remote control for a roadside bomb. Nadeem claimed he also received basic ambush training from the US soldier. "Most of the skills he taught us we already knew," he said. "Some of my comrades think he's pretending to be a Muslim to save himself so they wouldn't behead him." Afghan intelligence officials also believe that Bergdahl is cooperating with the Taliban and is acting as adviser to fighters at a base in the tribal area of Pakistan. Nadeem also shed some light on how Bergdahl was captured. After the serviceman left his post in Paktika's Yahya Khel district with an Afghan soldier he was spotted entering a nearby village. Stripped and beaten A group of eight Taliban gunman in a nearby field were alerted and ambushed the pair, killing the Afghan soldier. Bergdahl was knocked to the ground and ordered to strip and put on Afghan clothing. His kidnappers disposed of all his clothing and belongings, fearing he may be bugged. The American was initially terrified that he would be beheaded, Nadeem said, but has since become very relaxed in their company. In April, a harrowing video of Bergdahl pleading for his freedom was released by the Taliban. In the footage, Bergdahl said he wanted to return to his family and dear ones in Idaho. He added that the war in Afghanistan is not worth the number of lives that have been lost or wasted in prison. It was the first he had been seen since the Taliban released a previous video of him at Christmas. The seven-minute video of Bergdahl shows him sporting a beard and doing a few press-ups to demonstrate he's in good physical condition. There was no way to verify when the footage was taken or if he is still alive. In the sometimes choppy video, Bergdahl talked about his love for his family, his friends, motorcycles and sailing. "I'm a prisoner. I want to go home," he said. It's not worth the amount of lives that have been wasted in prisons." At times speaking haltingly, as if holding back emotions, Bergdahl was clad in what appeared to be an Army shirt and fatigues. He clasped his hands together and pleaded, "The pain in my heart to see my family again doesn't get any smaller. Release me. Please, I'm begging you, bring me home."
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| Miss USA opposes Ground Zero mosque Posted: Looks like Miss USA -- a practicing Muslim and the first Arab-American ever to snag the sparkly crown won't be unrolling her prayer mat in the mosque near Ground Zero. Protests galore
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| Brit woman breaks text message record Posted: A British woman is feeling GR8 after smashing the world record for typing the fastest text message. Nimble-fingered Melissa Thompson (27), from Salford, Greater Manchester, wrote the wordy passage given to her in just under 26 seconds -- nearly 10 seconds faster than the previous record holder. She tapped out, "The razor-toothed piranhas of the genera Serrasalmus and Pygocentrus are the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world. In reality they seldom attack a human." The official Guinness World Record was previously held by American Franklin Page, who wrote the same passage in March this year. The record, which remains subject to Guinness approval, was smashed by Thompson using the Galaxy S's. Thompson, who works for an insurance company, was shopping with her boyfriend, Chris Davies, when they visited a Samsung roadshow and she was invited to have a go at breaking the record. She said, "I used to send a lot of text messages -- 40 or 50-a-day to Chris alone so we both knew I could type fast." She later added, "But since we moved in together and I started my job I haven't been texting as much and, you could say, my fingers were out of shape."
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