Mid Day International News

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• Minister fired for having sex with Swaziland king's wife
• Police rescue children 'being kept in cages'
• Swedes want Donald Duck in elections
• French poke fun at Bruni's singing
• This man killed George W Bush and the Pope
• Man held for creating panic over Ayodhya issue

Minister fired for having sex with Swaziland king's wife Posted: The king of Swaziland, who has 14 wives, has sacked his justice minister after the politician was caught red-handed having sex with one of the women in the southern African kingdom, media reports here said. King Mswati III, 42, an "enthusiastic practitioner" of polygamy and father to 23 children, was shown pictures by police of his minister Ndumiso Mamba hiding under the bed of his adulterous 12th wife, Nothando Dube. Dube, 22, a former Miss Teen Swaziland, had allegedly been having an affair with the minister for quite some time. She has now been placed under house arrest. State security agents raided the exclusive Royal Villas hotel on the outskirts of Swaziland's administrative capital Mbabane and found the minister holed up in a room with Dube. Dube allegedly disguised herself as a soldier to sneak out of the royal palace and meet her lover undetected. Mswati chooses a new bride each year at a traditional dance in which all the country's unmarried young girls are paraded in front of him. According to reports, while Mamba is likely to spend a lengthy period in prison for his actions, Dube, who has borne the king two children, will spend the rest of her life under 24-hour surveillance while living with the king's mother. Situated between South Africa and Mozambique, Swaziland won independence from Britain in 1968 but has been without a constitution since 1973. Political parties are banned and it is the king who appoints the government.

Police rescue children 'being kept in cages' Posted: Five family members have been charged with child cruelty after allegedly keeping two young children in makeshift cages at their home. The grandfather, grandmother and three aunts were arrested in Glasgow after it was reported that a nine-year-old girl they cared for failed to return home from school. The police investigating the disappearance of the young girl visited a house in the Cardonald area of Glasgow and found converted baby cots allegedly used to keep the girl and an eight-year-old boy in.

Swedes want Donald Duck in elections Posted: Donald Duck, the king and God are among those who snagged votes in the Swedish general elections, a final list of hand-written votes published Thursday by the election authority showed. Hand-written ballots are allowed in Swedish polls. Voters normally use them to write down the name of the established party they wish to vote for, but random options also pop up on ballots. More than 120 people wanted to see Donald Duck, the Walt Disney Company's cartoon character, get elected in Sunday's vote. My party meanwhile garnered four votes, while Myself got two, the same amount as Jesus, Jesus Christ and God. The king meanwhile won three votes, one more than common sense in Sweden written in English on the ballot. Harry Potter, Mickey Mouse and Couch potato party each got one. The two largest were the Pirate Party and the Feminist Initiative, which both raked in less than one percent of votes.

French poke fun at Bruni's singing Posted: Carla Bruni is being mocked mercilessly across France after having recorded arguably the most dreadful David Bowie cover of all time. The somewhat feeble take on Bowie's 'Absolute Beginners,' which has been leaked on the internet may well signal an abrupt end to the pop singing career of France's First Lady. It suggests that the self-styled 'pop artist' has been told to postpone her new album of songs because it will further the widespread unpopularity of her husband, President Nicolas Sarkozy. But it is the charity version of Bowie's 1986 classic which prompted the most antagonism towards France's First Lady Bruni, who has been likened to the spoilt French queen Marie Antoinette. According to critics, she frequently struggles to reach notes on the recording, and is often drowned out by the piano accompanying her, and at times have forgotten the lyrics. Her singing also sounds like one of a regular smoker.

This man killed George W Bush and the Pope Posted: Brazilian artist Gil Vicente sparks off debate on the eve of his gallery opening; his paintings depict him assassinating World Leaders including former US prez George Bush Brazilian artist Gil Vincente's fantasies of the assassination of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the former US President George W Bush and Pope Benedict XVI has sparked off a lively debate on the eve of the opening of the Biennale of Sao Paulo. Removal of art Nine charcoal self-portraits of the artist Gil Vicente representing imaginary scenes where he kills the world leaders have led the College of Lawyers of Brazil to request the removal of the works of the famous Biennale, which opens tomorrow. Brazilian artist Gil Vicente poses for a portrait in front of his works, which the Brazilian authorities believe are violent in nature "They allege that it condones crime? Theft of public money is not a crime? And the reports on violence on TV is not a crime! Are only my paintings a glorification of crime?" exclaimed an angry Vicente in an interview. The artist of 52 years, a native of Recife (northeast), and the organisers of the Biennale held firm and say that the works must be submitted in one of the main rooms, as expected. "They wanted to remove the works. No, no way. Why remove them? People have the right to see them," said Vicente said, stressing that it was a question of artistic freedom. "Although a work of art freely expresses the creativity of its author, to expose it publicly there must be limits," argues the ATO, a regulatory body for artworks in a statement asking the curators to remove the paintings. They refused and said that one of the "basic qualities of our institution is our independence and freedom of expression. The works do not reflect the opinion of the curators nor the Biennale Foundation." 'Enemies' The series of nine charcoal drawings of 2 meters height by 1.50 meters wide made between 2005 and 2006 is titled Enemies and costs $260,000 (Rs 1 crore) and can be sold only or as a whole. According to Vicente, the paintings began in 2005 with the portrait of Bush where the latter appears to be on his knees, hands tied behind his back, as the artist puts a gun to his head. The personalities 'executed' by Vicente, include former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The strongest image is one in which he represented the process of gutting the throat of Brzilian President Lula, who is tied to a chair. According to Vicente, the violence does not indicate any personal grievance against him. In another drawing, Vicente shines a gun to the neck of former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso (1995-2003), seated and secured well. Originally, his idea was to use different weapons for each murder, but after that of Bush, the artist decided to kill all the others in one shot. The idea came after people had to face disappointment at the hand of the world leaders. "As they kill so many people, it would be better to kill them," said Vicente.

Man held for creating panic over Ayodhya issue Posted: In a bid to create a panic situation, man sends SMSes to a large number of Muslims in Karaikal, warning them not to venture outside A 24-year-old youth was arrested for allegedly sending a mischievous SMS regarding the court verdict on the Ayodhya title suit in the name of a Muslim MLA of the Union Territory. A large number of Muslims in Karaikal received an SMS warning them not to venture outside yesterday. The Allahabad High Court was to have delivered its verdict on the Ramjanmabhoomi Babri Masjid title suit yesterday, but the Supreme Court had deferred it by a week. "Nobody can save you if you move out," warned the message that had the sender's name as Karaikal North MLA A M H Nazeem of DMK, police said. The message, which also requested that it be forwarded to all Muslims, caused a flutter in the town. On information, Karaikal police swung into action and within hours traced the message to Yousuf (24) of Pudhuthurai. During interrogation, Yousuf confessed that he sent the message to create a panic situation, police said

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