Friday, December 3, 2010

Mid Day International News

Mid Day International News

Brit mum gives birth on back seat of car for the 2nd time

Posted:

A British woman delivered her own baby on the back seat of a car and that too for the second time.

Faye Lygo, a mother-of-five from Blean near Canterbury, Kent, was rushing to the hospital with her husband Carl when baby Rex, weighing 9lb 7oz, popped out in the back of their Land Rover.

Lygo, whose first two children were born after labours lasting a combined 42 hours, had four years ago given birth to daughter Scarlet in a Range Rover outside a soup factory in the same village.

"For it to happen once was something in itself, but to happen twice is extraordinary," the Daily Mail quoted her as saying.

"You just wouldn't expect it in a million years. The doctors and nurses said it was unheard of and even we're still trying to take in what happened," she stated.

The couple thought about naming their latest addition after the car he was born in, but settled on Rex.

"We did think about Rover, but it sounded too much like a dog's name, so Rex was the closest we could get," the 43-year-old father said.

"It's certainly a story to tell them when they're older. We're just hoping Scarlet doesn't think Rex has stolen her thunder," he added.

Robbie Williams bares bottom for 20 pounds

Posted:

Singer Robbie Williams was offered 20 pounds for showing his bottom for a bet on a TV show -- and the pop star gladly accepted.

However, this isn't the first time for him - he had bared his derriere in the past on a TV show for 10 pounds when his band "Take That" was in its prime, thesun.co.uk reports.

The band is now in Scandinavia promoting their album 'Progress'.

WikiLeaks boss a 'political actor' - not journalist: US

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WikiLeaks boss Julian Assange is a "political actor" determined to undermine international diplomacy by jeopardising efforts to resolve problems across the world, the US State Department said.

"He's not a journalist. He's not a whistleblower," State Department spokesman PJ Crowley said Thursday. "He is a political actor. He has a political agenda."

"He is trying to undermine the international system that enables us to cooperate and collaborate with other governments and to work in in multilateral settings and on a bilateral basis to help solve regional and international issues," Crowley added.

WikiLeaks is in the process of publishing more than 250,000 secret US diplomatic cables mostly focused on interactions with other countries over the last several years. The US has sharply condemned WikiLeaks, which describes it itself as dedicated to exposing government secrets, for releasing the documents.

Submerged ship sparks confusion

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A planned Victoria Harbour engineering project sparked confusion yesterday when onlookers called the fire department about what appeared to be a sinking ship.

But the barge, which was partly submerged, was delivering materials as part of a harborfront reclamation project in Wanchai.

The fire department arrived at the scene on a boat around 11.20 am after receiving a report about a submerged vessel.

"The situation is normal," said Victor Ma, Marine Department spokesman.

Before Ma could confirm all was well, many government officials, himself included, struggled to find answers for alarmed citizens who called in. "Frankly speaking, I was not aware of this work until this morning," Ma said.

Neither were the Police Department, Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Center and Port Development Council, who were all unable to provide details on the submerged ship Thursday morning.

Roger Eastman, marine services manager at the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, said he received frantic e-mails and phone calls about the barge.

"Someone said, 'You do realise there is a bl***y big ship sinking outside your club, right?" he recalled. "I was taking great delight in watching it."

Eastman said he was aware of the planned development because he received e-mail notifications from the engineer of the Wanchai development, including a reminder Wednesday afternoon.

The Marine Department posted two notices about the planned projects on its website, one dated September 22 and the other October 12.

The barge Zhong Ren 1601, is designed to be semi-submergible to deliver concrete caissons, or watertight structures used in underwater construction.

Water is pumped out of the caissons so workers can access the chamber under water. Because the materials are too heavy, the ship submerges to float them out.

400 feet
The length of the barge Zhong Ren 1601

Help fight cancer... show your breasts!

Posted:

A New Zealand online women's magazine yesterday defended a breast cancer campaign that encourages young women to submit topless pictures for publication on the Internet.

The www.nzgirl.co.nz website said its fundraising campaign, titled "I've got a lovely pair", was aimed at raising awareness of breast cancer, although critics accused it of trivialising a serious issue.

The publication which usually concentrates on subjects such as fashion, shopping and cooking said the campaign briefly crashed its website on Wednesday, as Internet users rushed to view the pictures posted online.

For every 50 photos uploaded, nzgirl has promised to donate $750 (Rs 34,000) to breast cancer research, encouraging submissions with the slogan "get your tits out for the girls".

Editor Tee Twyford said she was proud of the positive feedback from breast cancer survivors and relatives of those with the illness about the campaign, which is not officially endorsed by any cancer organisation.

Twyford said its goal was to "encourage women to have a stronger relationship with their breasts", increasing the likelihood any health problems would be detected early.

"The strategy behind this was centred on breasts still being a very controversial topic in a fairly conservative country," she said in an online editorial yesterday.

"We need to remember that they are functional, rational, emotional and sexual parts of our bodies that should be celebrated."

The campaign sparked a backlash among some users on the magazine's online forums and generated heated debate on local radio stations.

"I highly doubt nzgirl would put up photos of breast cancer survivors," wrote forum user Bonnie Hartfield.

Others raised concerns young girls would submit pictures, although the website says its main demographic is 18-35-year-old females.

New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation chief executive Evangelia Henderson said it did not comment on other people's fundraising practices.

Macho Medvedev rivals putin for strongman title

Posted:

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev performed chin-ups on national television as he attempted to bolster his strongman credentials

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has performed chin-ups on national television, flexing his muscles as he battles perceptions that his successor Vladimir Putin is the real strongman of Moscow.

"Come on, let me do a few chin-ups here," said Medvedev yesterday to a small crowd of cheering students as he pulled off his jacket to reveal a tight-fitting v-neck sweater.

NTV television then showed the students counting in unison as Medvedev completed his fifth pull-up.

He began to do a sixth before stopping and jumping back down.

The Krasnodar school visit in southern Russia came two days after Medvedev spent much of a closely-watched state-of-nation address outlining a future children's policy.

His performance in that speech was interpreted by much of the Russian and Western media as a further sign of weakness at a particularly difficult point in Medvedev's career.

Recently revealed US cables identified Putin, the former president who is now prime minister, as the real leader of Russia, describing Medvedev as "Robin" to the "Batman" premier.

Of the two leaders, Putin is usually the one to show off his physique whether by taking a swim in a river or riding bare-chested on a horse.

Police close in

Sweden said yesterday it would issue a fresh arrest warrant for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange as new revelations from his website's expose of US diplomatic cables saw Russia branded a "mafia state".

While the elusive whistle-blower laid low, his British lawyer insisted police knew his whereabouts and it emerged that an initial warrant was defective.

The US meanwhile named an anti-terrorism expert to lead a review of security in the wake of the leaks which have angered its friends and foes.


Posted by Harshad at 7:19 AM

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