Mid Day International News |
- Surgeons 'create nine-year-old's right ear'
- Doctor jailed for raping exotic dancer after she refused him sex
- Man fined for scratching his itchy private parts in front of woman
- Meet the flexisexuals - girls who kiss girls, but like boys
- UN drops Gadhafi's daughter as goodwill envoy
- Is Chelsea Clinton's husband on the verge of a breakdown?
- 'Girls as young as nine selling sex for drugs'
- Sledgers strip off for Germany's annual Naked Sledging contest
- Pervert from Glasgow posed as teenage lesbian to prey on 50 girls
- Oz man, who 'felt a thrill' while sexually abusing friend's children, jailed
- Rude tweet leaves Jemima without invitation
| Surgeons 'create nine-year-old's right ear' Posted: In what's being hailed as a surgical feat, British doctors claim to have created an ear for a nine-year-old boy, using cartilage from his ribcage. A team of doctors at Royal Free Hospital in London has performed the six-hour-long operation on Ethan Giles-Bowman -- born without a right ear due to his rare congenital condition called Hemi-facial Goldenhar Syndrome, Daily Mail reported. It was a painful process, but the schoolboy is more than delighted with the result and is very proud of his realistic-looking new ear, say his parents. Mother Kathryn Giles-Bowman, 33, from Sheffield, said: "It resulted in Ethan having to put up with a lot of pain and discomfort but he was determined he wanted to do it. Now he is fantastic, the first thing he wanted was to have his hair cut shorter, instead of hiding away underneath it and we're getting used to his new look. "The change in him since then has been enormous. He is now much more outgoing. It is wonderful for me and his father to see him looking so happy and confident." At the moment the ear looks 'pinned back' and a further operation will be carried out in April to take more cartilage and build up the ear further. His father Richard Bowman, 41, said: "Ethan has had to live with the problem all his life, but he has just got on with things. He has been so brave and I am sure that he will be able to cope with further surgery. The whole family is proud of him." Ethan added: "It's just nice to feel normal now like my friends."
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| Doctor jailed for raping exotic dancer after she refused him sex Posted: A doctor in Adelaide, Australia, who became obsessed with an exotic dancer who refused him sex even after he wooed her with expensive gifts, has been jailed for raping her. Minh Tuan Pham, 33, of Ferryden Park, became sexually obsessed with the 20-year-old woman who worked at an Adelaide nightspot, after lavishing her with gifts and even paying for her breast enlargement. District Court Judge Mark Griffin said the woman refused to have sex with Pham even after he offered her as much as 20,000 dollars. "It was deliberate, purposive and calculated. Violent crimes against women are particularly abhorrent to all right-thinking members of the community," News.com.au quoted the judge as saying. Justice Griffin sentenced Pham to nine years in jail with a non-parole period of five years for raping his victim and causing aggravated harm.
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| Man fined for scratching his itchy private parts in front of woman Posted: A Malaysian man who claimed that he accidentally scratched his 'itchy' private parts in front of a female neighbour had to pay the price for his act. Ahmad Hairul Nizam Hussin, 23, was fined RM1,500 in default three months' jail by magistrate Mazana Sinin after he pleaded guilty to outraging the modesty of the 41-year-old school teacher, reports the Star Online. He later paid the fine. The accused, a factory worker, was charged with exposing his private parts to the victim who lived in an opposite flat unit at Taman Pelangi Indah. He did this at around 6 am on October 8, 2009. Ahmad Hairul, who was in his room, had exposed his genitals to the woman who was hanging clothes along the corridor of her home, according to court documents. In defence, the accused said he always kept his room window open. "I had just taken a shower and went into my room to change my clothes," he told the court. "I suddenly felt itchy and scratched my private part, but I didn't know she was watching me," he said. DPP Chua Shyue Chien prosecuted while the accused was not represented.
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| Meet the flexisexuals - girls who kiss girls, but like boys Posted: It all started when Madonna kissed Britney Spears on stage, followed by Katy Perry who sang a song about a girl she kissed -- and now it seems the 'flexisexuality' trend is fast catching up. The new word has been coined for the growing number of straight women who flirt with bisexuality. It refers to people who have a sexual preference but refuse to be bound by it. Pop culture, itself, seems to celebrate that flexibility in songs like Katie Perry's, 'I Kissed a Girl (and I Liked It),' a song that 19-year-old Alisha Garrison said "made girls be more free to do whatever they want," reports ABC News. Flexisexual is also known as heteroflexible, pansexual or queer, all subtle variations that mean they are not closing any doors. Other examples from the entertainment industry include Lindsay Lohan who was dating DJ Samantha Ronson, insisting she wasn't a lesbian but bisexual, Drew Barrymore, who said, "Being with a woman is like exploring your own body, but through someone else." A recent ABC report from San Antonio, Texas, said flexisexuality is also part of the high school culture. A 2003 study from Northwestern University found that compared with men, women's sexual arousal patterns may be less tightly connected to their sexual orientation and more 'flexible'. Some like to do it to attract boys' attention and simply like to live up to the manage-a-trois fantasy of the men they seek to please. And some think it even 'indirectly mocks' the gay community, according to Caleb Fox, a 20-year-old from the University of Texas. "Straight men really like the idea of two 'hot' girls making out," he said. "And because I don't think these 'flexisexuals' are really lesbians, it doesn't seem that they're actually seeking a romantic relationship with another woman -- it's more about a show. And from a feminist standpoint it continues the objectification of women." Lisa Diamond, associate professor of gender studies at University of Utah, has been studying the topic for years, and confirms women are, indeed, more flexible in their sexuality and for a variety of cultural, and perhaps biological, reasons. "I think there is a growing awareness of the fact that you don't have to be 100 per cent gay to have the capacity to enjoy same-sex contact," said Diamond, who is author of the 2008 book, 'Sexual Fluidity: Understanding Women's Love and Desire.' "In the old days, any instance of same-sex attraction was automatically put in the category of bisexual or lesbian and now we realise women are more complicated than that," she said. "There are more examples floating around in popular culture, and the term reflects that." She added that women's capacity for fluidity has always existed, but only now has society had a cultural understanding after collecting data from around the world. Men appear to be more 'rigid' in their sexuality but that may be because society is more judgmental, according to Diamond. "Although we find it titillating when girls kiss girls and see images of same-sex sexuality being marketed to a heterosexual male audience, it's not viewed as threatening and alarming," she said. "We don't see the same cultural permission for men."
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| UN drops Gadhafi's daughter as goodwill envoy Posted: The UN Development Programme has dropped Libyan leader's Moammar Gadhafi's daughter as a goodwill ambassador. UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said on Wednesday that UNDP's agreement with Aisha al-Gadhafi had been terminated following recent events in Libya that include a crackdown by Gadhafi on anti-government protestors. He said Aisha al-Gadhafi was appointed a goodwill ambassador for Libya on July 24, 2009 to focus on UN anti-poverty goals especially combating HIV/AIDS and violence against women, both culturally sensitive topics. Aisha al-Gadhafi is a law professor who reportedly was part of the defence team for the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein after his downfall. Goodwill ambassadors are volunteers and do not have UN diplomatic documents.
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| Is Chelsea Clinton's husband on the verge of a breakdown? Posted: Chelsea Clinton's husband Marc Mezvinsky is on the verge of a breakdown, according to friends. Since rumours of a split rocked their marriage earlier this month, the couple has made a huge show of togetherness. But it seems their efforts have been in vain, as friends claim the former investment banker needs mental care. "There's fear Marc is headed to a mental hospital," the Daily Mail quoted a source as telling the National Enquirer. "In public, Chelsea is taking Marc everywhere in an effort to show everybody that they're happy together, but behind the scenes he's depressed," the source said. A rift between the pair's two families appears to be at the heart of the problem. The magazine reported that the Clintons have been encouraging Mezvinsky to cut ties with his father Ed, a former Iowa Congressman who served time in prison for fraud. "The things that have happened to Ed since this whole Clinton situation took place are unthinkable," Mezvinsky Jr's half-sister, Margot, told the publication. "He's been treated in a disgusting way by everybody involved and he's very upset," she said. A neighbour of the 74-year-old in Wellsville, New York State, said he was 'destroyed' by his son's behaviour. "He has lost weight and appears dishevelled," they told the magazine. The reports explain Mezvinsky's unusual behaviour of late. Eyebrows were raised after he quit his well-paid job at the end of last month to go snowboarding for three months without his wife. The daughter of the former President Bill Clinton and current Secretary of State, Hillary, had planned to stay in New York while her husband spent three months in Jackson Hole ski resort in Wyoming. But shortly after details of their temporary separation emerged, Mezvinsky was spotted by his wife's side in New York, her wedding ring clearly on display. A spokesman for Ms Clinton denied that the couple's marriage was in trouble, and series of public appearances followed, including a gala event at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum last week.
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| 'Girls as young as nine selling sex for drugs' Posted: An Australian politician has said that girls as young as nine are selling sex for drugs and alcohol. Araluen MLA Robyn Lambley told Northern Territory Parliament that young children were roaming the streets of Alice Springs in the middle of the night and 'soliciting' their bodies for money, reports News.com.au. "This problem has been slowly escalating in intensity for many years," she told the Parliament on Tuesday. The call came as the NT government is under fire for its apparent inability to stop a 'tsunami of crime' swallowing Alice Springs.
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| Sledgers strip off for Germany's annual Naked Sledging contest Posted: A number of participants in Germany's annual Naked Sledging contest braved the cold to strip off and participate in the event in just their crash helmets, knickers and footwear. The event at the central Harz region of the country at the weekend saw a crowd of some 17,000 people cheering as thirteen men and 13 women, all in their birthday suits, battled it out. "I just think it is absolutely great. You get pure adrenaline from doing it," the Sun quoted racer Mark Schaefer as saying. Gina Preising, another competitor, was equally excited about the sub-zero contest. "It is really good fun. Although I am feeling the effects of the minus five temperatures," she stated. Not only were competitors able to enjoy the thrill of the ride, the lucky winner was presented with a cheque for 840 pounds.
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| Pervert from Glasgow posed as teenage lesbian to prey on 50 girls Posted: It has emerged that a paedophile male nurse from Glasgow posed as a teenage lesbian to prey on almost 50 girls he met online. Barry McCluskey lured some victims- one just aged 10- to perform lurid sex acts for him via a webcam, reports the Scotsman. The pervert then blackmailed some of them, threatening to expose what they had done unless they agreed to his demands. The High Court in Glasgow heard how McCluskey targeted 49 girls - aged 10 to 15 - between 2007 and 2010. He preyed on them from the home he shared with his wife and two children in the city''s King''s Park. McCluskey, who worked at an unnamed Glasgow hospital, prowled the Bebo social network site before contacting the children via the MSN instant messaging service. The former medic posed as a girl called 'Clare' or 'Missy'. Police were alerted last February by a mother who discovered her 13-year-old daughter had been forced to carry out sex acts via a webcam. Police who went to search McCluskey's house last July found he had gone to the Erskine Bridge, apparently contemplating suicide. He claimed he had 'done something bad' before he was eventually detained. However, an investigation named 'Operation Trinity' discovered he had targeted dozens of girls, asking them to strip and perform as he recorded the footage. Alison Di Rollo, prosecuting, said he never made 'face-to-face or physical contact' with any of the girls. She added that he had initially complimented the girls, but soon displayed a 'strong fetish' for children wearing short outfits. One of his victims begged him to stop, saying she 'hated' what was being asked of her, the court heard. "Don''t blackmail me. I did it before because I thought I could trust you. Please don''t single me out and destroy my life over something stupid like a cam show," the girl had told McCluskey. The 39-year-old, who showed no emotion as he was remanded in custody, pled guilty to a total of 49 sex charges at court. He faces a lengthy jail-term when sentenced later this year.
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| Oz man, who 'felt a thrill' while sexually abusing friend's children, jailed Posted: A man in Australia, who confessed he "felt a thrill" while sexually abusing his friend's children for 10-years, has been jailed for only six years. Neale Martin Ross, 48, had molested four girls, including one who was aged four years, on numerous occasions including during visits they made to his home in Melbourne's east. At the Victorian County Court, Ross, who himself is a father of two, pleaded guilty to six counts of sexually penetrating a child under 16 and 15 counts of committing an indecent act with a child under 16. He told police he "felt a thrill" when he abused the children, who were aged between four and 15 years, and had a "fatal attraction" to them. Judge Christopher O'Neill said such offending was "abhorrent" and led to long-term damage of the children and their families. He said the victim impact statements made "chilling reading" and highlighted the emotional damage caused. "It is a serious aggravating feature that the victims were all children and aged between four and 15," News.com.au quoted O'Neill as saying. He ordered Ross to serve a non-parole period of four years. Ross, who will be a registered sex offender for life, has already spent 317 days in custody.
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| Rude tweet leaves Jemima without invitation Posted: Friends of Jemima Khan claim she has been frozen out of the royal wedding after she made a comment about Kate Middleton's figure. Socialite Jemima (37), who was a friend of Princess Diana, had tweeted: "Kate Middleton those are not heir-bearing hips, are they? Unfeasibly narrow."  Jemima insisted she meant it as a compliment. But friends believe she is not one of the 1,900 guests invited to Kate and Prince William's April 29 wedding - and the hips comment is to blame. A source said, "Apparently, Jemima is friendly with the princes and would otherwise have confidently expected an invitation." Jemima later withdrew part of the comment, made three months ago. She said: "I wasn't being unkind. Wouldn't every girl like to have unfeasibly narrow hips? Who wants to be described as having child-bearing ones?" Jemima erased the tweet, adding, "There - deleted the 'unfeasibly' as what I meant is she's v trim and lovely." Buckingham Palace refused to confirm whether Jemima would be among the wedding guests at Westminster Abbey in April. Stag party at sea
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