Friday, July 22, 2011

Mid Day International News

Mid Day International News

Canadian general demoted, fined for sleeping with subordinate

Posted:

A former Canadian general was Thursday demoted and fined for having a sexual affair with his subordinate while he was posted in Afghanistan

Former brigadier general Daniel Menard, who pleaded guilty to having a sexual relationship with his subordinate before a court martial, was fined $7,000 and demoted to the rank of a colonel.

Menard, who commanded Canadian forces in Afghanistan, had met Corporal Bianka Langlois in Canada in 2008. The two continued their affair when the general was given command of Canadian forces in Afghanistan and she was also posted there.

Though Canadian Forces rules prohibit inappropriate relationship among military personnel, the general "had numerous trysts in her living quarters. Menard also kissed Langlois in his office on more than one occasion.''

An inappropriate relationship as per Canadian Forces rules could be "an emotional, romantic, sexual or family relationship, including marriage or a common-law partnership or civil union, between two CF members, or a CF member and a DND (department of national defence) employee or contractor, or a member of an allied force."

Menard was relieved of his duties in Kandahar and ordered home for engaging in "sex in theatre'' with the female trooper.
Langlois was given an official reprimand and fined $700 in September for sleeping with her boss.

The 45-year-old former general, who quit the military last year, said, "It was clear I was no longer in the club of generals. I felt completely ostracised. I concluded I didn't have a place anymore.''

Once considered a rising star of the Canadian military, Menard is now looking for a job.

Man traumatised by his parrot's death leads cops on high-speed chase

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A man in Britain who led police on a high-speed car chase said he was traumatised by the death of his parrot

John Williams was taking a drive to calm down when police tried to pull him over as a brake light was not working.

But Williams, who was defended in court by Christopher Wing, put his foot down in his red Peugeot 406.

The two-mile chase at 3.30 a.m. through Portsmouth, Hants, ended with Williams, 33, smashing into a fence, express.co.uk reported Thursday.

Wing told Portsmouth Crown Court: "On that night his parrot died. There was much trauma in the house over this death."

"Williams decided he needed to go for a drive. He was followed by a police car, the blue lights were activated and he panicked."

Williams admitted dangerous driving and was jailed for four months and banned from driving for three years.

5-year-old boy accidentally shot dead by 10-year-old brother

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A 10-year-old American boy accidentally shot and killed his five-year-old brother with a gun he found at his home

A male babysitter was looking after the brothers while their parents were out at the time of the shooting.

He and his older brother were playing in a room next door to the babysitter when the man heard a shot.

The incident took place at a house in Belleville, Illinois, the Daily Mail reports.

The five-year-old died yesterday in what police described as an ''extremely tragic'' accidental shooting.

"This was not a self-inflicted wound. We''re still trying to determine how they got access to the weapon," said Belleville Police Chief Bill Clay.

They are questioning the ten-year-old, but said that he has not been detained.


Serena enters US Open with injury-protected ranking

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Serena Williams has elected to use an injury-protected ranking to gain entry to the US Open, the last Grand Slam of the season, the US Tennis Association said on Wednesday.

The USTA announced a provisional women's field for the tournament, which starts on August 29 in New York.

Only the top 105-ranked players in the world are granted direct entry into the 128-woman field. However Williams, whose ranking has plummeted to 172nd after a series of health issues, has the option of using the system in which a player who has been sidelined for six months or more by injury can use a special injury-protected ranking to enter up to eight tournaments, including one Grand Slam.


'Mission complete, Houston'

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Space shuttle Atlantis has landed back on Earth, bringing to a close America's 30-year orbiter programme.

The vehicle swept into the Kennedy Space Center, its wheels touching the runway just before sunrise. The shuttle will now go on display as a museum piece.


Space shuttle Atlantis crew members at Florida space centre after landing

After three decades of sending shuttles into orbit around Earth, NASA has retired them to focus on building new ships that can travel farther into space.

The Commander of the Atlantis crew, Chris Ferguson, said he never expected to make the flight.

He said, "The space shuttle changed the way we view the world and it changed the way we view the Universe."


Al-Qaeda goes looney

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Al-Qaeda thugs are planning to unleash a new weapon in their war against the West: cartoons.

Terrorists connected to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the group's affiliate in Yemen, said they are creating a cartoon movie designed to inspire children to join the jihad, a posting on an extremist website said.



The animated film, title simply Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, depicts shrouded madmen carrying out armed raids and assassinations, and spouts vile propaganda denouncing Arab leaders as puppets of the West.

"This movie is a religious effort to educate our sons and youth about how to live a noble life under the shade of the Sharia," a statement on the Arabic website al-Shamouk said.

"It's an alternative to the poison that is broadcast by other TV channels broadcast to our children and youth."
Images from the movie drew criticism from users who complained that the gun-toting, jihadists could frighten children.

The cartoons do not depict Osama bin Laden, the slain Al Qaeda founder, or the current leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri.

Animated
In 2008, a series on Hamas-owned television in Gaza called Exceptionals featured hand-held puppets stabbing President George W Bush in revenge for American and Israeli actions in the Middle East.


Chinese builder uses scorpions to drive out residents

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A Chinese real estate company has let off thousands of scorpions into an apartment complex in southern Shenzhen city to drive residents out of the building slated for demolition.

A resident surnamed Chen, in Shenzhen that borders Hong Kong, woke up early Monday morning and discovered a scorpion crawling on his body.

Chen turned on the light and was astonished to see the bedroom full of scorpions, which have a poisonous sting, local news portal Southcn.com reported.

Chen woke up his family and together they captured several hundred scorpions in his apartment.

He later learned from his neighbour that the arachnids were discovered in all apartments on the street.

A man holding a bucket was seen walking out of the office of Shenzhen Luosha Engineering Development Co, a real estate firm that will build a new project at the complex.

The man poured something from the bucket into apartment windows, a witness surnamed Li told the website.

Li later found the street was crawling with scorpions.

Police and residents spent the whole night capturing nearly 50 kilograms of scorpions.

All the apartments are scheduled to be demolished but home owners haven't signed compensation deals yet.

Residents said they suspect the developer freed the scorpions to drive them out as some buildings have already been torn down due to a tight schedule.

The developer denied it was behind the scorpion scare and also claimed to be a victim. Police are still investigating the incident.

Security guard attacks 'topless women protesters' outside Georgian embassy

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A Ukraine security guard has reportedly attacked topless women outside the Georgian Embassy, protesting against the arrests of three photojournalists accused of spying for Russia

The nude political activists, members of the group Femen, held fake cameras and wore just black underpants with the word 'press' emblazoned on the back of their undergarments.

They also painted their backs with images of a crossed-out camera, a symbol being used to protest the journalists'' imprisonment, the Daily News reports.

The guard, who has not been identified, was caught on film shoving and yelling at the women.

He also beat up a Ukrainian photographer who was covering the event, the report said.

According to local reports, the security guard has since been fired, and the embassy has said it regretted the incident.

The women were demonstrating against the July 7 arrests in Georgia of Associated Press stringer Giorgi Abdaladze, Zurab Kurtsikidze, of the European Pressphoto Agency, and Irakli Gedenidze, the personal photographer of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili.

Femen became internationally known when they organized naked protests against sex tourism in 2008.

Postman too drunk to deliver thousands of parcels for 3-yrs jailed

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A postman in Britain hid more than 31,000 parcels and letters at his home because he was too drunk to deliver them

According to Burnley Crown Court, Postman Steve Tasker, 43, stashed the "staggering" collection for three and a half years and kept almost 16,000 mail items in or behind his garden shed,

Tasker, who would often have a few pints before his usual 6am start, wrapped the letters in plastic carrier bags to try to keep them dry because he claimed he would deliver them once he had sobered up.

But he pocketed at least 200 pounds sent as gifts in cards, including money meant for an 18th birthday.

The postman of 12 years was eventually put under surveillance by the Royal Mail last September, after complaints from the public about mail not being delivered.

On the day he was observed, he didn't start on his walk until noon at the earliest, finished about 2pm and had left more than 300 packets undelivered.

He was given 32 weeks in jail, suspended for a year, with 12 months supervision and alcohol treatment and the Thinking Skills programme.

Russia finally accepts that beer is an alcoholic drink

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After much debate, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has signed a bill that declares beer an alcoholic drink

According to The Independent, the new bill will bring along with it regulations for the drink in Russia into line with those for spirits, banning sales in street kiosks as well as all beer advertising.

Beer and other alcoholic drinks containing less than 10 per cent alcohol by volume are technically classed as foodstuffs, and can be purchased round the clock from street kiosks.

Beer adverts have been prevalent on the metro system, and it is a frequent sight to see groups of men enjoying a beer or a canned gin and tonic drink at all hours of the day at railway stations and outside street kiosks.

There was little culture of beer drinking in the Soviet Union, but in recent years, more and more Russians have switched to it, and international brewers have been quick to cash in on it.

Over the past decade, vodka consumption has dropped by around a third, while beer consumption has rocketed by more than 40 per cent.

Russia has tried to battle the country''s love for vodka for years, with mixed results, but in recent years it has become apparent that the image of beer as a harmless alternative to vodka was flawed.

Last year the government tripled the tax on beer, and the new law also bans sales of alcohol on all forms of transport and at stations and airports, and bans advertising on television, radio and billboards.

There will also be a new restriction on when beer can be sold, something that is likely to change the 24-hour drinking culture of Moscow and other Russian cities dramatically.

The legislation was passed by parliament earlier this year. It will not come into effect for nearly 18 months, however, leaving beer drinkers plenty of time for some last all-night sessions.
Posted by Harshad at 7:09 AM

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