Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Mid Day International News

Mid Day International News

Airline's 'Hug A Pilot' scheme gets stewardess pregnant

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A teenage stewardess became pregnant with a married captain's baby after they took British Airways' Hug A Pilot scheme a bit too far.

The airline bosses, with the motto 'To Fly, To Serve', had ordered the cabin crew to socialise with cockpit colleagues to boost their morale.

It is believed that the stewardess slept with the captain earning 100,000 plus pounds-a-year during a boozy stopover between flights.

"The Hug A Pilot edict was not supposed to lead to this," the Sun quoted an insider as saying.

"It is an example of a night out which got out of hand," he said.

Although the Captain had initially denied having sex with the hostess, but later he did confess to a "moment of madness".

His wife, who also works for British Airways, is said to be devastated but has still decided to stand by her husband.

The stewardess has been grounded due to her condition and has been moved from Airlines' base at Heathrow's Terminal 5 to a regional engineering centre to keep her out of the wife's way.

"The girl's pregnancy and move to engineering is the talk of the airline. She was stunned to find she was expecting, but wants to keep the baby. She will be looked after financially because of the captain's pay," the insider added.

Boy suspended for sexual harassment after calling teacher 'cute'

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A nine-year-old boy in the US was suspended by his school, when he told a friend that he thought his teacher was 'cute'.

Fourth grader Emanyea Lockett was accused of 'sexual harassment', after a substitute teacher at School overheard the remark, told the principal, who then suspended the boy for two days.

"I was talking to my friend and I said Miss Taylor was cute," the Daily Mail quoted Emanyea as telling local WSOC news.

"That's all I said," he revealed.

Meanwhile, Emanyea's mother, Chiquita Lockett, thinks that the punishment meted out to her son is far more severe than the crime.

"It's not like he went up to the woman and tried to grab her in a sexual way,"

"Why would he be suspended for two days?" she said.


ISI not in Pakistan government control: Mansoor Ijaz

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Mansoor Ijaz, the man who stirred Pakistan's 'memogate', has alleged that Pakistan's spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), especially its 'S' or strategic wing, was not in government control and was interfering in Afghanistan's political affairs.

There was considerable evidence available on the spy agency's involvement in setting the political stage in Pakistan by manipulating election results, the Pakistani-American businessman told CNN in an interview. ISI also interferes in the political affairs of Afghanistan by using the Haqqani network, he said.

"The ISI has two critical branches in it, one is called CT for counterterrorism, and the other is the S branch for strategic - it's sort of the arm of the ISI that does everything from political interventions in other countries, for example, Afghanistan, which is what they're doing through the Haqqani Network and the Taliban right now," Ijaz said.

"They do a lot of political interventions in their own country. You know, there are many times when it has been reported in the past and authentically reported and authoritatively reported by the Pakistani press that S Branch was involved in manipulating elections and doing things of that nature inside Pakistan," he said.

"So it's an organ of the state that nobody can control, and it is essentially the organ of the state that the army and the intelligence wings are using to shall we say coordinate or obstruct what it is that the political side of the government, the civilian side of the governments do in Pakistan," Ijaz said.

Asked about the effect of his op-ed that stirred the memogate Ijaz said: "There will never be a time in my view where the military is subservient to the civilians in our lifetime. It may take 30, 40 years for that transformation to come.

"But when it does come, at least what we did was make sure the civilian government has an equal shoulder to the military and the judiciary."

How did bikini get its bizarre name?

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Want to know what's really behind a bikini? Or why we say bluetooth?

New book Harvey Wallbangers And Tam O'Shanters reveals the people and stories that inspired everyday words and phrases.

The two-piece swimsuit takes its name from the Pacific atoll in the Marshall Islands which was the site of 23 nuclear weapons tests between 1946 and 1958.

The bikini came out a few days after the first test -- and was said to be "split like the atom".

According to the book, the word hooker, is derived from the Corlears Hook area of Manhattan island, US, where prostitutes worked. Meanwhile, the word chauvinist, now used to describe someone who is sexist, originally meant a person who was excessively patriotic, after Nicolas Chauvin -- an alleged foot soldier in the French army of Napoleon Bonaparte -- who was famous for his blind loyalty to his country.

The book also explains that Bluetooth is inspired by 10th Century King Of Denmark, Harald Bluetooth, who was responsible for spreading Christianity across Scandinavia.

When Swedish mobile phone firm Ericsson wanted a name signifying good communications, they dug into history to choose his.


New zoo pandas 'settling in well' but 'jet lagged'

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Two giant pandas are settling in "very well" in their new home at Edinburgh Zoo but are "jet lagged", officials have confirmed.

Tian Tian and Yang Guang, who arrived from China on Sunday by specially-chartered jet, are the first giant pandas to live in the UK for 17 years.

They have been sleeping and eating in a two-hour sequence in a bid to recover from their long journey.
They go on public display from Friday, December 16.


Star attraction: Yang Guang settles into his new home at Edinburgh
Zoo. pic/getty images

First Minister Alex Salmond has met Chinese vice-premier Li Keqiang in China to discuss further business links, and has personally thanked him for sending the pandas Tian Tian and Yang Guang.

Gary Wilson, Edinburgh Zoo's director of business operations, said, "They are getting on very well. We were really surprised how well they settled into their enclosure. They are obviously quite jet lagged. They are in a strange sequence of sleeping for two hours and eating for two hours, a bit like most humans when they fly half way around the world."

He added, "They are very active within the internal area, they are walking around, they are doing a lot of eating of bamboo, scenting the area and getting familiarised, just like when you have a new home yourself."

The animals, who were given an in-flight meal of bamboo, apples, carrots and a special 'panda cake', were greeted at the airport by a large media presence, including foreign journalists.

Their arrival marks the culmination of a five-year effort to bring the giant pandas to Scotland.

Obama reveals Streep crush

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The Kennedy Centre honoured the achievements of Iron Lady star Streep and songwriter Neil Diamond along with singer Barbara Cook, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and saxophonist and composer Sonny Rollins at the 34th annual ceremony.


All you need is love: US President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama
arrive in the East Room of the White House to attend a reception for
Kennedy Center Honorees. Michelle dazzled in a beautiful Vera Wang
blue gown. US president joked before the ceremony that he had a crush
on Meryl Streep (below) after watching The French Lieutenant's Woman.
Pics/afp

In remarks at the White House before the ceremony, US President Obama joked with the honourees about the audiences who love them.

"It's true -- everybody sings Neil Diamond songs no matter how many drinks they've had," he said.
"Meryl Streep, anybody who saw The French Lieutenant's Woman had a crush on her," he added before coming out in a broad smile.



Streep said she was thrilled to be recognised but wished her parents were still alive to see the occasion. "They're the two people on Earth who would have loved to see this more than anybody," she said.


The world's most expensive crash

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Click here for video

A dramatic car pileup in Japan has resulted in the destruction of 14 luxury cars worth more than �2.5 m (Rs 200 crore).



The crash destroyed eight Ferraris, including two F430s, two F355s, and two 360 Modenas, a Lamborghini and a Prius. The pileup occurred when a convoy of 20 vehicles was travelling, apparently at high speed, on a wet motorway in Japan on Sunday. Officials say up to 10 people were taken to hospital, but no one has died. It is thought to be one of the costliest supercar crashes.


Pics/AFP


British PM eyes TV in bedroom for Christmas

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David Cameron reveals that watching James Bond and serial Spooks is his ideal festive viewing; says that he is banned from any decoration at home

He might be in charge of the country but David Cameron is powerless when it comes to decorating his home at Christmas.

The British Prime Minister has revealed his wife Samantha has the final say over the tinsel and fairy lights at Number 10.


Who's top of the tree this festive season: British PM David Cameron
revealed that he has received strict orders from his wife Samantha not to
interfere in Christmas decorations. File pic/getty images

And if he does become involved and makes a hash of things, he meekly follows orders to put things right.

TV turn-offs include Alan Sugar, adds Cameron, whose dream Christmas day TV schedule consists of an episode of Spooks and a Bond movie.

"We take Christmas very seriously in our house, especially the decoration of the tree," the Prime Minister said.
"Sam won't let me anywhere near it -- in fact one year she made me remove the lights I'd strung up and start again."

Like millions of households across the country, Number 10 adheres to strict traditions on December 25.

"We always check what's on the TV... watching James Bond on Christmas Day was a ritual when I was small and it's beginning to become one for my children too," he said.

"And yes, the television's on at three on the dot for the Queen's speech."

He still receives stockings, he said, and presents are always opened in the morning.

Asked about what he'd watch when he put his feet up after lunch, he added, 'I'd have a Spooks reunion episode with all the old characters back from the dead.

"Then one of those great costume dramas like Jane Eyre or Bleak House, then a film " Goldfinger or The Sound Of Music, which I still love watching."

Revealing what makes him want to turn off the set, he said: "Alan Sugar for adults. SpongeBob SquarePants for children."

Despite -- or perhaps because -- of the need to keep up with current affairs during virtually every waking
hour, Cameron admitted the Prime Ministerial bedroom does not have a TV set.

Other questions unearthed Jamie Oliver as the PM's favourite TV chef and his choice for 2011 Sports Personality of the Year is England cricket captain Andrew Strauss.


Posted by Harshad at 7:11 AM

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