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Showing posts from 2012

'Rape-provoking' miniskirts and crop tops banned by king of Swaziland with offenders facing six months in jail

Police in the small African kingdom of Swaziland have banned women from wearing miniskirts and midriff-revealing tops saying they provoke rape. Offenders face a six-month jail term under the ban, which invokes a colonial criminal law dating back to 1889. “The act of the rapist is made easy, because it would be easy to remove the half-cloth worn by the women,” police spokeswoman Wendy Hleta was quoted as saying by Independent Online on Monday. The ban also applies to low-rise jeans. Advertisement “They will be arrested,” she said.Hleta said women wearing revealing clothing were responsible for assaults or rapes committed against them. Read More

'I want my man dead or alive': Swedish woman accused of having sex in flat with SKELETONS after police find 100 body parts

A 37-year-old woman allegedly kept skeleton parts in her flat so she could have sex with them. The Swedish woman is suspected of using 100 parts, which included six skulls and one backbone, in ‘sexual situations’ and was charged with violating the peace of the deceased, prosecutors said. Police also allegedly found CDs titled ‘My Necrophilia’ and ‘My first experience’ as well as photos in which a woman is seen kissing and hugging the skulls, reported Swedish news agency TT. The woman, who comes from south-western Sweden, was charged at Gothenburg District Court today, but has denied the allegations - claiming she collected the bones out of historical interest. The Goeteborgsposten newspaper alleged that she wrote on an internet forum a few years ago: ‘My morals set my limits and I'm prepared to take the punishment if something should happen. 'It's worth it. I want my man like he is, whether he is dead or alive. He allows me to find sexual happiness on the side.’ Photos fro

'Manhattan Madam' sentenced to six months in jail as lawyer claims she was trapped by sting in which undercover cop watched two women have sex

'There is nothing glamorous about prostitution,' said Erin Duggan of the Manhattan District Attorney’s office. 'Anna Gristina rented women’s bodies for profit, which makes her a pimp. That also makes her a felon, and the court has now issued that judgment.' Read more

Does eating chocolate make you clever? New research suggests it may help you win a Nobel prize, at least..

Does eating chocolate make you clever? It seems that might well be the case after scientists in New York found the higher a country's chocolate consumption, the more Nobel laureates it spawns. The new research, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, is tongue-in-cheek, admits the lead author to Dr. Franz Messerli. But nonetheless, the results did show a surprisingly powerful scientific correlation between the amount of chocolate consumed in each country and the number of Nobel laureates it produced, he wrote in the journal. Read More

'I'm good at giving women orgasms': Married preacher and father-of-four is accused of smutty talk, sending sexual e-mails and groping secretary

A married preacher told his secretary 'I'm good at giving women orgasms', a tribunal heard. Ewa Sycz, 30, claims that father-of-four Alex Trott would try and grope her and pester her with questions about her sex life. Mr Trott, an ordained minister in the Spiritual Freedom Church, allegedly asked her whether she had 'any sexual needs', if she enjoyed oral sex and told her he was good at giving women orgasms. The Polish divorcee said that 64-year-old Mr Trott sent women staff smutty emails and YouTube videos. He allegedly told Miss Sycz that 'English girls were easy' and she 'should not be different'. He would stare at her, try to tickle her and once tried to massage her, she told Central London Employment Tribunal. Miss Sycz, of Willesden, north-west London, has already received an out-of-court payment of £18,000 from her former firm Pace Security Services. She had accused two bosses from the Uxbridge, Middlesex-based firm of sexually harassing her w

California votes to mandate condoms in porn industry - but will it make the industry leave the state?

In a potentially threatening blow to California’s porn industry voters have passed a measure that will require condom use during production despite fear it could put Los Angeles’ porn industry dually under wrap. Passed by 55.9 per cent of voters on Tuesday, Measure B will additionally raise fees in adult film productions potentially driving out the industry from L.A., according to the ballot's opposition. Read more

Nudity on in-flight entertainment unregulated, easily viewed by children

In the good old days, when you flew on an airplane, you and everybody else had to watch the same heavily edited, middle-of-the-road, fairly awful film or TV show on a tiny flickering screen suspended from the ceiling a few rows ahead of you. Read more

Can't bear to be away from the office? The Bentley with SIX screens in the back so you can work while you commute (and just in case it all breaks down, there's a built in pen)

If you can’t bear to be away from the office then this luxury car might be the answer - by keeping you working on the move. The Bentley Mulsanne Executive Interior Concept is a fully operational mobile business suite which means that even traffic won’t hold you up. Read more

Paedophile government scientist brought to justice 40 years on after victim spotted him staring at naked child on a bus

A child abuse victim who was assaulted four decades ago has finally seen her attacker brought to justice after spotting him on a bus staring through the window at a youngster. The victim was only eight when government scientist Leonard Davey abused her in her home. She reported him to the police after she found herself on a bus with him and by chance saw him looking at a naked child who was playing on a balcony. Read more

Was rock guitarist's brain tumour caused by his PLAYING? Doctors speculate about link between professional musicians and condition

A brain tumour that nearly killed guitar teacher Martin Reed may have been caused by his music playing, he claims. The father-of-two started suffering from severe headaches and blurred vision in July - but his GP sent him home with nasal drops after diagnosing him with sinusitis. When the headaches continued Mr Reed sought a second opinion and was given the shock news he had a tennis-ball sized tumour behind his right eye. Doctors told him the tumour was so aggressive he was just two weeks away from death. The devastated 48-year-old was sent by ambulance to King’s College Hospital in London for emergency surgery. There he was surprised to discover that patients at King’s who had been diagnosed with the same tumour, called glioblastoma multiforme, were also musicians. His consultant Dr Ash Khan told him he had also treated an opera singer, a classical pianist and a jazz saxophonist. Mr Reed, who has been playing the guitar for 30 years, said: 'Dr Khan told me that my particular tumo

The little girls who reach puberty as young as six: Could junk food, plastic packaging and computer screens be to blame?

With her hair in bunches, Atlanta Carson looks like any other happy-go-lucky eight-year-old posing for her school picture. But behind the gap-toothed smile, there is much more on the mind of this year three pupil than play-dates and skipping games. When this photograph was taken, Atlanta was already experiencing the first signs of becoming a woman, with hair starting to grow underneath her arms. At a time when most little girls are used to cuddling up with their mothers, Atlanta sought hugs for another reason: she was suffering pre-menstrual tension, headaches and cramps. Her mother Emma, 32, from Stockport, says: ‘Atlanta was just eight when I was giving her a bath one night and noticed a few pubic hairs. A few months after this picture was taken, she had her first period. ‘But of course, at that age, she was nowhere near emotionally ready. When she first saw the blood, she thought she’d had a horrible accident. She’d say: “I don’t like it, Mum. When’s it going to stop?” It broke m

Businesswoman facing jail for taxi tryst says she couldn't have been having sex because she was on her period

A British businesswoman facing three years in a Dubai jail could not have had sex in the back of a taxi because she was on her period, her lawyer told a court today. Rebecca Blake, a £100,000-a-year recruitment consultant, is accused of stripping naked in the back of a Dubai cab and writhing on top of Irishman Conor McRedmond. Her lawyer Shaker Al Shammary told Dubai Misdemeanours Court the taxi driver made a malicious false accusation after rowing with Mr McRedmond over the fare. Mr Al Shammary also claimed the driver's account was inconsistent. The pair were also charged with consuming alcohol after admitting to a 10-hour drinking binge on the day of their arrest. Mr Al Shammary told the court: 'This is Dubai, not a mosque. Everyone drinks.' Ms Blake, 29, of Dorking, Surrey, and welder Mr McRedmond, 28, from Tullamore, County Offaly, were arrested on May 4 after meeting for the first time earlier that day in a hotel bar. Pakistani taxi driver Qaiser Khan, 29, said he p

Three-quarters of teachers fear easy access to hardcore porn through smartphones and the web is 'damaging' pupils

Three-quarters of teachers believe easy access to hardcore pornography through mobile phones and the internet is ‘damaging’ their pupils. Girls as young as 11 are dressing like ‘inflatable plastic dolls’ while young boys are developing ‘almost pathological’ attitudes to sex as a result, according to research. Some boys even admit to being unable to get to sleep without first viewing pornography while others are obsessed with getting a perfect body shape. The study reveals escalating concern about children’s exposure to sexual images. Teaching staff warn that children are developing warped views of relationships as they feel pressured to perform sex acts, use derogatory sexual language and even consider plastic surgery. They also blame books and television programmes with overtly sexual themes, such as the hit novel Fifty Shades of Grey and TV series The Only Way Is Essex, for the increased sexualisation of under-16s. A third of more than 500 teachers surveyed by the Times Educational S

Teenagers with smart phones 'have more sex because they have more access to the internet'

Teenagers with smartphones have more sex than those with ordinary mobiles, according to a new report. Teens who access the internet through their phones are also more than twice as likely to engage in sex with a person they met online than those without access, the study found. Those with smartphones are also more likely to be sexually active in general, and more likely to say they had been approached for sex online, researchers from the University of Southern California said. The study was presented at the annual meeting of the America Public Health Association. Researcher Eric Rice, from the university's School of Social Work, said that while smartphones do not directly cause teenagers to engage in potentially risky sexual behaviour, they do make it easy. 'It's a tool through which this sort of behaviour can happen,' Mr Rice said. Mr Rice said that, while parents have come up with strategies to monitor the online behaviour of their children on computers, they also nee

Killer who told police 'I want the death penalty' finally gets his wish with execution tonight nine years after he shot dead his girlfriend

A convicted killer will finally get his wish today when he is executed for shooting dead his girlfriend. Donnie Lee Roberts was headed to the Texas death chamber at 6pm Halloween night for fatally shooting Vicki Bowen and stealing from her East Texas home to finance his drug habit nine years ago. During his trial the jury were shown a videotaped confession in which he said: 'I want the death penalty'. The 41-year-old had dropped out of a Louisiana drug treatment program, violating his probation for a robbery conviction, when he was charged with killing 44-year-old Vicki Bowen. Authorities said she was shot for refusing Roberts' demand for money. Her slain body was found by a colleague when she failed to show up at work. She lay covered with a blanket, face down in a pool of blood, having been shot twice in the head. Roberts was arrested at a drug house in Livingston, about 75 miles northeast of Houston, when a truck he stole from Bowen's home near Livingston was spott

Together in hospital: Briton stabbed trying to save his 21-year-old girlfriend from biker gang sex attack in Thai beach resort

A young British tourist is recovering in a Thai hospital after being repeatedly stabbed by a mob as he tried to save his girlfriend from a pack sex attack. Jack Cole, 21, from Bath was stabbed in the face and body after the laughing youths grabbed his 21-year-old girlfriend April Clifton as they enjoyed a romantic stroll towards a boat pier in Ao Nang, in southern Thailand. After jumping to April's defence Jack was left to die in a pool of blood as the armed thugs fled. Read more

Man wakes to find his girlfriend biting through his scrotum after falling asleep in the middle of an argument

One man has discovered first hand the old adage that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned - when his girlfriend woke him up in bed after an argument by biting straight through his scrotum. Tearing through the skin with her vicious bite, Linda Mendez, 40, was aggrieved after her 46-year-old unnamed boyfriend went to sleep before she had finished arguing with him. Walking to their bedroom at around 11.30 p.m. on Thursday, Mendez is said to have woken her sleeping partner by biting his scrotum and neck causing serious bleeding. Read more

Boy, nine, died after his mother set him and his brother on fire as a punishment for smoking

A mother who killed her nine-year-old son by setting him on fire as punishment for smoking has been sentenced to 11 years in prison. Noluthando Nomavayi , 37, from Delft in Cape Town drenched her two sons with paraffin and set them alight when she discovered them smoking cigarettes in May 2011. Read more

'Evil' Nigerian people smuggler used witchcraft to terrify girls into sex slavery

An ‘evil’ Nigerian people smuggler who used witchcraft rituals to force terrified children to work as sex slaves has been convicted of trafficking and rape. Young victims were raped, sexually abused and subjected to voodoo-style rituals once in the clutches of the trafficking ring. One girl had hair cut from her armpits by a man wearing feathers. Others were slashed with knives, forced to drink foul-smelling potions and had blood taken with syringes to ‘cast a spell’ over them. The girls were told they would die or never bear children if they tried to escape or revealed what had happened to them. The man responsible, Osezua Osolase, 42, was on the surface a recycling worker living in a terraced house in Gravesend, Kent. But he was in fact the British linchpin of a multi-million pound global child sex trafficking ring that used medieval ‘juju’ black magic to control its victims. His home was a secret staging post for vulnerable teenage orphans as they were smuggled from Africa to sever

Peekaboo! Cambridge scientists discover why children think they are invisible when they hide their eyes

It's an adorable game parents have played with their young children for generations. But now researchers are looking for a scientific answer to explain why children think they actually disappear when they cover their eyes while playing peekaboo. Researchers led by James Russell at the University of Cambridge have carried out the first study into this bizarre trait with groups of three and four-year-old children. The children's eyes were covered with masks and they were then asked whether they could be seen by the researchers - with most saying no. Many also believed that the researchers could not see adults who were wearing eye masks - leading to the conclusion most young children believe that anyone who covers their eyes is obscured from other people's view. The researchers then attempted to distinguish what exactly creates the feeling of invisibility - whether it was not being able to see at all or just because the other person couldn't see their eyes .Read more

Scientists can tell what you're dreaming: Scans can decipher sleeping thoughts for first time

Japanese scientists have found a way to decipher dreams for the very first time. Their report shows that patterns of activity in certain visual parts of the brain are the same whether we are awake or dreaming. Researchers from ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories in Kyoto, Japan, scanned three male volunteers' brains in an exhausting test over several days to examine how activity could be related to their dreams. Read more

Judge praises bravery of teenage girl, 17, for knocking out burglar with a cricket bat when he broke into her home

When teenager Nawal Khasal came home to find a burglar stealing her family’s valuables, she instinctively knew what to do. Grabbing a cricket bat from the porch, she knocked him for six. The blow floored Derek Perry, 47, who fled the property with blood pouring from his mouth. But gutsy Miss Khasal was determined not to let the thief get away and chased him into a nearby cul-de-sac. Read more

Meet the ridiculously photogenic homeless guy, whose picture has been shared 40,000 times on Facebook

It started with the Ridiculously Photogenic Guy, snapped as he ran down the streets of South Carolina during a 10km race. Then there was the Ridiculously photogenic surgery girl and the Ridiculously Photogenic Puppy. Now there is another name joining the internet sensation: the Ridiculously Photogenic Homeless Guy. 30-year-old Rafael Nunes has become the latest face to go viral after he was spotted by a tourist in the Brazilian town of Curitiba. Read more

Three-quarters of teachers fear easy access to hardcore porn through smartphones and the web is 'damaging' pupils

Three-quarters of teachers believe easy access to hardcore pornography through mobile phones and the internet is ‘damaging’ their pupils. Girls as young as 11 are dressing like ‘inflatable plastic dolls’ while young boys are developing ‘almost pathological’ attitudes to sex as a result, according to research. Some boys even admit to being unable to get to sleep without first viewing pornography while others are obsessed with getting a perfect body shape. Read more

Down for the count: Amateur boxing chief causes uproar by saying all female fighters are either child abuse victims or gay

American amateur boxing has been flung into turmoil after the former chief of the sport said all female fighters had to be either child abuse victims or gay. In an interview with The New Yorker magazine over the summer, Hal Adonis, then president of Boxing USA, declared that being abused in early life provides the perfect foundations for a successful boxing career. During the rant, he made a series of extraordinary claims about women's amateur boxing, including the words: 'Half of our girls have been molested, half of our girls are gay.' He also told the magazine: 'When kids call me up, I say: "Let me ask you an honest question: have your parents ever hit you?" If they say no, I say: "I don't think you belong in boxing."' The comments sent shockwaves around the American boxing community forcing the International Boxing Association (AIBA) to step in to demand his immediate dismissal. Read more

Putin says female punk band Pussy Riot 'could be at home now doing the housework if they had not broken the law

Russia's President Vladimir Putin has rejected criticism of the imprisonment of the female punk band Pussy Riot by claiming 'they would be at home doing housework if they had not broken the law'. Speaking to a group of foreign Russian experts, Putin said the bands three members deserved their fate because they threatened the moral foundations of Russia. During the two-hour dinner, the president, now in his 13th year running Russia, became animated only when asked about the band. According to The Independent, Putin said: 'Whether the sentence was too much or too little is not for me to judge,' he said. 'That is a matter for the court.' Read more

Inside the world’s narrowest home: Pictures show how it’s a tight squeeze at Warsaw's Keret House

Claustrophobics look away now - these pictures reveal the cramped living quarters inside what is believed to be the world's narrowest building. Said to measure just 36 inches across at its narrowest point, this tiny home is wedged into the gap between two buildings in Warsaw, Poland. Definitely not designed with family life in mind, Keret House is barely big enough for one person to inch their way from the single bed, through the miniscule kitchen and into the tiny toilet. Read More

Secondary school teacher, 61, rubbed garlic on his hands before chasing pupils to wipe it on them

A teacher who rubbed garlic on his hands before wiping it on pupils he had chased has been banned from the profession for four years. Frank White, 61, threw a piece of wood across a classroom, struck pupils with wood or his hands, shouted aggressively and swore repeatedly, a professional conduct panel of the Teaching Agency was told. Mr White was also accused of making a racist comment and eating raw garlic to deliberately disgust his colleagues during staff meetings. Read more

The miracle boy of Damascus: Moment Syrian boy, two, was reunited with his mother in Cyprus after being buried in rubble and left for dead two months ago

A two-year-old Syrian boy has been reunited with his family in Cyprus after they accidentally left him behind as they fled shelling in Damascus in the summer. Bushr Al Tawashi's parents thought their son had died when their house was bombed, but he was found in the rubble of his family home by rebel fighters. The toddler was taken care of by family friends and after a long legal process his father was able to reunite with his son in Lebanon and take him to Cyprus. Read more

Briton stabbed trying to save his 21-year-old girlfriend from biker gang sex attack in Thai beach resort

A young British tourist has told of the moment he was repeatedly stabbed by a gang of youths as he tried to save his girlfriend from a pack sex attack in Thailand. Jack Cole and April Clifton, both 21 from Bath, were enjoying a romantic stroll towards a boat pier in Ao Nang, in southern Thailand, when the motorcycle gang pounced from nearby shadows. The laughing thugs grabbed April, clawing at her clothes, before Jack jumped to her defence. But the armed youths then turned on him, puncturing his face and body with a flurry of stabs, before they fled into the night leaving Jack to die in a pool of blood. Luckily a passing British tourist heard Jack's cries for help and called paramedics to the idyllic beach resort. 'It was a calculated attack,' Jack said from the Bangkok-Phuket hospital today. 'They drove past us several times checking us out. We thought they had gone but they came out of the shadows and attacked April.' 'They laughed as they grabbed April as a

'She was treated like one of the family': Grandmother of children stabbed to death 'by nanny' stunned by attack as 'killer' REFUSES to talk to police

The mother of CNBC executive Kevin Krim said that the young family treated their children’s nanny, Yoselyn Ortega, as they would one of their own. Mr and Mrs Krim ‘bent over backwards’ to help Ortega, going so far as to purchase plane tickets for her so she could fly back to her native Dominican Republic, Karen Kim said. The grieving grandmother added that the horrific murders of her grandchildren, six-year-old Lucia and two-year-old Leo last night, are taking a heavy toll on her family. She speculated that Ortega must have 'went insane' to allegedly commit such a heinous crime. Read More

Mum, 31, gave schoolboy a lap-dance and molested teenagers after guzzling enough alcohol 'to knock out a bull elephant' at friend’s 50th birthday party

A mother-of-three who drank enough to 'knock out a bull elephant' faces jail after molesting two schoolboys at a friend’s 50th birthday party. Amanda Wheeler, 31, kissed and groped a 12-year-old boy on a bench, rubbed her breasts against teenagers she was dancing with at the party and performed sex acts on two boys in a bedroom. Worcester Crown Court heard the part-time cleaner had been drinking vodka, beer and wine throughout the evening. A jury found Wheeler, from Barbourne in Worcester, guilty of four counts of sexual activity with a child and one of sexual assault. She was acquitted of a sixth charge of sexual activity with a child, the maximum sentence for which is 14 years in prison. Judge Patrick Thomas QC granted her bail while pre-sentence and psychological reports were prepared. Read more

Chinese man sues his wife for being ugly, and the court AGREES... awarding him £75,000

They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But for one man from northern China, this was not the case. Earlier this year, Jian Feng, divorced and sued his wife for being ugly. He won his case and was awarded a little under £75,000 by the judge, Fox 31 reported. Mr Feng said he took issue with his wife’s looks only after the couple’s daughter was born. Read More

Is it normal to have sex fantasies about dolphins? Bel Mooney delves into the disturbing Q&As on an NHS website for children

No doubt they are well-meaning people: liberal, well-educated, proud to be open-minded. The men and women who have created Respect Yourself - a new sex education website for teenagers - certainly have a mission to explain. Nothing, not even the grossest sexual practice, is beyond the pale, even though the site is designed for teenagers as young as 13 and will certainly be viewed by children much younger. Funded by the NHS (to the tune of £24,000) and the European Union (£32,000), these educators have no problem in getting down and dirty in order to tell it like it is. Read more

Inside the paedophile's lair: Chilling pics of bunk beds at Savile's Highlands cottage raided by police where 'up to 20 suffered abuse'

Nestled in the Highlands a mile from any other building is paedophile Jimmy Savile's Scottish hideaway, and these pictures show the chilling scene inside the cottage where he may have abused more than 20 people. The remote white-washed property outside the village of Glencoe has been untouched since the pervert died last year and now police have raided it hunting for evidence of his crimes. Frozen in time, his hairbrush, documents, ashtray and even his food are shown scattered around the empty home just as he left them. Read more

Brazilian student, 20, agrees to sell her virginity for $780,000 after putting it up for auction online

A Brazilian student is set to sell her virginity for a staggering $780,000 after she put it up for auction online. A man called Natsu, from Japan, fended off strong competition from American bidders Jack Miller and Jack Right, and Indian big-spender Rudra Chatterjee, to secure a date with 20-year-old Catarina Migliorini. The auction closed this morning, and the physical education student - who said she will use the cash to build homes for poverty-stricken families - was the subject of 15 bids. Read more

French interior minister accused of clearing out tramps and gypsies in stylish part of Paris 'so his wife can go shopping in peace'

The French interior minister has been accused of ordering police to remove tramps and gypsies from his neighbourhood 'so his wife can shop in peace'. Manuel Valls, 50, reportedly told officers to show 'zero tolerance' in evicting homeless people from the stylish district around the Place de la Bastille near his home in Paris. According to a satirical weekly, Le Canard Enchaîné, Mr Valls ordered the clean-up at the request of his glamorous wife, Anne Gravoin, after she allegedly complained of being accosted by a drunken down-and-out on a trip to supermarket. Read more

Teenager 'thought he was Barack Obama' after fellow customer in McDonald's bit him and his septic cheek turned him psychotic

An assault victim thought he was Barack Obama after an infected bite mark on his cheek caused him to hallucinate and develop 'God-like delusions'. Tatenda Kamasho, 19, was stabbed and bitten on the cheek by Jordace Sinclair, 18, while waiting in a queue at McDonald’s in The Drapery, Northampton. The assault wound on Mr Kamasho’s cheek turned septic, causing him to fall into psychosis. He began suffering hallucinations and developed a God complex. Read more

Paparazzi photographer who took topless pictures of Duchess of Cambridge set to be arrested by French police

French judicial police are preparing to arrest a paparazzi linked to topless photographs of the Duchess of Cambridge, it emerged tonight. It follows confirmation that the name of the photographer had been handed over to detectives investigating the alleged crime. It took place in September at Chateau d’Autet, a holiday retreat in Provence owned by the Queen’s nephew, Viscount Linley. Read More

Teaching union calls for porn lessons on national curriculum amid fears children as young as 11 are addicted to adult websites

Children as young as 11 are becoming addicted to internet pornography giving them 'unrealistic expectations' of sex, according to new research. It is now 'common practice' for schoolchildren to access hard core pornography at an early age and become desensitised to sexual images. A study, published by Plymouth University, said that more children are finding themselves 'hooked' on internet porn before they become sexually active, leading to problems in later life. The news comes as a teaching union said yesterday that children as young as ten should learn about pornography as part of the national curriculum. The National Association of Headteachers said primary school teachers needed to respond to the fact that children were now getting a large amount of their information about sex from the internet. They said sex education guidelines are hopelessly out of date and cannot cope with the ‘overtly sexualised world’ in which children are now growing up. But many fami

'Islam is about real love, not just lust': The party girl who's embraced a new life as a Muslim convert

Her conversion from Ibiza party girl to hijab-wearing Muslim in barely three months may well raise a few eyebrows – and she admits that her friends probably think it’s another one of her fads. But trainee teacher Heather Matthews, 27, says Islam has brought her ‘love and happiness’ that she never found in her old ‘shallow’ lifestyle. Mrs Matthews, a mother of two, converted to the faith four weeks ago – two months after returning from a holiday in Ibiza. And she says that the photographs of the ‘old her’ taken on that trip show all that is wrong with Western images of beauty. She said: ‘I thought I needed to act and dress in a certain way to feel good about myself. I see girls now and think about what image they are portraying to other people, especially men. ‘It is about self-respect. If you dress and act in a certain way, rightly or wrongly, you’ll be treated in a certain way. ‘Islam has taught me about real love, not false passion and lust. I can even see the logic in arranged marr

Bursting at the seams: Uncompromising pictures from inside America's overcrowded prison system show the cramped lives lived by more than two million inmate

These revealing pictures illustrate America's prison system at breaking point - with overcrowding in the nation's jails at its highest for eight years. Correctional institutions across the U.S are bursting at the seams with more than two million Americans behind bars. The worst hit state, California, houses 140,000 inmates when its 33 adult prisons are only designed to hold a maximum of 80,000. Overall, the Bureau of Prisons Network is around 39 per cent over 'rated capacity' - their highest level since 2004 - with that figure expected to soar to 45 per cent above its limit by 2018. Read More

Mother wins Guinness World Record for breast milk donation after pumping 86 GALLONS to help premature babies

A mother in North Texas has been awarded a Guinness World Record for donating breast milk. Alicia Richman, 28, from Granbury, pumped over 86 gallons between June 2011 and March 2012 for donation to The Mothers’ Milk Bank of North Texas, a nonprofit that supplies neonatal intensive care units. The vast quantity equates to 11,000oz - to put it into context, a typical newborn's feed is around 3oz. She told CBS DFW: 'I pumped at work, on vacations, in the car. And I never had to buy formula.' Mrs Richman began donating shortly after giving birth to her son, now 19 months, when she found that she had managed to fill two freezers with pumped milk - far more than he would ever need. She decided to put her extraordinary ability to good use and help premature and critically ill babies who could benefit from the nourishment human breast milk can provide over formula. 'I feel like God blessed me with plenty of milk and I need to do something special with it,' she said. 'Th

Muslim MasterCard: Compass pointing to Mecca embedded in new bank card

A compass pointing the way to Mecca is embedded in a new MasterCard aimed at Muslims. Gulf state-owned bank Al Hillal in the United Arab Emirates has rolled out the new bank card which complies with Islamic laws banning charging interest on loans in a bid to appeal to the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims. Islamic law or Shariah forbids ‘riba’, the charging of interest on loans, because it enables the rich to exploit the poor, creates social and economic tension and encourages risk, according to scholars. Read more : http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2217105/Muslim-MasterCard-Compass-pointing-Mecca-embedded-new-bank-card.html#ixzz29Ed3aKbM Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

As protesters dressed as Nazis riot in an Athens ruled by Brussels stooges, giving the Nobel Peace Prize to the EU is beyond satire

The Nobel Peace Prize is the sacred elephant of the liberal establishment. It is sometimes awarded to good people who have done great things, but equally often to unworthy recipients as a gesture of pious hope. The world applauded when it was presented to Martin Luther King in 1964, to Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi in 1991, to Nelson Mandela and F.W. de Klerk two years later. Sensible people sighed when the prize went to Henry Kissinger and Viet Cong leader Le Duc Tho in 1973, who stitched up a charade of a Vietnam peace deal as a figleaf for surrendering the country to the Communists; to Egypt’s leader Anwar Sadat and his Israeli counterpart Menachem Begin in 1978 for their Middle East deal which brought no lasting peace; and to Barack Obama in 2009 for his commitment to ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, both of which are still mired in bloodshed. Read more : http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2217013/As-protesters-dressed-Nazis-riot-Athens-ruled-Brussels-stooges-giving-Nobel

Would you buy this for your daughter? Artist creates disturbing PREGNANT BABY doll complete with mini foetus (but don't worry, it won't be hitting the shops)

At first glance it's your average baby doll, diaper clad and equipped with various bottles of 'milk'. The blonde-haired, blue-eyed youngster looks life-life enough, her mouth upturned in an open-lipped smile, her puffy elbows and knees typical of a newborn. But on closer inspection she is way more than just a doll, she is the freakish creation of a horror-show design project, developed by UK-based artist Darren Cullen, who goes by the name of 'sexyoffender'. Read mor e: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2217123/Would-buy-daughter-Artist-creates-disturbing-PREGNANT-BABY-doll-complete-pregnant-foetus-dont-worry-wont-hitting-shops.html#ixzz29Ec6sKVq Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Is reading in the dark bad for your eyesight?

If you were ever caught reading in low light, or using a torch under the bedcovers to read after lights-out, your parents might well have warned you that straining your eyes would damage your eyesight. Or perhaps you used to hear that it’s easy to spot the studious children at school because they were the ones who had spent so long with their head in a book that they had to wear glasses. Whatever you heard, the warning that people shouldn’t read regularly in dim light is a familiar one. Carry out a quick internet search, though, and you’ll discover that this is apparently a myth. End of story? Not quite. When you dig a little deeper and look at the scientific evidence, the story becomes much more complex. Let’s look at the basics first. Short-sightedness or myopia means that a person can easily see things that are close up, but objects in the distance such as the number on a bus or the menu board in a restaurant look blurry. Wearing glasses or contact lenses solves the problem, but i

Two HIV-positive British bar workers accused of raping 17-year-old after plying him with alcohol

Two HIV-positive British bar workers stand accused of raping a 17-year-old boy after plying him with alcohol. The gay couple, named so far only as Andreu Paul W, 38, and Warren H, 34, are said to have made their victim drink 'large quantities of vodka' after taking him back to their flat in Calpe, eastern Spain. They are then accused of making him sniff an unknown substance and, when he had passed out, stripping him naked from the waist down and taking it in turns to rape him, El Mundo newspaper reports. Read more

TV host Jimmy Savile sexually abused 10 girls during career peak, documentary to reveal

A shocking documentary set to hit screens next week will see up to 10 women allege they were sexually abused by TV star Sir Jimmy Savile. The accusations, which range from rape to indecency, are claimed to have occurred during the height of his fame on girls as young as 13. Two of the women featured in the ITV show even allege he gave them money, cigarettes, records and spots in the audience of his shows in return for 'sexual favours'. Read more

School which banned skirts to avoid 'sexualisation' of pupils sends girls home for wearing trousers that are 'too tight'

A school that caused uproar by banning skirts as part of their uniform has sparked further controversy after girls were sent home because their trousers were considered too tight. Moulton School and Science College, in Northampton, introduced strict new uniform rules at the start of September to 'avoid the sexualisation' of pupils. Skirts were banned after schoolgirls repeatedly wore them above the knee. But now headmaster Trevor Jones has caused further upset with his crackdown on skinny-fit trousers, or those with visible studs, labels, zips, non-black stitching or metal buttons The head has ordered staff to send pupils home or teach them in isolation if they turn up in the legwear, which he claims would be 'more at home in a nightclub'. The school's website also states that anyone not wearing the correct uniform will be offered second-hand clothing if available. Angry parents have described the policy as 'over-the-top' and have even likened conditions a

Caught on canvas! The hyperrealistic drawings that look so good you could mistake them for photographs

The first time you see Dirk Dzimirsky's hyperrealistic drawings, you're convinced they're black and white photographs. But on closer inspection, you realise they are just the work of a very talented artist and his pens and pencils. Using photos just for inspiration, he sets up basic proportions and then draws layer upon layer until he creates his incredibly realistic portraits. Read more

£40m for any man who can turn my gay daughter straight: Father's shock offer after lesbian wedding ceremony

As a billionaire playboy who claims to have bedded 10,000 women, Cecil Chao has no doubts about his own sexuality. Now he is trying to dictate the sexuality of his children too. The 76-year-old property and shipping tycoon is offering a £40million ‘marriage bounty’ to any man who can win the heart of his lesbian daughter – and turn her straight. He announced the reward after his daughter, Gigi, married her same-sex partner in France. Refusing to accept the gay union, he pledged the fortune to any potential male suitor able to walk the 33-year-old University of Manchester graduate down the aisle at a traditional wedding. The famously promiscuous Hong Kong businessman dismissed ‘false reports’ of his daughter’s lesbian nuptials and insisted she was still single. ‘I don’t mind whether he is rich or poor – the important thing is that he is generous and kind hearted,’ he said of the ideal husband for his daughter. ‘Gigi is a very good woman with both talents and looks. She is devoted to he

Revealed: Employee and manager at centre of salacious resignation email that accused them of having sex in the office

As one of London’s leading advertising agencies, MEC might have thought that all publicity was good publicity. But it will be feeling rather differently after a damning resignation email sent by one of its employees caused an internet sensation. In the email, sent to the whole company, senior account manager Kieran Allen makes a series of salacious allegations against his boss. He alleges that his 36-year-old boss ‘took a female colleague out for a drink on the day he interviewed her, then later took her back to the MEC offices that night and had sexual relations with her in the meeting rooms on the 3rd floor’. To the astonishment of MEC’s 5,000 employees, Mr Allen, who has worked for the company for more than two years, said he wanted to ‘expose the failings’ of supervisor Greg Shickle. He claimed the allegations were ‘common knowledge’ among the 30-strong team Mr Shickle leads in his role as Head of Performance. Soon after Mr Allen sent the email on Tuesday morning, it had gone ‘vira

Nazi guidebook portrays Hitler as a 'great peacemaker' while the British are EVIL. . . except Shakespeare Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2208404/Nazi-textbook-portrays-Hitler-great-peacemaker-British-EVIL---Shakespeare.html#ixzz27XtzWFwP Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

German schoolchildren preparing for the invasion of the UK during the Second World War were given a textbook portraying Hitler as a man of peace and the British as evil warmongers. The bizarre 1942 publication - which was written in English - attempts to give children an idea of what to expect when visiting the British Isles in the event of a successful Nazi take-over. In it, a variety of bold claims are made, accusing Jews of running the British press and statements about English people secretly supporting Fascism, but it does reflect Hitler's admiration for the work of William Shakespeare. Read more

Father delivers baby daughter using tips he picked up from 'One Born Every Minute' TV show after wife goes into labour in the bath

A father helped deliver his daughter after his wife went into labour in the bath, and he used tips he’d learnt from watching TV series ‘One Born Every Minute’. Lacey Nelson was 10 days beyond her due date when mother Natalie Brett was in the bath at her home in Blaby, Leicestershire, when she went into labour. Realising there was going to be no time to get to hospital father Marcus turned midwife to deliver his daughter as the drama began to unfold in the early hours of Saturday. Read more

German Catholics will be denied Holy Communion or a religious burial if they refuse to pay church tax

Germany's Catholic Church will deny worshippers the right to Holy Communion and religious burials if people do not pay a special church tax. A newly-enforced German bishops' decree says anyone failing to pay the tax - an extra 8% of their income tax bill - will no longer be considered a Catholic. All people in Germany must pay this tax if they want to worship in either Catholic or protestant churches, or Jewish synagogues. Read more

Polish man caught with stockings over his head performing a sex act on himself outside a police station … and now he’s lost his sight

A Polish man who was caught with stockings over his head performing a sex act on himself outside a police station has lost his sight. Rafal Ciesielski, 35, was arrested in broad daylight after he was seen in the car park where he got ‘excited’ outside Spalding police station in Lincolnshire on August 12. He claimed that someone may have spiked his drink and he was ‘ashamed and embarrassed’ by his actions .Read more

'He's their pack leader': Man who shares his home with 50 dogs escapes an ASBO after judge rules he has the 'right to a family life'

When Andrew Debidin moved to a new home with his pack of nearly 50 German Shepherds, his neighbours were understandably concerned. And they claim that their worst fears were confirmed over the next few months when the din from nearby kennels left them depressed and exhausted, forcing the council to seek an Anti-Social Behaviour Order to reduce numbers and control the noise. But yesterday a sheriff dismissed the Asbo bid and allowed Mr Debidin, who she described as the 'pack leader', to keep all his animals. Referring to Mr Debidin’s human rights, Sheriff Susan Raeburn ruled there was no justification to interfere in his 'family life' with his dogs. She said that while his circumstances were 'unusual' - Mr Dedibin sleeps with all but two of his pets in a caravan in a remote rural compound - his lifestyle does not amount to anti-social behaviour. The reclusive 58-year-old already has a history of owning noisy dogs and was jailed and banned from keeping the animals

Caught on camera, moment drummer slumped on his kit and died from heart attack mid-way through concert

This is the moment an American drummer keeled over from a heart attack and died mid-concert. Brad Parker, 59, was performing with his band Generation Esmeralda in the Brazilian city of Uba on Saturday evening when he slumped over his drum-kit during the show. Footage aired on Brazilian television shows friends and medics rushing towards him to check if he is all right. But despite later being rushed to hospital in the Minas Gerais state city and receiving medical attention, he could not be saved. Sergio Lopes, a producer for the group in Brazil, said: 'Doctors performed all the emergency procedures but unfortunately there was no solution.' His body will be flown back to his home in California later this week, Globonews reported. Generation Esmeralda is a disco group formed by ex-members of Santa Esmeralda, a Franco-U.S. 1970s outfit. The original band had hits with You're My Everything, Sevilla Nights and Another Cha Cha.

Broadway patron, who invested $4.5m in musical, 'dies of malaria before paying up'... and he may never have existed at all

The show is months from curtain up but there is already heightened drama surrounding one Broadway musical - although it has mostly taken place off stage. Rebecca, the musical adaptation of the novel by Daphne Du Maurier, is now in jeopardy after a major but secretive investor pulled out in dubious circumstances. Paul Abrams had promised a staggering $4.5million to lead producer Ben Sprecher to stage the musical at the Broadhurst Theater on Broadway. Read more

Could the bizarre 'bagel head' look be Japan's most extreme beauty trend yet?

A new television series has shed light on the bizarre Japanese trend for 'bagel heads'. The extraordinary look, which is created by injecting saline into the forehead, then pressing in the centre of the swollen area with a thumb, is a hit on the country's underground body modification scene. The dramatic results of the two-hour treatment last just 16-24 hours, after which the saline is absorbed by the body and the forehead reduces back to its normal size. Read more

Message in a bottle thrown into English Channel arrives 10,000 miles away in AUSTRALIA after just five months… that’s a speed of 3mph (or 2.6 knots!)

She threw her message in a bottle into the sea off the edge of Bournemouth Pier in the vain hope it might drift slowly to her aunt in Guernsey. And when four-year-old Jasmine Hudson heard nothing from across the Channel she imagined it had been swallowed by a shark. But incredibly, five months later, her precious note hit land in Largs Bay Beach near Adelaide, southern Australia - 10,000 miles away from where it plopped in the water in Bournemouth, Dorset, where she was on holiday with her family. Read more

Millionaire with cocaine habit so bad his nose collapsed is jailed after police find drugs stash in the folding roof of his Bentley

A millionaire cocaine addict who retired abroad at the age of just 36 after making his fortune has been jailed after police found a haul of drugs hidden in his luxury car. Property developer James Brown's habit was so bad his nose collapsed after nine years of daily cocaine use. The 45-year-old has now been jailed for five years after a haul of cocaine was found hidden in the air vents and folding roof of his luxury Bentley. Brown was arrested by police in his Bentley Continental convertible as he stayed in a luxury hotel once owned by Men Behaving Badly star Neil Morrissey. He was found with more cocaine and a collection of illegal guns in the hotel. Prosecutor Craig Jones said: 'Brown, through property dealing, became very wealthy and at 36 retired to Portugal where he was introduced to cocaine.' Read more

Why do the Asians hate me? Heartbreaking letter victim, 13, of grooming sex gang wrote to herself

A 13-year-old girl who told police how she had been groomed and raped by an Asian sex gang wrote a harrowing letter to herself at the age of 14. In the letter addressed to her alter-ego Michelle, she wrote, 'I feel like the asians really hate me even when they say they love me'. The girl, who told police about the rape that took her virginity and the time five men queued outside a bedroom to demand sex from her, added, 'They took all my dreams and my life away from me.' Read more

Obama tells United Nations it is 'time to heed the words of Gandhi', condemns 'disgusting' anti-Islam video and insists 'Muslims have suffered the most at the hands of extremism'

He said: 'I have made it clear that the United States government had nothing to do with this video, and I believe its message must be rejected by all who respect our common humanity. It is an insult not only to Muslims, but to America as well – for as the city outside these walls makes clear, we are a country that has welcomed people of every race and religion. Read more

Seven million Britons have seen topless Kate pictures online... that's one in five

Pictures of the Duchess of Cambridge sunbathing topless have now been seen by seven million Britons, research has found. While only one per cent have seen the shots, taken with a super-long lens, in foreign magazines or a newspaper, one in five adults with internet access have seen them online. And two thirds think the photographer who took the pictures should be prosecuted. The French magazine Closer is being sued by the Royals after it was the first to publish the snaps of Kate sunbathing at the chateau in southern France. Police probing the photographer who took the pictures have been questioning staff at the chateau where the couple were staying. Nearly three quarters of the 1,600 people polled by YouGov said Kate and husband William, both 30, were right to pursue legal action. Read more

Mother's fury as son's seventh birthday party at public pool had full view of mens' NAKED swim session

A mother has spoken of her horror after a group of naturists turned up at her son's seventh birthday party at a public swimming pool. A group of around 20 nude men began a swimming session at Radcliffe Pool and Fitness Centre in Greater Manchester in plain view of children who were eating in the canteen. Staff had taped bin bags and paper to the windows in attempt to keep the naturist party from view. But the boy's shocked mother said she and other parents had to stand in front of cracks and at the balcony to make sure children didn't see them. Read more

Hospital nurse found hanged after she faced being struck off over claims of affair with psychiatric patient

A nurse sacked for having sex with a patient killed herself just four days into a misconduct hearing, an inquest has heard. Tragic Elizabeth Watts, 38, was found hanged after lurid details about her sexual encounters with a male patient in his 40s were made public. She was fired from her job after the patient informed hospital officials about their affair, which started after he was admitted to A&E. Read more

Manhattan Madam 'pleads guilty to running high-class prostitution service from her apartment'... and now she WON'T have to name her wealthy client

The 'Manhattan Madam' has today pleaded guilty to running a high-end prostitution service from her New York City apartment. Anna Gristina, 44, pleaded guilty in Manhattan Criminal Court to a single count of promoting prostitution. The sole charge against her stemmed from a tryst she allegedly arranged between two prostitutes and an undercover police officer, who was posing as a client, in July 2011. She took the deal in exchange for a promised sentence of time already served, DNAinfo reported, meaning she won't be going back to jail as she was in Rikers Island for four months earlier this year. Gristina will be ordered to serve five months probation when she is sentenced on November 20. The judge warned the Scottish-born mother of four that she could also be deported. The punishment is much more lenient than the potential outcome of a trial; she could have faced seven years behind bars if she had been found guilty at a trial scheduled for next month. Read more

Chilling footage shows man leading two young girls - one clutching a teddy - into a hotel for sex as eight paedophiles are jailed for 42 years

This is the shocking moment a man was caught on CCTV leading two young girls into a hotel for sex. The appalling video was shown during the trial of eight men who were yesterday jailed in Derby for a total of 42 years for preying on girls aged 13 to 15, picked up from care homes and the streets. The vile men, aged between 35 and 60, slept with the girls in exchange for as little as £5, cigarettes, drugs, mobile phones and treats - including a child’s toy and rides on a farmer’s tractor. Read More

We're so sorry, Your Majesty: BBC apology after reporter on Radio 4 divulges Queen's private views about Hamza

BBC bosses yesterday made an extraordinary public apology to the Queen after revealing her distress at the authorities’ lack of action against Abu Hamza for ‘denigrating’ her country. The Corporation said it had been guilty of a ‘breach of confidence’ by reporting the remarkable details of a conversation she had with its security correspondent Frank Gardner at a military dinner. Gardner, who has an OBE, disclosed live on air that the Queen had told him of her frustration that the hate preacher had been left free to ‘use this country as a platform for his very violent, hateful views’. He claimed she had even intervened to raise the issue with a government minister. Read more

Arm in arm, the runaway and her teacher: CCTV captures Megan, 15, with married man on the ferry to France

His arm wrapped possessively around her shoulder, this is teacher Jeremy Forrest with runaway 15-year-old Megan Stammers. The married maths teacher and his teenage pupil were caught on CCTV on a cross-Channel ferry last week. Pictures of Forrest, 30, and Megan were released as French police admitted they could now be ‘anywhere in Europe’. Read more

Angry employee's resignation speech which outs manager for having sex in the office with female colleague goes viral after he emails it to entire workforce

It is an email that will probably make most senior managers squirm in their seats. An employee at a media agency in London has decided to send a leaving speech detailing his grievances with a company manager to all members of staff. And worse still - that email has now gone viral after it was posted online, with its hashtag trending on Twitter. The phrase - coined by Twitter users - refers to the worker's boss at the UK media agency MEC Global, whose name we have withheld for legal reasons. Employee Kieran Allen, a senior account manager at the company, has lambasted his manager for ruining the past 8 months of his working life. Mr Allen has decided to quit the company after 2 and a half years of 'loyal service' because he alleges the manager blocked his bonus, gave him a verbal warning for poor performance and put him on a performance review, according to the email that was sent this morning. Read more

Another teacher at the runaway's school was jailed after grooming two young girls for sex

Parents at Megan Stammers’ school demanded an inquiry into its child protection procedures last night as more under-age sex scandals emerged at the Church of England comprehensive. Incredibly, another teacher at Bishop Bell C of E School in Eastbourne was jailed three years ago for preying on teenage girls after grooming them on a social networking site. In addition, a former chairman of governors at the same school is due to stand trial on alleged child sex offences next month. Some parents said their children were too scared to attend class after it was revealed how staff failed to remove married maths teacher Jeremy Forrest despite warnings that he was having a relationship with Megan seven months ago. Richard Chapman, who has two children at the school, said: ‘Something needs to be done now, otherwise, where will it stop? And who will be next? The school has let everyone down and it is not like this is the first time it has happened. The school needs to be investigated from the ver

Madonna calls President Obama a 'black Muslim,' says she'll strip onstage if he wins second term

Madonna asked everyone in the audience of her Washington, DC performance Monday night to vote for President Obama because he is a "black Muslim." "Y’all better vote for f**king Obama, OK? For better or for worse, all right?" the shouted from stage while sipping from a bottle of water with a straw. ""We have a black Muslim in the White House! Now that’s some amazing s**t.” Madonna, 54, also stripped down to her bra to reveal "Obama" stenciled in big letters on her back, before promising (or warning?): “When Obama is in the White House for a second term I'll take it all off.” President Obama is not a Muslim.

French Closer editor 'receives death threats over Duchess topless pictures'

"We have received more than 300 insulting emails of which several contain death threats," Closer said, adding that it had notified the police. Fourteen of the most violent messages addressed to Pieau were handed over to the police. One vowed to "never let her stay in peace." After their debut in the French weekly, the photos of the Duchess of Cambridge have appeared in magazines in Denmark and Sweden, Ireland's Daily Star and Italy's Chi, which like Closer is owned by former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's Mondari media group. The pictures were taken when the royals were vacationing in southern France at a chateau owned by Viscount Linley, the son of Princess Margaret, the deceased sister of the Queen. After publication, Pieau defended them saying they were not in the "least shocking". "They show a young woman sunbathing topless, like the millions of women you see on beaches," she told AFP. The royal family's lawyers have obtai

'Slut walking' around the world: Women take to the streets across globe in their underwear to protest against rape

Hundreds of female activists, some dressed in little more than their underwear, protested outside Downing Street yesterday in protest over attitudes towards rape victims. The march, organised by the London branch of the global 'Slut Walk' campaign group, called on the Prime Minister to ensure the criminal justice system takes rape and sexual assault cases more seriously. The global campaign was seeded by a policeman in 2011 in Toronto, Canada, after a policeman controversially said women should 'avoid dressing like sluts' if they don't want to risk being sexually assaulted. The event in London on Saturday followed a similar semi-clad march of women in Paris this week. Women from Ukraine who have become world famous for protesting topless against sexism, prostitution and the exploitation of women, ran a training camp in the French capital on Tuesday The growing Urkainian movement formed in 2008, known as Femen, and the global Slut Walk campaign which has gained wor

Trains in space! A father's incredible project to send his son's favourite toy 18 miles above earth (and return it in one piece)

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A father's amazing project to send his son's favourite toy to the edge of space has become a YouTube hit. Santa Cruz video producer Ron Fugelseth decided to document the heartwarming project The video has been a huge success, receiving 200,000 views in 48 hours, and currently stands at over 770,000 views - and it expected to hit a million within hours. Read more

Why didn't school stop them? Staff knew about runaway teacher and pupil seven months ago

Staff at missing teenager Megan Stammers’s school were warned of her relationship with a married teacher seven months before the pair ran away to France. The 15-year-old was seen holding hands with 30-year-old maths teacher Jeremy Forrest as they sat together on a flight home from a school trip to the U.S. Worried friends of the teenager said yesterday that they reported their concerns to another teacher after returning from the five-day visit to Los Angeles in February. Read more

Crocs on a plane! Reptile escapes its cage mid-flight and is found roaming round cargo hold

It was the baggage with bite - a crocodile escaped from its cage on a domestic flight in Australia. The reptile, which was not fully grown, was found roaming free in the cargo hold when the plane touched down in Melbourne, it has been revealed. A shocked baggage handler made the discovery last week. Fortunately, the reptile was recaptured without incident. Read more

Chinese girl, 13, tied to a moped as her family cannot afford medical treatment for her epilepsy

Tied to a moped, this 13-year-old girl is forced to trudge after her grandfather as he gathers rubbish to recycle on the streets of China. Jiang Manqi's family cannot afford to seek medical help to treat the teenager's epilepsy, so she is tied to a moped so her relative can look after her. Abandoned by her parents, denied access to schools and too poor to receive care, this is the only option Manqi has. Read more

France is set to ban the words 'mother' and 'father' from all official documents under controversial plans to legalise gay marriage

France is set to ban the words 'mother' and 'father' from all official documents under controversial plans to legalise gay marriage. The move which has outraged Catholics means only the word 'parents' would be used in identical marriage ceremonies for all heterosexual and same-sex couples. The draft law states that 'marriage is a union of two people, of different or the same gender'. Read more

DSK to escape gang rape charges after woman at orgy claims they were just playing 'sex games'

Shamed former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn is set to escape gang rape charges after a vice girl told police they were playing 'sex games'. The alleged victim had now changed her story to tell police that the group sex with prostitutes at an orgy in Washington DC was 'consensual', it has been revealed. Strauss-Kahn, 54, had faced 20 years in prison over the claims by the prostitute named Marion that he used force against her and other girls during the sex session in December 2010. Read more

Friends of schoolboy, 14, who died from cancer are banned from the classroom for wearing wristbands in his memory

Friends of a 14-year-old boy who died after a long battle with cancer are being sent home from school for refusing to remove wristbands worn in his memory. Jordan Cobby, from Nuneaton, was diagnosed with a tumour behind his eye in 2008 and died aged 14 last March Tribute wristbands in memory of Jordan were sold at his school, the Nuneaton Academy, following his death, with all proceeds donated to the Teenage Cancer Trust charity. Friends of the teenager bought the bands and have worn them ever since, but now the school has banned pupils from wearing them, saying they are not part of the uniform, his mother Joanne Meuse said .Read more

Man waiting for heart transplant stuns his family when his own heart HEALS itself

A transplant patient has stunned medics after his heart mended on its own before he was set to receive potentially life-saving surgery. Michael Crowe, 23, was admitted to hospital last month with an inflammation of the heart muscle which left the vital organ barely functioning. Having been diagnosed with acute myocarditis, doctors decided Mr Crowe needed a transplant and he was hooked up to a machine which filtered his blood and kept his heart and lungs working. Read more

Doctors say children should be BANNED from playing on trampolines because they are too dangerous

Health officials say children should be banned from jumping on trampolines because they are too dangerous. Citing nearly 100,000 injuries in 2009 alone, the American Academy of Pediatrics has also dismissed the recent addition of safety nets around trampolines. The Academy claims the nets do not make much difference in terms of safety, but instead lull parents into a false sense of security. Read more

'It sickens me he was the first man I kissed’: Victim of serial paedophile reveals ordeal, aged 10, at the hands of trusted family friend

A woman who was sexually abused as a child by a family friend has spoken out about her ordeal in court as her attacker was jailed. Sally Maby, 37, was just 10-years-old when she was targeted by Mark James, now 54, who befriended her through a church in Bristol in the 1980s and then abused her. Now, nearly thirty years later and as James was jailed for the offences on Friday, Miss Maby has waived her right to anonymity in the hope that it will give others the strength to come forward and report similar offences. Read more

U.S. woman, 24, 'screened live child porn over the internet by forcing girl, 3, to expose herself on a webcam to a man in Scotland'

A 24-year-old U.S. woman has been arrested for creating a live child porn show and screening it to a British man over the internet. A joint investigation by the FBI and Interpol led to the arrest of Misty Reneedawn Wofford at her Texas home on Thursday. She is alleged to have forced a three-year-old girl to expose her genitals on the webcam being watched by Paul Hanlon at his home in Edinburgh, Scotland. Read more

Scientists find the secret of longer life for men (the bad news: Castration is the key)

Scientists have found a sure-fire way for men to live longer - but most red-blooded males will find the method unpalatably painful. Researchers in Korea have shown that eunuchs - castrated men living centuries ago - outlived other men by a significant margin. They say their findings suggest that male sex hormones are responsible for shortening the lives of men. Read more

Gay people 'seven times more likely to take illegal drugs than general population'

Gay people are seven times more likely to take illegal drugs than the general population, a new study conducted over two years has found. And one in five show signs of dependency on drugs or alcohol. The report, conducted by the Lesbian and Gay Foundation (LGF) and the University of Central Lancashire, sampled more than 4,000 people over two years. Read more

Hackers claim they cracked iPhone 5 just EIGHT HOURS after its release

A San Francisco hacker says he has cracked the new iPhone 5, less than eight hours after its release to the public. Grant Paul, who develops software for Apple's iOS operating system, posted photos on his Twitter page of a 'jailbroken' iPhone 5. Apple ships its iPhones and other mobile devices with restrictions that only allow Apple-approved software to be installed. Read more

'Fake pilot who joined cabin crew in cockpit' is arrested in plot mirroring Spielberg's hit film Catch Me If You Can

A man who posed as a pilot and joined cabin crew in a plane cockpit has been arrested, Italian police said today. The unemployed 32-year-old man, whose real identity was not released, created a fake profile for himself on Facebook and called himself Andrea Sirlo, even posting pictures of himself wearing a uniform and Aviator sunglasses. To complete the illusion he made up fake identity cards and even sent himself imaginary comments from dozens of fake cabin crew friends who expressed their 'delight' at being rostered with him on flights. Read more

Passenger uses app to track down iPad he left on plane... and discovers it was taken by flight attendant

A Nevada man who lost his iPad on an airplane used an app called 'Find My iPad' to locate it inside the home of a flight attendant in Oregon, according to police. Wendy Ronelle Dye, 43, a flight attendant for Horizon Air, was arrested in Oregon City on Friday evening. The iPad's owner said he had downloaded the anti-theft app only days before the September 11 flight to Los Angeles, and forgot about its installation until activating it on Wednesday. While being questioned by police, Dye initially denied having the iPad or knowing one was missing. The flight attendant then confessed that a passenger brought her the tablet, which cost around $500, saying it had been left on a seat. Read more

French National Front leader Marine Le Pen calls for ban on wearing of the Jewish skullcap in public - 'in the name of equality'

Far right politician Marine Le Pen has caused outrage across France by calling for the banning of the Jewish skullcap in public. The leader of National Front won a fifth of the popular vote during the first round of May’s presidential election on a largely anti-Muslim immigration agenda. Now in an interview she has called not just for a ban on the wearing of Islamic veils in public, but also the kippah – leading to France’s most senior Rabbi to describe her view as ‘deeply deplorable’. Her inflammatory words come at a time of heightened tensions caused by a Paris satirical magazine’s decision to publish a series of cartoons mocking both Islam and Judaism. Read more

Lib Dem minister Lynne Featherstone blames domestic violence on topless Page 3 photos

Topless pictures in tabloid newspapers should be banned because they fuel domestic violence, a senior Lib Dem minister claimed today. Lynne Featherstone, the party’s most senior female MP in government, is backing a ban on Page 3 claiming it has it had a ‘deleterious effect’ on women. She conceded that should would be dismissed as ‘sour-faced’ but insisted the newspaper feature could not be justified as ‘harmless’ fun. But she said the sight of topless models in newspapers was part of a culture of the sexualisation of women which influences public attitudes and domestic abuse. Risking a backlash from tabloid readers, the international development minister said: ‘There is a real argument about what is OK in the public space. Read more:

Exposed, the 'myth' of bright foreign students: Just five per cent attend university rated in the top ten

The vast majority of foreign students who come to the UK attend ‘lower level’ universities and colleges, a study has revealed. Just five per cent of the students who enter Britain each year go to a university rated in the top ten. Around one in eight goes to one of the top 24 Russell group universities. Think tank MigrationWatch, which carried out the study, said the figures exploded the myth that the non-EU students coming to the UK were the ‘brightest and the best’. Read more

Farmer, Scout leader and bank manager filmed abuse on children as young as nine and held sex parties in isolated farmhouse

A nationwide paedophile ring, including a Scout leader, a bank manager and a retired sheep farmer, have been jailed indefinitely for a string of shocking sex crimes against young children. Girls as young as nine were filmed being abused and shared among the twisted the individuals. The gang were also linked to an isolated country farmhouse, owned by ex-farmer Nicholas Cordery, where group sex parties and bestiality took place. Read more:

Australian Roman Catholic Church admits child sex abuse

The Roman Catholic Church in the Australian state of Victoria has confirmed that more than 600 children have been sexually abused by its priests since the 1930s. The Archbishop of Melbourne, Denis Hart, described the figures as "horrific and shameful". They were released in a submission to a state parliamentary inquiry into the handling of abuse cases. Campaigners say the true number of abuse victims could be up to 10,000. In its submission, the church said the 620 cases went back 80 years with the majority taking place between the 1960s and the 1980s. It says it is still investigating a further 45 cases. In a statement, Archbishop Hart said it was important to be open "about the horrific abuse that has occurred in Victoria and elsewhere". Read More

parliamentary debate on legalizing same sex marriage that it could lead to marriage between humans and animals...

Liberal senator Cory Bernardi has resigned as Tony Abbott's parliamentary secretary amid a fierce backlash over comments he made linking gay marriage to the social acceptance of having sex with animals. Mr Abbott has described the comments as "ill-disciplined" and has accepted Senator Bernardi's resignation. "They're views I don't share," the Opposition Leader told reporters in Canberra. "They're views that I think many people would find repugnant. "I had a conversation with Senator Bernardi [and] as a result of that conversation, he offered his resignation and I've accepted his resignation. "I think it's pretty clear that I have sent a very strong message to every member of the team that ill-discipline is unacceptable. Read More Australia: Same Sex Marriage Debate Unleashes Beast