Afghan doctors remove extra head from baby girl
Jalalabad: Surgeons in Afghanistan have carried out a life-saving operation on a baby girl born with an extra head, doctors and relatives said on Thursday.
The girl named Asree Gul (new flower) and one of a pair of twins was admitted to a hospital in the eastern city of Jalalabad with an extra head attached to her scalp, chief surgeon Ahmad Obaid Mojadidi told AFP.
“Her mother gave birth to twins, two girls. One girl was in good health but the other had an abnormality. She had an extra head attached to her head,” Mojadidi told AFP. “We separated the extra head from her body,” he said, a week after the operation which he described as the most sophisticated ever carried out in the impoverished city.
He said, however, that the baby was not in good condition after the operation. Nematullah, the father of the infant who like many Afghans uses only one name, said he had not expected his baby to survive the operation. “The doctors saved her life. I thank them,” the emotional father told AFP.
Afghanistan, plagued by more than 30 years of war and still fighting a decade-long Taliban insurgency, lacks modern healthcare.
But facilities have improved thanks to billions of dollars pumped in by the international community since the US-led invasion toppled the Taliban regime in 2001. (AFP)
Prisoner calls 911 to report his escape!
Houston: In a bizarre incident, a prisoner in the US state of Oklahoma chose honesty over freedom and called up emergency number 911 to politely report his own escape.
A cross-country trip transporting prisoners turned wild when two of them stole the van which had a total of eight prison inmates. But it was a phone call from one of their own that landed the prisoners back behind bars.
Joshua Silverman, a prisoner, along with five other inmates watched as the two prisoners stole the van after it stopped at a hospital in Weatherford on Tuesday. Michael Coleman and Lester Burns worked together to steal that van, police said. They escaped while two guards were inside the hospital with another prisoner.
Silverman called 911 and alerted police after the prisoners stopped the van at a distance, ABC News-affiliate KOCO TV reported.
“Uh, yes, ma’am, you’re probably not going to believe this, but I’m a prisoner in a van, and I’m here with a couple of these other cats,” Silverman politely explained to the 911 operator.
“A couple of the guys that were in the van jacked the van … at the hospital,” he said during the nearly four-minute audio clip that Weatherford police released yesterday. “We’re somewhere in Oklahoma,” Silverman told the dispatcher.
“We’re back in some yard. I just don’t want to get shot by cops or nothing.” “We’re all in the van; two of the dudes took off,” Silverman said. “The dudes that were doing whatever they were doing, took off. They unlocked their…and grabbed their property. They took off.” (PTI)
When Toronto men walked in heels
Toronto: Hundreds of men garnered some unusual attention Thursday as they strapped on their fanciest stilettos and strutted along Toronto for the Walk A Mile in Her Shoes march.
The event, largely based on the idea that “You can’t really understand another person’s experience until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes”, is all about raising money and awareness to ending violence against women and girls and to promote gender equality.
Now in its fifth year in Toronto, roughly 400 people donned some three-inch heels to walk one mile in downtown Toronto — collecting looks, laughs and blisters along the way.
And it’s not just a stunt, said organisers from the White Ribbon Campaign, a now-global organisation aimed at ending violence against women. The non-profit organisation’s executive director Todd Minerson said it’s all about giving men a different perspective by experiencing first hand what it’s like to be a woman.
“We’ve been struggling for ways to get men involved in this movement and raise awareness, ways that don’t get men to feel defensive that they’re being blamed for all men who use violence,” he said.
“This is a way to really disarm them and also give them a brief glimpse into how the world is really different for women in lots of ways, including: subway grates and curbs and streetcar tracks, but also in their own experiences of violence.”
Described as the international men’s march to stop rape, sexual assault and gender violence, Walk A Mile in Her Shoes Toronto has raised about 400,000 Canadian dollars since 2009. The goal this year is to raise 125,000 Canadian dollars to fund violence prevention programs against women in Canada.
Sandun Weerasinghe, a young engineer, took on the challenge for the very first time. He said he’s not used to getting this kind of attention, but was willing to make some sacrifices for a good cause.
Hardeep Bains, came as part of a company-organised fundraising effort. Bains, a second year walker, went all out in an effort to raise money. Creating an “incentive package” to collect more donations, Bains wore heels, got his legs waxed, nails done and even wore a dress.
With their combined efforts, Bains, his boss and coworker raised a total of 5,000 Canadian dollars for the event. He said a little pain means nothing if he can make a difference.
More than 2,500 Torontonians have walked over 5 million steps in high heels to help end gender-based violence, making the walk in Toronto one of the largest in the world. (IANS)
Meet the man who is clueless about who Brad Pitt was
Washington: British war veteran, Peter Comfort, who was invited to a World War II film ‘Fury’ set by actor Brad Pitt, told the actor that he had no clue about who he was.
According to a UK publication, during the consultation, Comfort admitted to Pitt that he had to look him up before their meeting, US magazine reported.
The 90-year-old said that following his research he realized that Pitt had appeared in “quite a lot of films.” (ANI)
Worst online dating profile ever revealed
Melbourne: A wedding photographer from the US has created a website that specifies the type of girl that he wants.
According to Culture Map, Larry Busby, 39, created a website called Sleepless in Austin listing all his requirements for would-be matchmakers.
Some of Busby’s criteria include that the lady applying should be thin and white.
He has written that she has to be below 130 lbs (59 kilos), aged 21-41 White, Hispanic, or of European descent, News.com.au reported.
He also wrote that he would not date a black girl even if she looks like Halle Berry, asserting that in his opinion whites and blacks should not mix races sexually and have kids together.
Busby also wrote woman who have had previous sexual relationships need not apply, saying that she does not want a promiscuous s**t, and just wants a normal, decent, good hearted girlfriend.
Other of his preferences are that the woman should not have given birth to a child, as having kids does ruin a woman’s body, which never returns to its original shape.
He also wrote that he is willing to part with an extra 1,000 dollars as a bonus if the relationship turns into marriage. (ANI)
Strangest things left behind by customers in hotels revealed
Wellington: Other than phone chargers, socket adaptors and underwear being the most common items left behind in Christchurch motels and hotels, stranger items have turned up from time to time.
Jeff and Naomi Peters, who own the CentrePoint on Colombo Motel, said that they have a large collection of phone chargers from guests leaving them behind and not coming back to claim them.
One guest had left behind a large amount of cash and their passports in the motel safe once, but they had come back to claim them rather quickly.
It was frustrating when guests left behind their phones because the motel would have no way of getting in touch with them until they rang back to check or rang their phone.
Usually people tended to come back for phones and iPads left behind.
Tudor Court Motel owner Grace Gao had found half an onion left under the bed by a guest and someone had left a whole week’s worth of rubbish in their room when they had checked out.
Another Christchurch motelier, who did not want to be named, said some of the stranger items guests left behind included a bag of marijuana, stray earrings, and a bottle of Moet champagne that had been forgotten during Cup Week – but was quickly reclaimed by the guest. (ANI)
Reporter gets groped by baboon on Live TV
London: US reporter Sabrina Rodriguez had just started telling Fox 40 viewers why baboons were fans of grapes, when a cheeky monkey groped her.
The baboon, called Mickey, grabbed her breast during her live report and made a face that showed he was clearly very happy at that exact moment. (ANI)
11,500-pound fine for book returned to library after 79 years waived
London: Library staff have waived an 11,500-pound fine for a book that was not returned for an astonishing 79 years. The novel Master of Men was taken out from Leicester County Library in 1934 and never returned. Keith Dolphin, 64, found the book during a house clearance and was amazed to see the library ticket still inside. The date it had to be returned by – May 28, 1934 – was printed on the ticket but no return stamp next to it. Leicestershire County Council said if they charged the maximum amount per day, the fine would be 11,534 pounds.
However their current maximum late return fine is 7 pounds – so they have decided to waive the mammoth charge.
It is not known who originally took the book out from the library, which has since shut down. (ANI)