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Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Swiss angry at UBS bonus pay-out for bank employees...

There has been a public backlash over a decision by Switzerland's largest bank, UBS, to pay out SFr2 billion ($1.77 billion) in bonuses after massive losses in 2008.

The head of Switzerland's financial regulator, Eugen Haltiner, is also under fire after defending the decision to approve the payments, made after a substantial injection of public money into the embattled bank.

The centre-left Social Democratic Party has called for Haltiner, the president of the newly-created Federal Financial Market Supervisory Authority (Finma), to step down.

"The bankers' arrogance knows no limits," the party said in a statement, describing the decision as "incomprehensible". More...

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John Updike is dead...

Renowned US novelist John Updike has died at the age of 76, his publisher has announced. He had been suffering from lung cancer.

Updike won many top literary prizes, including Pulitzers for two volumes of his famous Rabbit series.

In about 50 books over half-a-century, he chronicled sex, divorce and other aspects of post-war America.

He once described his subject as "the American small town, Protestant middle class".

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Are Muslim women really oppressed?

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Blind echo-location boy, Ben Underwood, has passed away...

Aquanetta Gordon knew that her remarkable son's life on Earth soon would be over.

"You can let go," she told him. "You can go home. When you get to heaven, tell Jesus to save that spot right next to you. That's for your mother."

Hours later, Ben Underwood, the blind Elk Grove teenager who dazzled people all over the world with his ability to "see" with sound, died at home with his family surrounding him. More...

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Cops in India have their hands full .. with bribes!!!

The law keepers of the country seem to have their hands full, literally, when they are not chasing crooks and criminals.

Meant to protect the public against crime, policemen in India have found themselves in the list of those who demand the most bribes, according to a survey by Trace International, a non-profit membership association that helps companies combat bribery.

The survey points that a majority of bribe demands in India (91 per cent) came from Government officials. And policemen accounted for 30 per cent of the bribe demands (second only to national-level government oficials at 33 per cent). More...

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Polish guy kills himself "live" on the Internet...

A young Polish man has hanged himself in front of a web camera while linked to other internet users, a district prosecutor has said.

The local police department got a call (from another participant) saying one of the users of the video chat site was motionless and in a strange position.

"When the police arrived the man was dead," prosecutor Tadeusz Halas said. More...

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Gaza: the images they are not showing you ...

Click here...

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Adult women playing house with fake babies!!!

Many people like to stop and play with newborn babies, but now some adult women are playing house with fake babies.

Some women are even going as far as taking day trips with the fake babies to the park, out to eat, and even hosting birthday parties for them.

Forty-nine-year-old Linda is married with no children of her own. Now, she says she feels like a mother because she has Reborns -- dolls made to look and feel like the real thing. More...

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India: Drunk traffic cop causes chaos!!!

Traffic came to a standstill at the busy Nehru Bridge crossroads on Thursday afternoon. The reason: a drunk traffic cop!

Senior officers were intimated about the incident and a complaint was later registered at the Navrangpura police station against the inebriated constable - Hamirsinh Mansinh.

It was 2 pm on Thursday when people driving past the Nehru bridge crossing on Ashram Road saw a strange site. A traffic cop stood at the centre, stopping all vehicles. Other cops at the traffic booth nearby played silent witnesses. More...

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Israël : dans les méandres de l’impunité !

Ah, la bonne nouvelle pour l’exaltation d’un crime contre l’humanité, de l’impunité, du zèle, du mensonge et de la folie des hommes est tombée hier ! La planète entière le sait maintenant. Sur tous les télescripteurs des rédactions mondiales, les journalistes avaient les yeux exorbités, écarquillés et les regards médusés, avec une petite pointe de honte. A cause des preuves irréfutables et des témoignages accumulés après le massacre de Gaza, le futur ex premier-ministre israélien, corrompu devant l’Eternel et les hommes, Ehud Olmert, vient d’accorder l’immunité totale à ses soldats. Une grande première mondiale. Les scénaristes d’Hollywood seraient bien inspirés de nous écrire cette histoire. Le Gouvernement israélien depuis la nuit des temps, grâce au grand frère américain qui vote toujours au Conseil de sécurité de l’ONU, où, il a son véto, contre toutes les résolutions pouvant nuire à l’Etat hébreu s’est-il rebiffé ? Suite...

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Gaza: La BBC accusée de parti-pris pro-israélien...

L'affaire déchaîne les passions outre-Manche depuis maintenant plusieurs jours. La BBC, institution au Royaume-Uni, est accusée d'une couverture du conflit israélo-palestinien trop favorable à l'Etat hébreu. A l'origine de la polémique, un appel du Comité d'urgence pour les catastrophes. L'organisation, qui fédère une douzaine d'ONG dont la Croix Rouge britannique ou Oxfam, souhaitait lever des fonds pour la population palestinienne, après 22 jours d'offensive israélienne dans la bande de Gaza. Suite...

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Yemen: 10-year-old Nujood, married, raped and divorced, is Woman of the Year!!!

At first glance, you’d never guess that Nujood Mohammed Ali is Yemen’s most famous divorcee. She is slight, with a shy smile and coffee-color eyes. Ask what makes her laugh and she says, “My divorce.” What else? Tom and Jerry cartoons—she is, after all, just 10 years old, and loves playing jacks and dolls with her favorite sister, Haifa. Nevertheless, this year Nujood became Yemen’s first child bride to legally end her marriage. “I wanted to protect myself,” she says, “and other girls like me.” More...

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Sing a simple song of freedom...

Animal rights: "urban terrorist" talks from prison...

THE Welsh “urban terrorist” starting a 11-year jail sentence for a hardline animal rights campaign has promised to give up targeting companies who aid testing laboratories.

Speaking exclusively to Wales on Sunday from the top security Bronzefield women’s prison in Surrey, Heather Nicholson says she plans to establish an animal sanctuary instead when she eventually gets out.

Despite vowing to end her years of activism against animal cruelty, the 41-year-old from Dunvant, Swansea, defiantly added: “We were right to take a stand against big business torturing animals for profit.” More...

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Vevey: le procès de l'homicide de Clarens débute aujourd'hui...

Le procès de l'homicide de Clarens s'ouvre aujourd'hui devant le Tribunal criminel de l'Est vaudois, à Vevey. Quatre jeunes gens sont accusés d'avoir tabassé, torturé puis asséné plusieurs coups de couteau à un sexagénaire en mai 2006.

Trois jours plus tard, trois d'entre eux tenteront d'incendier le studio de la victime pour masquer leur crime. Jugé par le Tribunal des mineurs, un des agresseurs a été reconnu coupable d'assassinat et condamné à un placement dans un établissement fermé, la peine maximale prévue par le droit des mineurs.

Devant la Cour veveysanne, son amie de l'époque et un autre jeune répondront d'assassinat, une accusation passible de la réclusion à vie. Les deux autres accusés, apparemment moins impliqués, comparaîtront pour omission de prêter secours et complicité de brigandage qualifié.

Le tribunal avec jury aura quatre jours d'audience pour déterminer les rôles et les responsabilités respectives des protagonistes. Le jugement tombera ultérieurement.

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Les relations restent tendues entre Berne et Tripoli...

Les négociations entre la Suisse et la Libye dans le cadre de l'affaire Kadhafi sont «dures». Les positions «ne se sont pas beaucoup rapprochées» lors de la récente visite d'une délégation à Tripoli, a indiqué lundi le ministère suisse des Affaires étrangères (DFAE).

Interrogé dans le cadre du Club de la presse diplomatique, l'ambassadeur Marcel Stutz, de la Division politique II du DFAE, s'est refusé à donner des détails sur les discussions entre Suisses et Libyens. Il s'est borné à déclarer que les négociations se poursuivent et que la Suisse n'a pas besoin de l'aide d'un Etat tiers. Suite...

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Gaza: les images qu'on ne vous montre pas...

Cliquez ici...

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Yémen : Nojoud Ali, 10 ans, mariée et divorcée, est « femme de l'année ».

Bravo Nojoud ! A dix ans, la petite Yéménite figure parmi les « femmes de l'année » désignées par le magazine américain « Glamour » aux côtés de Hillary Clinton, de la star de Hollywood, Nicole Kidman, et de la secrétaire d'Etat américaine, Condoleezza Rice. Suite...

Voir la vidéo ici...

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A look at an ant city-state! Amazing...

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Monday, January 26, 2009

India: Hindu "talibans" beat up "indecent" girls in Mangalore...

Nearly 40 men allegedly affiliated with the Hindu hardliner group Sri Rama Sena gatecrashed into a pub in Mangalore and beat up teenagers.

Eight girls were injured, two of them seriously.

The Government has realised sharply to the incident with Women and child development minister Renuka Chowdhury likened the incident to Talibanisation. "This is Talibanisation of India, it will not be tolerated. I will approach the EC to disenfranchise the organisation involved in this and those associated with it. It is unfortunate that this incident comes two days before the girl child day. These people are not ready for the Republic of India." More...

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Inde: des ados victimes de la "police morale" hindoue...

La "talibanisation" de l'Inde. C'est l'expression utilisée par la plupart des médias indiens pour décrire l'incident qui s'est produit samedi, dans un pub de Mangalore, une ville côtière cosmopolite du Karnataka (sud).

Une quarantaine d'hommes appartenant au Sri Rama Sena, une organisation hindoue d'extrême droite, sont entrés dans un bar de la ville, prenant violemment à partie des filles, qui selon eux se comportaient de manière "obscène". Il leur était notamment reproché d'être habillée indécemment, et de boire de l'alcool. Frappées et chassées de l'etablissement par les hommes du Sri Rama Sena, deux d'entre elles ont été gravement blessées, selon la chaîne de télévision CNN-IBN. Suite...

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Iran: mixed soccer match creates furore!!!

The leading Iranian football club has apologised for allowing its women's team and its men's youth team to play each other.

Esteghlal football club, which was top of the Iranian league, said it had penalised three officials.

This was the first mixed football match since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the Associated Press reported.

(...)

Iranian media say the men's team won 7-0. Full story...

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Elton John and Nikita...

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Matt Damon to debate Bill Kristol over Iraq war?

On Sunday afternoon Weekly Standard editor and New York Times columnist Bill Kristol — in an email exchange with Big Hollywood — agreed to debate Matt Damon on his Hollywood home turf after being informed the 38-year old actor ridiculed Kristol in an interview in the Miami Herald.

“He’s an idiot — he wrote that we should be grateful to George Bush because he won the Iraq war. We! Won! The! War!”

As the sponsor of the event, Big Hollywood is offering $100,000 to Damon (or to the charity or carbon credit of his choice) to publicly debate Kristol at a mutually agreed upon time, date and venue. More...

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Brown: current crisis birth pangs of a New World Order! No kidding...

The economic crisis should be treated as "the difficult birth-pangs of a new global order", with new rules introduced on trade, Gordon Brown says.

The prime minister set out a series of actions designed to "replace fear with confidence" and warned against just "muddling through as pessimists".

During a speech defending his handling of the crisis he also warned against the "deglobalisation threat". More...

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India's waterways massively polluted by Big Pharma...

Many of the pharmaceuticals consumed in the United States are made in India, where labor is cheap and environmental laws are lenient on powerful corporations. U.S. drug companies are exploiting this situation to manufacture hundreds of millions of doses of high-profit pharmaceuticals in India, where ingredients purchased for a few cents can be re-sold to U.S. health patients for hundreds of dollars (the markup on some drugs is literally over 500,000%).

There's something else Big Pharma doesn't want you to know about its drug operations in India: Big Pharma's manufacturing facilities dump millions of doses of toxic pharmaceutical chemicals directly into India's waterways. More...

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Tony Benn slams the BBC over Gaza...

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Sri Lanka: It's all but over for the Tamil Tigers...

The conventional military game is up for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or very nearly so. That is the message sent out to the world by the capture of the Tigers’ main garrison town of Mullaithivu, situated on a sliver of land between a lagoon and the Indian Ocean, by the 59 division of the Sri Lankan Army three weeks after the 57 division took Kilinochchi. With the territory controlled by Velupillai Prabakaran’s organisation shrinking from 15,000 square km in August 2006 to 350 square km today, with its fighting cadre strength believed to be down to about 1,000, with its senior leaders hiding in pockets of jungle or on the run, Army Commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka was not exaggerating when he announced that the 25-year war was “95 per cent over.” More...

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Les bonus d'UBS suscitent un tollé...

Les associations de consommateurs et la gauche politique déplorent le feu vert de l'autorité de surveillance des marchés financiers (Finma) au versement de bonus aux collaborateurs de l'UBS. La composition de la Finma est remise en question.

La presse dominicale a révélé que le numéro un de la banque en Suisse, UBS, s'apprêterait à verser quelque 2 milliards de bonus, malgré la perte de près de 20 milliards en 2008 et l'intervention de la Confédération pour lui venir en aide. Lundi, les réactions ont été vives. Suite...

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Un «spectacle hallucinant» à Gaza...

Les quatre parlementaires suisses partis vendredi pour Gaza sont sur le chemin du retour. Antonio Hodgers raconte le spectacle «hallucinant» des destructions et l'hébétude de la population sur place.

Ce n'était pas une délégation officielle. Et c'est un peu par hasard si les quatre hommes sont de gauche. Pour organiser ce voyage, Josef Zisyadis a écrit à ceux de ses collègues qui avaient signé en décembre l'appel contre le blocus de Gaza: une quinzaine d'élus, dont quelques uns de droite. Suite...

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Stop playing with my food, dumb kitten!!!

Arrête de jouer avec ma bouffe, stupide chaton !!!

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Well, Obama is President, is this the change he promised?

The Obama administration warned the US public yesterday to brace itself for an increase in American casualties as it prepares to step up the fight against al-Qaida and the Taliban in Afghanistan and the border regions of Pakistan.

Against a background of widespread protests in Pakistan and Afghanistan over US operations since Obama became president, the vice-president, Joe Biden, said yesterday that US forces would be engaged in many more operations as the US takes the fight to its enemies in the region.

The Obama administration is to double the number of US troops in Afghanistan to 60,000 and when asked in a television interview if the US public should expect more American casualties, Biden said: "I hate to say it, but yes, I think there will be. There will be an uptick." More...

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Pakistan tells Obama to halt attacks...

Islamabad urged US President Barack Obama on Saturday to halt US missile strikes on its territory after civilians were killed in the first such attacks since his inauguration.

Remote-controlled US drones fired missiles into the village of Zharki in North Waziristan on Friday, killing 22.

Pakistani security officials said that eight "suspected foreign militants" were among the dead.

Pakistani Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir informed US ambassador Anne Patterson of Islamabad's "great concern" over the civilian casualties. More...

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Man in strange "Viking ritual" murders...

A 65-year-old man has been jailed for life for killing his partner and their son before laying him out in a Viking-style ritual.

James Conan strangled Kirsty O'Connell, 21, before stabbing her 20 times. He then played with their four-year-old son Patrick, before smothering him.

They were found at a flat in Woolford Close, Winchester, in August 2007. Patrick's body had a torch in one hand. More...

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Tattoos, body-branding and self-torture...

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India:Pakistani girl beaten up for "Praise the Lord" tattoo!

Tattoo artist and human canvas make a strange deal...

The man whose face is a flag!!!

Weird:Austrian fined for driving with horse in back seat!!!

It may only be one horsepower, but this Fiat Uno certainly gave traffic cops a run for their money as it sped along the motorway with a foal on the back seat.

The driver had bought the 260 lbs foal at a livestock market near the Polish capital Warsaw and was driving 150 miles to his farm in the north of the country.

By the time police caught up with it driver Hieronim Kapuscinski had pulled over to a lay by when the car's engine conked out. Inside the car the pony stood waiting patiently to be fed while the driver's two pals - who'd been crammed into the front - checked that the rear seat was secure on the ramshackle roof rack.

Police fined the driver 50 GBP for inappropriate use of a car and confiscated the horse until its owner can arrange for a proper livestock transporter to pick it up.

Source

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Une blague de Berlusconi sur les femmes fait des vagues...

Alors que deux viols ont eu lieu récemment à Rome et sa région, Silvio Berlusconi, dont le gouvernement envisage de porter à 30 000 le nombre de militaires dans les villes, a estimé dimanche soir qu’empêcher les viols était une mission impossible "même dans un Etat policier".

"Il faudrait tellement de soldats puisqu’il y a tellement de belles filles italiennes que cela ne sera jamais possible", a-t-il déclaré dimanche soir.

Le leader de l’opposition de gauche, Walter Veltroni, a aussitôt dénoncé "le manque de responsabilité et de sensibilité" du Cavaliere qui "offense les femmes italiennes". Suite...

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Iceland's govt. collapses under credit crunch...

Iceland's coalition government has collapsed under the strain of an escalating economic crisis.

Conservative Prime Minister Geir Haarde announced the resignation of his cabinet, after talks with his Social Democratic coalition partners failed.

He said he could not accept the Social Democrats' demand to lead the country. More...

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Sex toys go high tech!!! Oh boy...

Swiss woman attacks Switzerland's "suicide entreprise..."

The black plastic bin liners were bulging and cluttered the back stairs to the office of Ludwig Minelli, founder and head of the assisted suicide organisation Dignitas.

Soraya Wernli was new to the job as a 'companion', one of those hired by Minelli, 75, to assist people in their final journey to the 'other side'.

Paperwork, words of comfort, a gentle hand for those about to end their pain-filled lives - these were some of the things the former district nurse knew she was signing up for when she agreed to work for him.

'But then, just a few days into the job, he asked me to sort through the stuff in these plastic bin liners clogging the stairs,' she said. More...

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Reunitoo-zik, premier site de téléchargement légal de musique à la Réunion...

Le 17 décembre 2008, la société SDSOI, Société de Développement de Services Océan Indien, a lancé le site Reunitoo Divertissement.

SDSOI participe à l’essor du web à la Réunion (62% d’abonnement Internet, données Tic Trac 3ième trimestre 2008) en développant de nouveaux services en ligne répondant aux besoins et attentes des internautes réunionnais en matière de loisirs.

En effet, Reunitoo Divertissement comporte aujourd’hui deux services : le téléchargement légal de musique et le téléchargement de solutions mobiles (logos, sonneries..). A terme d’autres modules viendront complétés le site (partage de vidéo, téléchargement de jeux PC…). Suite...

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L'enfant-torero Michelito tue 6 taureaux pour un record...

Michelito, le célèbre torero franco-mexicain de 11 ans, a obtenu un triomphe et établi un record en tuant six taureaux samedi dans l'arène de Merida, sa ville natale au Mexique.

Le petit torero prodige a obtenu deux oreilles et a été porté en triomphe par ses admirateurs, à l'issue d'une corrida que des organisations de défense des animaux et des mineurs avaient tenté de faire interdire, obtenant même sa suspension 24 heures plus tôt. Suite...

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Sunday, January 25, 2009

A brothel in India; pretty sad, hardly enticing...

Un bordel en Inde; plutôt triste, à peine attirant…

Click here for more pictures...

China's migrant workers go home for the Year of the Ox...

Once a year the millions of migrant workers in China's towns and cities travel back to their home villages for Chinese New Year. They take long train trips across the country in the world's biggest annual migration.

This year the BBC Beijing correspondent James Reynolds and his team went with them. Watch the BBC slide-show here...

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Cambodian slum dwellers booted out...

Police have been overseeing the eviction of hundreds of people from a slum community in the centre of the in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh.

Residents of Dey Krahorm, who have been fighting eviction for the best part of three years, say they have a legal right to the land.

But the local authorities signed it over to a property developer.

It is the latest in a series of evictions, which have accompanied a dramatic increase in land values. More...

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A look at the swastika...

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Sleepless boy Rhett Lamb sleeps again...

Not long ago, saying goodnight to his mom and dad was nearly impossible for 3-year-old Rhett Lamb. In a case that baffled doctors, Rhett was awake nearly 24 hours a day.

"His body would give out but his mind wouldn't; he'd still be awake," said Rhett's mom, Shannon Lamb. "He'd still be alert. It was extremely scary."

One of the side effects of Rhett's lack of sleep was bad behavior. More...

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Indonesia bans yoga for Muslims!!!

About 700 clerics from the Indonesian Council of Ulemas (MUI) agreed to ban the practice of yoga over fears that the use of Hindu prayers could "erode" Muslims' faith.

"The yoga practice that contains religious rituals of Hinduism including the recitation of mantras is "haram" (forbidden in Islam)," Ma'ruf Amin, a spokesman for the group, said.

"Muslims should not practise other religious rituals as it will erode and weaken their Islamic faith," he added. More...

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11-year-old matador slaughters 6 bulls for Guinness Book of Records...

A child matador has infuriated animal rights activists by killing six young bulls in a bid to have his name entered in the Guinness Book of Records.

Michelito Lagravere, who is just 11, believes he should hold the world record for his controversial feat.

The youngster, whose father is former French bullfighter Michel Lagravere, slaughtered the animals in a ring in Merida, Mexico. More + pictures...

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Thailand's Scorpion Queen sets another record!!

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