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Brit loonies adventurers headed to Timbuctoo by 'flying car'

published by You on 13 January, 2009 - 20:21

Brit loonies adventurers headed to Timbuctoo by 'flying car'

An adventurous office developer and "extreme golfer" who was the first man to circumnavigate the UK by jetski now plans an expedition to Timbuctoo in a combination motorised parachute and dune buggy. The "Skycar" vehicle is described as "the world's first bio-fuelled flying car".

Flying car

Neil Laughton is a modern British adventurer of the usual sort, having undertaken dozens of corporately-sponsored desperate ventures around the world in aid of good causes. Like many of his wilderness-prowling colleagues he is a regular on the after-dinner speaking circuit, on top of his day job as chairman of an office development firm.

US teen clocks up 14,528 text messages in one month

published by You on 13 January, 2009 - 20:10

US teen clocks up 14,528 text messages

Greg Hardesty of the Orange County Register has described himself as "speechless" after his 13-year-old daughter "racked up 14,528 text messages in one month", as the shaken dad himself put it last week.

Hardesty, 45, explains that offspring Reina achieved the impressive SMS tally between 27 November and 26 December. Her 22-year-old sister Hana managed a "comparatively modest" total of 7,101 messages, while sibling Marina, 24, trailed with just 700.

Binyamin Netanyahu demands 'crippling' of Hamas

published by You on 13 January, 2009 - 15:26

Binyamin Netanyahu demands 'crippling' of Hamas

Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel's rightwing opposition leader and favourite to win next month's elections, said today Israel needed a "clear victory" against Hamas and that the movement should "ultimately be removed" from Gaza.

He called for a victory against the Islamist movement "that will cripple its capability" to attack. "At a minimum, the firing of rockets must stop and the smuggling corridors that have enabled Hamas to smuggle thousands of rockets into Gaza must be sealed," he told a news conference. "We are fighting a just war, perhaps the most just war there is."

Muslims cannot claim a monopoly on anger over the suffering in Gaza

published by You on 13 January, 2009 - 15:02

Muslims cannot claim a monopoly on anger over the suffering in Gaza

Much has been been written about the Gaza conflict and several pieces concern the impact that events are having on British Muslims – whether it's alienating them from the political process or driving them to radicalisation.

More than a few commenters, such as Johnton, have claimed that the UK's Muslim communities have largely remained silent on the other catastrophes and atrocities to have affected their brethren in recent times. Two years ago, at a press conference, I asked Fareena Alam of the Muslim magazine Q News why Muslims were so quick to condemn western governments for their involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, yet appeared to show little heartbreak or anger over suffering in Darfur.

Rent-a-friend in Japan

published by You on 12 January, 2009 - 15:35

Rent-a-friend in Japan

In Japan, now back in recession, the economic situation has taken a sharp turn for the worse in recent months. But the Japanese still like to use their money to have fun, as Duncan Bartlett has been finding out.

Lola - or Rora - to give her a slightly more Japanese pronounciation - is a beauty and she knows it.

Customers pay by the hour for her company. Usually they just want to stroke her, but as a special treat for favoured clients, she will lie back in a chair, close her eyes and pose for photographs.

Lola is a Persian cat who works at the Ja La La Cafe in Tokyo's bustling Akihabara district. It is one of a growing number of Cat Cafes in the city which provide visitors with short but intimate encounters with professional pets.

Baby girl born to 'dead' mother

published by You on 12 January, 2009 - 15:17

Baby girl born to 'dead' mother

An ice-skating star's baby has been born two days after she collapsed and died from a brain haemorrhage, a hospital has confirmed.

Doctors at Oxford's John Radcliffe hospital kept Jayne Soliman's heart beating until they had delivered her baby daughter Aya Jayne on Friday.

Baby Aya was born prematurely by caesarean section.

She is now being cared for by doctors at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading.

Read more @ BBC News

More Asian women having abortions

published by You on 12 January, 2009 - 15:14

More Asian women having abortions

There has been a big jump in the number of Asian women having abortions in the UK, according to figures from the Department of Health.

They show there were 15,197 terminations in 2007, compared with 10,084 in 2003 for all age groups.

Experts say more Asian women are now in open relationships and are having sex whereas culturally in the past it was something they did after marriage.

Health professionals want contraceptive services to be better promoted.

One Asian teenager, who wanted to remain anonymous, told the BBC about her experience of having an abortion two years ago.

Bowen diary: The days before war

published by You on 10 January, 2009 - 22:19

Another very god read IMO

Bowen diary: The days before war

BBC Middle East Editor Jeremy Bowen is writing a diary of the conflict between Hamas and Israel.

...

What about the future? "We'd accept a state in the West Bank and Gaza, without recognising Israel."

...

The last appointment, a quick one as I had to get back to the Erez crossing before it closed, was with John Ging. He runs the Gaza operations of Unrwa, the UN agency that looks after Palestinian refugees.

John is a dedicated and intense Irishman. He was bleak about the prospects for Gaza, and seething with frustration about Israel's behaviour during the five-month ceasefire. It didn't let Unrwa fill up its warehouses.

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