Somali man marries girl 95 years his junior

Moscow, October 31: A 112-year-old Somali man has married a 17-year-old girl in central Somalia.

The wedding took place in the village of Guriceel in central Somalia, one of the poorest countries in the world.

Ahmed Muhamed Dore already has 18 children from five wives. He said he would like to have more children with his new teenage wife, Safia Abdulleh, who is young enough to be his great-great-granddaughter.

“Today God helped me realise my dream,” Dore said after the wedding ceremony in the region of Galguduud.

7,700 couples tie the knot in State

Hyderabad, October 29: As many as 7,700 couples tied the knot today at 9.20 a.m. at the Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanams (TTD) sponsored programme of mass marriages Kalyanamastu – all over the State.

Both the TTD and the State Government made elaborate arrangements for the programme.

Kilometre-long invite for Obama – from UP

Lucknow, October 25: Barack Obama has mail from a place in Uttar Pradesh state in India that he would never have heard of.

And how! Measuring over one kilometre, the letter has been put together by more than 11,000 people over eight months and carries a simple message for the US president – “Come and inspire hope: lots of love from Basti district, Uttar Pradesh”.

Rs.1 lakh for used towel! Welcome to online celebrity bidding

New Delhi, October 22: Imagine shelling out Rs.100,000 for a used towel! A lot of people might, if the towel belonged to a celebrity. From clothes to cricket bats – Indians are fast opening up to the idea of bidding for celebrity memorabilia online.

“People have started buying such merchandise nowadays. And there are various reasons to it – some buy them for the resale value of an item, some go for it because they are a fan of the celebrity or some just want to give for charity,” Deepa Thomas, senior manager (Pop Culture) at eBay, told IANS.

Bored of dogs? Adopt a lion

Chandigarh, October 22: Looking for a pet that is ‘wilder’ than a dog or a cat? There’s good news as the Punjab government now allows you to adopt any wild animal such as a tiger or an elephant. You cannot, however, take it home from the zoo.

Punjab has offered a chance to its residents to adopt wild animals and birds in major zoos of the state, including Mohindra Chaudhury Zoological Park at Chhatbir, popularly known as the Chhatbir zoo.

Constable suspended after under-trial meets girl friend

Kanpur, October 21: A police constable here was suspended on the charge of dereliction of duty, sources said.

According to Circle Officer, Lakshmi Niwas Mishra, constable Shyam Singh was suspended for laxity in duty after he allowed an under-trial Rohit to meet his girl-friend at a hotel after the end of hearing.

The constable waited outside the hotel, while the under-trial met his girl friend, Mishra said adding police raided the hotel on a tip-off and arrested Rohit.

Teenager weds sexagenarian

Lucknow, October 21: Mere Deewanepan ki bhi dawa nahin- Kishore Kumar’s immortal song in Rajesh Khanna-Leena Chandavarkar starrer Mehboob ki Mehndi may have been for the young and beautiful actress but today it could also be for a sexagenarian as well.

In Uttar Pradesh’s Sitapur district, a 19-year-old boy fell in love with a 60-year-old woman, who is mother of seven children, and preferred to be ostracised from society rather than leaving her beloved.

White ants eat stamp paper in Orissa

Talcher (Orissa), October 20: Stamp papers valued at Rupees two crore have been eaten by white ants in Talcher sub-treasury, Sub-Treasury Officer Smruti Rekha Sahu said.

There was a two-day holiday during Diwali last week when the white-ants ate stamp papers of Rs 500 and Rs 5,000 denomination, she said.

The insects managed to enter an iron chest in which the stamp papers were kept, she said.

Angul District Collector V V Swamy has ordered an inquiry.

Stamp papers are used for registration of documents in land deals.

–Agencies

Son runs off with stepmother

London, October 20: An 18-year-old ran off with his stepmother after being reunited with his father for the first time since he was a baby, a court has heard.

Benjamin Smith met his father Andrew Smith in the summer of last year and moved in to his house to begin the family life both men had never enjoyed.

But the emotional reunion went disastrously wrong for the father.
Benjamin Smiith with his stepmother Dawn outside York Magistrate’s Court

His 34-year-old wife Dawn began an affair with her teenage stepson and eventually the marriage collapsed, York Magistrates’ Court was told.

Carpenter who returned Rs59 crore

Ahmedabad, October 16: Jugal Kishore Jangid could not believe his eyes. His savings account balance showed Rs59.30 crore, instead of Rs2.5 lakh. Jangid, a carpenter, certainly wasn’t prepared for this early morning surprise, at the ATM.

To make sure he wasn’t dreaming, Jangid checked his account again, at 6am at another ATM. He still couldn’t believe it, so visited another ATM after two hours, but the result was the same.

Honeymoon Saves Malaysia Marriages

Kuala Lampur, October 13: Malaysia’s eastern state of Terengganu is offering free-of-charge second honeymoon trip to couple on the verge of divorce to help rekindle buried emotions and save their marriage and address soaring divorce rates in the state.

“With this package, we hope the couples will treasure their marital ties and avoid separations,” Ashaari Idris, head of the State Welfare, Community Development and Women Affairs Committee, told.

The honeymoon packages, to be launched by the end of the year, would be co-sponsored by the state government and the Family and the Council.

Only 43 eggs per year for an Indian!

New Delhi, October 12: An Indian eats only 43 eggs in a year on an average against prescribed consumption of 180 eggs a year for an individual in spite of NECC’s heavy promotion for regular egg consumption through well-known slogans like ‘Sunday ho ya Monday, roz khao Ande’.

“National Institute of Nutrition in Hyderabad has prescribed consumption of 180 eggs a year for an individual, but compared to that the actual figure of egg consumption in India is very small (43 eggs per person a year),” Venkateshwara Biofeed Business Manager Sanjeev Chintavar told reporters.

Indian brides slim it out for big fat wedding

New Delhi, October 07: Nalini Sharma, 24, is getting married in November and is hard at work – at a slimming clinic! She has already lost five kilograms but that, she says, is not enough.

As the Indian wedding season dawns, the trend of going to a slimming clinic or availing of a beauty package to have that perfect glow on the wedding day is peaking. Many are also opting to go under the knife.

Brides-to-be like Nalini are leaving no stone unturned to steal the show on their wedding night.

Gay too fasting on Karva Chauth

Ahmedabad, October 07: Lugging four shopping bags, Tanmay, 26, is glowing. Wednesday is his big day when he fasts for his partner’s well being!

Many gays in Ahmedabad are quietly readying themselves for a penance usually done by a wife for her husband – Karva Chauth. Just that the prayers here will deviate a bit to ask God to make them a woman in the next life!

While most are going to make it a no-food affair, some have decided to follow the traditional `nirjal’ (without water) fast to pray for the long lives of their boyfriends.

Male sex workers to get training in vocational courses

Mumbai, October 06: Trying to earn their “self-respect” back, over 50 male sex workers in the city will be undergoing training in vocational courses held by an NGO, in order to quit the profession of prostitution.
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The city-based NGO, Sambhavana will soon be training these male sex workers in mobile repair, electronics, appliance repair and plumbing at their office in Byculla in south Mumbai.

“Most of these men come to Mumbai in search of jobs but end up in sex trade. We are trying to help them earn a better living,” convener of the NGO, Jasmir Thakur told PTI.

Rat holds up Air India flight to Riyadh

Kozhikode, October 04: A rat has possibly done it, again. An Air India flight to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia was held up here Sunday, possibly due to a rat in the aircraft. But an airline official blamed the delay on a technical snag, and said a replacement flight will be made available soon.

“The rat incident has not been declared officially. But the aircraft that was to depart at 2.05 p.m. has not taken off due to a technical problem,” Air India station manager Yogesh Mundwa told IANS here.

Red alert against rats

Toronto, October 03: Canada’s Alberta province is on red alert against rats. Rat patrols have been set up to check intrusion of the rodents from neighbouring Saskatchewan province.

Farmers have been mobilized to keep the province rat-free. Special baits with the help of old tyres have been set up to stop the rats from entering the province. Bags of poisoned grain have been placed inside these baits.

Steps have also been taken to stop the rats from taking rides in cattle-feed-laden vehicles coming into the province.

Half of babies born in rich world will live to 100

London, October 02: More than half of babies born in rich nations today will live to be 100 years old if current life expectancy trends continue, according to Danish researchers.

Increasing numbers of very old people could pose major challenges for health and social systems, but the research showed that may be mitigated by people not only living longer, but also staying healthier in their latter years.

17 years on, ‘dead’ woman is alive

Ahmedabad, October 02: A chance conversation, a scar and a deformed finger ended in uniting a 42-year-old woman with her family in a remote Kashmiri village, 17 years after her husband allegedly declared that she had drowned.
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Hafeeza, a Muslim from Baramulla district, spent all those years in a temple in Khatanpur, a village in Rajasthan’s Dhaulpur district.

How she landed there is still not clear because nobody at her brother’s Zehanpora village understands the language she now speaks.

Man kills 83,000 rats to win TV

Dhaka, October 01: Now here’s a guy New York City could really use. Bangladesh farmer Mokhairul Islam was honored on Wednesday for killing more than 83,000 rats and launching a month-long campaign nationwide to kill millions more.

Islam, 40, won the first prize — a color television — for killing some 83,450 rats in the past nine months. It was part of the country’s efforts to protect crops and reduce the need for food imports.

Islam’s crusade was launched in Gazipur district near the South Asian country’s capital, Dhaka. He collected the rats’ tails for proof.

Ramdev’s 2m pound wellness retreat in Scottish isle

Glasgow, September 29: It’s nothing quite like the buyout of Anglo firms by the Tatas, but iconic yoga guru Ramdev has acquired a Scottish isle for about £2 Yoga guru Baba Ramdev at the island.

The Little Cumbrae Island, off the fishing town of Largs in Scotland, will also serve as the guru’s base overseas, where his teachings of yoga as a means to cleanse the body and mind are gaining popularity.

Half-man & half-goat born in South Africa

Melbourne, September 28: An African village is reportedly shellshocked after the birth of a bizarre faun-like creature said to have the combined features of a man and a goat.

Bild reports the creature, which died just a few hours after birth in Lower Gweru, Zimbabwe, had a huge head and face which resembled a human, as well as goat legs and a tail.

Villagers said the end product was so scary even dogs were afraid to go close to it. They burned the corpse fearing it was an evil sign.

“This is indeed a miracle that has never been witnessed anywhere,” elder Themba Moyo said.

Rat delays Air India Amritsar-London flight

Amritsar, September 26: A rat delayed a London-bound Air India flight from the Rajasansi airport here Saturday morning.

Flight AI-187, which was scheduled to depart at 6.30 am on Saturday, had not left the airport even three hours later. There were 238 passengers on the flight.

“A rat entered the aircraft and the staff was searching for it. The flight has been delayed. Air India is getting a new aircraft to take the passengers to London,” airport director Chinson Panakal said.

Eat with fat friends to stay thin

London, September 25: Want to remain slim? Avoid eating with skinny pals and go out with fat friends.

Researchers have found that eating out with a thin person who eats a lot makes others eat more portions than they normally would.

Sitting opposite a fat person at meals encourages one to eat less than normal.

Researchers from US and Canadian universities said, “Our findings indicate that the size of the person you dine with matters much less than the size of the meal they order.”

‘How can it be proved I had sex with a dog?’

Mumbai, September 25: The 26-year-old-taxi driver who was allegedly seen spotted in an act of bestiality with a female dog in Tardeo sought bail on the ground that the police cannot record the statement of the victim — the dog.

The sessions court, however, on Thursday rejected the bail plea, stating that the incident was an act of cruelty against the animal.

“The so-called victim is an animal. Hence, the question of recording the statement of the said victim does not arise,” accused Mahesh Kamat said in his application.