Brit school bans sexually coloured ‘shagbands’

London, Sep 19 (ANI): A Brit primary school has banned its students form wearing coloured wristbands, after parents found out that they were called “shagbands”.

Parents of kids, attending Rayne Primary School near Braintree, Essex, discovered that each colour of the ‘shagband’ represents a different sex act.

“The children have been walking around with these rubber bands on calling them shagbands,” the Daily Star quoted mum-of-three Andrea Elward, 46, whose 10-year-old daughter studies in the school, as saying.

“My daughter said her friends had got them and could she have a set. Then she went red and giggled when she explained they were called shagbands.

“I had a word with the head and they banned them immediately,” she added. (ANI)

MIC chief Samy Vellu says he won’t retire before 2012

Kuala Lumpur, Sep 19 (ANI): Rejecting former Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s demand to immediately step down as the Malaysian Indian Congress Chief, S. Samy Vellu has said that he would stick to his original plan and resign in 2012.

“He (Prime Minister Najib Razak) is aware of my retirement plan. I will keep to my word to the prime minister and I will not change (my plan),” the New Strait Times Online quoted him, as saying.
Earlier, Dr Mohamad had warned that Samy Vellu would become a liability to the Barisan Nasional in the next general election since his leadership has failed.
Mohamad suggested that Samy Vellu should step down and take responsibility for the party’s failure in the last general election.
Reacting to Dr Mohamad’s statement, Samy Vellu said the former prime minister who is now calling him a liability had labelled him an asset “when we were winning.”
“His comments are like telling a young wife that she is beautiful and an asset, but when she becomes old, she is branded a liability,” he said.

“I am not at all surprised. But I think he refuses to understand that the BN losses in the last general election were not because of me. An experienced man (politician) like him should understand that,” he added.
MIC vice-president Dr S. Subramaniam said the leadership of any political party was decided by its members, and it should be respected by the other BN component parties.
“The members decide whether to give or withdraw the mandate and if a decision is made by the members, it should be respected by the other BN component parties.

It will be better if all BN leaders avoided commenting about other parties,” said Subramaniam. (ANI)

Iranian regime accused of using torture, murder and rape to suppress opposition

Tehran, Sep. 18 (ANI): The father of an Iranian student, who died in jail after being arrested for protesting against President Ahmadinejad’s disputed re-election, has claimed that his son was beaten, got his bones broken and toenails pulled out while in prison.

Amir Javadifar, 24, was so badly beaten that he had to treated in hospital before being taken to the notorious Evin prison, Times Online reports.

Later, his father was called to collect his dead body. And, they ordered his family to say that he had died of a pre-existing condition.

“My son was not involved in politics. He loved his motherland – that’s all. I alone mourn him,” the report quoted his father, as saying.

According to reports prepared by the country’s opposition, Javadifar was just one among scores of alleged cases of murder, torture and rape. And, security forces have engaged in systematic killing and torture to try to break the opposition, the report adds.

“The use of rape and torture was similar across prisons in Tehran and the provinces. It is difficult not to conclude that the highest authorities planned and ordered these actions. Local authorities would not dare take such actions without word from above,” the report quoted one investigator referring to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as saying.

The documents suggest that at least 200 demonstrators were killed in Tehran, with 56 others still unaccounted for, and that 173 were killed in other cities.

According to the report, the documents also suggest that a chain of unofficial, makeshift prisons has been set up across Iran where rape and torture are common practice.

In Tehran alone, 37 young men and women claim to have been raped by their jailers. Doctors’ reports say that two males, aged 17 and 22, died as a result of severe internal bleeding after being raped, the report adds.

Female rape victims were mostly held for days, the report claims, adding that some victims had said that their jailers claimed to have “religious sanction” to violate them as they were “morally dirty”. (ANI)

Pak won’t allow US to cross ‘red line’ under any circumstances: FO

Islamabad, Sep.18 (ANI): Amid reports of a massive expansion of the US’ Islamabad embassy, Pakistan has said that it would never allow the American troops to carry out military operations from its soil.

Addressing a weekly briefing Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said Islamabad would not allow the US to cross the ‘red line’ under any circumstance.

“We would not allow, under any circumstances, operations by US forces inside Pakistan. We have conveyed this several times to our US interlocutors and this is one of our red lines,” Basit said.

Referring to US Chief of Army Staff Admiral Mike Mullen’s statement that Pakistan is facing a threat both from the east and the west, Basit said Mullen’s comments were true in the sense that Pakistan ‘has issues with India and is simultaneously battling terrorism on the western border.’

Commenting on the Obama Administration’s decision to maintain the long standing accountability measures over the aid being provided to Pakistan, he said Islamabad also supports ‘transparency and accountability at every stage’, but asked the US to reduce the administrative cost of the proposed assistance.

“What we have been saying is that we would like to reduce the administrative cost … so that it is cost-effective and maximum benefits reach the people of Pakistan,” The Daily Times quoted Basit, as saying.

When asked about the US Ambassador Anne Patterson’s claims that America has so far provided three billion dollars as aid to Pakistan, he said: “I would refer you to the Finance Ministry, since it is better placed to answer this question.”

He also refused comment on a report that claimed the Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US, Hussain Haqqani had leaked classified information to an Indian media house.

“As you used the word ‘reportedly’, it will not be appropriate for me to comment in public on such official matters,” Basit said. (ANI)

JRR Tolkien ‘trained as British spy’

London, Sept 17 (ANI): Lord Of The Rings author JRR Tolkien secretly trained as a British Government spy in the run up to the Second World War, it has emerged.

Tolkien, an Oxford University professor who also wrote The Hobbit, was “earmarked” to crack Nazi codes in 1939.

According to newly released documents, Tolkien was one of 50 intellectuals specially chosen for secret training, reports The Sun.

Tolkien’s involvement with the war effort was revealed for the first time in a new exhibition at GCHQ, the new name for GCCS, the Government’s spy base in Cheltenham, Glos.

The display includes a number of previously unseen exhibits relating to Bletchley Park’s war preparations.

The word “keen” is written on Tolkien’s training file, and it is believed he passed the training course with flying colours.

But he rejected the offer of a job at the famous Bletchley Park code-breaking centre.

A GCHQ historian said: “We simply don’t know why he didn’t join. Perhaps it was because we declared war on Germany and not Mordor.” (ANI)

Musharraf may avoid noose but won’t be playing golf in Pak for long time: Editorial

Islamabad, Sep.16 (ANI): With President Asif Ali Zardari disclosing that his predecessor General Pervez Musharraf was given a ‘safe exit’ from the country, it appears, Musharraf may have avoided a high treason trial for his unconstitutional actions, but according to an editorial there is hardly any possibility of the former general returning to Pakistan in the near future.

The editorial in The Daily Times said Musharraf may be safe for the time being, but he would hardly be seen playing golf in Pakistan for years to come.

Referring to the Kargil debacle, the editorial termed Musharraf as a bad strategist, and alleged that the former general was rarely seen keeping his words during his autocratic rule.

“Neither was he a great strategist, as was proved by Kargil and his covert support of the Taliban; he was also no man of his word. He may be safe from the hangman’s noose but he will not be able to play golf in Pakistan for a long time,” the editorial said.

It also blasted the country’s political leaders for running to foreign powers for protecting their heads from ‘internal’ crises.

“Too proud to admit that there could be foreign stakeholders in Pakistan, a direct violation of state sovereignty, we can’t, however, deny that our politicians have leaned on foreign guarantors to save their careers and sometimes their lives,” the editorial said.

“Therefore, if President Zardari today absolves his party from the discomfiture of bringing Musharraf to trial, he knows that the PMLN leader Mr Nawaz Sharif too is riding in the same boat with him,” it went on to add.

However, the editorial lauded the Pakistan Army for refraining from getting involved in the demand for Musharraf’s trial, saying the armed forces, till now, had reacted sensibly.

“The one stakeholder in Pakistan that has acted less rashly than the politicians is the Pakistan Army. It has seen more clearly the risks that would have affected Pakistan’s security if the populist demand for Musharraf’s head had been met,” it concluded. (ANI)

Atheists ‘more successful at online dating’

London, Sept 16 (ANI): People who don’t believe in god are more likely to achieve success at online dating, according to a new study of opening messages.

Self-effacing men are also more likely to get a reply to their approaches, while nothing turns off potential dates more than textspeak like “ur” and “luv”.

The researchers analysed 500,000 “first contacts” sent by users of OkCupid, the leading US dating website, and found that nearly 42 per cent of messages, which included the word “atheist”, received replies, significantly higher than the average response rate of 32 per cent.

The study also showed that references to “Christian”, “Jewish” and “Muslim” only had a marginal success rate, reports the Telegraph.

Moreover, mentioning “god” in a first approach actually discouraged people from replying.

The research also suggests online daters to avoid making personal compliments too early like “sexy” and “beautiful”, which reduced response rate.

It showed that people who used the words “good taste” or “you mention” in their messages pushed their response rates close to 50 per cent.

In addition, dreary greetings such as “hi”, “hey” and “hello” are far less successful than sparkier openings like “how’s it going” and “what’s up”.

The results of the analysis were published on OkTrends, the dating website’s official blog. (ANI)

Tibetans-in-exile at Leh react strongly to Chinese incursion

Leh, Sep 15 (ANI): Members of the exiled Tibetan community at Leh reacted strongly to the recent Chinese trespass into India’s border areas in Ladakh region.

Such concern was expressed by functionaries of Tibetan fora based at Leh on Monday.

Warning India of Chinese designs, Kunzang Dechen, President of Regional Tibetan Youth Congress, Leh, termed China as the biggest threat to India.

“China these days is a great threat to India. I have seen through channels…that the Chinese are entering to the border but when Tibet is an independent nation, when Tibet is in between them, China has nothing to bother even. From Indian point of view, this must be settled through Tibet and not through China,” Deche added.

Sonam Gyatso, President of Tibetan Market Welfare Association, Leh, said that if the recent developments in Ladakh are ignored by the government of India, then Ladakh would also meet the same fate as Tibet.

“The one and half kilometres incursion by the Chinese troops in Ladakh…. written at the border area in Chinese ‘Republic of China’, all these will have a bad impact on Ladakh. In Pangong Lake, first they said 45 kilometres is under China and 45 kilometres is under India, which they (Chinese) have extended to 50 kilometres and if Ladakhi government and the authorities ignore this issue then whatever happened in Tibet, the same would happen in Ladakh also since Ladakh is a very isolated region,” Gyatso added.

Officials sources have said that Chinese troops entered nearly 1.5 kilometres into the Indian territory near Mount Gya, which is recognised as the international border by India and China, and painted the word ‘China’ in Cantonese on the boulders and rocks there with red spray paint. The incursions were reported from the area generally referred in the Chumar sector in east of Leh.

The 22,420 ft Mount Gya, also known as “fair princess of snow” by the Army is located at the tri-junction of Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir, Spiti in Himachal Pradesh, and Tibet. Its boundary was marked during the British era and is regarded as International border by the two countries.

The border patrol discovered the red paint markings on various rocks and boulders along the Zulung La (pass) on July 31 and the Chinese had entered into the area and written “China” all over the place, the sources said.

Indian soldiers later erased the text, writing ‘India’ instead.

This is not the first such reported intrusion. On June 21 Chinese helicopters had violated the Indian air space along the Line of Actual Control in Chumar region. The Chinese troops also reportedly dropped expired tinned food packets in the area. (ANI)

Hugh Jackman used to call Daniel Craig by a mystery swear word

Melbourne, Sep 12 (ANI): Hugh Jackman has confessed that he once had a special swear word for his stage co-star Daniel Craig.

The actor duo is working together in a new Broadway play ‘A Steady Rain’.

But the ‘Australia’ star has revealed that there was a time when he wasn’t very fond of the current James Bond, and thus attached a swear word to his name.

He said that when Craig took a role Jackman coveted of poet Ted Hughes in the film ‘Sylvia Plath’ opposite Gwyneth Paltrow, he reacted by calling him the special name.

“That’s the first time I heard your name, and I attached it to, well, some swear word that I won’t say now. But then I watched your performance, and I was like, touche. You were great,” the Daily Telegraph quoted Jackman, 40, as having told USA Today. (ANI)

Deputy Commissioner Leh visits border areas

New Delhi, Sep 11(ANI): The Deputy Commissioner of Leh, Ajit Kumar Sahu, had visited the site where the Chinese intrusion was reported recently. He is undertstood to be sending a report to the Government.

Defence authorities had disclosed that China had intruded into Indian territory on July 31 near Mount Gya, almost 1.5 km inside the Indian territory.

It was reported that Chinese intruders wrote the word “China” in Cantonese in red spray paint on the rocks and returned. A Chinese helicopter had also entered the Indian airspace.

The Minister for External Affairs, S.M. Krishna, had indicated yesterday that incidents do happen along the border and a machinery exists between India and China to discuss incidents of this nature. (ANI)

Forgotten memories still exist in the brain

Washington, Sept 10 (ANI): A new research by UC Irvine neuroscientists suggests that memories exist even when forgotten.

With the help of advanced brain imaging techniques, the study’s scientists discovered that a person’s brain activity while remembering an event is very similar to when it was first experienced, even if specifics can’t be recalled.

“If the details are still there, hopefully we can find a way to access them,” said Jeff Johnson, postdoctoral researcher at UCI’s Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory and lead author of the study, appearing Sept. 10 in the journal Neuron.

“By understanding how this works in young, healthy adults, we can potentially gain insight into situations where our memories fail more noticeably, such as when we get older,” he said.

“It also might shed light on the fate of vivid memories of traumatic events that we may want to forget,” he added.

In collaboration with scientists at Princeton University, Johnson and colleague Michael Rugg, CNLM director, used functional magnetic resonance imaging to study the brain activity of students.

Inside an fMRI scanner, the students were shown words and asked to perform various tasks: imagine how an artist would draw the object named by the word, think about how the object is used, or pronounce the word backward in their minds. The scanner captured images of their brain activity during these exercises.

About 20 minutes later, the students viewed the words a second time and were asked to remember any details linked to them. Again, brain activity was recorded.

Utilizing a mathematical method called pattern analysis, the scientists associated the different tasks with distinct patterns of brain activity. When a student had a strong recollection of a word from a particular task, the pattern was very similar to the one generated during the task.

When recollection was weak or nonexistent, the pattern was not as prominent but still recognizable as belonging to that particular task.

“The pattern analyzer could accurately identify tasks based on the patterns generated, regardless of whether the subject remembered specific details,” Johnson said.

“This tells us the brain knew something about what had occurred, even though the subject was not aware of the information,” the expert added. (ANI)

Donkeys help five-year-old to “find his voice”

London, Sept 8 (ANI): Donkeys have helped a five-year-old boy suffering from selective mutism – a severe childhood anxiety disorder in which a person who is normally capable of speech is unable to speak in given situations -to “find his voice”.

Edward Wright was diagnosed with selective mutism at the age two.

His mother, Michelle, says she wasn’t worried initially but gradually she could not help noticing his silence.

The Daily Express quoted her as saying: “I was worried…He’d chat at home but if we were in a supermarket or at the doctors he wouldn’t say a word. It was as if he was scared of people he didn’t know hearing his voice.”

“At nursery he’d point to pictures of what he wanted to do each day rather than telling the staff. At first we thought he was just shy,” she added.

Although Edward’s family could not understand his behaviour, his speech therapist said his symptoms showed he was suffering from selective mutism.

Edward’s special coordinater suggested visits to a donkey-riding centre might help.

The Elisabeth Svendsen Trust (EST) For Children And Donkeys is situated on the outskirts of Leeds.

Every week nearly 150 children with disabilities and special needs spend time with the donkeys here.

Michelle explained: “The idea was that the games and activities Edward would do with the donkeys might help him overcome whatever was stopping him talking.”

Edward attended sessions at the centre last September and showed marked improvement in the weeks to follow.

Michelle said: “Gradually he became more confident…after a few weeks he began whispering commands into the donkeys’ ears. Later he would say instructions out loud to stop and start them while riding. It was lovely to see.”

She added: “At school he now talks to friends in the playground and he answers teachers when they ask questions. Every day he has an hour or two of speech therapy which also helps.

“Edward talks about the donkeys a lot, especially his favourite one Eeyore. The donkeys really have helped him find his voice.” (ANI)

Tri-lingual Kashmiri dictionary launched

Srinagar, Sep 8 (ANI): Kashmir University launches first trilingual English-Kashmiri-Hindi online dictionary, containing over 12,000 words, to promote Kashmiri language.

Christened as ‘Kashmiri Zaban.com, the dictionary has been compiled by university’s department of linguistics making use of three scripts, Roman for English, Devanagri for Hindi and Modified Persio-Arabic for Kashmiri.

“The need for this trilingual dictionary was felt for sometime and now I hope it will fulfil the requirements,” said, Riyaz Rufaye, chief librarian Kashmir University.

Students and scholars call the move commendable and said it would benefit not only students in Kashmir but also the outsiders who want to learn the Kashmiri language.

“Not only the Kashmiri students but foreigners studying here or our students studying outside can access Kashmiri language through the website,” said Sahil Showkat, a student.

“I think the biggest beneficiaries will be scholars who had to earlier buy costly books to look for the meaning for Kashmiri words now they can simply put the word in the website and get entire detail about it,” Muzaffar Bhat, another student added.

This is for the first time that any website has been launched for the promotion of the Kashmiri language and the Kashmiri culture. By Parvez butt (ANI)

Rihanna wants ‘stay away’ ban lifted off Chris Brown

Melbourne, Sep 4 (ANI): Barbadian singer Rihanna is reportedly very furious and upset over the fact that her ex-boyfriend Chris Brown has been ordered to stay away from her.

Brown, 20, was formally sentenced on September 1 to five years probation for the February assault on Rihanna, and also to six months of community labour in Virginia.

He will be spending 1400 hours removing graffiti and washing cars.

He has also been ordered not to contact the ‘Umbrella’ singer in any way for the next five years.

He also must stay 100 yards from her, unless they are both at an entertainment-related event, in which he must stay 10 yards away.

But sources have revealed that Rihanna has been working to get Brown’s restraining order lifted.

“When Rihanna got word from her attorney that the judge refused to lift the ban, she was really upset,” News.com.au quoted an insider as having told Britain’s Now magazine.

“She started calling her friends and saying how stupid it was and that Chris would never hurt her again. She was really indignant about it,” the source added. (ANI)

Lunar clock to be built by River Thames by 2012

London, September 3 (ANI): Scientists and artists are planning to build a 40m-wide lunar clock by the River Thames by the year 2012.

According to a report by BBC News, the aim is to create a new London landmark close to the proposed Olympic stadium as a monument to a more natural way of marking time.

The proposed site is at East India Dock, six miles along the river from Westminster Palace. It is currently a bedraggled nature reserve.

The designers of the clock hope that the instrument will become as iconic as Big Ben, which has been marking time for 150 years.

Laura Williams, an East London artist, explained that the clock would be powered by the tides from the Thames.

“There are three giant concentric rings made from recycled glass. Light shines through from the glass in time with the Moon’s cycles so the largest ring shows the lunar phase,” she said.

“Gradually, the light waxes on all the way around the ring and connects full circle when it’s full Moon,” she added.

“The second ring is like the big hand of the clock. It’s a marker of light that tracks the Moon around the globe so that’s the lunar day cycle,” said Williams.

“The third ring – the smallest – is the small hand that tracks the tide as it goes from high tide to low,” she said.

The clock has been called Aluna. It is a word from the Kogi indigenous people of Colombia.

“It means memory, possibility. It’s also being in tune with the planet’s rhythms and living in harmony with our planet,” said Williams.

According to Dr Usama Hasan, an astronomer, in this age of iPods and atomic clocks, there is a greater need than ever for an older way of measuring time.

“Aluna is a project which tries to connect us back to the cosmic cycle, with nature. I think that’s very important especially in the very technological age we live in,” said Hasan. (ANI)

Vettori’s new role as a national selector will not hurt team: Mills

Wellington, Sep 2 (ANI): New Zealand fast bowler Kyle Mills doubts that skipper Daniel Vettori’s new role as a national selector will harm his relationship with the players.

Vettori and head coach Andy Moles officially became members of the four-man selection panel on Tuesday after New Zealand Cricket (NZC) heeded the duo’s desire for a more hands-on role in team selection.

Mills has already had the dreaded talk with Vettori and suggested the skipper’s standing among the group would not create problems when the axe fell.

On the eve of the first test against Australia in Brisbane last November, the fast bowler was told not only did he miss the team, but he was also being sent back to provincial cricket.

“I think that’s the hardest thing as a captain. I’ve been given the word by Dan before on previous tours. In Australia, he came up and told me I’d been dropped from the test side so he’s made those gutsy conversations,” Stuff.co.nz quoted Vettori, as saying.

“At the end of the day, I’d probably rather hear it from him than someone else I’ve played a lot of cricket with him from a young age, he’s a mate of mine and we still go for a beer,” he added.

Mills was also happy the tour finally had two selectors on board.

The NZC decision to appoint Vettori and Moles alongside convener Glenn Turner and Mark Greatbatch has been highly scrutinised since the announcement on August 23.

Concerns over Vettori’s new role centred on how his working relationship might change with players now he has an official say in their selection or demotion, Stuff.co.nz reported.

There were also fears about how the added responsibility would affect his workload and performance.

When he was appointed, Vettori admitted it could be difficult when he or Moles had to convey bad news. (ANI)

Phoenix pastor who prays for Obama’s death faces flak

Washington, Sep. 1 (ANI): Protestors have started voicing their opposition outside the congregation of a Phoenix-based pastor, who tells his parishioners that he prays for President Obama’s death.

Phoenix-based Pastor Steven Anderson attracted widespread attention after he delivered a sermon titled, “Why I Hate Barack Obama,” and encouraged his parishioners to join him in praying for the president’s death.

“I hope that God strikes Barack Obama with brain cancer so he can die like Ted Kennedy and I hope it happens today,” Fox News quoted him, as saying.

He called his message “spiritual warfare” and said he does not condone killing.

However, some protesters gathered around his church on Sunday, calling Anderson’s words “incomprehensible.”

According to the report, Anderson has also received some death threats.

Anderson’s provocative message stems from Obama’s abortion-rights stance.

In his controversial sermon, delivered at his Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe before Obama arrived for a speech in Phoenix earlier in the month, the pastor had said he wants the president to “melt like a snail” with salt on it.

“I’m gonna pray that he dies and goes to hell when I go to bed tonight. That’s what I’m gonna pray,” he told his congregation.

The last time fierce opposition to Obama’s abortion position drew widespread attention was when Obama delivered the commencement address at the University of Notre Dame, the report said.

The Anderson sermon was also in news after it was reported that one man carrying an assault rifle outside the Phoenix arena where Obama spoke was a member of Anderson’s church, the report added. (ANI)

Pak involvement seen in Russian warship hijack

Moscow/Islamabad, Sep.1 (ANI): Investigations into the hijacking of a Russian warship in April by Somali pirates show that Pakistani nationals played an important role in the hijack.

Twelve Pakistanis had been apprehended along with the Somali pirates. Pakistan has so far not launched a probe into the Russian allegations and claimed that 12 men were fishermen, the Times Now television channel reports.

Authorities have confirmed the first case of alleged Pakistani involvement with Somali pirates in a revelation that has raised concerns about a possible link between piracy and suspected terrorist groups.

On April 28, a Russian warship apprehended 12 Pak nationals – along with Somali pirates – for attempting to attack a tanker off Somalias coast.

Investigations pointed to Pakistani nationals having played a ‘lead’ role. Their nationality was confirmed through identity cards and evidence was handed over on May 8 to MSS Rehmat, a Pakistan Maritime Security Agency ship, 12 miles of Gwadar.

Pakistan first claimed that these men were fishermen but three months on, there is no word on the probe.

The incident occurred when Russian warship Admiral Panteleyev received a distress call 120 km east of Somalias coast from a tanker Bulwai Bank, registered in Antigua, en route to Singapore. The tanker was under attack from Somali pirates.

Russian commandos intervened and foiled the attempt. They found that the pirates speedboats were being guided from another mother vessel. (ANI)

Oz man claims his pet moggy can swear, speak in English!

Melbourne, Aug 29 (ANI): An Aussie man claims that he owns a pet cat that can speak a total of seven different English words, including the F-word.

Mischief the ‘talking’ cat belongs to Robert ‘RJ’ Duncan, 34, an ex-boxer of Palmerston, in the Northern Territory, and his wife Sandra, 32, and he also claims that his budgie Picininny can speak.

According to the Northern Territory News, Mischief had at the first declined to utter a single word, but during a second visit he was much friendlier, and everyone around heard him calling Sandra, “mum”.

Duncan said the two-year-old cat, which he and his wife adopted from his feral mother in Katherine, was most vocal at night.

“He starts mouthing off when he wants his food _ when we start cooking,” the Daily Telegraph quoted him as saying.

“He can say seven words all up: mum, no, now, what, f**k, prick and why.

“He can’t say ‘dad’ yet, which is a bit of a prick. That’s how he got the word ‘prick’ I reckon, because I say it a lot,” he said.

Duncan said that Mischief’s first word was ‘mum’, which he started saying about the age of six months, and that he was not mimicking the words either, as he knew what he was saying.

“He calls out to (Sandra) and everything _ he’ll sit at the back window, while she’s in the garden, calling out ‘mum’,” he explained.

“In the evening time, if you don’t drop whatever you’re doing and pay attention to him, he calls you ‘f**k prick’.

“If he really cracks the s**ts, he’ll piss in his drinking water just to let you know he’s really s**ty,” he added.

Duncan will now be trying to film Mischief to prove the moggy can really talk.

“He’s a character … he’s one of these cats that’s a bit too brainy for his own good,” he added. (ANI)

Ted Kennedy autobiography to hit shelves in September

Washington, Aug.27 (ANI): Senator Ted Kennedy’s autobiography, “True Compass,” will hit shelves next month, but the talking point is the publisher, who has announced a 1,000 price tag for a limited number of pre-signed books.

According to Politico, standard editions of “True Compass” will sell for 35 dollars and will hit stores on September 14.

The book, published by Twelve, will join the rarified ranks of posthumously published books written by political figures, such as Richard Nixon’s “Beyond Peace” and Ronald Reagan’s “The Reagan Diaries.”

Twelve’s publisher and editor-in-chief Jonathan Karp, who worked closely on the book for the past two years, said in a statement: Kennedy “worked valiantly to finish the book and make it the best it could be. As always, he was true to his word. The result is a great and inspiring legacy to readers everywhere, a case study in perseverance.” (ANI)