She gets a new type of HIV from Gorilla

Gorillas have been found, for the first time, to be a source of HIV. Researchers have now discovered an HIV infection in a Cameroonian woman which is clearly linked to a gorilla strain.

HIV originated from a similar virus in chimpanzees called Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV). Although HIV/Aids was first recognised by scientists in the 1980s, it is thought to have first entered the human population early in the 20th Century in the region of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The virus probably originally jumped into humans after people came into contact with infected bush meat.

Before moving to Paris, she had lived in a semi-urban area of Cameroon and had no contact with gorillas or bush meat, suggesting she caught the virus from someone else who was carrying the gorilla strain.

To continue reading at BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8175379.stm

Singaporean female model gets rotan for having a beer in public in Malaysia

As reported in AsiaOne.com that a 32-year-old part-time model from Singapore charged with having a beer in a nightclub last year was ordered by the Syariah High Court yesterday to receive six strokes of the rotan. Kartika Sari Sewi Shu-karno, who pleaded guilty to consuming alcohol in public when she made her first court appearance in December, was also fined RM5,000 (S$2038.50).

"The rotan is aimed at making the accused repent and serves as a lesson to Muslims."

This is the second time the Syariah Court here has imposed whipping on a female. The first was on a waitress and a man who were caught together with Kartika during the same operation in Cherating.

At least 1 million H1N1 flu cases in US

At least one million people in the United States have had H1N1 flu, or around 50 times more than the number of cases reported to health authorities, US health authorities said Friday.

"We believe the attack rates of this new virus, particularly in young people, may exceed the kind of attack rates we see with seasonal influenza," she said. The highest rates of illness due to A(H1N1) flu are in people under the age of 25. The median age of people who have been hospitalized in the United States after being infected with the virus is 19, and the median age of those who have died is 37.

Read full article at http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/438806/1/.html

95 new H1N1 cases raise total infected in Singapore to 315

The Health Ministry confirmed 95 new cases on Thursday, raising the total infected to 315.

25 local infections,
22 imported ones,
48 new cases are still being investigated...

Of the 25 new local infections:
10 were Butter Factory nightspot patrons and staff
4 were from the Maju Camp cluster
2 caught the virus from close contact with imported cases.
9 were linked to a new Republic Polytechnic cluster, which had three previous cases.

For more info: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/438519/1/.html

Singer Michael Jackson dies in LA

He was pronounced dead two hours later after arriving at hospital in full cardiac arrest, said Fred Corral of the LA County Coroner's office.

The star, who had a history of health problems, had been due to begin a series of comeback concerts in the UK on 13 July.

Concerns were raised last month when four of the concerts were postponed, but organisers insisted the dates had been moved due to the complexity of staging the show.

To get full coverage, photos, videos, history... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8119993.stm

"Welcome on board" This Airbus is Made In China!

Airbus delivered its first China-assembled A320, part of a joint venture that could help the plane-maker take more market share from its American arch-rival.

The aircraft, one of the firm's A320 mid-range models, was unveiled at a ceremony at the firm's factory outside the northern Chinese city of Tianjin. The plane has been delivered to leasing firm Dragon Aviation, and will be used by Chinese carrier Sichuan Airlines.

The Airbus A320, which was assembled at a plant in Tianjin that is 49%-owned by a Chinese consortium, will be delivered to a leasing company and eventually put into service by Sichuan Airlines. Airbus' Chinese plant will now delivery a further nine planes by the end of this year, with production expected to increase to four aircraft per month before the end of 2011.

Teenager Kimberley Vlaminck has 56 stars tattooed on face after "falling asleep" - Photo + Video

A Belgian teenager is suing a tattoo artist whom she says covered half her face with stars while she was asleep, media reports said. Kimberley Vlaeminck, 18, was left sporting 56 black stars of various sizes on the left side of her face, from nose to ear and brow to chin.

"I wanted him to tattoo on just three little points but he suggested three stars saying it would look prettier," Vlaeminck told local press. "When he started the tattooing I didn't want to feel the pain and so I went to sleep. I had got up at five in the morning," she said. "I woke up when he was starting to tattoo my nose and I saw what he had already done. I counted 56 stars, it's frightening."

But Rouslan Toumaniantz, who runs the Courtrai tattoo parlour called The Tattoo Box, has denied the allegations and demanded payment of 50 euros for the stars. To watch live video at telegraph.

Singapore 48th H1N1 case - goes to work, attends concert, does shopping!

The 48th case is a 56-year-old German man who works in Singapore as a researcher at the Biopolis. He had gone to Philadelphia, USA on May 28 to attend a conference. He developed symptoms on June 4 while he was there. He returned from Philadelphia on SQ15 via Seoul on June 8. He came in contact with several people before he was quarantined a week later.

He was seated at row 52. He was not picked up by the thermal scanner at the airport as he did not have a fever then. He took a taxi home from the airport, and stayed at home for the rest of the day.

He went to work from June 9 to 12. On the evening of June 11, he went to a function at the French Ambassador's Residence attended by about 70 persons. On June 13, he went to a shopping mall and had social activities at Clarke Quay. On June 14, he attended a concert and did more shopping. On June 15, he did not go to work in the morning and called a 993 ambulance to send him to CDC2 around noon time. Laboratory results confirmed his infection at 2140 hours on June 15.

Read more at CNA.

The 13th Annual Erotica LA has come to town

If you're in Los Angeles and looking for something sexy to do this weekend, don't miss the 13th annual Erotica LA convention at the Los Angeles Convention Center. It has been billed as the largest erotic show in the US. The adult entertainmnent industry's annual tradeshow event has many features open to the general public.

Today's events kick off at 11am, and shows open to the general public with a $35 general admission ticket include workshops. Erotica LA will also be open tomorrow, from 11am-6pm, and celebrating Hero's Sunday with free admission for anyone with a valid military ID.

As reported in Zaobao:

最吸引人的是展场中有许多火辣性感的情趣影片女主角，穿着若隐若现的紧身服装，摆动各种诱人的姿势，热情的与参观来宾拥抱拍照，让摊位挤得水泄不通。而情趣商品厂商也请来美女亲身示范，教导民众如何使用，表演舞台旁也随时上演钢管秀。

Click here to watch an interview video.

Hong Kong has the first case internal H1N1 case

There is a secondary 4 female student is identified as first local transmitted H1N1 case in Hong Kong. 8 of her classmate also have fever now. All the primary school and kinder garden in Hong Kong have their lesson stoped for 14 days.

She never travel out to Hong Kong, and not in contact with any other patient, hence how she get the H1N1 virus is still unknown.

Then another another 55-year old guy, he get the H1N1 from the 34th (2nd generation) patient. They only get together in a party for 10 to 15 minutes. Another 40 people attended the party is now undergoing medical checkup.

Full source in Yahoo Hong Kong News in Chinese.

38-yr old teacher do with 12-yr old student over 300 times

This 38-year old primary school teacher do with a 12-year old primary school student for over 300 times within 3 years. He did this when he is giving tuition to the student. Continue reading at Yahoo.

Emma Watson can't wait to change her "school girl" image after Harry Potter, see her new dress!

Harry Potter actress Emma Watson can’t wait to shed her squeaky-clean image, it seems. ‘As far as they are concerned, until the Potter series has finished she is still schoolgirl Hermione Granger.’ Take a look at her new dress, is she on the way changing from a girl become a lady?

Hong Kong Bus Girl Video

This round not the bus uncle, but a 17 year-old student, at a double decker public bus that is moving around the city. This girl * did something * to the guy when both of them sit at the back. In the video, there is also a subtitle saying "Pay 200, and you can get similar servicce from this 17 year-old student, because she wants to get a branded bag". To read more the story follow:
http://hk.news.yahoo.com/article/090607/3/ckt5.html

Hong Kong Ads - "Girl Friend for Rent" and she is only 13

Yahoo news reports that the police found about 20 young girls, the youngest one is only 13, and 6 guys where they try to help the girl make some profit online. Some of them put the advertisement online as "girl friend for rent".

Edison Chen regrets saying quit "forever", he says that means 5 minutes

Edison says he said he quit indefiniely, not forver. The Chinese media had translated wrongly his meaning. So he could just quit the entertaitment sector for just 5 minutes. 

实际上说的是indefinitely（期限不定），也许有些人不了解这个字的意思。可能是5分钟，也可能是2000年，我从来没说过永久（forever）退出。”似乎暗指华文媒体英文差，曲解其意。

Here is the original transcript:

During my time away, I have made an important decision, I will whole-heartedly fulfill all commitments that I have to date. But after that, I decided to step away from the Hong Kong entertainment industry. I have decided to do this to give myself, an opportunity to heal myself and to search my soul. I will dedicate my time to charity and community work within the next few months. I will be away from Hong Kong entertainment industry indefinitely. There is no time frame.

Anyway, Cecelia already accepted his apologize. Well, there is no enemy "forever". And also no love "forever"!

W.H.O. Says It Is Closer to Declaring Flu Pandemic

The disease has reached 64 countries, and there have been dozens or hundreds of cases in several nations outside North America, including Britain, Spain, Japan, Chile and Australia.

The Southern Hemisphere countries are now of chief interest because their winter flu season is just beginning and another strain of the H1N1 virus, widespread last winter, was resistant to the antiviral drug Tamiflu.

To raise the flu alert to its highest level, Level 6, the W.H.O. would need to find evidence of widespread “community transmission” — meaning beyond travelers, schools and immediate contacts — on two continents.

No cases have been reported anywhere in Africa. Historically, there has been little flu surveillance on the continent, which has many more serious diseases to track, though South Africa has a laboratory that regularly reports cases to the W.H.O.

Edison Chen says Photos not just 1300, there are MORE

During an interview with CNN, Edison Chen said the photos are not just 1300, there are much more photos and the number of actress involved are also much more.

"I believed I was a victim. I believed that I was hurt by this a lot. I believed that...I knew that I had nothing to do with the spreading of these photos,"

he told CNN in the exclusive interview. 

"I can't say I didn't do anything wrong. I've admitted that I was wrong, and I wouldn't say sorry if I wasn't wrong. But I also believe that at the same time that I wasn't the perpetrator, and I had suffered a lot from this as well."

But who else in the photos? I doubt we got the chance to view it.

Royals Premium Cakes factory - suspected as sabotage

The staff of The Royals Premium Cakes were about to make pies to be sold the next day when they noticed something unusual.

Ms Tang, describing what happened, said: "At about 11.30, they began to use one particular ingredient for chicken mushroom pies. When they opened up the ingredients, they realised that there was a very strong smell of bleach in the ingredients.

"When I went to check, I was very sure it was bleach, but it's still under the (investigation of) AVA to check whether it is. I realised it would be a deliberate sabotage, so we called in the police immediately.

The factory will remain suspended pending investigations by the police and the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) as reported in CNA.

马国丹州王妃声称不堪夜夜性虐 逃出狮城酒店 Manohara Odelia Pino says prince raped her; Escape from Singapore Hotel

Reported at Zaobao.com 声称遭丈夫强行禁固的17岁吉兰丹王妃，前天在新加坡一酒店从保镖的手中挣脱，结束惊险的“绑票记”，昨天逃回了印尼！这名王妃是前天从乌节路的皇族酒店（Royal Plaza）逃出来，据她绘述，当时负责监视她的保镖企图在电梯内为她打针，她是趁电梯突然开门时，挣脱逃出的。

长得貌美的印尼前名模马诺哈拉（Manohara Odelia Pinot），曾被一家国际杂志遴选为旗下模特儿。她在去年8月嫁给31岁的吉兰丹州王子东姑莫哈末法克力。不过，有传闻指他们结婚不久后，感情就出现裂痕。当她于今年2月份到沙地阿拉伯朝圣时，谣传被丈夫利用私人飞机强硬带走。今年4月，马诺的母亲爆料女儿遭女婿“绑架”，以及受到残暴手段虐待。

A teenage model has returned to her family in Indonesia with tales of abuse, rape and torture at the hands of a Malaysian prince, after her dramatic escape with the help of Singapore police. Manohara Odelia Pinot, 17, said she was treated like a sex slave after her marriage to Tengku Temenggong Mohammad Fakhry, the prince of Malaysia's Kelantan state, last year.

But the young woman - a well-known socialite in Jakarta - said her life at the royal palace involved a "daily routine" of rape, abuse, torture and drug injections which made her vomit blood. "Sexual abuse and sexual harassment were like a daily routine for me, and he did that every time I did not want to have sexual intercourse," she was quoted as saying in The Jakarta Globe.

Khaw says communal spread of H1N1 likely to happen soon

Singapore has confirmed its fifth case of the Influenza A (H1N1) flu virus.

The patient is a 22-year-old Singaporean woman who had travelled to the US from May 13 to 28. Some 20 contacts, including five family members and 15 flight passengers, have been identified for home quarantine via contact tracing. But the Health Ministry has so far managed to contact only four of the 15 passengers.

Mr Khaw said: "As some experts in WHO put it, one-third of mankind will be infected over the next two years. One-third of mankind in Singapore means one million people will be down with it."

As of Sunday, the Ministry has served 82 Home Quarantine Orders (HQOs) to close contacts of the five confirmed cases. 68 others who have been in close contact with the affected patients are already out of the country. The Ministry has also lined up other facilities for quarantine purposes, if needed.

3 more cases of H1N1 in Singapore

The second confirmed case is a 43-year-old Singapore Permanent Resident who returned to Singapore from San Francisco via Manila on Tuesday (May 26) at 1750 hours. She was on Singapore Airlines flight SQ 917 and was seated at 33H. She became unwell while on board.

The third confirmed case is a 28-year-old American woman working in Singapore. She returned to Singapore from Honolulu via Tokyo on Tuesday (May 26) at 2353 hours, on United Airlines flight UA 803. She was seated at 33C and became unwell on May 26.

The fourth confirmed case is a 28-year-old Singaporean man who returned to Singapore from Chicago via Hong Kong on May 25 at 0036 hours. He was on United Airlines flight UA 895 and was seated at 55H. He became unwell on May 25.

Source: CNA

Circle Line first day down 10 mins

Service on the Circle Line was disrupted for about 10 minutes on Thurday on its first day of operations.

The Straits Times understands that the power went out after lunchtime, and a train with passengers on board was stuck in the tunnel. It was moved to Bishan MRT and passengers were evacuated within four minutes.

Service on both sides of the line was down for about 10 minutes before it resumed.

Trains started rolling through the line's first five stations - Marymount, Bishan, Lorong Chuan, Serangoon and Bartley - on Thursday morning, with the first train arriving at 6 am.

Malaysia to detain Mas Selamat for two years

An Islamic militant described as Singapore's most wanted man has been detained under Malaysian security laws for a two-year term, state media reported Wednesday.

"(He) will be detained for two years under the ISA in the Kamunting detention camp," it quoted an unnamed source familiar with his capture as saying.

Mr Najib said Malaysian authorities needed to extract "more information" from Mas Selamat and downplayed suggestions that Singaporean authorities would be anxious to have him in their custody. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak described him as a "threat to national security" and said he was being held for two years "to know more information".

"While under detention, Mas Selamat will be undergoing a rehabilitation programme which will include debating with religious experts on Islam," said the sources.

Mas Selamat, a Singaporean citizen of Indonesian origin, is alleged to have plotted to crash a hijacked plane into Singapore's international airport.

Indonesian authorities arrested him on immigration violation charges in 2003.

He was handed over to Singapore in 2006 and detained in a high-security prison.

But he escaped in February 2008, managing to squeeze through the toilet window and climb over a fence while guards waited outside.

He evaded a massive manhunt and slipped into Malaysia by swimming across a narrow strip of sea that separates the two countries.

He was detained in a joint operation between Malaysia and Singapore in Malaysia's southern Johor state on 1 April.

To find out more at CNA and BBC.

Singapore reports 1st H1N1 flu case

Singapore has confirmed its first case of Influenza A (H1N1), the Health Ministry said on Wednesday.

The patient is a 22 year-old Singaporean woman who was in New York from May 14 to 24. She arrived back in Singapore from New York on SQ25 on Tuesday at 6.30 am.

She began to develop a cough while onboard. She passed the thermal scanner uneventfully as she did not have fever then. Later in the morning, she consulted a GP who decided to send her to TTSH via a 993 ambulance, given her travel history.

She was immediately admitted for testing. Laboratory confirmed her infection was made at midnight on Tuesday. The patient is currently being treated at the Communicable Disease Centre at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) and is in stable condition.

Passengers who had travelled in the same flight and were seated in rows 52-58 are urged to called the hotline at 1800-3339999 so that the ministry can check on their health condition. 

Source: Straits Times

"Angels & Demons" flies high overseas

"Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" could not dislodge "Angels & Demons" as the No. 1 film at the foreign box office last weekend.

The biggest market for the sequel was the U.K., where it finished No. 1 with a muscular $6.8 million. It also finished No. 1 in France ($5 million), Russia ($4.4 million) and Australia ($3.6 million). "Angels & Demons" has earned $198.3 million internationally.

A delayed Mexico debut revitalized the recently reopened market by generating a powerful $4.1 million. "Angels & Demons" premiered strongly in Norway, grossing $1.9 million for the country's 11th biggest opening weekend.