Police is looking for stalker footballer Rio Ferdinand

England and Manchester United Footballer Rio Ferdinand is stalked by a woman called Susanne Ibru. Macclesfield Magistrates' Court convicted the woman in her absence of harassment of the footballer and his family. Miss Ibru walked out of court, when she had heard that she could not question the footballer’s wife, because of the birth of a daughter. However the judge convicted miss Ibru for harassing and the police is now hunting for her. Miss Ibru denied her culpability and claims that she visited the footballer’s house about four or five times and that it was not harassment. Miss Ibru has not been in contact with the police yet.

I think it is a funny story all in all. You do not hear often that somebody walks out of court and take the risks of doing that for granted! Maybe the woman is mentally not all right, because she stalked the footballer and did not respect court. I can understand that it is for the footballer less a funny story and that stalking can be very irritating and sometimes even dangerous. Probably the police will find the woman soon. I am curious about the outcome.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-13127974

Dead of two British men in Florida

In Sarasota, Florida two British men have been shot dead while they were on holiday. The police found the men, James Kouzaris and James Cooper, dead with gunshot wounds in a residential area of Sarasota. According to the police this area was not often visited by tourists and the two friends were staying 12 miles away on the island city of Longboat Key. The police arrested a 16-year-old boy and charged him with two counts of murder. The suspect was already known to the police and will be charged as an adult. However there was no known association between the suspect and the victims. The murder of the friends was the first one in Sarasota this year. The investigation is still going on.

It is shocking news and very unbelievable. Imagine that you are on holiday and you were shot! This news is even worse and must be hard to understand for the family. I am curious what the two friends were doing in the area were they have been murdered. Also I want to know the motif of the suspect. The suspect has to be a real criminal, if you are 16 year old and commit such a horrible crime!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-13110039

Bahrain regime accused of harassing UK-based students

The government of Bahrain revoked grants from UK-based students who attended the Manchester protest last month. The protest outside the BBC building was organized in solidarity with Bahrain's pro-democracy movement. To the families of the students who were photographed attending the protest in Manchester, the government of Bahrain is putting intense pressure. Bahrain is forcing the parents to get their children home, but the students do not want this, because they think they will be arrested and disappear. The students want the British government to protect them. Students fear violence against their families. The Bahraini embassy in London declined to comment on the claims of government's sanctions against the students. According to the students Bahraini or Saudi spies took pictures of them during the protest so that the Bahraini government knew who attended the protest.


I feel sympathy for the UK-based students. I think they did not provided the Bahraini government’s sanctions to their grants. They should be allowed to protest against their government, but the government are in control and these are the consequences for them. Like the students I won’t go back to Bahrain to protect myself. The students must feel themselves powerless, because they can not help and protect their families of the Bahraini government. It is a very corrupt matter.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/15/bahrain-regime-uk-students

Obesity children in the UK

More and more children in the UK are becoming obese. Obesity is the state of being seriously overweight, to a degree that affects your health. Obesity in childhood is linked to many health complications and tends to indicate the child will be obese as an adult. Obesity increases the risk of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes and could lead to low self-esteem. In the UK around 27% of children is overweight. Research suggests that the main problem is that children exercise too less and that they have overweight parents. The Institute of Child Health in London claims that parents who fail to help their obese child eat and exercise properly, ignoring all advice and guidance could be guilty of neglect. According to this Institute child protection staff should get involved.

It is very concerning that child obesity in the UK is increasing. I believe that the way of family lifestyles is very important. I think that in some cases parents can be guilty of neglect, if they are aware of their obese child and the consequences, but they do not act like they should to help their child. Only in the worst case a child should be put in public care, because most of the time children need their parents.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/physical_health/conditions/obesity2.shtml

London pub refused gay labour group

The gay Labour group were refused to enter the Greencoat Boy pub in Westminster, central London over their sexuality. The group were very outraged by the incident and the pub’s owner Punch Taverns apologized for the refusal of his duty manager. There is an investigation launched and the police is involved by this matter. According to group members the refusal is totally unacceptable in this day and age. Punch Taverns has emphasized that the matter was isolated and is not representative of their commitment to diversity. He welcomes everyone to his pub and is saddened that the gay labour group had not experienced this. The incident became the most viewed trend on social networking site Twitter.

I would like to know why the duty manager refused the group. It was very stupid of him to do that and damage the image of the pub. I hope for the pub’s owner that his pub will not be boycotted because of the incident! I can understand that the gay labour group was outraged and the incident ruined their evening. With social networking like Twitter it is clear that the whole world can be informed in a short time.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10249335

Illegally downloading music

The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) wants people to pay for their music in stead of illegally downloading. A latest report from the BPI stated that the piracy costs the music industry £219 million lately. BPI claims based on their research that more than three quarters of music downloaded in the UK is illegally obtained, with no payment to the musicians, songwriters or music companies producing it. According to Mark Mulligan, an analyst in the online distribution of music, the piracy can not be managed because there is now a generation that believes music is available to download for free on the internet. Technology moves faster than counter measures.

I can understand BPI’s frustration, but like Mark Mulligan said this generation is used to downloading music for free from the internet. I can not remember when I bought for the last time music in a music store! I agree that it is hard to change the technology which is going on and find measures that would stop or reduce the loss of the music industry.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12003499

More girls wanting to join the Scouts than boys

For the first time in history more girls than boys became Scouts in the past year. Since in 2007 the association accepts girls in all age ranges, the membership of girls has risen by 6.9% in the past year. The association has even a waiting list of nearly 33,500 girls wanting to join. Cambridgeshire is one of the areas were more girls are joining the association than boys. Boys outnumber girls still in the Scouts by over five to one. Bear Grylls, chief Scout thinks it is great that more girls are joining the Scouts. According to him it is no surprise that girls like to join the Scouts, because being a Scout represents all that is great about life: adventure, life skills and friendship.

For me it is strange that in the UK only since 2007 it is possible for girls in all age ranges to join the Scouts. I remember that when I was a little girl, I could join the Scouts in The Netherlands. Luckily girls in the UK can now join the Scouts if they want to. In my opinion joining the Scouts is a nice hobby if you are up for adventure and competition.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13082946

Transport London biggest risk for Olympics 2012

London will have the Olympic Games in 2012 and a report form the assembly's Transport Committee says: transport problems will be one of the biggest risks. Approach to 5.3 million visitors are expected to come to London for the games and this will increase the use of the tube during the Olympics. A million extra journeys are expected, but the city’s transport network is already running at near-full capacity. A broken-down train or a security incident would have a greater impact during the event. The transport system has to improve before the event and Londoners are already benefiting from it.

I have been to London many times and I know that it is through that the transport network over there is already running at near-full capacity. Many tubes and trains are obsolete and need to be replaced. For the Londoners the improvement on the transport system is a little extra besides the honor that the Olympics will be held in London in 2012!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-13082966

Passive smoking risk for pregnancy

The University of Nottingham researched pregnant women who did not smoke, but were passive smokers due to their proximity to a partner who smoked or work colleagues who smoked. The researchers have concluded that passive smoking increases the risk of stillbirth by 23% and of having a baby with defects by 13%. The findings of the research are based on 19 previous studies from around the world, North America, South America, Asia and Europe. If a woman is exposed to more than 10 cigarettes a day that is enough for the risks to be increased. According to Andrew Shennan, professor of obstetrics at St. Thomas' Hospital in London and spokesperson for baby charity Tommy's, women should be made aware of the possible risks of passive smoking and alert other women of this matter.

People already knew that passive smoking is not healthy and maybe even worse than smoking , but the findings from the research above shocked me a little bit. I can not believe that we did not knew this yet. Imagine how many pregnant women have exposed themselves to passive smoking without knowing  that it is also dangerous for their baby’s health. I am glad that it is not possible anymore to smoke in public  spaces. We are a little bit more protected now.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12711615

The Beckhams

A spokesman of the family confirmed that the Beckhams are expecting their fourth child in July. The Beckhams have already three sons and are very exited that they are expecting their first daughter. David Beckham, 35-year-old football star, is preparing to become a father for the fourth time. Victoria, 36-year-old fashion designer is feeling healthy and great, according to her husband. David and Victoria married in 1999 and live at the moment in the US. Davis is preparing for a new Major League Soccer season with American team LA Galaxy. The family will visit the royal wedding next month of prince William and Kate and after that they will go back to the US.

It is great news for the Beckhams that they will finally have a daughter. I think they really want it and I think that it is possible that they helped faith a little bit. Meaning they did a gender selection. They are rich so they can afford it! In July we will know if it is really a girl.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/12731118