Pope calls on Ban Ki-moon, UN secretary general, to consider the tears and the heartfelt cries of despair of religious minorities and end the humanitarian tragedy

David Cameron has broken off his holiday to lead the government's response to the Iraq crisis as Europe and the US stepped up their humanitarian support to the persecuted religious minorities stranded in northern Iraq.

Mr Cameron is chairing a meeting of the government's Cobra emergency committee this afternoon after returning earlier than expected from his holiday in Portugal.

 In an interview with Sky News, Iain Duncan Smith, Work and Pensions Secretary, said: "Why bring MPs back? The argument appears to be that when events stir the public conscience and the men in khaki are on high alert, Westminster simply must express itself.

"Even if no one offers anything workable to be done, there are plenty of things to be said."

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton is ready to call a special foreign ministers' meeting as early as this week and is talking to EU governments about it, a spokesman said.
Meanwhile Justine Greening, International Development Secretary, said there had been "five successful air drops" to the region since Tuesday night.
Thousands more poured across a bridge into Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region on Wednesday after trekking into Syria to escape, most with nothing but the clothes they wore.

Some women carried exhausted children, weeping as they arrived to the relative safety of Iraqi Kurdistan.

But there are still large numbers on the mountain, said 45-year-old Mahmud Bakr.

"Many of them are elderly; they cannot walk this distance," Bakr told AFP.

"My father Khalaf is 70 years old - he cannot make this journey. But up there, there is very little food and no medicine," he said.

UN minority rights expert Rita Izsak has warned they face "a mass atrocity and potential genocide within days or hours".

In a letter to Ban Ki-moon, the Pope issued a heartfelt plea to the UN secretary-general to help the stranded refugees.

Pope Francis said: "I write to you, Mr Secretary-General, and place before you the tears, the suffering and the heartfelt cries of despair of Christians and other religious minorities of the beloved land of Iraq.

As an election campaigner, Narendra Modi promised sweeping market reforms to revive India's economy and put the country to work. As prime minister, he has dismayed admirers, apparently reverting to the script of the hapless government he defeated.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves to supporters during a public rally in Kargil. (AFP Photo)

To some of the economists and business leaders who as his campaign cheerleaders dared to dream of a Thatcherite revolution, he seems not to be listening. Three months after his win, it is dawning on them that their views count for little.

"As of now, the momentum is lost. They might still recover it, but we have lost the moment," said Bibek Debroy, a prominent economist who co-wrote a book laying out a reform agenda that the new prime minister himself launched in June.

Debroy told Reuters that so far there had been no signs of the promised change at institutions sapped by graft and over-regulation that many Indians have grown to revile.

Back in the heady days of the election campaign, Modi and his supporters seemed much more in tune, all lambasting the last centre-left government for years of waste and policy paralysis and building expectations of a regime of "minimum government and maximum governance" that would unshackle key sectors of the economy from the state.

But now there is a sense that the 63-year-old Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) strongman, who made his reputation putting his home state Gujarat on a high growth path, has somehow stumbled in New Delhi.

To be fair, the government has a five-year term to achieve Modi's goal of transforming India into an economic and military power able to withstand the rise of China on its doorstep.

On Friday, Modi will make his first Independence Day speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort in Old Delhi, and the expectation within his party is that he may use the occasion to announce bold changes that have so far been absent.

According to economists at HSBC, the government has already moved with "unaccustomed alacrity" on a number of fronts, such as opening up the state railways to foreign investment and providing new guidelines for a more streamlined bureaucracy.

Apparently, having an intact hymen is now a job requirement. Women hoping to become teachers in Brazil are now being asked to undergo gynecological exams in order to verify that they are “healthy.”

Working in the education system is a coveted job in the South American country and the Brazilian government has reportedly required this kind of testing since 2012 for women hoping to enter the field. Prospective female teachers must either have a pap smear and be screened for STDs or, if they’re under the age of 25, must provide a doctor’s note confirming they aren’t sexually active.

While the tests have been in place for years, the Sao Paulo Public Prosecutor’s Office is now investigating why the tests are necessary for women to obtain teaching jobs and whether the invasion of privacy is legal under Brazil’s constitution. The department requires employees undergo other tests such as mammograms for women over 40 years old and prostate exams for men over 40 years old in order to ensure candidates are able to maintain their positions long-term, but the intimate nature of the tests required for females is sparking outrage amongst women’s rights groups.

This isn’t the first time Brazil’s gotten in trouble for its “virginity tests.” The state of Bahia had the same requirement for women hoping to join the state police force, but suspended those tests last year after encountering plenty of public criticism.

Most pageants may judge a woman’s beauty at face value, but not this one.

In Brazil, the “Miss Bumbum” contest is a nationwide annual undertaking to find the best derriere. This year's 27 contestants, who represent the country’s different states, were announced last week.

“Miss Bumbum 2014” will start in São Paulo on August 11. Brazilians have until November to vote online and determine the 15 finalists for the finale. This year the pageant will have a historic first after twins Rafaella and Graziella Fornazieri, representing Alagoas and Ácre respectively, entered the contest.
Dai Macedo, a 25-year-old model with a 42-inch bottom, was crowned “Miss Bumbum 2013.”

"It's a lot of work, a lot of devotion," Macedo told Agence France-Presse by way of an interpreter after winning the title. "I denied myself a lot of things. No nightclubs. No sweets. I went to the gym Saturdays and Sundays."

The winner of the pageant receives 50,000 reais (approx. $22,000) in endorsement deals and instant celebrity in Brazil.

No sportsperson has been named for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna while 15, including cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin, were on Tuesday recommended for the Arjuna Award.

The 12-member selection committee, headed by legendary cricketer Kapil Dev, decided not to name any sportsperson out of the seven candidates for the Khel Ratna at a meeting in New Delhi.

This is the third time no sportsperson has been named for the Khel Ratna since the inception of the country's highest sporting award in 1991.

Besides Ashwin, the other 14 recommended for the Arjuna Award were Akhilesh Varma (archery), Tintu Luka (athletics), H N Girisha (paralympics), V Diju (badminton), Geetu Ann Jose (basketball), Jai Bhagwan (boxing), Anirban Lahiri (golf), Mamta Pujari (kabaddi), Saji Thomas (rowing), Heena Sidhu (shooting), Anaka Alankamony (squash), Tom Joseph (volleyball), Renubala Chanu (weightlifting) and Sunil Rana (wrestling).

"The selection panel examined the seven names placed before them for the consideration of Khel Ratna but none of them were deserving enough to get the nod," a selection panel member told PTI on the condition of anonymity.

"We discussed each and every seven names for the Khel Ratna Award. The longest discussion was in case of on golfer Jeev Milkha Singh after Kapil mentioned his name but ultimately the panel decided against his name," the member said.

It is also learnt that Somdev Devvarman's 2011 Arjuna Award went against him while considering his name for the Khel Ratna as some panel members felt that he has not achieved much success after that year.

The selection panel members for the Khel Ratna and Arjuna Award included the likes of Anju Bobby George and Kunjarani Devi, both  of the highest sporting honour themselves, two mediapersons and three from the government side, including Sports Authority of India Director General Jiji Thomson.
- See more at: http://www.hindustantimes.com/sports-news/othersports/no-khel-ratna-this-year-arjuna-award-for-ashwin/article1-1251316.aspx#sthash.TS9DrBc2.dpuf

Former boxing promoter Frank Maloney is undergoing a sex change, according to a newspaper interview published Sunday.

The 61-year-old Maloney, who guided Lennox Lewis to the world heavyweight title in the 1990s, is now living as a woman by the name of Kellie, Britain's Sunday Mirror reported.

The twice-married Maloney ended an illustrious career last October and told the paper about undergoing hormone treatment for two years in preparation for a sex change operation.

"I was born in the wrong body and I have always known I was a woman," Maloney was quoted as saying by the Mirror. "I can't keep living in the shadows. That is why I am doing what I am today. Living with the burden any longer would have killed me.

"What was wrong at birth is now being medically corrected. I have a female brain. I knew I was different from the minute I could compare myself to other children. I wasn't in the right body. I was jealous of girls."

Maloney said a boxing career helped bring in enough money to walk away from the sport and live a new life as a woman.

"It was something that I was determined to suppress and keep wrapped up because I didn't want to be seen different," Maloney said.

"(Boxing) took up all of my time. It gave me a complete focus. It was something I thought I had to be successful in because I thought if I failed in that, where do I go?"

Pakistani actress Humaima Malick is finally making her much awaited Bollywood debut with RAJA NATWARLAL and one truly expects that the wait turns out to be worth it. While a glimpse of what she has to offer is already visible in the songs ('Tere Ho Ke Rahenge', 'Kabhi Ruhani-Kabhi Rumani') that are currently on air, those associated with the film vouch for the fact that she is all set to surprise audience in a major way.

"She is a fantastic actor and one can pretty much see the kind of range that she brings in. If she can do a socially relevant film like BOL, she can also be a part of a potboiler like RAJA NATWARLAL. She has the potential to fit in across genres and once you see the film, you would see that as well. She is just the right mix of talent and glamour," says Emraan Hashmi who now has yet another debutante leading lady opposite him.

In the film which is a cat-n-mouse chase between Emraan and Kay Kay Menon (who plays a businessman), Humaima has an important part to play as well in the part of a bar dancer.

"Humaima has just added a certain amount of depth to the character, which otherwise could have been very frivolous and vulgar since she is walking the tight rope by playing a bar dancer," says Emraan, "She has added vulnerability to the character; you really love her for what she is."

As for his on-screen interaction with Humaima, he adds with a smile, "Ours is a very sweet relationship in the film and you feel for the kind of chemistry that we bring on display. More than anything else, she is hot and in Emraan Hashmi's film, you got to have a hot girl. She fits the shoes pretty well."

We would like to see that happening indeed once this Kunal Deshmukh directed film of a UTV production releases all over on 29th August.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Raghuram Rajan on Monday lashed out at crony capitalism and crooked politicians, and called to strengthen the public services directed at the poor as India completed 67 years of independence.

In a hard hitting speech, at the Lalit Doshi memorial lecture, the governor highlighted the need to nip corruption.

"By killing transparency and competition, crony capitalism is harmful to free enterprise, opportunity, and economic growth. And by substituting special interests for the public interest, it is harmful to democratic expression. If there is some truth to these perceptions of crony capitalism, a natural question is why people tolerate it. Why do they vote for the venal politician who perpetuates it?" he asked.

According to him, it is an all-too familiar vicious circle in India where the wily politician controls the system through stifling money and resources to the poor. "The poor and the under-privileged need the politician to help them get jobs and public services. The crooked politician needs the businessman to provide the funds that allow him to supply patronage to the poor and fight elections. The corrupt businessman needs the crooked politician to get public resources and contracts cheaply. And the politician needs the votes of the poor and the underprivileged. Every constituency is tied to the other in a cycle of dependence, which ensures that the status quo prevails.”

Rajan said, “One of the greatest dangers to the growth of developing countries is the middle income trap, where crony capitalism creates oligarchies that slow down growth. If the debate during the elections is any pointer, this is a very real concern of the public in India today."

He said it is important to avoid this trap.

"To strengthen the independent democracy, our leaders won for us 67 years ago a key mechanism to improve these services through financial inclusion and decentralisation of information."

He lamented that “Our provision of public goods is unfortunately biased against access by the poor. Crony socialism of the past has replaced the crony capitalism."

A mother in South Carolina called sheriff's deputies on her son this week after finding porn playing on her living room TV.

According to the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office, deputies were dispatched to a residence Tuesday afternoon after a distraught mom called 911.

"She stated that when she entered the residence, her 15-year-old son was in his bedroom," reads the police report. "[Her] daughter turned on the TV and porn was on."

According to the report, the 40-year-old mom "immediately turned off the TV" and ushered her 2-year-old daughter out of the room, before calling the police on her son.

When a sheriff's deputy arrived, the mother, whom HuffPost is not identifying to protect the teen's privacy, said she had several problems with her son's behavior recently.

"[The mom] requested that a report be done to document ... her son's behavior and due to her daughter being exposed to porn," the police report reads.

According to Lt. Kevin Bobo, the sheriff's office did not make an arrest or issue a citation.

"I don’t know of any South Carolina law that was broken," Bobo told HuffPost on Thursday.

However, the teen's mother did complete "a voluntary statement" detailing the incident, according to the police report.

The mother, who was identified as a local real estate agent by The Smoking Gun, did not respond to a HuffPost request for comment Thursday.

The 33-year-old mom-to-be smiled over her shoulder as she cradled her growing belly. Rowland captioned the photo, "#P.R." as she is currently vacationing in Puerto Rico.

Rowland first announced her pregnancy on June 10 with a cryptic Instagram photo of baby sneakers. The Destiny's Child alum accidentally revealed that she's expecting a baby boy during an interview, in which she referred to her baby using the pronoun "his."

"Aw, f--k it! It's a boy. It's a boy!" she said after realizing her slip up.