Gladys Bulinya, Kenyan Mother, 'Cursed' With Six Sets Of Twins - Huffington Post

Even the best mothers admit to struggling with their children every now and then, but Gladys Bulinya could likely put many of them to shame with her staggering brood.

As the BBC is reporting, the Kenyan mom has borne a whopping 12 children -- six sets of non-identical twins born between 1993 and last year. But the 35-year-old Bulinya, who lives alone with 10 of her 12 children -- six girls and four boys -- in a one-roomed grass-thatched house in the village of Nzoia, says her situation is intensified by a local belief that twins are cursed by a divine jinx.

After being abandoned by her husband last year and disowned by her relatives, Bulinya recently agreed to undergo sterilization, despite the procedure being against her religion, as she could not cope with more children. "I am a Catholic," she told the BBC. "When I made the decision, I asked for God's forgiveness and I am sure God understands and will forgive me for doing that."

When Bulinya gave birth to her first set of twins in 1993, her own family ordered her to leave the babies at the hospital for adoption, as the Bukusu people, to which her family belongs, believe that unless one twin in a set dies, it means certain death for one or both parents. Luckily, Ms Bulinya says, when her boyfriend's father (who is from a different ethnic group, the Kalenjin) learned his sons had been abandoned, he took them in and has cared for them ever since. She met her now 17-year-old sons two years ago.

Though Bulinya has been married twice, both husbands abandoned her shortly after she bore more twins. And even local benefactors are critical of her situation. "The lady should have undergone sterilization after discovering that men were using and dumping her," Margaret Khanyunya, director of St. Iddah Academy where one of the children is attending school, told the BBC.

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Ferrari, Sauber and a Pair of Lotuses Unveil Formula One Cars - New York Times (blog)

On the eve of the 2011 Formula One racing season, four teams have issued gleaming letters of intent.

The Ferrari drivers Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa pulled the silk from their team's new F150 racer at a press event last Friday, held at Ferrari's Maranello, Italy, headquarters. Meanwhile, at the Circuit Ricardo Tomo racetrack in Valencia, Spain, the 2011 hopefuls Lotus Renault GP and Sauber also showed their new machines. And Team Lotus, still smarting after Renault withdrew its support late last year to forge a new partnership with Group Lotus — which comprises Lotus Cars, the sports-car manufacturer based in Hethel, England — took to the Internet to unveil its car to team-newsletter subscribers.

Team Lotus' action followed Group Lotus and Renault's announcement in December that the two entities would form a new Formula One alliance, called Lotus Renault GP. The alliance showed its racer, the R31, at the Valencia track wearing the classic Lotus black and gold livery, with the drivers Robert Kubica and Vitaly Petrov in attendance. On Monday, Group Lotus also announced the signing of a third driver, Bruno Senna, who is the nephew of Ayrton Senna, the three-time Formula One world champion.

Having competed in 2010 as Lotus Racing, Team Lotus will be in court on March 21 to defend its use of the Lotus name in Formula One. The car it unveiled via e-newsletter last weekend, the T128, still bore the traditional Lotus green emblem, appended to read "Team Lotus," but the running gear is almost entirely new, according to the team. The drivers Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen return from their 2010 campaign, during which the teammates threatened the big four — Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull — but did not score race points.

With the new cars, engineers have further honed their application of kinetic energy recovery systems, where at the touch of a button a driver can use kinetic energy generated during braking.Ferrari's F150, whose name pays homage to the 150th anniversary of Italian unification, can dial in 82 additional horsepower from its kinetic energy setup.

Ferrari hopes to avenge its 2010 season-closer loss, during which a Red Bull driver, Sebastian Vettel, claimed the overall season title following questionable directions from Ferrari's pit bosses that might have cost Mr. Alonso the honor.

The Formula One season kicks off in Bahrain on March 13.

Superman Grows An Accent: Meet the New British Clark Kent - TIME

The new Superman, Henry Cavill

Jamie McCarthy/WireImage/Getty Images

You'll believe an outsider can be cast.
Director Zack Snyder has decided that the British actor Henry Cavill is going up, up and away. Cavill will play Superman (and Clark Kent, of course) is Snyder's as yet untitled reboot to 2006's Superman Returns, which means that Brandon Routh won't be reprising his role as the Man of Steel. Zynder said Cavill is, "the perfect choice to don the cape and 'S' shield."

According to the Hollywood Reporter, he beat out fellow Brit Matthew Goode, White Collar star Matthew Bomer, True Blood's Joe Manganiello and The Social Network's Armie Hammer to land the part.

(More on TIME.com: See pictures of superheroes flying.)

While Cavill is probably best known for starring in Showtime's The Tudors, his near misses in famous franchises are far more worthy of discussion. It's a case of third time lucky for the 27-year-old, who was in the running for Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins (which went to Christian Bale), was passed over for James Bond in favor of Daniel Craig and lost out to Routh in the last Superman flick (many believe the part was his until original director McG left the project, replaced by Bryan Singer). It's also been reported that he was in the frame for Edward Cullen in Twilight and considered for Cedric in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which explains why Empire magazine labeled him the "most unlucky man in Hollywood."

(More on TIME.com: The top 10 movies of 2010.)

But that luck has turned and film fans should be able to assess his acting chops when the movie is released in December 2012. It represents quite the coup for Britain as it now means that actors from those shores are playing Batman, Superman (indeed, Jersey-born Cavill is the first foreigner to play the role) and, thanks to Andrew Garfield, Spider-Man as well (and before you write in to complain, yes, Garfield was born in the U.S. but he's also a British citizen). And so long as they don't lapse into Cockney, your enjoyment shouldn't be affected.

Liverpool agree record fee to sign Newcastle's Carroll - Reuters

By Martyn Herman

LONDON | Mon Jan 31, 2011 1:40pm EST

LONDON (Reuters) - Liverpool have had a British transfer record offer accepted by Newcastle United for striker Andy Carroll, the Premier League club said as the closure of the transfer window loomed Monday.

Newcastle, who had turned down two offers for the 22-year-old on deadline day, caved in when Carroll handed in a transfer request which they "reluctantly" accepted.

"Liverpool FC confirmed this afternoon that Newcastle United had accepted a club record offer for the transfer of Andy Carroll," a statement on Liverpool's website said.

"The club have been given permission by Newcastle to discuss personal terms with the player, who will now travel to Liverpool for a medical."

Reports put the fee at 35 million pounds, plus add-ons, which would make him comfortably the most expensive signing by a British club, eclipsing the fee Manchester City paid Real Madrid for Robinho and Manchester United paid Tottenham Hotspur for Dimitar Berbatov.

Carroll's move to Liverpool, who have also signed Uruguay's Luis Suarez from Ajax as new manager Kenny Dalglish re-models his squad, would appear to pave the way for Fernando Torres to complete his switch to Chelsea.

Spain's Torres was expected to join the west London club for a fee that could reach 50 million pounds, according to reports, although Liverpool were tight-lipped on any deal.

The powerful Carroll, born in the Newcastle heartland of Gateshead, made his first-team debut in 2006 and has developed into one of the Premier League's most feared frontmen, netting 11 times in the league this season.

His muscular game, touch and finishing ability earned him a call-up to Fabio Capello's England squad in November when he made his international debut against France.

Carroll's departure would be a huge blow to Newcastle and their fans who have given the pony-tailed "No.9" cult hero status after his 19 goals last season helped Newcastle regain their place in the Premier League.

"The 22-year-old England international has this afternoon handed in a transfer request, which has been reluctantly accepted by the club, and Carroll is currently with Liverpool over a move to Anfield," a Newcastle statement said.

(Editing by Ed Osmond)

BlackBerry deadline expires with no action - Livemint

New Delhi: The expiry of the 31 January deadline by which the government was to gain lawful access to the BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) passed without any action being taken by the home ministry and department of telecommunications (DoT).

Canada-based Research In Motion Ltd (RIM), maker of the BlackBerry smartphone, had been given time till Monday to provide access to BES, which facilitates the exchange of secure, encrypted corporate email, and set up a server in India. According to senior officials in both the home ministry and DoT, the matter was still under consideration. A final decision may take a fortnight or even a month.

"We are still waiting for the DoT decision," said a senior home ministry official on condition of anonymity. A senior DoT official, who too did not want to be named, said: "DoT has not yet completed the testing of a solution that was proposed by RIM."

RIM has been saying that it can't access BES data and that the government would have to ask enterprises for this.

"We cannot provide a BES solution because under the model, neither are we in possession of keys nor is the operator," Robert E. Crow, RIM vice-president (industry, government and university relations), said last week in an interview to Mint. He also said RIM was not facing any deadline from the home ministry to provide access to BES-based communications and it had no plans to set up a server in India.

But the home ministry maintains that 31 January was the deadline for BES and that it is mandatory for RIM and other similar service providers, including Nokia, Google and Skype, to establish servers in India.

Home minister P. Chidambaram on Monday indicated that a decision was imminent.

"I think a decision will be taken today by the ministry of home affairs and the telecom ministry. I am not yet been briefed on the development in the last few days," he said. "They have given us a solution to the Messenger service, we will insist that they give us the solution for the Enterprise server too."

According to the home ministry, any decision to ban BES would depend on three aspects —whether RIM has the encryption keys, the economic and administrative viability of the offer made by the company and how the solution would affect its profitability in India.

India is insisting on getting access to all encrypted email services available in the country, including BlackBerry, Google and Skype as it fears that terrorists may misuse the technology.

On Monday, Pakistan called on mobile phone operators to stop BlackBerry services to foreign missions amid security concerns, industry sources said, Reuters reported.

sahil.m@livemint.com

Reuters contributed to this story.

'Scorned mum started house fire' - The Sun

A MUM killed two of her children after setting fire to her house to create a "drama" when she found out her partner was cheating, a court has heard.

Fiona Adams, 23, pleaded not guilty to the murder of Niamh, five, and two-year-old Cayden, who died in last April's late-night blaze.

She escaped from the house by jumping from an upstairs window with her eight-month-old son, Kiernan.

Prosecutor Timothy Spencer QC told jurors that Adams sought attention from her partner James Maynard, the children's father, after their relationship broke down.

He added she was "in an unhappy situation".

Mr Spencer said: "No decent human being could fail to have sympathy with her predicament.

"There were many ways with which she could have dealt with things. What she chose to do was to create a drama around herself and her children, and that drama culminated in her setting fire to her own home.

"The result of which was the fire took a rapid and devastating hold.

"She and her youngest child were spared, but with serious injuries. But her two eldest children died in the fire."

He said Adams, who wore a T-shirt in court that revealed burn scars on her neck, had also threatened suicide.

She found out 28-year-old Mr Maynard had cheated on her several times, the first being shortly after the birth of their first child.

Nottingham Crown Court heard that despite their troubled relationship, the couple went on to have Cayden in September 2007.

However, they split up in May 2008 after Adams, of Buxton, Derbys, found out more details about Mr Maynard's relationship with the other woman.

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Adams, who also denies causing grievous bodily harm and arson with intent, reconciled with Mr Maynard at some point in late 2008 and gave birth to Kiernan in August 2009, Mr Spencer said.

The court heard she told a friend over Facebook that she had "tried to split up with him once or twice but went completely off the rails so ended up back with him".

Mr Spencer also read the court text messages between Adams and Mr Maynard, who was repeatedly late home from his job waiting tables and bartending at a hotel.

She would send him numerous messages asking when he would be home or why he was late and would often get a non-committal reply, or none at all.

The trial continues.

British climber who survived 300-metre fall plans to scale Everest - The Canadian Press

By Tamara Baluja (CP) – 26 minutes ago

LONDON — A climber who plunged 300 metres from one of Britain's highest mountains — and walked away — is promising to climb Mount Everest later this year.

Adam Potter, of Glasgow, went home Monday, just days after he slipped on an icy patch off the summit of the 1,093-metre Sgurr Choinnich Mor in Scotland.

The 35-year-old tumbled down the steep slopes Saturday, flying off cliffs. Rescuers found tattered bits of his clothing and equipment on outcrops stretching from the top to the bottom of the mountain.

Astonished rescuers found Potter standing up reading a map when they arrived. Convinced he was not the victim, they flew to the summit where Potter's fellow hikers were waiting.

"But my mates pointed downhill ... and that's when they realized I was the actual casualty, even though I was up and moving around," he said.

Though he had broken his back in three places, Potter is still able to walk and was discharged from a Glasgow hospital Monday.

Royal navy Lt. Tim Barker, who was on the search and rescue helicopter, said the crew was convinced at first that Potter was not the victim.

"We honestly thought it couldn't have been him, as he was on his feet, reading a map. Above him was a series of three high craggy outcrops," Barker said. "It seemed impossible. So we retraced our path back up the mountain and, sure enough, there were bits of his kit in a vertical line all the way up where he had obviously lost them during the fall. It was quite incredible."

Potter had been climbing in the Scottish Highlands with his three friends and his dog in preparation for an Everest trek later this year. He had just reached the summit, when he lost his footing and fell down the extremely steep and craggy eastern slope of the mountain.

"I tried to slow myself down using my pole, but when I went over the last cliff, I thought I was done for. I felt I wouldn't make it out of this alive," he said.

Potter thinks he was knocked unconscious when he landed, but woke up and started collecting his scattered equipment. He said he was trying to orient himself with his map when the search and rescue helicopter arrived.

His survival was "purely a matter of luck," said David Gibson of the Mountaineering Council of Scotland.

"I don't know how he managed to survive, because there has been a case where somebody had fallen just 30 feet (nine metres) in that area and died," Gibson said.

It's unlikely the snow broke his fall, said mountain safety adviser Heather Morning.

"The snow levels were quite high and they've been around for a couple of weeks and hardened around the craggy outcrops," Morning said. "There were several incidents last winter when people fell really long distances, but their falls had been cushioned by the soft snow.

"With him (Potter), there really is no rhyme or reason (for his survival) with the conditions being what they were."

Not that the accident has made Potter scared of heights.

He is determined to stick to his plan to scale Everest just two months after his fall, even though his doctors have told him to rest.

"It's a big expedition and I'll be more cautious," he said. "But nothing will stop me from going."

Copyright © 2011 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.