Crazy World: You can't commit suicide...

You are NOT allowed to commit suicide

(AP)

CHINA: Factories making sought-after Apple iPads and iPhones in China are forcing staff to sign pledges not to commit suicide, an investigation has revealed.

At least 14 workers at Foxconn factories in China have killed themselves in the last 16 months as a result of horrendous working conditions.

Many more are believed to have either survived attempts or been stopped before trying at the Apple supplier's plants in Chengdu or Shenzen.

After a spate of suicides last year, managers at the factories ordered new staff to sign pledges that they would not attempt to kill themselves, according to researchers.

And they were made to promise that if they did, their families would only seek the legal minimum in damages.

An investigation of the 500,000 workers by the Centre for Research on Multinational Companies and Students & Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour (Sacom) found appalling conditions in the factories.

They claimed that:

Excessive overtime was rife, despite a legal limit of 36 hours a month. One payslip showed a worker did 98 hours of overtime in one month, the Observer reported.

During peak periods of demand for the iPad, workers were made to take only one day off in 13.

Badly performing workers were humiliated in front of colleagues.

Workers are banned from talking and are made to stand up for their 12-hour shifts.

Mum invented 3 kids in £60k benefits con

(AGENCY)

BRITAIN: A scheming drug-dealing mum has been jailed after INVENTING three children to con more than £60,000 in benefits.

Lisa Ellington, 26, even claimed the phantom kids were DISABLED to get the maximum payout.

She had legitimately claimed benefits for a son and daughter. But after they were taken into care, she kept on pocketing the cash.

Ellington got away with the fraud for four years before being caught by investigators after a tip-off.

Warwick Crown Court heard that she began claiming for the made-up kids by phone in 2006. First came "Janine" whose claim was followed nine months later by one for "Thomas", with "Courtney" coming six months after that.

Prosecutor Rashad Mohammed said: "Those children did not exist. She fabricated the names and dates of birth and the claim was accepted."

Ellington then contacted officials four more times, claiming the children were disabled.

Ellington, of Leamington Spa, Warwicks, was sentenced to 12 months' jail after admitting swindling £60,541 in tax credits from 2004 to 2009.

Commenting on the ease with which Ellington fooled the tax system, Judge Richard Griffiths-Jones said that it tried to be "as flexible as possible because if someone has a child they need benefit straight away".

Her two real children had been taken into care in 2004 after the eldest suffered broken fingers, burns and a fractured shoulder.

Ellington was sentenced to 12 months' jail for neglect while her partner Nick Grainger got 18 months for cruelty in inflicting the fractured shoulder.

By the time her benefits scam was uncovered, the pair had been arrested for selling heroin.

Ex-Spurs star Kevin-Prince Boateng loses shirt in AC Milan game

(AP)

UK: A bit of push-and-pull on the edge of the box is fairly common - but Kevin-Prince Boateng probably planned to stay fully-clothed when AC Milan played Brescia.

However, opponent Gaetano Berardi clearly thought the former Spurs and Portsmouth striker's shirt was giving him an unfair advantage in the April 23rd Serie A match.

With the scoreboard tied at nil-all going into the half-time break, Berardi got a little too up-close and personal to the striker during a melee just outside the six-yard box and ended up pulling Boateng's team colours straight from his back.

Not to be thrown by the unforeseen loss of clothing, Boateng grabbed the shirt in his left hand and recovered enough to attempt a right-footed volley towards the goal.

Top-of-the-league Milan proceeded to a 1-0 victory over their second-from-bottom hosts, with an 82nd-minute strike from Robinho sealing the three points.

While being de-shirted mid-play might not have been a highlight for Boateng, the news that Milan will be signing the on-loan forward permanently from Genoa will be cause for celebration.

Average woman has 11 pairs she'll never wear

(AP)

UK: IT’S not just the Victoria Beckhams of this world who can’t resist a new pair of heels – however unsuitable.

Almost every woman has a collection of shoes which will never see the light of day, research suggests.

While the average British female owns 20 pairs, 11 of those pairs worth a probable total of £400 will remain tucked away in the wardrobe awaiting the right occasion that never comes.

Despite leaving more than half of their footwear to gather dust, most women will continue to fuel their shoe addiction, splashing out on an additional eight new pairs a year.
 
Nearly a third of the 3,000 woman surveyed even admitted forking out on shoes that were the wrong size, just because they liked them.

According to the study by Co-operative Insurance, the average spend on a pair of shoes is £36, so eight pairs a year would cost £288.

However, ten per cent of those polled admitted to an annual spend of at least £600 a year.

There is a simple explanation, according to behavioural psychologist Jo Hemmings, author of the book Shoes and Shopping.

‘Shoes hold all sorts of promise and expectation,’ she said. ‘They can transform an outfit, lengthen legs and make us taller and appear slimmer and most of all they are so forgiving.

'We may put on a few extra pounds, but our shoes will always fit us!’

More than a third of women (37 per cent) told the survey that they buy shoes to cheer them up.

Girl's snake act charms BGT judges...

(AGENCY)

She had taken the stage to deliver an impassioned poem about the protection of endangered species.

But the audience was more worried about seven-year-old Olivia Binfield’s own survival as she performed on Britain’s Got Talent on Saturday with a 6ft boa constrictor called Lucy wrapped around her neck.

Olivia explained that the potentially dangerous animal is a family pet that lives in her house.

Presenters Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly looked nervous, with McPartlin asking: ‘It is kind of wrapping round her head, is that normal?’

After Olivia, from Thanet, Kent, finished her poem, Ant and Dec hurried on stage to speed up the judges’ comments.

Dec said: ‘She is getting strangled by a snake.’

Cheryl Cole's Google curiosity leaves her in tears

(AGENCY)

US: Cheryl Cole has reportedly been reduced to tears after reading comments about herself online.

The 27-year-old Geordie beauty made the mistake of Googling herself, only to find some particularly unsavoury comments about her from across the pond.
 
According to Now magazine, a number of Americans have left a bad taste in the X Factor judge's mouth after questioning her entitlement to a place on the panel of the US version of the talent contest.

Hurtful comments include those of blogger Nikki Finke, who described the Girls Aloud star as 'this Cole woman' and 'a Brit singer convicted of assault'.

Rapper Example - real name Elliot Gleave - explained that Cheryl's name does not stand for much in the US.

Discussing rumours that she is about to be confirmed as a judge on X Factor US, he said: 'That's obviously Simon Cowell just doing little favours for her.

'You've got a pool of about fifty American artists who you could get to do it, who are more talented and are as pretty as Cheryl Cole.'

The British singer's US doubters might wish to have a listen to her hits Parachute, Fight For This Love and Promise This to discover what she sounds like as an artist.

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