India’s surrogate mothers face new rules to restrict ‘pot of gold’ World centre of ‘surrogacy tourism’ will introduce radical legislation to regulate £1.5bn industry Jason Burke in Anand guardian.co.uk, Friday 30 July 2010 15.45 BST Article history Twins Kayan and Kalel who were carried for their Indo-American mother. Photograph: Massimiliano Clausi/LAIF/Camera PressShabnum Nur Mohammed Sheikh’s reasons for bearing another woman’s child are straightforward: the 60 rupees (80p) her husband earns from his food stall each day buys dinner but little else. Shabnum’s first surrogate pregnancy got her out of a shared shack in a slum and into a small flat. … Continue reading World centre of ‘surrogacy tourism’ will introduce radical legislation to regulate £1.5bn industry

Syrian and Saudi leaders arrive in Beirut for ‘historic’ talks President Bashar al-Assad and King Abdullah visit Lebanese capital to calm tensions and pave way for Palestinian-Israeli talks Ian Black, Middle East editor guardian.co.uk, Friday 30 July 2010 13.58 BST Article history A billboard depicting King Abdullah is erected in Beirut, where the Saudi monarch and Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad arrived today. Photograph: Sharif Karim/ReutersThe leaders of Syria and Saudi Arabia arrived in Beirut today on an unprecedented joint mission to try to calm Lebanon‘s tensions and overcome divisions over Palestinian-Israeli peace talks. The visit, described by a senior UN … Continue reading Syrian and Saudi leaders arrive in Beirut

Why Indians don’t care about David Cameron The British media may have got itself worked up over David Cameron’s visit but Indians have other priorities Leo Mirani guardian.co.uk, Friday 30 July 2010 17.00 BST Article history David Cameron was pictured on the front page of the Hindustan Times playing cricket. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire”What? James Cameron is in India?” My friend, the editor of a popular New Delhi magazine, was terribly excited for about eight seconds until I broke it to him that our present visitor was not, in fact, the multi award-winning American filmmaker but merely the British prime … Continue reading Indians don’t care about David Cameron?

Was there life on Mars? Planet’s rocks ‘may hold evidence of buried lifeforms’ By Daily Mail Reporter Researchers have discovered rocks that could contain the fossilised remains of ancient life on early Mars. The team made their discovery in the ancient rocks of Nili Fossae on the planet’s surface, which they say are almost identical to rocks in the Pilbara region of north-west Australia where some of the earliest evidence of life on Earth has been preserved. The findings could mean that is evidence of living organisms on Mars around 4 billion years ago buried on the planet’s surface. The … Continue reading Life on Mars?

Villagers club together to reinstall old red phone box… and charge just 1p a minute for calls By Daily Mail Reporter Back in business: The red phone box, like above, costs villagers in Northlew, Devon, £15 a month to operate Villagers have clubbed together to reconnect a traditional red telephone box that charges just 1p a minute for calls. The public phone – reinstalled in Northlew, Devon, after residents agreed to pay BT £15 a month – is now the cheapest in Britain. Calls cost a minimum of 20p, but allow the user to call anywhere in the world, including … Continue reading Villagers club together to reinstall old red phone box

Who are you calling ugly? Gremlin bat nursed back to health after mum drops her in flight By Daily Mail Reporter One-week-old Cruella may look a bit scary but in reality she is highly vulnerable. The baby brown long-eared bat in the care of Secret World Wildlife Rescue at East Huntspill near Highbridge in Somerset, was found by a member of the public in Minehead after it is believed her mother dropped her during flight. Having been assessed by vets, Cruella will undergo rehabilitation at the rescue centre as one of more than 400 wildlife casualties to be cared for … Continue reading Cute baby bat!

End of the road for veteran cyclist who is pedalled to his funeral By Daily Mail Reporter A cycling fanatic hit the road for the last time yesterday when his coffin was hitched to a tandem and taken to his funeral. Bob Waddington was pedalled to the crematorium by a group of riders from his former club. Friends said the unusual cortege was the send-off the veteran cyclist would have wanted. Final spin: Bob Waddington’s coffin was pedalled to the crematorium by a group of riders from his former club Missed by all: Widower Mr Waddington joined the Wheelers in … Continue reading Cycle Hearse!

‘Lord’ who filled pool with Courvoisier is banned from holding star-studded parties at his £20m home By Paul Sims A flamboyant self-styled Lord who entertained the rich and famous was today banned from holding star-studded parties at his £20 million mansion. Monaco-based Edward Davenport, 44, hosted all-night events for A-List stars including Cher and invited the likes of Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell and Paris Hilton. He has also been photographed rubbing shoulders with Hugh Grant, Simon Cowell, Helena Bonham Carter, Victoria Beckham and Sarah Ferguson. At one party last December the 18th-century mansion’s swimming pool was filled with cognac and … Continue reading Lord’ who filled his pool with Courvoisier is banned from fun

Aluminium antics: Professor returns from holiday to find mischievous students had coated his entire office in kitchen foil By Mail Foreign Service After a week on holiday, chemistry professor Scott Burr was feeling relaxed and looking forward to his return to work. But he could scarcely believe his eyes when he opened the door to his office and was confronted by a gleaming mass of aluminium. His research students had spent the week covering everything, from the walls and furniture to his books and computer, in kitchen foil. They’d even gone to the effort of separately wrapping pens on his … Continue reading The Professor and the kitchen foil office

Where did all the oil go? U.S. press and scientists admit that BP spill is vanishing much faster than expected By Niall Firth BP boss Tony Hayward has been forced to step down over the disaster He sparked outrage in the US when he suggested that the Gulf of Mexico oil spill was nothing but a drop in the ocean. And he was hounded out of his job for overseeing one of the world’s worst oil disasters as pictures of dying seabirds floundering in oil dominated the front pages of the US press for weeks on end. But now, 16 … Continue reading BP spill is vanishing