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PC Air, which has yet to take to the skies, selected three "Ladyboys" in its first round of hiring this week to promote equal opportunities for what is dubbed the "third sex" in Thailand. Peter Chan, the new airline's boss, is enthusiastic about his groundbreaking move because of the opportunities it would afford transsexuals. "I think these people can have many careers – not just in the entertainment business – and many of them have a dream to be an air hostess," he said. "I just made their dream come true. Our society has changed. It's evolution. I'm a pioneer...

Paedophilia 'culturally accepted in south Afghanistan' British forces were advised by a military study that paedophilia is widespread and culturally accepted in southern Afghanistan. British officers requested the study to help them understand the sexual behaviour of locals and Afghan comrades Photo: AFP/GETTY By Ben Farmer, Kabul 7:00PM GMT 13 Jan 2011 Older, powerful men boosted their social status by keeping boys as sexual playthings and the practice was celebrated in song and dance, a military study claimed. British officers in Helmand requested the study to help them understand the sexual behaviour of locals and Afghan comrades after young soldiers...

People in Wootton Bassett, the town famous for honouring dead British soldiers returning from Afghanistan, reacted defiantly on Saturday to news that a controversial Islamic group is to march through its streets. Islam4UK – which calls itself a "platform" for extremist movement al-Muhajiroun – plans to parade through the Wiltshire town in the coming weeks. The group's website says the event is being held "not in memory of the occupying and merciless British military" but of the Muslims its says have been "murdered in the name of democracy and freedom". The town that shows respect for fallen Servicemen should be...

A devout Christian teacher has lost her job after discussing her faith with a mother and her sick child and offering to pray for them. Olive Jones, a 54-year-old mother of two, who taught maths to children too ill to attend school, was dismissed following a complaint from the girl’s mother. She was visiting the home of the child when she spoke about her belief in miracles and asked whether she could say a prayer, but when the mother indicated they were not believers she did not go ahead. Mrs Jones was then called in by her managers who, she...

There was one world leader absent for today’s commemorations marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Surprisingly enough, it’s President Barack Obama, who found time last year to give a campaign speech there last year, which Der Spiegel summed up as “People of the World, Look at Me”. The White House has cited a packed schedule, though looking at it he had nothing much on yesterday (brief chat to reporters about healthcare – by far his biggest priority) and just blah briefings and a bill signing today until a metting this evening with Benjamin Netanyahu. This...

http://www.youtube.com/patcondell "..Obama was elected to change not to surrender....." (paraphrase).

French agents have arrested a researcher from Europe's top atomic lab on suspicion of links to al-Qaeda, fuelling fears that terrorists could be targeting the nuclear industry. The 32-year-old man, who was detained along with his brother, works for the prestigious European Organisation for Nuclear Research (Cern) in Geneva, Switzerland, according to French police sources. ''The inquiry will doubtless say what were the objectives in France or elsewhere and indicate perhaps that we have avoided the worst possible scenario,'' said Brice Hortefeux, the French Interior Minister. An intelligence source told Le Figaro that ''this is a very high level'' case....

I hope the members of the Nobel committee feel pleased with themselves for giving this year's peace prize to Barack Obama. I bet they do, the smug idiots. It is hard to imagine a more effective way to undermine him both at home and abroad. It smacks hugely of sentimentality and condescension. Disdain for the award from the Middle East, Pakistan and other regions that have felt the sharp edge of American hard power – bombs and missiles included – since the president was inaugurated on 20 January will more than outweigh the warm, fuzzy feelings that the news will...

The insurgents went to the house looking for Ms Kauser but her father, Noor Hussain, resisted their demands, Rajouri district senior police superintendent Shafqat Watali told the BBC. I had never touched a rifle before this, let alone fired one - but I had seen heroes firing in films Rukhsana Kauser Three gunmen then entered the house and attacked Ms Kauser's parents, while four other militants remained outside. "My parents told me to hide under the bed and then opened the door," Ms Kauser told the BBC. "Without saying anything they [the militants] started beating my parents and my uncle....

Details are still emerging, but it seems clear at this point that the extensive jihad terror plot that has been exposed in New York City and Denver this week involved plans to target baseball and football stadiums and New York's Fashion Week with explosives carried in knapsacks to the detonation point and then detonated remotely -- as in Madrid on March 11, 2004, when jihadist bombings killed 191 people and wounded 1,800. Central to the plot is a young man named Najibullah Zazi, who was initially cooperative with Federal agents until it began to emerge that he had ties to...

The youngster arrived for his first term at secondary school wearing a dress and with long hair in ribboned pigtails after his parents changed his name to a female one by deed poll over the summer holidays. However, the boy, who is preparing to undergo hormone treatment and sex change surgery, was immediately taunted by classmates who recognised him from primary school. As a result, the 1,000-pupil school in south east England decided to call an emergency assembly ordering children to treat him as a girl and use his new name. But parents have reacted angrily after some youngsters were...

A despairing mother killed herself and her disabled daughter by setting her car on fire after enduring a relentless campaign of abuse from a gang of youths. Unable to cope with the torment Fiona Pilkington, 38, drove with 18-year-old daughter Francecca Hardwick to a lay-by with a 10-litre can of petrol. The single mother then doused old clothes in the back of the blue Austin Maestro before setting light to it with her daughter and herself still inside. It is thought Mrs Pilkington, who also had a son, used her daughter's pet rabbit to ensure she would not try and...

British diplomats in Khartoum have demanded that the vehicles, computers, office equipment, medical stores and cash be returned so that it can be redistributed. But Sudanese officials have scoffed at this, saying that neither the British government nor the aid agencies have "the right to control these assets". In total, Oxfam and Medecins Sans Frontieres' French and Dutch operations have reported that they lost roughly £3.25 million of equipment. They had also been forced to pay another £5.6 million to Sudanese staff as lay-off payments because of the shutdown. Sudan has demanded the right to redistribute the materials to its...

The French Army were branded ‘imbeciles’ today after an artillery exercise caused a massive fire which destroyed dozens of houses and left hundreds homeless. Rather than improving the marksmanship of the Foreign Legion, the shelling led to mass evacuations in a suburb of Marseilles.

A married Muslim woman has been warned by police that she could be murdered in an honour killing after her lover was attacked with sulphuric acid. Her 24-year-old Muslim lover is not expected to live after suffering 90 per cent burns in the attack, which blinded him and left his tongue destroyed. He was also stabbed twice in the back by four men, and hit with bricks The Danish victim, who is of Asian origin, is said to have ‘insulted’ her strictly religious relatives, some of whom wear the hijab, and detectives believe the family feared being shamed in the...

A troupe of morris dancers were prevented from performing at a school because they blacken their faces, they have claimed. Members of Motley Morris group, who are based in Dartford, Kent, smear black make-up across their faces as part of their traditional costume. They were meant to perform their routine at Chantry Primary School in Gravesend on Friday but were asked not to attend due to fears they could cause offence. Spokesman Simon Ford said: "Our style of morris dancing originates from the Welsh/Shropshire borders. Our blackened faces are a form of disguise. Traditionally they used burnt cork, which came...

LONDON (AFP) – Defence minister condemned as "insulting" Tuesday a Muslim protest against a parade for British soldiers returning from Iraq. Prime Minister Gordon Brown also voiced disappointment at the protest, in which two people were arrested, marring the rally to welcome home troops withdrawing from southern Iraq. The protesters carried placards with slogans including "Anglian Soldiers: Butchers of Basra", "Anglian Soldiers: cowards, killers, extremists" and "British government terrorist government."

A keen hunt supporter has been killed after being hit by a gyrocopter believed to have been monitoring hunts in the area. Trevor Morse, 48, died after the incident at Long Marston airfield, near Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, yesterday. Two men were arrested on suspicion of murder and were being questioned by officers in Leamington Spa last night. Between 80 and 100 huntsmen were out yesterday at the hunt in Moreton-in-Marsh on the last day of the Warwickshire hunt season. The hunt met at the village of Todenham at 11.45am and the light aircraft, first spotted at noon, followed it for about...

Pat Condell gets to the grit of the Geert Wilder's short film, "Fitna" and the UK's refusal to let him into the country. Well I don't agree with everything ...especially his rant about Christians at about the half way stage; but as a Christian I support freedom of speech and I promise not to try to behead him for dissin' us. As the man says, "Peace!".

London, Feb. 12, 2009 Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much. Thank you for inviting me. Thank you Lord Pearson and Lady Cox for showing Fitna, and for your gracious invitation. While others look away, you, seem to understand the true tradition of your country, and a flag that still stands for freedom. This is no ordinary place. This is not just one of England’s tourist attractions. This is a sacred place. This is the mother of all Parliaments, and I am deeply humbled to speak before you. The Houses of Parliament is where Winston Churchill stood firm, and warned...