Supermodel Gisele Bundchen has said she is “not here to judge” after causing controversy by telling an interviewer mothers should be forced to breastfeed for the first six months of their baby’s life.
The 30-year-old Brazilian catwalk star, who lives in the US, told Harper’s Bazaar magazine there should be a “worldwide law” preventing mothers from using formula milk.
However, she later added, “I understand that everyone has their own experience and opinions and I am not here to judge.”
Ms Bundchen, the world’s highest-paid supermodel, had a natural birth at her home last December. She got up to make pancakes a day after her first child Rein, was born and was modelling swimwear six weeks later. (PA)
Busy beavers wreak havoc
Latvia’s capital Riga is offering cash prizes to residents who can come up with the best ideas for stopping a busy colony of beavers from destroying trees and bushes along its picturesque canal.
“We have no problems with the beavers. We have a problem with them felling trees,” city spokesman Dzintra Abolina said, recalling how a 100-year-old oak nearly fell victim to the big-tooth semi-aquatic rodents.
To solve the problem, the local parks and gardens department is offering 300 lats (€425) for the best idea for stopping the beavers’ destructive ways without actually harming them.
Entries close on September 6 but already the city has received plenty of ideas, Ms Abolina said. (AFP)
Expired winnings
A man who won £28,000 playing poker at an Auckland casino was refused the money because he had banned himself from the premises for gambling too much.
Sothea Sinn, 28, who won the jackpot playing stud poker, said: “I was absolutely gutted,” Mr Sinn told the newspaper.
Six years ago he asked the casino to ban him and his girlfriend because he was gambling too much. He thought the ban had expired. (PA)
Prison run by ... inmates
Brazilian officials investigating corruption charges against guards at a prison in Rio de Janeiro were astounded to discover the facility was being run by the inmates themselves.
The 150 prisoners in the Polinter penitentiary in the northern Baixada Fluminense suburb of the city had keys to their cells and controlled who visited the prison and what magazines were delivered there.
Officials with the state’s public ministry uncovered the unusual situation as they probed allegations that municipal police assigned to guard the prison were taking bribes from the inmates. (AFP)
Violent culture dance
A Turkish immigrant claims New Zealand police can’t tell the difference between fighting and dancing after he was charged with assault while celebrating with his wife.
A judge has now told the police to go away and study a cultural Turkish video showing the kolbasti dance before deciding whether to proceed with the case.
Kebab shop owner Allaetin Can was arrested after a passer-by reported he was hitting, kicking and strangling his wife outside their shop in Hawera. But when he appeared in court, Mr Can argued he and his wife Elmas were merely performing the traditional Turkish dance kolbasti which, loosely translated, means “caught red-handed by the police” and involves energetic movements.
Mr Can said he and his wife and two teenage children danced out of their kebab shop into a carpark after a particularly profitable lunch shift. (AFP)
Schoolgirl tasered
Police apologised to a 14-year-old girl after accidentally shooting her with a taser, it was revealed.
Officers in Nottingham were aiming at a 20-year-old man as they tried to arrest him, but accidentally hit the girl who was standing nearby. (PA)
Happiness classes
A Buddhist monk has been brought in to hold happiness classes for NHS workers, it was revealed.
Ryushin Paul Haller, from the San Francisco Zen Centre, is to run workshops later this month on how to achieve contentment and calmness for staff in the Northern Trust area in Northern Ireland.
The trust claimed the monk, who is originally from Belfast, uses his “Mindfulness” practice to alleviate a variety of mental and physical conditions including stress and anxiety. (PA)
Cheating death
A paraglider who cheated death after plunging up to 200 feet on to boulders when his canopy collapsed was described as a “lucky lad”.
Former RAF serviceman Richard Jessop broke both his legs and numerous bones in his feet after crashing in Snowdonia, North Wales.
The 40-year-old, from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, managed to contact emergency services with a grid reference before firing a distress flare. He is now in a spinal unit and doctors have told him it will be months before he will be able to walk again. (PA)