PAPA

The Sweater Set
December 28, 2009 (Monday)

Credit: Ahmad Elatab/Splash News Online

Jennifer Lopez shows son Max, 22 months, a festive time – in coordinating seasonal sweaters – at Disneyland's annual Christmas Day Parade Friday in Anaheim, Calif. The singer and hubby Marc Anthony (not pictured) spent the holidays at the theme park with their daughter Emme and their extended family. Source

Abused Kuantan baby to be handed to Welfare Services
December 26, 2009 (Saturday)

The baby girl being treated in hospital, believed to have been abuses by her parents, will be handed over to the Welfare Services Department (JKM) once she is better.

Kuantan CID chief DSP Kamaruzzaman Jaafar said arrangements were being made to transfer the seven-month old baby girl with Down's Syndrome from Tengku Ampuan Afzan Hospital.

He said the baby girl, being treated at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in the past two days, was in stable condition and hoped that she would recover from her injuries.

Newspaper reports said that the baby girl had bleeding in her brain and eye, epilepsy and had dark bruises on her body.

She is believed to have been abused by her parents at their Lorong Perdana, Bukit Setongkol home in the past few weeks.

However, the parents, aged 20 and 19 years respectively, had told doctors at the hospital that the injuries were due to a fall.

Kamaruzzaman said police were still investigating the parents who had been remanded for one week before a decision was made to prosecute them or not. Source

Ho! Ho! Ho!
December 25, 2009 (Friday)

Airbags Appear Safe for Pregnant Women
December 23, 2009 (Wednesday)

Air bags save lives in car crashes; that's been established. But now researchers report that the lifesaving quality makes no exception for pregnant women and the babies they're carrying.

Because air bag deployment has been shown to injure children and infants, there's been a lingering question whether the devices might also injure unborn children, noted the researchers, from the University of Washington.

But they found "that pregnant occupants of motor vehicles with air bags were not at increased risk for pregnancy complications" such as cesarean delivery, fetal distress and low birth weight, said lead researcher Dr. Melissa A. Schiff, a professor of epidemiology.

A report on the study was published online Dec. 21 in Obstetrics & Gynecology.

The researchers collected data on 2,207 pregnant women involved in car accidents, comparing the outcome of accidents in cars with and without air bags.

They found no increased risk for injury to the mother or fetus related to whether the car had air bags or didn't.

They did find a 70 percent increase in preterm labor and a threefold increase in fetal death among those in accidents in which air bags were deployed, compared with cars without air bags. But Schiff said the findings were not statistically significant.

"These findings were inconclusive because we really had too small a sample size," she said. More study will be needed to see if there really is a connection between air bag deployment and preterm labor or fetal death, she said.

"Air bags are safe for most outcomes," but the best protection for pregnant women comes from wearing a seat belt, Schiff said.

Dr. Nathan S. Fox, a clinical assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at New York University School of Medicine, said that "we can't know from a study like this if an air bag deployment may have a minor affect on pregnancy."

But the study shows that there are no major risks with having an air bag deployed, he said.

"Since we know that an air bag deployed in a serious car crash can save your life, it would be unwise to avoid air bags and a theoretical risk of a minor complication," Fox said.

And, he added, "since we know that flying through a windshield is bad for both the mother and the baby, I would encourage people to have air bags." Source

Five more babies rescued from 'infant factory'
December 23, 2009 (Wednesday)

Five more children have been rescued from the “Klang baby factory”, bringing the total number to 10.

Selangor police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar said the four babies and a toddler were aged between three months and three years.

“Some of them were rescued after those who bought the children surrendered them to the police while the others were found by police,” he told reporters after the launch of the Puchong Perdana police beat base here yesterday.

However, he declined to reveal exactly how many were surrendered and how many were found.

Police had earlier rescued five babies — two girls and three boys aged betwen two weeks and nine months — during Ops Kasih which began early this month.

“Police investigatons also found that the children had documents which had the names of the couples who bought them. The couples were named as their biological parents,” he said.

On Dec 14, police announced that they had busted the syndicate behind the “baby factory”, with 15 people arrested and five babies rescued.

The syndicate “hired” women and made them sleep with men. Nine months later, they would “harvest” the babies born and sell them to childless couples.

The “hired” women were from Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam and the babies were sold for between RM15,000 and RM20,000 or more, depending on the looks and health of the infant.

Yesterday, DCP Khalid said seven people — two Malaysian women, and four Indonesian women and an Indonesian man — were also arrested.

He said two Indonesian women and the man were arrested on Dec 15, followed by another two Indonesian women on Dec 18. The two Malaysian women were picked up on Sunday.

“All are aged between 22 and 36 years and were arrested in the Klang Valley in Kajang, Klang dan Banting,” DCP Khalid said.

He said the two local women were agents in the syndicate while the four Indonesian women were paid to bear the babies for sale.

With the arrests, the number of people nabbed has gone up to 22.

The 50-year-old “chief operating officer” of the “factory” and her two daughters from Banting were charged in the Klang Sessions Court with selling babies on Dec 16.

DCP Khalid said the 10 babies have been sent to welfare homes.

“Police investigations into the case are still going on,” he said.

He also appealed to the public provide more information to assist police in the investigations. Source

Regulations on children’s toys: Enforcement delayed to July
December 21, 2009 (Monday)

The Regulations on Safety Standards for Children’s Toys, which is supposed to be enforced on Jan 30 next year, will only be implemented on July 1 next year, Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said Monday.

He said the six months’ delay in enforcing the regulations was to provide time for toy manufacturers to meet the stipulated standards.

”Effective July 30 next year, I hope all supermarkets and traders selling children’s toys, including those at night markets, will abide by the regulations and sell only toys which are certified safe,” he told reporters here.

Ismail Sabri said the ministry would conduct operations at business premises to ensure traders abide by the regulations, adding that the penalty was RM100,000 for individual traders and RM250,000 for companies.

He also said that approval for children’s toys would not only be issued by the Standards and Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia (Sirim), but also by the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation and the Asia Pacific Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation.

“For imported toys, although they have been tested overseas, Sirim’s approval is required before they can be sold in the country.

”However, under the new system, manufacturers have to get approval from the laboratories recognised by us and then to produce the certificate of conformity issued by the laboratories to the Malaysian authorities,” he added.

He said programmes would also be carried out to enhance public awareness on the regulations. Source

What Would a Divorce Cost Tiger Woods?
December 21, 2009 (Monday)

Regina H. Boone/Detroit Free Press/AP

Amid reports that his wife Elin Nordegren is consulting with a high-powered divorce attorney, Tiger Woods and his estimated net worth of $600 million – considered one of the biggest in professional sports, thanks in large part to sponsorship endorsements worth some $1 billion – is coming under scrutiny, should a divorce necessitate a need to divide his estate.

In addition to issues of custody involving the couple's two children, Sam, 2, and Charlie, 10 months, experts in family law are saying that the factors involved would include the location of the divorce filing and what terms were specified in any prenuptial agreement.

Reports say that in this instance, such a marital contract was drawn up before Woods, 33, and Nordegren, 29, wed in Barbados in 2004.

"Prenups can be challenged, but usually the vulnerability of a prenup will be procedural," such as whether the wife "didn't have reasonably good information when she signed it," University of Southern California family law professor Scott Altman tells the Los Angeles Times.

Woods's Dec. 11 admission of marital infidelity would likely not affect the agreement, "unless the prenup says infidelity would set aside some of its terms," says Altman. "In the absence of that, infidelity during the course of the marriage would not be relevant to the enforceability of a prenup."  Read more

Pregnant woman’s hair and body burnt in sudden car blaze
December 16, 2009 (Wednesday)

A pregnant woman and her sister had a shock when their car suddenly caught fire as it was being refuelled.

Noraini A. Maik, 26, and her sister, who was not unidentified, were in the car while her husband, Faizal Hassan, 32, was refilling the car at a station in Indera Mahkota here, in the 9.10am incident yesterday.

Faizal said he saw flames coming out from under his car.

“Everything happened very fast and I managed to pull my wife and her sister out from the car,” Faizal said, adding that he was not using his handphone and the car’s engine was switched off at the time.

One of the petrol pump attendants and a few other customers rushed to put out the fire with the extinguishers, he said.

Noraini’s hair was burnt and her left hand and leg were also injured, although her sister escaped unhurt.

Noraini was later sent to the Tengku Ampuan Afzan Hospital for treatment.

Indera Mahkota Fire and Rescue Department chief of operations Iskandar Jamaluddin said the kiosk operator was told to shut down his business for the time being and that the department was still investigating the cause of the incident. Source

Malaysia busts baby-selling syndicate
December 14, 2009 (Monday)

Malaysian police said Monday they have rescued five infants and arrested 13 people including a doctor after exposing a baby-selling racket.

Federal criminal investigation chief Bakri Zinin said the syndicate bought babies from women, mainly foreign maids working in Malaysia, who were talked out of having abortions.

"We received a tip-off from the public about the syndicate which has been operating for more than five years," Bakri said.

"The couples who wanted to buy the babies pay between 15,000-20,000 ringgit (4,400-5,900 dollars) for a baby, while these women were promised to be paid around 5,000 ringgit although later they were only given 2,000 ringgit."

Bakri said the women who gave up their babies were from Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and local indigenous tribes.

He said the 13 arrests were made earlier this month and included couples intending to buy the babies, as well as a doctor who owns a private medical centre in central Selangor state.

The five infants, two girls and three boys, were rescued from the homes of their adopted parents when the police made the arrests.

"The women stay in a house provided by the syndicate during their pregnancy and are given free medical care. They are taken to the concerned private medical centre when they want to deliver," Bakri said.

Police are still tracking down other suspects involved in the syndicate, who could be charged under anti-trafficking laws, he added. Source

Duggar Baby Born Prematurely Due to Pregnancy Complication
December 14, 2009 (Monday)

TLC

Michelle Duggar's 19th baby was born prematurely at 1 lb., 6 oz., because Michelle suffered a rare condition during pregnancy that causes high blood pressure, her doctor says.

The condition, preeclampsia, which affects 5 to 8 percent of pregnancies, was discovered when Michelle was admitted to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences to evaluate pain related to a gall bladder problem, says Dr. Paul Wendel, director of the hospital's Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine.

"The obstetrical and neonatal teams reached the collaborative decision [Thursday] that Mrs. Duggar needed an emergency C-section to ensure the blood pressure problem would not be detrimental to her or the baby," says Wendel.

Daughter Josie Brooklyn was born at 6:27 p.m. Thursday and is in stable condition in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit.

"Michelle is recovering well from surgery," Wendel says. Source

Madonna's Kids Getting into Her Act
December 09, 2009 (Wednesday)

Matt Baron/BEImages

It looks like that it won't just be Madonna's daughter Lourdes featuring in her work – 4-year-old son David has revealed a love of the superstar's work.

"He knows every song, every word, every step, and he wants to wear all the costumes," Madonna, 51, told the British morning show GMTV. "He likes my dress that I wear in ‘La Isla [Bonita].

Coming after stage-ready Lourdes, 13, joined her mom in the video for Celebration, performing clearly runs in the family. During her recent Sticky & Sweet world tour, Madonna's 9-year-old son with director Guy Ritchie, Rocco joined her on stage.

"When he jumped on stage to dance in my last show, I was shocked actually," she said. "And secretly, unbeknownst to me, they're all studying privately with my dancers. And Rocco comes out and busts out like a moonwalk or you know, some kind of break-dancing move." Read more

Seeing to the needs of gifted children
December 07, 2009 (Monday)

Gifted children in the country can now look forward to having their learning needs addressed in the country as the Government will channel more effort to meet their educational requirements.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said educational programmes, which emphasised “differentiated learning”, would be created to match the gifted students’ thinking, learning and reading capabilities.

“All this while, we have had an education system for regular students and special needs students with sight and hearing disabilities or who are autistic or have Down Syndrome.

“We have forgotten that we have a group of extraordinary students who possess cognitive intelligence and IQ. This group of extraordinary students would need a learning process that is unique or what we call differentiated learning,” he said in his speech after the groundbreaking ceremony of the National Permata Pintar complex in Universiti Kebang- saan Malaysia and the launching of the Permata Pintar Negara School Holidays Camp yesterday.

Najib said there was a need to create programmes for the exceptionally gifted children as there was currently a “vacuum”.

“It is time that Malaysia has such programmes for gifted students as developed and other developing countries already possess such programmes,” he said.

He explained that for every age group, between 3% to 5% of its students could be categorised as gifted.

“We are starting with 150 students early next year and this will increase to 300 students. This is only the tip of the iceberg.

“I am confident that the Pintar school and programme for early childhood education that we launched would bring a huge change to the self-identity of Malaysians. That is why I did not hesitate in giving my approval and allocation to this progamme,” he said.

He also credited his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor for taking the initiative in starting the programme.

“Where credit is due, credit should be given and it should be given to my wife.

“She holds longer meetings than my Cabinet meetings. I don’t know what they discuss in their long meetings but it just shows how passionate she is about the programme,” he said. Source

Tom Brady: I Know Baby's Gender – But Gisele Doesn't
December 03, 2009 (Thursday)

Daniel/Sean/INF

Tom Brady knows how to keep a secret! Just ask Gisele Bündchen, whose husband found out the sex of their baby – due this month – even though she's waiting on a surprise.

"I’m really the only one that knows at this point," Brady, 32, said in an interview with WEEI Sports Radio on Wednesday. "My dad asked me. I haven't told him. [Gisele] doesn’t know. It’s a pretty good feeling knowing something that no one else knows."

Especially, Brady adds, because he’s been able to keep it from Bündchen, 29. "She’s a very intelligent woman," he explains. "I wanted to find out and she didn’t, so she said, 'Go ahead.' It will be a surprise for her."

The Patriots quarterback admits that he’s had to be careful with his pronouns as of late. "I always mix it,” he added. "I don’t think I’ve ever slipped. I’m very conscious when I’m saying it."

So will their nursery at their luxe Boston condo be blue or pink? "There’s no paint yet!" joked Brady, adding that he hasn’t shared yet whether or not his 2-year-old son Jack, with ex Bridget Moynahan, will have to start sharing his hand-me-downs. "Everything is unisex at this point. Yellow. Light green. There’s lots of this."  Source

Swedish minister brings baby to the EU family of nations
December 01, 2009 (Tuesday)

Sweden's Interior Minister Tobias Billstroem brought a tender touch to EU proceedings on Monday, eliciting smiles from his European counterparts by bringing his baby daughter into the council chamber.

Eight-month old Tone was smuggled into the meeting in her father's arms at the start of talks in Brussels on asylum rights and the battle against human trafficking.

She was also a big hit when they first alighted from the official car and her proud father spoke to waiting reporters, even stealing some of his thunder.

"You're supposed to be looking at me," the 35-year-old minister complained as he arrived with his wife and child.

"Mr Billstroem wanted to spend a bit more time with his family," a Swedish spokesman explained.

"They travelled to Brussels at their own expense," he assured.

Billstroem presided over the EU talks as his country holds the bloc's rotating presidency. Source