Spice Girl's daughter rushed to hospital

An undiagnosed heart condition may be behind the sudden extreme nose bleeds suffered by "Scary Spice" Mel B's daughter last week. The former Spice Girl, 38, rushed 6-year-old Angel to A&E in Los Angeles after she began bleeding heavily from her nose. Mel B described what had happened while she was co-hosting Australian radio station 2DayFM on Wednesday, the Daily Mail reported. "This morning's been a little bit crazy because my 6-year-old, Angel, was feeling not very well yesterday, dizzy and had her first ever nose bleed so I kept her off school. And then this morning, (she was) completely disoriented and blood was just funnelling like there was no tomorrow, so I took her to the emergency room." The former Spice Girl and X Factor host said doctors were conducting tests to determine the cause of the bleeding and to rule out a heart condition.

Sydney scammers dressed as monks

Australian police are powerless to act against a group of con artists dressed as Buddhist monks who are duping people out of their cash at some of Sydney's busiest tourist destinations. Up to six men and women are believed to be involved in the scam, in which they approach people for donations of up to $50. The scammers have shaved heads and are dressed in monks' or nuns' robes, and sometimes thrust small medallions or cards into the hands of strangers before asking for cash in return. Police had spoken to these individuals on a number of occasions, but according to a police spokeswoman, they had not technically committed an offence because they did not claim to be monks nor say that they were collecting money for a charity. She added that police had not received any complaints about fraud offences being committed.

Swiss nurse fined for tasteless selfies

A Swiss Satanist nurse who moonlights as a dominatrix has been fined after posting selfies with a dead nursing home resident on Facebook. Blaze Binder, 37, was fined $1,500 in St. Gallen court last week after posting the images online in February, after the nursing home in Mogelsberg, Switzerland, had shut. Binder had captioned the photo: "Guess if she is asleep or dead." Binder, who advertises her services as a dominatrix and has numerous photos of herself posing in fetish outfits on Facebook, also wrote: "Their time is up, gonna send them to hell where some belong, the rest in the compost pit for fertilizers hehehe." Binder was found guilty of violating the peace of the dead and a breach of trust. She was also given a suspended fine equivalent to 120 days' wages. Binder was quoted in the local press as saying the photos were "beautiful".

McCartney and Starr to be at Grammys

The two surviving members of the Fab Four are set to perform at the Grammy Awards next week. Former Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr will also accept a lifetime achievement award on behalf of the 1960s band during the ceremony, while McCartney also has nominations for best rock song and music film. Paul, 71, and Ringo, 73, will be joined by R&B singer John Legend, hip-hop duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis as well as country singers Taylor Swift, Kacey Musgraves and Keith Urban as performers during the 56th Grammy Awards on Jan 26. The Beatles will be the center of a performance special featuring Eurythmics and other acts playing Beatles hits, the day after the ceremony. Eurythmics duo Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart will be reuniting especially for the occasion and will perform for The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute To The Beatles.

Pet parrot gives up drunken driver

A pet parrot spilled the beans on a drunken driving suspect stopped at an alcohol checkpoint in Mexico last week. Police in Mexico City reported they had pulled over 49-year-old Guillermo Reyes at a routine checkpoint in the city last Tuesday. As they approached the vehicle they heard a voice in the car repeating "he's drunk, he's drunk". Police looked inside the vehicle, expecting to find a passenger, but instead discovered Reyes' pet parrot. Reyes failed a sobriety test and was arrested on a drunken driving charge. The parrot, initially scheduled to be taken away by Animal Surveillance Brigade officers, was allowed to accompany Reyes to jail after he convinced authorities the bird had been with him at all times and could suffer stress if separated. There was no word on whether Reyes had forgiven his feathered friend for blowing the whistle on him.

Woman kept four men as slaves

A 54-year-old woman who allegedly kept four men as slaves was charged last week with four counts of knowingly holding another person in slavery or servitude. The men were reported to have been found in "squalid conditions" in a shack near her east Birmingham home in the UK where they are believed to have been for about a year. A further eight people, four men and four women, were also arrested in connection with trafficking offences and have been bailed pending further enquiries. The woman appeared before magistrates in Birmingham late last week and was remanded in custody to appear at Birmingham Crown Court on April 18. The men are being cared for by the Salvation Army, police said.

-Agencies

(China Daily 01/19/2014 page4)