A Chilean woman, who is 36 weeks pregnant, has been found to carry a foetus which has no brain.

After learning about her baby's condition, Claudia Pizarro, who also suffers from cancer of the uterus, has appealed to a court to let her undergo a therapeutic abortion.

Pizarro presented an appeal for protection of her constitutional rights on grounds that her foetus, which in any case will not be able to live outside the womb, keeps her from having her illness treated.

"I'm not asking that they kill my child. My daughter will die at birth. I'm pleading for my life so I can seek treatment as soon as possible," the woman said.

Pizarro has an 11-year-old son.

If the court accepts the appeal, Claudia intends to donate the baby's organs "to help other children who do have a chance to live", she said.

Chile is one of the few countries in the world that ban therapeutic abortion, but two bills are now before parliament seeking to decriminalise the procedure.

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In a Christmas message on Twitter, 84-year-old Playboy tycoon Hugh Hefner said Sunday he had proposed to girlfriend Crystal Harris, a former Playmate of the Month 60 years his junior.

"When I gave Crystal the ring, she burst into tears. This is the happiest Christmas weekend in memory," Hefner tweeted.

Hefner sent a second message on Sunday to clear up any lingering doubts about his intentions.

"Yes, the ring I gave Crystal is an engagement ring. I didn't mean to make a mystery out of it. A very merry Christmas to all," it said.

Harris, a stunning 24-year-old blonde, did not explicitly confirm she had accepted his Christmas Eve proposal but, encouragingly, retweeted his messages.

If the nuptials transpire, Harris will become the third wife of an ageless lothario who has used a whiff of sex and his own suave mystique to create the world of the consummate Playboy over the past six decades.

Known for his his trademark red-satin smoking jacket and black silk pyjamas, "Hef," as he is commonly known, incarnates the rakish lifestyle he popularized in another era.

Seemingly intent on passing on the message of upmarket hedonistic fun to a new generation, Hefner has outlived not just the sexual revolution he fought from the vanguard but also some of his famous pin-ups.

He boasts the outfits, the bevy of blonds, an open respect for the wonders of Viagra and, of course, the famed Playboy Mansion, which has become headquarters to an anachronistic holdout from the swinging 1960s.

The father of four takes much responsibility for sparking the sexual revolution that allowed Western society to embrace sex as normal and fun while shrugging off the prudish shackles of the 1950s.

The Chicago-born Hefner set up Playboy magazine in 1953 and remains its chief creative officer. Harris appeared as the centerfold in the December 2009 edition when she was Playmate of the Month.

While well past retirement age, Hefner still takes an active role in running the magazine editorially, choosing the covers, Playmates and cartoons each month, while daughter Christie handles the business empire.

Hefner has over the years admitted affairs with dozens of Playmates and enjoyed the company of endless blondes at his sprawling, decadent mansion in the Holmby Hills area of Los Angeles.

Hefner and Harris have reportedly been an item since April.

The Playboy founder first married at 23 to Mildred Williams, a fellow student at Northwestern University in Illinois, where he briefly studied women and gender issues.

Hefner's second wife was Playmate of the Year Kimberley Conrad. He has two children from each marriage.

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It took five designers six months to complete, but the latest “Google Doodle” has now been launched, paying tribute to the festive season.

While it includes Father Christmas, the Yule log and a snowy scene of St Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow, Google has notably steered clear of any overt Christian symbols.

For most of the 17 images portray great international sites such as the Acropolis in Athens, the Great Wall of China and Sydney Harbour Bridge or specific cultural references.

Among the designs are the oud, a Middle Eastern guitar, pierogi – a Polish semicircular dumpling – and distinctive Moroccan henna lamps.

When a Google visitor uses their mouse to roll over an image, it expands, and if clicked on, takes the user through to a list of websites explaining the image.

Between them, the five designers decided the holiday theme should focus on food, dance, architecture and textiles.

Michael Lopez, Google’s “chief doodler”, said the team - who spent 250 hours on the design - wanted to gather as broad a set of images as possible.

However he added: “The questions is, ‘How do we celebrate these holidays without religious symbolism?’

“We want to end the year with a bang.”

The original Google Doodle was supposed to be rolled out over three days, ending on Christmas Day, but senior executives decided the designs should go out all at once because people are less likely to be on their computers on Christmas Day.

Mr Lopez, 30, said: “I thought, 'Is my mom going to be available to play this on Christmas Day?’ The answer is, no, she'll be making me food!"

The 17 images will remain on Google for two and a half days before the normal Google logo returns.

telegraph.co.uk

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What better way to celebrate the holiday season than with a goal off of a pretty bicycle kick on a snow-covered pitch? OK, so there are lots of better ways that involve getting presents and biting the heads of gingerbread men, but Wesley Sonck's way is pretty good, too.

In a Belgian Jupiler League match between Lierse and league-leaders Racing Genk, Sonck helped Lierse earn a 1-1 draw by looping the orange winter ball into the back of the net with an overhead kick. Bicycle kick, chilena -- whatever you want to call it, it appears the opposing goalkeeper either slipped on the snow or thought the ball would go over the crossbar, keeping him from making an attempt at the save.

Elsewhere in Belgium, Brugge fans decided to initiate a one-sided snowball fight against Anderlecht's players as they attempted to take a corner kick.

The referee didn't appreciate this added obstacle to the visiting team's corner kicks and suspended play after just seven minutes. Anderlecht got their revenge, however, by winning 2-0 once play resumed and the snowballs subsided.

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A Witshire man famous for celebrating Christmas every day is now planning to marry his Christmas tree.

Andy Park, 47, has eaten Christmas dinner every day for the past 17 years, reports The Sun.

The divorcee, from Melksham, who is known as Mr Christmas, admits that his friends think he's crackers.

But he insisted: "I love my Christmas tree more than anything else, so that's why I want to marry it.

"I've already got a ring, although I'm not sure yet which branch I'll want to hang it on.

"The only problem seems to be finding a vicar who is willing to do the ceremony."

Mr Park said that although he'd only had the plastic tree for two years, he felt it was like "his best friend" and he never tired of seeing it sitting in his living room.

He said: "I can't see why we can't be joined in matrimony. I've heard of other people marrying their pets and so on, so why can't I get hitched to my tree?"

Andy began celebrating Christmas in 1993 and since then he's estimated to have eaten more than 6,000 Christmas dinners.

He says it started when he felt "bored" and "fed-up" one July and putting up decorations had made him feel so happy so he decided to carry on.

orange.co.uk

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The US Department of Defence has unveiled its fastest interactive computer - made out of 1,760 Playstation 3 consoles.

Dubbed the Condor Cluster, the new system is capable of performing 500 trillion floating point operations per second.

It will be used for quickly processing high-res satellite imagery, radar enhancement, and even research into artificial intelligence.

The consoles were used as they provide maximum computing power at a budget price.

When the project began four years ago PS3s cost around £250 each, while the equivalent technology would have been about £6,500 per unit.

Officials also say the Condor will also consume less than one-tenth the power of comparable supercomputers making it a "green" supercomputer.

Mark Barnell, director of US Air Force Research Laboratory High Power Computing, said: "Such capability exceeds any other interactive supercomputer currently used by the Department of Defense."

Based at the Air Force Research Laboratory in New York, the array also uses 168 GPUs and 84 servers to direct system traffic.

The older 'fatter' Playsation 3 consoles were used as they allow installation of the Linux operating system.

orange.co.uk

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A 103-year-old grandmother is believed to be the world's oldest Facebook user.

Lillian Lowe, from Tenby in Pembrokeshire, regularly keeps her online friends updated about her life using her iPad.

And being signed up to the social network also enables her to keep track of what her seven grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren are up to.

Mrs Lowe, who is just two months away from her 104th birthday, took the oldest Facebook user title following the death of 104-year-old Ivy Bean in July.

Despite some of the Facebook goings on that would shock many her age, Lillian says she isn't fazed by any of her grandchildren's "antics".

She said: "I have seen a few things over the years, so nothing really shocks me these days anyway."

Mrs Lowe, who logs on several times a week, uses her 47-year-old grandson Steve's iPad but is very keen to get her own.

The retired hotelier and businesswoman says it's "just lovely" to be able to see all the latest photographs and messages from her large family.

She said: "I can recommend it for any grandparents to keep in touch with their family without ringing all the time."

While saying her online habit is "exciting" the cyber centenarian also admitted that it can be a "dreadful waste of time".

She said: "I'm sure there are lots of other things I should be doing rather than playing on a computer."

orange.co.uk

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A Japanese woman is suing Google after pictures of her underwear appeared on Google Street View.

The unnamed female wants over $7,000 from the search engine giants, claiming she suffered psychological distress as a result of her washing line being featured on the Street View function.

She told a court hearing in the city of Fukuoka: "I was overwhelmed with anxiety that I might be the target of a sex crime. It caused me to lose my job and I had to change my residence.

"I could understand if it was just a picture of the outside of the apartment, but showing a person's underwear hanging outside is absolutely wrong."

stv.tv

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Swiss bank UBS has issued a new dress code with a difference: it orders female staff to wear loose-fitting skirts and flesh-coloured underwear.

The Zurich-based bank is trying to improve its image and regain the faith of clients after it was bailed out during the recent financial crisis, posting the biggest loss in Swiss corporate history.

The 52-page internal document advises staff in five pilot scheme branches on how to make a good impression with customers, bizarrely including underwear advice.

Men’s underwear ‘should be of good quality and easily washable, but still remain undetectable,’ whatever that means.

Women are advised to wear flesh-coloured underwear and stockings, and are warned against too-tight underwear and shoes.

Women are also told that wearing make-up gives the impression of competence, and all staff are advised to avoid smelly foods and tobacco.

A spokesman from the bank said: ‘They are meant as recommendations and not as hard and fast rules.’

‘It remains to be decided whether the guidelines will be extended to all 300 Swiss branches, depending on how they are received by staff in the five pilot branches.’

metro.co.uk

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It holds a total of 181 diamonds, pearls, emeralds, sapphires and other precious stones.

Christmas came in extravagant fashion to the emirate of Abu Dhabi as a glitzy hotel unveiled a bejewelled Christmas tree valued at more than $11 million.

It is the "most expensive Christmas tree ever," with a "value of over $11 million," said Hans Olbertz, general manager of Emirates Palace hotel, at its inauguration.

The 13-metre (40-foot) faux evergreen, located in the gold leaf-bedecked rotunda of the hotel, is decorated with silver and gold bows, ball-shaped ornaments and small white lights.

But the necklaces, earrings and other jewellery draped around the tree's branches are what give it a record value.

It holds a total of 181 diamonds, pearls, emeralds, sapphires and other precious stones, said Khalifa Khouri, owner of Style Gallery, which provided the jewellery.

"The tree itself is about 10,000 dollars," Olbertz said. "The jewellery has a value of over 11 million dollars - I think 11.4, 11.5."

This will probably be an entry into the Guinness book of world records, Olbertz said, adding that Emirates Palace planned to contact the organisation about the tree which is to stay until the end of the year.

The hotel has had a Christmas tree up in previous years, but this year "we said we have to do something different," and the hotel's marketing team hatched the plan, said Olbertz.

The tree is not the first extravagant offering from Emirates Palace - a massive, dome-topped hotel sitting amid fountains and carefully manicured lawns.

The hotel, which bills itself as seven-star, in February introduced a package for a seven-day stay priced at one million dollars.

Takers of the package have a private butler and a chauffeur driven Maybach luxury car at their disposal during their stay, as well as a private jet available for trips to other countries in the region.

And in May, the hotel opened a gold vending machine, becoming the first place outside Germany to install "gold to go, the world's first gold vending machine," said Ex Oriente Lux AG, the German company behind the machine.

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Student Sarah Legg is hoping to make a mint by cashing in on a very unusual 50p coin she has found - with next year's date on it.

17-year-old Sarah of Fareham, Hants, was shocked when she saw the coin marked with the 2011 date stamped on it - which she got in change as she was buying lunch.

Sarah, who is training to be a forensic scientist, was buying lunch at at Fareham College when she spotted the temporal anomaly.

She said: 'I was just getting some food at college and thought the coin looked very shiny, so I took a closer look. I thought I had gone into the future with the markings it had. Where the date it is made was, it said 2011.

'I was a bit shocked to be honest and showed all my friends. It looks like the Royal Mint have made a blunder.'

Sarah hopes to cash in on the find so she can help pay off her University fees.

Coin experts are perplexed by the find, one of 29 designs made by the public for the Royal Mint ahead of the London Olympic Games in 2012.

Coin specialist Rob Davies, of Portsmouth, Hants, said: 'It is very unusual and special and the young girl should keep it. I could not put a price on how much they cost but it is very special.

Royal Mint spokesman Nick Scargill said: 'It is unusual but they are perfectly legal tender. It is very special.'

metro.co.uk

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With the holidays approaching fast, are you in need of a drinking companion? Hire one, offers a group of entrepreneurial Ukrainians.

For just up to 150 Ukrainian hryvnias ($18), an entertainment firm in eastern Ukraine will provide you with a drinking buddy with whom you can talk everything from politics to art to women or simply bemoan the condition of the world.

Yulia Peyeva, head of Kind Fairy that organizes weddings and birthdays says offering drinking companions for hire have been one of her firm's most in-demand services since they opened last December.

"It is a pleasant companion who can enliven a boring evening," Peyeva told AFP from Dneprodzerzhinsk, a town of 300,000 on the Dnieper River.

"Virtually all of our people are talented. They can play guitar, sing or recite poetry. Today you may want to talk about art and tomorrow to read Faust," she said, referring to Goethe's most famous work.

The service is also popular among people who are reluctant to seek therapy but find it comfortable talking to strangers, she said.

Peyeva insisted the firm, whose staff includes psychologists, does not encourage binge drinking nor does it provide escort services. "We are not a dating or matchmaking service."

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A father in Germany who disapproved of his daughter's 57-year-old boyfriend went to the man's home and castrated him with a bread knife, escaping with his testicles.

After learning that his 17-year-old daughter was having a relationship with the older man, Helmut Seifert went to the town of Bielefeld to speak to the police.

Having learnt that they were powerless to help him, the enraged father decided to take matters into his own hands.

Police said: 'The man recruited two work colleagues at his factory and then went to the house of the victim.

‘The man was forced to remove his trousers and, fully conscious, he was castrated. The severed testicles were taken away by the perpetrator.'

Despite losing a lot of blood the man managed to call police and is now making a recovery - but the castration is irreversible.

Seifert, who pleaded guilty and is expected to be tried for attempted murder next year, has so far refused to say who his accomplices were.

He said: ‘I received a phone call anonymously that my daughter was involved with a guy 40 years older than her. You said you couldn't stop him, so I did.

‘I saw it as my duty as a father.’

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Cop who caught motorist speeding in London catches him in New Zealand again.

A motorist caught speeding in London two years ago moved to New Zealand only to be booked by the same police officer for again exceeding the limit, reports said.

Former London bobby Andy Flitton ticketed the man in Britain two years ago, shortly before migrating to New Zealand - then caught him again in September on a highway on the South Island, the New Zealand Herald reported.

Mr Flitton, who now works for the New Zealand traffic police, said he had forgotten about the original booking until the man approached him while he was writing out the ticket.

"He asked if I had worked in London, I said 'yes'. He asked if I used to operate the laser gun on the A5 in North London, I said 'yes'," Mr Flitton told the newspaper.

"And he said 'I thought it was you, you gave me my last speeding ticket there two years ago'."

Mr Flitton said the man told him he had moved to New Zealand two weeks before his latest booking, unaware his nemesis was also in the same country.

"We must have some sort of connection," he said. "He only ever broke the law twice and both times I was the one to give him a ticket... it just shows what a small world it really is."

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Burma's junta leader tried to buy Manchester United for $1billion eight months after a tropical cyclone killed 140,000 of its people.

Than Shwe, commander in chief of the armed forces and a Man Utd fan , was urged to mount a takeover bid by his grandson, according to a leaked cable.

The cable, seen by The Guardian newspaper, disclosed how the regime used football to distract its population from ongoing political and economic problems.

A $1billion bid would have been enough to acquire a 56 per cent controlling stake in the club.

The communiqué, sent in June 2009 to Washington, said: "One well-connected source reports that the grandson wanted Than Shwe to offer $1bn for Manchester United.

"The senior general thought that sort of expenditure could look bad, so he opted to create for Burma a league of its own."

The proposal was made in or before January 2009, according to the cable.

Months earlier, in May 2008, Rangoon had been accused of blocking vital international aid supplies after Cyclone Nargis struck, killing 140,000 people.

Mr Shwe reportedly decided not to make a bid on the grounds that it might "look bad", according to a leaked cable.

In the event, the Burma national football league was launched on 16 May 2009, with Than Shwe's grandson playing one team, according to another cable.

The dispatch added: "Many Burmese businessmen speculate the regime is using it as a way to distract the populace from ongoing political and economic problems or to divert their attention from criticism of the upcoming 2010 elections."

telegraph.co.uk

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A two-metre (six-foot) marijuana plant decorated as a Christmas tree was confiscated from the home of "an old hippie", who is now facing a drug possession charge, German police said Wednesday.

In a tongue-in-cheek press release titled "All you need is love or how a hippie celebrates Christmas," police in the western city of Koblenz said they discovered the giant plant in the living room of the suspect.

"The two-metre-tall marijuana plant had been put in a Christmas tree stand and decorated with a string of lights," the police said.

"When asked, the hashish fan told the perplexed officers that he had intended to add more decorations to the 'tree' and place the presents under it, according to tradition."

Police seized the plant and another 150 grams (5.3 ounces) of marijuana found in the apartment.

German authorities on Tuesday said that a 21-year-old man in the southern city of Munich had been detained with a homemade Advent calendar with cannabis behind each little door instead of chocolate.

The suspect was released but now faces charges of possessing drugs.

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A classical musician had her 300-year-old £1.2 million Stradivarius violin stolen when she stopped at a London sandwich store.

It's understood Korean violinist Min-Jin Kym was grabbing a bite to eat at a Pret A Manger cafe outside Euston station when her prized instrument was pinched.

Police say it was only as she tucked into her food that the 32-year-old musician noticed her black, rectangular violin case had been taken.

Given it contained a 1696 Antonio Stradivarius violin worth £1.2m and a Peccatte bow valued at £62,000 -- it made her sandwich one of the most expensive ever.

A spokesperson for British Transport Police said the violin has a number of additional and unique identifying marks, including visible repair marks underneath the instrument’s bridge.

DI Rose added: "These items hold enormous sentimental and professional value for the victim, but although they are extremely valuable, it would be very difficult to sell them on as they are so rare and distinctive that they will be easily recognised as stolen property.

"It’s possible the instrument will be offered for sale within the antique or musical trade and we ask anyone who has any knowledge of the violin’s whereabouts to come forward so it can be returned to its rightful owner.

A £15,000 reward has also been issued by Lark Insurance Broking Group and certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s, representing the victim of the theft, for anyone providing information leading to the violin’s recovery.

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One Santa in Germany must now be regretting indulging in a few too many festive drinks, as a video has emerged on the internet showing him urinating in a car park and falling over.

The CCTV footage, which definitely shouldn't be shown to younger viewers, was shot at a car park in Berlin and has quickly become an internet sensation.

Clad in the traditional red Father Christmas suit, the man is seen stumbling around a car park before urinating against a post.

He then walks a bit further before tripping over his own feet and taking what looks like a rather painful fall onto a car boot.

After straightening his hat he then continues on his journey, before relieving himself again in a doorway - much to the surprise of passersby stepping out of a nearby lift, who push him over and make a run for it.

The Santa then tries - unsuccessfully - to pull up his trousers before disappearing into the lift, treating people to a view of his rear end.

According to the German Herald, a garage owner told the local media the man was later seen boarding a bus.

'The Santa left the building on foot after it was pointed out he should not be driving - and in any case he did not even seem to know if he had a car here,' he added.

Over 300,000 internet users have now viewed the video on YouTube.

metro.co.uk

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Britain, under pressure to raise money to cut a record peacetime budget deficit, has put an old aircraft carrier up for sale on a government website, the Ministry of Defence said.

The ministry is inviting bids for the HMS Invincible, which saw action in the 1982 Falklands war, on its "disposal services" website, set up to sell surplus military equipment.

The ship, completed in 1980, was part of a British task force sent to recover the Falklands in 1982 after the islands were occupied by Argentinian forces.

Queen Elizabeth's son, Prince Andrew, served as a helicopter pilot on the ship during that conflict.

The Invincible was decommissioned and mothballed in 2005.

Bidders have until January 5 to make an offer, the Ministry of Defence said.

"We will then consider which gives the best value for money," a ministry spokesman said. All options were open but the ship would most likely be sold for scrap, he said.

He could not estimate how much the carrier might be worth.

Under deep defence cuts announced by Britain's coalition government last month, the Royal Navy's flagship, the aircraft carrier Ark Royal, will be scrapped, leaving Britain unable to fly fixed-wing jets from an aircraft carrier until new carriers are delivered over the next decade.

Britain's 37 billion pound ($59 billion) defence budget will shrink by 8 per cent in real terms over the next four years as part of government cuts designed to curb a budget deficit that peaked at 11 per cent of economic output.

abc.net.au

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