A British woman planning to start a new life with her husband in New Zealand has been banned from entering the country – because she is too fat.

Rowan Trezise, 33, has been left behind in England while her husband Richie, 35, has already made the move down under leaving her desperately trying to lose weight.

When the couple first tried to gain entry to the country they were told that they were both overweight and were a potential burden on the health care system.

Mr Trezise managed to shed two inches from his sizeable waistline to fulfil criteria set out as part of his visa application to work as a technician in the country.

His wife however has had no such luck and faces a desperate battle to shed the pounds before Christmas, at which point the couple say they will abandon their overseas plans.

New Zealand officials assess people’s weight using Body Mass Index which measures fat by comparing the height and weight of an individual.

Mr Trezise, a submarine cable specialist and former member of the army said his BMI was measured at 42 making him well over the limit of 25 which is regarded as overweight.

Robyn Toomath, a spokesman for New Zealand’s Fight the Obesity Epidemic and an endocrinologist said that obese people should not be victimised, but agreed with the restrictions.

"The immigration department can’t afford to import people who are going to be a significant drain on our health resources.

While the New Zealand Immigration Service could not say how many peolpe had been refused entry on similar grounds, the Emigrate New Zealand website revealed that many people had been banned for being obese.

Nowadays, Rowan Trezise has to stay alone at home and still struggling to lose weight before she can join her husband Richie in New Zealand till Christmas – the deadline they’ve set themselves. (Daily Mail)

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22-year-old Singaporean youth Bai Zhixiang (name transliterated) has been sleeping in a coffin for up to four years now, despite not being dead.

Surprisingly, Bai’s girlfriend was fine with him having what is often seen as a “taboo” item around his house. Sometimes, she would even spend the night at his place. Unfortunately, the two of them broke up in the end.

However, it had nothing to do with the coffin and everything to do with his job as a medium. Once, when Bai was performing a ritual, his back was pierced by ten metal rods. His girlfriend couldn’t bear it and they broke up after that.

“I really treasure the relationship. Perhaps she worried that I would get hurt and didn’t want me to put myself at risk.” However, Bai is a medium, and incidents such as him getting pierced by metal rods are bound to happen.

In the interview, Bai revealed the reason why he slept in a coffin. Around four years ago, a deity had spoken through the medium saying that they wished to reside in a coffin.

Worshippers bought a coffin for Bai and he put it in his house. He’s perfectly fine with being in the same room with it and even sleeps in it. (Sin Chew Daily)

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George Bell, a 7-foot-8 sheriff’s deputy in the City of Norfolk, Virginia, has officially recognized by Guinness World Records as the Tallest Man in the United States.

George Bell is 2 inches taller than the NBA’s current tallest player, Yao Ming, but too short to be the world’s tallest living man. He stands below, according to Guinness, Ukraine’s 8-foot-5.5 Leonid Stadnyk and China’s Bao Xishun, who is 7 feet 8.95 inches.

Bell need to wear size-19 shoes, pants with a 43-inch inseam and shirts with 45-inch sleeves.

Bell came forward to claim the title after Guinness World Records launched a contest in August to find the tallest American.

"I don’t need to get in the book for someone to tell me I’m tall," Bell said.

"People tell me that all the time, but to be recognized in the book is an honor." (New York Daily News)

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A Serbian woman has turned down more than 150 marriage proposals because she has still not met Mr Right.

Milunka Dabovic, now aged 38, from Maskova in central Serbia still lives with her mum.

She got her first proposal when she was 14 and they have been coming ever since.

She said: "I’ve had a lot of proposals and some of them won’t take no for an answer, they even try to get my mother to try and convince me to accept.

"But the man I marry needs to be handsome and tall, needs to accept life here in our village – and must be a hard worker with a good heart." (Ananova.com)

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She doesn’t have to worry about laundry, because she never washes her clothes.

There’s an old woman in the Lion City who never washes her clothes. She wears them for a whole month, then throws them away and wears a new set.

She also hasn’t taken a bath for 30 years!

The woman looks normal enough, except for the foul odour emanating from her body The smell causes other residents to avoid her.

Zhang, the 67-year-old woman, not only refuses to take a bath, but also does not wash her face, brush her teeth or wash her clothes. Her actions are baffling.

On Sunday, she suddenly began camping on the ground floor of the apartment block with her wardrobe, bed and other necessities.

When interviewed, the old lady said she used to stay with her younger brother and his children in one of the units upstairs, but someone moved her things to the ground floor on Saturday. When she found out her bed had been moved outside, she didn’t feel like sleeping on the bare floor of her bedroom, so she went to the ground floor of the apartment block to sleep on her bed there.

Personal belongings removed after pleas fall on deaf ears

From what is known, the woman is still single. She used to be an artisan, but has since been unemployed for over 20 years now.

Her nephew Mr. Zhang, 30, who works as an accountant, told reporters, "I’ve lived with my aunt since I was little, and have never seen her take a bath or wash her clothes. She wears her clothes for a whole month straight and throws them away, then puts on new ones.”

Mr. Zhang said his wife would give birth in two weeks’ time, and he is worried an unhygienic environment would affect the baby’s health. He had pleaded with his aunt, asking her to start bathing. It was only when she continued to refuse that he felt he had no other choice but to move her things out.(Sin Chew Daily — 星洲日報)

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Varvara Semennikova is 117 years old. She is probably the main contender for the title of the world’s oldest human being. She was born in Yakutia in 1890. Semennikova is confident that her beloved husband was the source of her longevity.

Varvara met a hunter called Alexei Semennikov in 1944. Soon they got married. Varvara’s husband was her junior by 27 years.

"We used to share the yurt with his parents. We were a really close-knit family back then…" said Varvara.

She does not seem to be concerned about her age.

"Once I fell ill and had a dream. I saw myself lying in a casket in that dream. Then somebody helped me climb out of the casket right before I woke up. I think death was walking pretty close around me," Varvara said.

These days Varvara lives in a house made of timber. She shares it with her daughter Elena, 59, and her grandson Roma, 17. A TV set sits opposite to her bed. The TV is on all the time – the old lady loves following the news.

Varvara’s usual diet comprises fresh fish (she eats it in the raw after flaking away small pieces with a knife), boiled meat, tea with milk, jam, bread and butter, sour cream. Varvara seems to enjoy eating every bit of her food. At an average, her dinner lasts for two or three hours. The old lady does not look like a frail helpless creature. She seems to be fully coherent; her speech is loud and clear. Varvara Semennikova raised four children and ten grandchildren. (Pravda – 俄羅斯「真理報」)

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Yu Nakajima of Japan won the main event at the 2007 Rubik’s Cube world championship Sunday, October 7.

Nakajima, 16, was able to solve the classic 3×3 cube — which has six sides of a different color with nine tiles each on each side — in an average time of 12.46 seconds over five attempts.

He earned the top award of €5,000 (US$7,000), from total prize money of €20,000 (US$28,000) distributed at the three-day, which began Friday.

Andrew Kang of the United States was second and Mitsuki Gunji of Japan third.

Kang set the best time for a single attempt at the championship — 10.88 seconds. The world record is 9.86 seconds, held since May by Thibaut Jacquinot of France.

More than 250 competitors from 33 countries took part in the event, the fourth world championship overall and the first to be held in Hungary — where the game was invented by Erno Rubik in 1974 — since competition began in 1982.

Others showed their skill at solving the cube blindfolded, with one hand or with their feet.

Finland’s Anssi Vanhala was fastest with his feet at 49.33 seconds, although his favorite cube — which players customize with everything from silicon lubricants to talcum powder — was stolen during the competition.

"I am very happy with the victory because I had set myself a target of 50 seconds, which I bettered," said Vanhala, 15, who also was a finalist in the 3×3 category won by Nakajima.

Ryan Patricio, 18, a high school senior from Temecula, California, defended his world title in the one-hand category with a new world record, averaging 21.13 seconds in five attempts.

"Definitely there is room improvement and I expect a sub-20 (second) average at the next world championship in two years," said Patricio, who competed in an anorak.

Hungary’s Matyas Kuti was fastest solving the 4×4 and 5×5 cubes and also won several of the blindfold events, which seemed to draw the biggest respect from his peers.

Blindfold contestants try to solve the game by memorizing the position of key cubes before covering their eyes. Kuti’s best blindfolded time for the 3×3 cube was just over 1 minute, 7 seconds.

Electronic timers were used and players solved the cubes set to a certain position — which varied by category and were determined with the help of computers.

Rubik, an engineer who developed several other mechanical games after the cube, made a rare public appearance at the medal ceremony, helping to hand out the main awards.

"I’m glad the cube is reaching new generations, who face it with fresh wonder, curiosity and enthusiasm," the game’s creator said.

World championships were also held in Canada in 2003 and in the United States in 2005.(AP)

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Break dancing has been a popular underground and urban style of dance in the US and around the world for almost 40 years.

In recent years the dance has become so popular that even seniors and young children are performing the complicated dance steps and taking part in the breakdancing culture.

Check out this awesome little Chinese 5 year-old breakdancing and tearing up the stage: (weirdasiannews.com)

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A Siberian woman who gave birth to her 12th child – doing more than her fair share to stem Russia’s population decline – was stunned to find that little Nadia weighed in at a massive 17.1 lb (7.75kg).

Nadia was delivered by caesarean section in the local maternity hospital in the Altai region on September 17, joining eight sisters and three brothers, a local reporter said.

"We were all simply in shock," said Nadia’s mother, Tatyana Barabanova, 43. "What did the father say? He couldn’t say a thing – he just stood there blinking."

"I ate everything, we don’t have the money for special foods so I just ate potatoes, noodles and tomatoes," she told the reporter, adding that all her previous babies had weighed more than 5 kg.

The Guinness World Records lists a 10.2 kg baby boy born in Italy in 1955, and a 10.8 kg baby boy who was born in the United States in 1879 but died 11 hours later.

The average weight for most healthy newborn babies is around 7.06 lb, according to World Health Organisation figures. (Daily Mail)

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A Hong Kong man suspected of stealing blood samples to drink at Yan Chai Hospital in Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong (香港荃灣仁濟醫院) on September 14, 2007. Judging from the closed-circuit television footage, the man slipped into the blood bank and emergency testing laboratory of the hospital in the early hours of the morning and stole three tubes of blood, then appeared to have drunk the contents. Awesome! Isn’t he afraid of contracting any contagious disease?(news.qq.com & Random Citations)

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