Encinitas, CA, United States (AHN) - The North Korean government has released Robert Park, the American missionary who was detained in North Korea. Parks is back at home with his family after more than a month of being detained, officials said.
The 28-year-old Park was held in North Korea when he attempted to cross the border from South Korea carrying letters demanding the release of political prisoners and the resignation of North Korean leader Kim Jong II, reports stated. Park sought to personally deliver the letters himself.
Park\'s release was in part to him taking responsibility for his actions and for having nothing but positive things to say about how treatment while detained, according to reports.
Park and his family are celebrating his release and return to the United States in Encinitas, California, where his parents live, according to reports.
Encinitas, CA, United States (AHN) - The North Korean government has released Robert Park, the American missionary who was detained in North Korea. Parks is back at home with his family after more than a month of being detained, officials said.
The 28-year-old Park was held in North Korea when he attempted to cross the border from South Korea carrying letters demanding the release of political prisoners and the resignation of North Korean leader Kim Jong II, reports stated. Park sought to personally deliver the letters himself.
Park\'s release was in part to him taking responsibility for his actions and for having nothing but positive things to say about how treatment while detained, according to reports.
Park and his family are celebrating his release and return to the United States in Encinitas, California, where his parents live, according to reports.
Tacoma, Washington, United States (AHN) - Authorities in Washington report a United States soldier allegedly water boarded his 4-year-old daughter because she could not recite the alphabet all the way through.
Yelm police authorities reported 27-year-old Joshua Tabor was taken into custody on assault charges after he allegedly held his daughter\'s head backwards in a sink of water. According to Tabor, he chose this method of punishment because of his daughter\'s phobia of water, reports stated.
Officials stated Tabor\'s daughter has been placed in the custody of Child Protective Services as of his arrest Sunday.
Tabor is stationed at the Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Tacoma, Washington. Authorities did not specify his rank or duty.
Tabor\'s girlfriend, whose identity was not released along with that of his daughter, said Tabor has a history of struggling with anger issues and has beaten his daughter in the past, according to reports.
Tacoma, Washington, United States (AHN) - Authorities in Washington report a United States soldier allegedly water boarded his 4-year-old daughter because she could not recite the alphabet all the way through.
Yelm police authorities reported 27-year-old Joshua Tabor was taken into custody on assault charges after he allegedly held his daughter\'s head backwards in a sink of water. According to Tabor, he chose this method of punishment because of his daughter\'s phobia of water, reports stated.
Officials stated Tabor\'s daughter has been placed in the custody of Child Protective Services as of his arrest Sunday.
Tabor is stationed at the Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Tacoma, Washington. Authorities did not specify his rank or duty.
Tabor\'s girlfriend, whose identity was not released along with that of his daughter, said Tabor has a history of struggling with anger issues and has beaten his daughter in the past, according to reports.
Toledo, OH, United States (AHN) - A strip club in Toledo, Ohio raised $1,000 in donations for Haiti\'s earthquake victims through a lap dance.
Marilyn\'s on Monroe, located at 715 Monroe St., raised the amount on Saturday\'s event dubbed "Lap dances for Haiti." General Manager Kenny Soprano said the club collected $10 charges and the donation was coursed through the International Services of Hope, or ISOH/IMPACT, of Waterville.
According to Soprano, it took the club a month to think of and plan the event.
Meanwhile, two strip clubs in the Detroit area are taking the cue from Marilyn\'s on Monroe. The Landing Strip in Romulus and Subi\'s Place in Southgate will try to raise $5,000.
Toledo, OH, United States (AHN) - A strip club in Toledo, Ohio raised $1,000 in donations for Haiti\'s earthquake victims through a lap dance.
Marilyn\'s on Monroe, located at 715 Monroe St., raised the amount on Saturday\'s event dubbed "Lap dances for Haiti." General Manager Kenny Soprano said the club collected $10 charges and the donation was coursed through the International Services of Hope, or ISOH/IMPACT, of Waterville.
According to Soprano, it took the club a month to think of and plan the event.
Meanwhile, two strip clubs in the Detroit area are taking the cue from Marilyn\'s on Monroe. The Landing Strip in Romulus and Subi\'s Place in Southgate will try to raise $5,000.
Melbourne, Australia (AHN) - For allowing contestants of a reality game show to kill and eat a jungle rat, a British TV network was fined and made to pay $4,845, local reports said Monday.
iTV also issued an apology for the incident in the show "I\'m A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!" in which celebrity chef Gino D\'Acampo and Hollyoaks actor Stuart Manning killed the rat for food. A spokesman said the network was unaware that killing a rat is illegal.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) said the killing of the rat was in violation of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. The animal died after 90 seconds causing it to suffer, said an RSPCA spokesman.
Melbourne, Australia (AHN) - For allowing contestants of a reality game show to kill and eat a jungle rat, a British TV network was fined and made to pay $4,845, local reports said Monday.
iTV also issued an apology for the incident in the show "I\'m A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!" in which celebrity chef Gino D\'Acampo and Hollyoaks actor Stuart Manning killed the rat for food. A spokesman said the network was unaware that killing a rat is illegal.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) said the killing of the rat was in violation of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. The animal died after 90 seconds causing it to suffer, said an RSPCA spokesman.
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (TML) - Up until just over a month ago, His Excellency Miangul Akbar Zeb had lived an esteemed life as one of Pakistan\'s most senior diplomats.
Mr Zeb has served as the ambassador of Pakistan to the United States, India and South Africa, the director general of Pakistan\'s Foreign Ministry and most recently was Pakistan\'s High Commissioner Designate to Canada.
But Mr Zeb\'s impressive career hit a hick-up when Pakistan recently decided to send the 55-year-old veteran diplomat to the Arab world, seemingly ignorant to the Arabic translation of the senior diplomat\'s name: \'Biggest Dick\'.
A relatively common Muslim name, Akbar means \'biggest\' or \'greatest\' in Arabic. While Zeb is a common Urdu name, in Arabic it is a slang reference to the male genitals and not used in polite conversation. Faced with an uncomfortable conundrum, it seems the unfortunate diplomat\'s Arab hosts felt that local references to \'His Excellency Biggest Dick\' would not go over well.
According to the Arab Times, the United Arab Emirates refused to accredit Mr Zeb as ambassador. Undeterred, Pakistan then tried to send Mr Zeb to neighboring Bahrain instead, where the emissary was rejected again. Then, most recently, Pakistan tried sending Mr Zeb to Saudi Arabia, only to be rebuffed a third time.
None of the Gulf States have made a statement as to why Mr Zeb was refused accreditation.
"It\'s hard to imagine that someone\'s name would be a problem, especially on this level, but I understand why the governments reacted this way," Ahmed Al-Omran, a Saudi cultural critic told The Media Line. "It crosses a cultural red line so I don\'t think the media would dare to publish a name like this. So every time he would be in the media they would have to face the name issue and it would make it difficult to work with him. That would just be an embarrassment for Pakistan."
Eman Al Nafjan, an influential Saudi blogger, said Pakistan should have known.
"If they were Russian or Chinese we could say maybe they didn\'t know or they were ignorant," she told The Media Line. "But they are Muslim, they use the Arabic alphabet and they know what his name means in Arabic so I\'m surprised they didn\'t pick up on it sooner. The Pakistani\'s should have known and they could have avoided the whole thing, so nobody thinks the government was wrong on this issue."
"On the one hand I would have thought it was a source of pride for him," Al Nafjan said laughing. "It\'s funny, but you can\'t just pronounce that name. It\'s too awkward: how would he be announced at events? How would he be written about?"
"If he were the president of Pakistan it would be a different issue," she added. "I mean we can\'t choose their president for them. But if it\'s an ambassador, I\'m sure they can find someone else." David Kenner of Foreign Policy magazine wrote that the issue was likely a source of embarrassment for Pakistan.
"One can only assume that submitting Zeb\'s name to a number of Arabic-speaking countries is some unique form of punishment designed by the Pakistani Foreign Ministry," he wrote. "Or the result of a particularly egregious cock-up."
Iqbal Khattak, Bureau Chief of the Pakistani Daily Times, said the issue has not been reported locally.
Pakistan\'s Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment for this article.
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (TML) - Up until just over a month ago, His Excellency Miangul Akbar Zeb had lived an esteemed life as one of Pakistan\'s most senior diplomats.
Mr Zeb has served as the ambassador of Pakistan to the United States, India and South Africa, the director general of Pakistan\'s Foreign Ministry and most recently was Pakistan\'s High Commissioner Designate to Canada.
But Mr Zeb\'s impressive career hit a hick-up when Pakistan recently decided to send the 55-year-old veteran diplomat to the Arab world, seemingly ignorant to the Arabic translation of the senior diplomat\'s name: \'Biggest Dick\'.
A relatively common Muslim name, Akbar means \'biggest\' or \'greatest\' in Arabic. While Zeb is a common Urdu name, in Arabic it is a slang reference to the male genitals and not used in polite conversation. Faced with an uncomfortable conundrum, it seems the unfortunate diplomat\'s Arab hosts felt that local references to \'His Excellency Biggest Dick\' would not go over well.
According to the Arab Times, the United Arab Emirates refused to accredit Mr Zeb as ambassador. Undeterred, Pakistan then tried to send Mr Zeb to neighboring Bahrain instead, where the emissary was rejected again. Then, most recently, Pakistan tried sending Mr Zeb to Saudi Arabia, only to be rebuffed a third time.
None of the Gulf States have made a statement as to why Mr Zeb was refused accreditation.
"It\'s hard to imagine that someone\'s name would be a problem, especially on this level, but I understand why the governments reacted this way," Ahmed Al-Omran, a Saudi cultural critic told The Media Line. "It crosses a cultural red line so I don\'t think the media would dare to publish a name like this. So every time he would be in the media they would have to face the name issue and it would make it difficult to work with him. That would just be an embarrassment for Pakistan."
Eman Al Nafjan, an influential Saudi blogger, said Pakistan should have known.
"If they were Russian or Chinese we could say maybe they didn\'t know or they were ignorant," she told The Media Line. "But they are Muslim, they use the Arabic alphabet and they know what his name means in Arabic so I\'m surprised they didn\'t pick up on it sooner. The Pakistani\'s should have known and they could have avoided the whole thing, so nobody thinks the government was wrong on this issue."
"On the one hand I would have thought it was a source of pride for him," Al Nafjan said laughing. "It\'s funny, but you can\'t just pronounce that name. It\'s too awkward: how would he be announced at events? How would he be written about?"
"If he were the president of Pakistan it would be a different issue," she added. "I mean we can\'t choose their president for them. But if it\'s an ambassador, I\'m sure they can find someone else." David Kenner of Foreign Policy magazine wrote that the issue was likely a source of embarrassment for Pakistan.
"One can only assume that submitting Zeb\'s name to a number of Arabic-speaking countries is some unique form of punishment designed by the Pakistani Foreign Ministry," he wrote. "Or the result of a particularly egregious cock-up."
Iqbal Khattak, Bureau Chief of the Pakistani Daily Times, said the issue has not been reported locally.
Pakistan\'s Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment for this article.