Undercover beauty queen aged 10: A mother and daughter go behind the scenes at one of the U.S.-style child beauty pageants spreading over Britain

Sunday mornings usually find me reading the papers in bed, eating pancakes with my children or taking the dog for a walk.

Today, however, I am standing in a hotel ladies’ toilet with my ten-year-old daughter, trying to prise her feet into a pair of ridiculously strappy high-heeled shoes.

‘Ow, Mummy, that HURTS,’ Annie protests loudly, attracting a smug glance from another mother who is viciously sticking curling pins into the hair — and occasionally the head — of her silent, uncomplaining daughter.

Outside, in a vast conference room, chaos is brewing. Girls as young as three are being coaxed into strappy dresses and adorned with body glitter, as their mothers — all tight white jeans, manicured nails and enough bling to accessorise the whole of Essex — fight for wall sockets to plug in hair straighteners.

Welcome to the UK Cinderella Beauty Pageant at the decidedly unglamorous Ramada Hotel in Ealing, West London, a stone’s throw from the North Circular.

This is the latest event in a disturbing trend that is fast gaining ground in the UK and could soon be taking place in a three-star hotel near you.

Unsurprisingly, this pageant originated in America 36 years ago. It was launched here two years ago by former model Diana Hare.

Today, there are 24 contestants, ranging in age from three to 16. Their sights are set firmly on Las Vegas, since that is where one winner and her posse of family hangers-on will be heading to compete in a ‘sister’ pageant.

 Inspiration: The formal wear round brings out gowns akin to those favoured by Katie Price

 Dressed to impress: Shona Sibary and her ten-year-old daughter Annie in her pageant outfit

Annie is a tomboy at heart and thinks the whole thing is pretty stupid

Frightening: One mother in California gives her eight-year-old daughter Botox all in the name of beauty pageant success

ESPERANZA SPALDING WINS BEST NEW ARTIST GRAMMY OVER JUSTIN BIEBER AND DRAKE-Bieber Hugs It Out With Spalding-Grammy Guests Catch Bieber Fever

Jailed Chinese dissident Liu wins Nobel Peace Prize

Jailed Chinese pro-democracy activist Liu Xiaobo won the Nobel Peace Prize today for decades of non-violent struggle for human rights, an award that Beijing had anticipated and bitterly criticised.

The prize puts China’s human rights record in the spotlight at a time when it is starting to play a bigger role on the global stage as a result of its growing economic might.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee praised Liu for his “long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China”.

Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo smokes a cigarette in this undated photo released by his family

Nobel euphoria fails to mask tough reality in China

The euphoria overseas and in some domestic circles at dissident Liu Xiaobo’s winning of the Nobel Peace Prize has failed to mask deeper unease that his victory will likely bring little change in Communist Party-ruled China.

Liu, 54, has been a thorn in the government’s side since 1989 when he joined student protesters on a hunger strike days before the army crushed the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy movement and has been in and out of jail ever since.

Protesters demonstrate outside the Chinese Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong October 8, 2010 demanding the release of jailed Chinese pro-democracy activist Liu Xiaobo. Liu won the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010

The real Hurt Locker hero: Medal for British bomb expert who defused 93 devices survives.

Decorated: Captain Wayne Owers with his medals - the Queen's Gallantry Medal is on the left.Brave: Captain Owers, who has spent 20 years in the Army, at his base today

Painstaking: Captain Wayne Owers uncovers an IED during his tour in Afghanistan

Badlands: British troops face constant attacks in Helmand Province (file image)

A lonely job: Captain Owers makes safe a live bomb in Afghanistan

When two-year-old Poppy Owers asks her father what he did in Afghanistan, his answer will make her very proud.

Despite seeing colleagues suffer dreadful injuries, Captain Wayne Owers risked his life 93 times to defuse Taliban bombs, saving countless lives in a remarkable six-month tour.

Relying on his wits and courage, rather than protective gear and specialist equipment, Capt Owers's bravery in Afghanistan makes him the most prolific bomb destroyer in the history of the Army.
His average of one improvised explosive device (IED) defused every two days between March and August last year is the highest strike rate recorded by the Ministry of Defence.

Now Capt Owers, 39, who lives in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, with his wife Sukie, 37, and their daughter Poppy, will receive the Queen's Gallantry Medal later this year for his bravery.

Capt Owers, who has served in the Army for 20 years, including tours in Iraq, Bosnia, Oman, Kosovo and Northern Ireland, said his job had pushed him 'to the limit', both mentally and physically.

He said: 'Everything is down to luck and to me numbers aren't significant.

'The best bomb disposal officer in the world could stand on an undetected bomb and it would be game over.

'The only way numbers are relevant is in the feeling that the more bombs you defuse, the more likely it seems that something could go horribly wrong.
But you have to be confident, and not let yourself think about what could happen.

'People ask me how I managed to get up every day and do that job, but it's different when you're actually out in Afghanistan and in that situation.

'You just have to get on with it and be as confident as possible. We all just had to knuckle down.
I used to enjoy the job when I first went out. But when that first bomb went off, I started to get a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.

'It really hit me when I saw my comrades get injured.'

During his tour of duty with the Royal Logistic Corps, Capt Owers saw comrades suffer horrendous

injuries. An explosion in May led to a colleague losing two legs and an arm. Two months later, Capt Owers was standing next to Corporal Jonny Wallace as he had his leg ripped open after stepping on a device.

Capt Owers said: 'He was handing me a piece of equipment - that's how close I was. It just went bang and I flew backwards. I didn't break a fingernail - I was very lucky.'

Lance Corporal Davie Timmins, Capt Owers's bodyguard, lost his right eye and hearing in his right ear in the explosion, in which he swallowed his own tongue.

L/Cpl Timmins, himself a Queen's Gallantry Medal recipient, said: 'I was losing a lot of blood but Capt Owers pulled my tongue out of my mouth, sat me up and whacked me on the back several times, saying, "don't die on me".'

Only 600 Queen's Gallantry Medals have been awarded since 1974.

An MoD spokesman said: 'This officer often took greater risks than normally permitted - relying on his wits and courage instead of a protective suit and specialist equipment.'

He added that Capt Owers's 'inspirational actions' had 'enabled countless missions to succeed and directly saved innumerable lives. His courage and gallantry is worthy of the very highest level of formal recognition.'

Capt Owers is now based in Britain and teaches others how to become bomb disposal experts.

MoD threat to ruin Royal Marine hero who threw himself on Taliban grenade

Frontline memoir: The book was written in L/Cpl Croucher's own time
Proud: Matthew Croucher with his George Cross at Buckingham Palace




The Ministry of Defence threatened to bankrupt a Royal Marine war hero by forcing him to pay back money earned from his memoirs.

Lance-Corporal Matthew Croucher - who was awarded the George Cross by the Queen after throwing himself on a Taliban grenade to save his comrades in Afghanistan - was facing months of investigation by senior military staff for telling his story.

And the part-time soldier, who volunteered to go to the war zone, was told by the MoD that he would have to pay back the money he earned from writing about his exploits - around £90,000.

Yet within hours of The Mail on Sunday first contacting the MoD, officials backtracked and said L/Cpl Croucher had been cleared and would face no further action.

The MoD originally claimed the book, Bulletproof, published in September, broke military regulations banning serving men from being paid for writing about their careers.

The ban was brought in after the publication of a series of controversial military memoirs, including books by former SAS soldier Andy McNab and General Sir Peter de la Billière, Britain's commander in the 1991 Gulf War.

The MoD launched an official investigation and forced L/Cpl Croucher, a Royal Marine Reserve who is paid by the military only when he is on active service or exercises, to give evidence to senior naval officers.

He was also warned he would face further questioning at another hearing in Whitehall and told that if the inquiry found against him, he would have to repay the money or face being dismissed from the Marines.

Sources close to the soldier said: 'Matt wrote this book on his own time. He was paid an advance and used that money to live and also set up his own business, a security company supplying ex-Royal Marines to act as consultants and bodyguards.

'He does not earn his living from the military. He is only paid by the MoD when he is called up for duty. When he was writing the book it was his job and his only source of income.

'By asking him to pay the money back, they left him fearing ruin. He is a loyal Marine. If they told him to pay back the money he would - even if they forced him into bankruptcy.
The source added: 'Matt got permission from his commanding officer. He sent the book to the MoD's D-Notice Committee to make sure he was not revealing any secrets. Then out of the blue - on the eve of publication - the bureaucrats in Whitehall put Matt under formal investigation.

'He has been devastated. He does not want to upset the military. He is a loyal soldier.'

L/Cpl Croucher, from Birmingham, served three tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. He is a member of 40 Commando, which is based at Taunton in Somerset, and serves in the Commando Reconnaissance Force.

He was recommended for the George Cross after his heroism two years ago when he threw himself on a booby-trapped Taliban grenade to save three comrades during a search of a suspected bomb-making compound.

Miraculously, he escaped with just a nosebleed – his rucksack and body armour took the force of the blast.

L/Cpl Croucher later said: 'All I could hear was a loud ringing and the faint sound of people shouting, "Are you OK? Are you OK?" Then I felt one of the lads giving me a top-to-toe check. Blood was streaming from my nose. It took 30 seconds before I realised I was definitely not dead.'

When The Mail on Sunday first contacted the MoD this weekend, a spokesman confirmed it was investigating L/Cpl Croucher over his book deal.

He said military regulations banned serving soldiers from being paid for writing about their exploits, adding that there were issues of copyright and questions about whether other soldiers featured in photographs in the book had given their permission.

He said: 'There is a question about whether military regulations were followed.'

But within hours the MoD said, 'Things have moved on,' and issued another statement saying L/Cpl Croucher had been cleared. It added: 'An investigation has concluded that Corporal Croucher had followed the correct procedure. No disciplinary action will be taken. Any suggestion that he must repay any money is false.'

But the MoD failed to respond to questions about when the decision had been taken.

Last night a spokesman for L/Cpl Croucher said he was still waiting to hear from the MoD and had not been told the investigation against him had concluded. The spokesman said: 'Matt is working with the MoD to resolve this matter.'

Read more about Military Awards.


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Why Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin to host Oscars?-Two wild and crazy guys go to the Oscars

Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin are good, solid choices to host the Oscars, but it's hard to make sense of why they were tapped — and combined as a pair. Lately, Oscar chiefs have seemed eager to lure younger viewers and add song-and-dance entertainment to the ceremony. Martin is age 64, Baldwin is 51. Neither is known as a musical showman a la last year's emcee Hugh Jackman.

But they're both stars of the upcoming comedy directed by Nancy Meyers, "It's Complicated," which opens this Christmas featuring them as dueling love interests of Meryl Streep. If either nabs a bid for acting, he'll be the first Academy Awards host to be nominated while presiding at the ceremony since Paul Hogan was nommed for writing "Crocodile Dundee" as he hosted the Oscars with Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase in 1987 (honoring films released in 1986).

That was the last time that the Oscars had multiple hosts, which rarely occurs nowadays. A trio also presided one year earlier — Alan Alda, Jane Fonda, Robin Williams. Notice that both of those examples included something missing from this year's combo: a woman. Why don't they add Meryl Streep to this year's mix? If they want a dash of musical panache, let's recall that the two-time Oscar champ recently crooned successfully in "Mamma Mia!" and earned one of her record 15 nominations for her singing performance in "Postcards from the Edge." Oh, wait -- that's right: last year there were reports that producers wanted her to join Hugh Jackman in a musical duet on stage, but she declined.

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Praise and skepticism greet Obama Nobel award

The chairman of the Republican Party is contending that President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize as result of his "star power" rather than meaningful
A surprised world greeted the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to U.S. President Barack Obama with a mixture of praise and skepticism on Friday.

In its announcement, the Norwegian Nobel Committee hailed Obama's "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples."

Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg made clear the award carried big expectations, saying: "This is a surprising, an exciting prize. It remains to be seen if he will succeed with reconciliation, peace and nuclear disarmament."

Accomplishments?.

Michael Steele issued a statement Friday saying, "The real question Americans are asking is, What has President Obama actually accomplished?"

Steele, who took over the reigns of the party earlier this year, said he thought it was "unfortunate that the president's star power has outshined tireless advocates who have made real achievements working towards peace and human rights." He said he doesn't think Obama will be "receiving any awards from Americans for job creation, fiscal responsibility, or backing up rhetoric with concrete action."

In one fell swoop, the Nobel Prize jury just made a mockery of the world's most revered honor and handed Barack Obama's opponents a great talking point. They wounded two doves with one stone.


Afghanistan's Taliban mocked the choice, saying it was absurd to give it to Obama when he had ordered 21,000 extra troops to Afghanistan this year.

"The Nobel prize for peace? Obama should have won the 'Nobel Prize for escalating violence and killing civilians'," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location.

Japanese President Yukio Hatoyama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel both said the prize should encourage everyone to help Obama rid the world of nuclear weapons.

"I think the peace prize was given with such a hope," Hatoyama told reporters on a visit to Beijing.

Merkel said Obama had shifted the tone toward dialogue in a very short time. "There is still much left to do, but a window of possibility has been opened," she said in Leipzig.

In the Middle East, chief Palestinian peace negotiator Saeb Erekat said the award could be a good omen for the region.


"We hope that he will be able to achieve peace in the Middle East and achieve Israeli withdrawal to 1967 borders and establish an independent Palestinian state on 1967 borders, with Jerusalem as its capital," he told Reuters.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told army radio the prize should enhance Obama's ability "to contribute to establishing regional peace in the Middle East and a settlement between us and the Palestinians that will bring security, prosperity and growth to all the peoples of the region."

The Islamist movement Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip and opposes a peace treaty with Israel, was more skeptical.

"Unless real and deep-rooted change is made in American policy toward recognizing the rights of the Palestinian people I would think such a prize would be useless," Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas prime minister in the Gaza Strip, told reporters after Friday prayers.

Agree



Saleh al-Mutlaq, a senior Iraqi Sunni Muslim lawmaker, told Reuters: "I think he deserves this prize. Obama succeeded in making a real change in the policy of the United States -- a change from a policy that was exporting evil to the world to a policy exporting peace and stability to the world."

In Indonesia, Masdar Mas'udi, deputy head of the largest Muslim organization Nahdatul Ulama, said: "I think it's appropriate because he is the only American president who has reached out to us in peace. On the issues of race, religion, skin color, he has an open attitude."




In Pakistan, Liaqat Baluch, a senior leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami, a conservative religious party, said: "It's a joke. How embarrassing for those who awarded it to him because he's done nothing for peace. What change has he brought in Iraq, the Middle East or Afghanistan?"

In Lebanon, Hezbollah member of parliament Hassan Fadlallah said he had seen no signs of peace from Obama yet. "We were waiting for deeds, not words that soon vanish," he said.

Irene Khan, secretary general of Amnesty International said the award raised expectations of Obama.

"We look to him for decisive action to pursue peace with justice in the Middle East, end the rollback on human rights in the name of counter terrorism and reinforce the fight against poverty at a time of economic crisis," she said. Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter called the award a bold sign of support for Obama. "It shows the hope his administration represents not only to our nation but to people around the world," Carter, who won the prize in 2002, said in a statement.

Poland's Lech Walesa, former leader of the pro-democracy Solidarity trade union that toppled communism, said it was too early. "So soon? This is too soon. He has not yet made a real input. He is proposing, he is starting, but he still has to do it all," Walesa, who won the prize in 1983, told reporters.

South Africa's Archbishop Desmond Tutu, awarded the prize in 1984, said the latest choice was "a magnificent endorsement for the first African American president in history."

From Obama's ancestral village of Kogelo in western Kenya his uncle Said Obama told Reuters: "It is humbling for us as a family and we share in Barack's honor. We congratulate him."

Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangarai, who had been among the favorites to win this year, said Obama was an extraordinary example.

"I wish to congratulate President Obama. I think he is a deserving candidate," he told Reuters during a visit to Spain.

Click to Read the entire Article!-Click to Read the entire Article!-Click to Read the entire Article!-Click to Read the entire Article!
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Medal of Honor recipient remembered as a selfless friend-President presents 1st Medal of Honor.

Members of the Army 10th Mountain Division who served with Army Sgt. 1st. Class Jared C. Monti from Raynham, Mass, stand and are acknowledged by President Barack Obama, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2009, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, as he posthumously awarded Monti the Medal of Honor for his service in Afghanistan.




FILE - Sgt. 1st Class Jared C. Monti of Raynham, Mass.is shown in this undated file photo. Monti was killed during a firefight with the Taliban in Gowardesh, Afghanistan, in June 2006. President Barack Obama presented his first Medal of Honor to Monti, posthumously, Thursday Sept. 17, 2009. Monti braved enemy fire while attempting to save a comrade.


President Barack Obama pauses in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2009, during a ceremony where he awarded Army Sgt. 1st Class Jared C. Monti from Raynham, Mass. the Medal of Honor for his service in Afghanistan.


President Barack Obama stands with Paul and Janet Monti during a White House ceremony at which he posthumously awarded their son, Sgt. 1st Class Jared C. Monti, the Medal of Honor for his service in Afghanistan.



Presenting his first Medal of Honor, President Barack Obama on Thursday praised the sacrifice of a soldier who braved enemy fire while attempting to save a comrade during the war in Afghanistan.

Obama honored Sgt. 1st Class Jared Monti of Raynham, Mass., during an East Room ceremony and praised the extraordinary valor while facing insurgent fire. Standing before Monti's parents, Janet and Paul, Obama said Monti personified the values of duty, honor, sacrifice and heroism.

Americans often toss around such words too freely, the president said.

"But do we really grasp the meaning of these values? Do we truly understand the nature of these virtues, to serve and to sacrifice?" Obama asked. "Jared Monti knew.The Monti family knows. And they know that the actions we honor today were not a passing moment of courage. They were the culmination of a life of character and commitment."

Obama said the sacrifice of Monti and other brave members of the military should inspire all Americans to aspire to be better citizens.

"What can we do to be worthy of such service and such sacrifice?" Obama said.

Monti previously was awarded a Bronze Star, Purple Heart, five Army Commendation Medals, four Army Achievement Medals and three National Defense Service Medals.

The Medals of Honor are the highest award for military valor, typically reserved for members of the military who risk their lives with gallantry beyond the call of duty.

"Bullets and heavy machine gunfire ricocheting across the rocks. Rocket-propelled grenades raining down. Fire so intense that weapons were shot right out of their hands," Obama said, explaining the battle to a packed White House event. "Within minutes, one soldier was killed; another was wounded. Everyone dove for cover, behind a tree, a rock, a stone wall."

Monti's 16-man patrol had been scouting ahead of a larger offensive against the Taliban along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. A helicopter deployed to resupply the patrol blew their cover; Taliban fighters converged, and Monti called for backup.

One of his men, Pvt. Brian Bradbury, of St. Joseph, Mo., was shot during the encounter. Monti, who enlisted at age 17, twice left cover and ran into the open under intense enemy fire to retrieve the wounded soldier.

"Jared Monti did something no amount of training can instill. His patrol leader said he'd go, but Jared said, 'No, he is my soldier, I'm going to get him,'" Obama recounted.

Paul Monti says it's frustrating that U.S. troops have never had the proper resources in Afghanistan. But he insists his son did not die in vain. "He died doing what he felt he had to do," he says. "It didn't matter the end result because that was him. He just did what the soldier's creed says: 'You never leave a soldier behind.' "

When Jared Monti was just a young boy, the family traveled to Washington and stood outside the White House gates to pose for a photo. As they return Thursday to honor their fallen son, Paul Monti is going through a mix of emotions.

"It's wonderful meeting the president and it's wonderful having my son receiving the Medal of Honor, but I would give all of it up to have my son back -- everything," he says, next to a shrine in the living room with some of his son's personal effects, including his uniform. "There's nothing I wouldn't give. Even my own life to get my son back."

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16 Honored With Medal Of Freedom

President Barack Obama presents the Medal of Freedom to physicist Stephen Hawking ,In a ceremony at the White House, Prof Hawking, 67, who is completely paralysed by motor neuron disease, was among 16 renowned “agents of change” chosen to receive the medal. -


President Obama presents the Medal of Freedom to actor Sidney Poitier. Ailing Sen. Edward Kennedy also was honored.



President Obama shares a laugh with Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Chita Rivera, who, as a Puerto Rican-American, broke barriers as an actress, singer and dancer to become a Broadway star in West Side Story.


Muhammad Ali's Presidential Medal of Freedom on display at the Muhammad Ali Center


An emotional Kara Kennedy accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her father, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, yesterday.



Medal and other accoutrements including undress ribbon, miniature, and lapel badge.


-President Barack Obama confers Medal of Freedom on Joseph Medicine Crow, the only surviving Plains Indian war chief, as fellow recipient actor Sidney Poitier looks on. The other 14 honorees include actress Chita Rivera, former Irish president Mary Robinson, Sen. Ted Kennedy, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, British physicist Stephen Hawking and civil rights leader Rev. Joseph Lowery-


The Presidential Medal of Freedom is a decoration bestowed by the President of the United States and is, along with the equivalent Congressional Gold Medal bestowed by an act of Congress, the highest civilian award in the United States. It is designed to recognize individuals who have made "an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors." The award is not limited to United States citizens


At his first Medal of Freedom conferral, President Obama ran a tight ship of a ceremony, which began slightly after 3 p.m. and clocked in at about 40 minutes' worth of speechifying and medal-bestowing in the glittering East Room, the largest room in the White House. This year, actor Sidney Poitier, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Broadway star Chita Rivera, Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) and former Irish president Mary Robinson were among the 16 who received the nation's highest civilian honor.

Among the recipients of the Medal of Freedom: Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and noted physicist Stephen Hawking, Honored, but not present, Sen. Edward Kennedy, whose daughter Cara accepted on his behalf. He continues his battle with brain cancer at his home in Massachusetts.


Medal Recipients are:-

- Nancy Goodman Brinker, the founder of breast cancer organization Susan G. Komen for the Cure
- Pedro Jos Greer Jr., a Miami physician who works with the city's poor and homeless
- Stephen Hawking, British physicist
- Jack Kemp, politician and sports icon
- Sen. Edward Kennedy
- Billie Jean King, tennis pro
- Joseph Lowery, civil rights movement champion
- Joseph Medicine Crow, 95, last living Plains Indian war chief
- Harvey Milk, gay rights activist
- Sandra Day O'Connor, first woman on U.S. Supreme Court
- Sidney Poitier, actor and ambassador
- Chita Rivera, singer, dancer, actress
- Mary Robinson, the first female president of Ireland
- Janet Davison Rowley, the first scientist to identify the causes of leukemia and other cancers
- Desmond Tutu, anti-apartheid activist
- Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank to provide loans to the poor in his native Bangladesh

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