THE MOST EXPENSIVE BLACK JUMBO WATERMELON IN THE WORLD...


TOKYO TODAY - A black jumbo watermelon auctioned in northern Japan fetched a record $6,100 Friday, making it the most expensive watermelon ever sold in the country — and possibly the world.

The 17-pound premium "Densuke" watermelon, grown only on the northern island of Hokkaido, was purchased by a marine products dealer who said he wanted to support local agriculture, according to Kyodo News agency.

In a country where melons are a luxury item commonly given as gifts, the watermelon's hefty price tag follows another jaw-dropping auction last month, where a pair of "Yubari" cantaloupe melons sold for a record $23,500.

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HAVE YOU EVER READ SO MUCH UNADULTEREATED CRAP AS THAT RECENTLY EMANATING FROM LONGTIME ZIMBABWE DICTATOR, ROBERT MUGABE...


NZ City 4 June 2008
Agriculture Minister Jim Anderton says he refused to be lectured by Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe at the United Nations global food summit in Rome, so boycotted his speech.

Mr Mugabe blamed Britain "and its friends" including New Zealand, for crippling his country economically with illegal sanctions. He said sanctions have crippled Zimbabwe's economy "and thereby effect illegal regime change in our country."

Mr Anderton says it was an easy decision not to turn up for the speech. He says he has no time for Mr Mugabe given what he has put his people through and it would have been been a bit rich to have been lectured by him.

"If it wasn't so tragic it would be laughable. He took over a country that was renowned as the bread basket of Africa and now he has millions of people virtually starving. He was blaming everyone including New Zealand."

Mr Anderton speaks at the conference tomorrow and will call for a coordinated approach to the issue from the UN.

The Iranian president used the summit to attack Israel and America. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claims US policy in the Middle East has been aggressive, yet he said that the state of Israel will certainly disappear.

Mr Ahmadinejad also slammed the West over its handling of the food crisis, accusing certain "big powers" of sometimes acting with "devilish" motives.

THE MAN WITH NO FACE - MEDICAL SCIENCE OFFERS HOPE...

Medical offers new hope to face-eating tumor man.

Jose Mestre and his sister Guida in London. Pictures below story show Jose aged 14 when the tumor was still small, and as he is now.

A victim of horrific facial disfigurement - known as "the man with no face" - has been given new hope by the advancement of medical science.

Jose Mestre, from Lisbon, Portugal, has been losing his face to a huge growth for the past 35 years, distorting it out of all recognition - and it's still growing.

The tumor on 51-year-old Jose's face is a collection of blood vessels that have expanded, producing a raised red area on the skin.

Jose was born with a strawberry-coloured birthmark on his upper lip. At puberty it began growing, eventually smothering his lips, nose and one of his eyes. Now it is 33cm long and weighs 3kg.

But Jose's religious faith - as a Jehovah's Witness he refuses to accept a blood transfusion - has prevented him from having surgery to remove the growth.

Jose's rare condition was the subject of a Discovery Channel TV documentary 'The Man With No Face', part of the 'My Shocking Story' series.

It reveals how top medical experts in London have now held out hope of helping Jose, a well-known figure around the streets of Lisbon.

A leading British surgeon has offered to treat Jose using ultrasound waves to coagulate the blood before the operation.

This should remove the risk of heavy bleeding - satisfying his religious beliefs about blood transfusions in the process.

Dr Iain Hutchison, of St Bartholomew's in London, is confident an operation with a harmonic scalpel could make him look a lot more normal.

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