Leaving your kids with their grandparents could be bad for their health and may even increase their risk of cancer, scientists have warned.

Grandmothers and grandfathers spoil their grandchildren with sweet ‘treats’ and massive helpings of fattening food, a new review claims.

They also allow them to laze about inside, playing video games or watching TV, instead of running around outside, it is alleged.

And they reportedly tend to smoke in front of the kids, exposing their young lungs to second-hand tobacco smoke and setting a bad example.

Scientists found that the risks were “unintentional”.

The extraordinary claims are based on a review of research into the influence grandparents have on lifestyle factors that can sow the seeds of cancer in later life.

Lead author Dr Stephanie Chambers, of the University of Glasgow’s Public Health Sciences Unit in Scotland, said:

“While the results of this review are clear that behaviour such as exposure to smoking and regularly treating children increases cancer risks as children grow into adulthood, it is also clear from the evidence that these risks are unintentional.

“Currently grandparents are not the focus of public health messaging targeted at parents and in light of the evidence from this study, perhaps this is something that needs to change given the prominent role grandparents play in the lives of children.”

The Glasgow team analysed data from 56 studies from 18 countries that included information about the influence of grandparents on their grandchildren.

Overall, grandparents were found to have an adverse effect – despite meaning well.

In many cases, such as rewarding good behaviour with sweets, they were putting the health of their grandchildren at risk with kindness.

President Robert Mugabe is insisting he remains Zimbabwe’s only legitimate ruler, an intelligence source said on Thursday.

The source said Mugabe is resisting mediation by a Catholic priest to allow the 93-year-old former guerrilla a graceful exit after a military coup.

The priest, Fidelis Mukonori, is acting as a middle-man between Mugabe and the generals, who seized power on Wednesday in a targeted operation against “criminals” in his entourage, a senior political source told Reuters.

The source could not provide details of the talks, which appear to be aimed at a smooth and bloodless transition after the departure of Mugabe, who has led Zimbabwe since independence in 1980.

Mugabe, still seen by many Africans as a liberation hero, is reviled in the West as a despot whose disastrous handling of the economy and willingness to resort to violence to maintain power destroyed one of Africa’s most promising states.

Zimbabwean intelligence reports seen by Reuters suggest that former security chief Emmerson Mnangagwa, who was ousted as vice-president this month, has been mapping out a post-Mugabe vision with the military and opposition for more than a year.

Fuelling speculation that that plan might be rolling into action, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who has been receiving cancer treatment in Britain and South Africa, returned to Harare late on Wednesday, his spokesman said.

South Africa said Mugabe had told President Jacob Zuma by telephone on Wednesday that he was confined to his home but was otherwise fine and the military said it was keeping him and his family, including wife Grace, safe.

In spite of the lingering admiration for Mugabe, there is little public affection for 52-year-old Grace, a former government typist who started having an affair with Mugabe in the early 1990s as his first wife, Sally, was dying of cancer.

Dubbed “DisGrace” or “Gucci Grace” on account of her reputed love of shopping, she enjoyed a meteoric rise through the ranks of Mugabe’s ruling ZANU-PF in the last two years, culminating in Mnangagwa’s removal a week ago, a move seen as clearing the way for her to succeed her husband.

In contrast to the high political drama unfolding behind closed doors, the streets of the capital remained calm, with people going about their daily business, albeit under the watch of soldiers on armored vehicles at strategic locations.

Whatever the final outcome, the events could signal a once-in-a-generation change for the former British colony, a regional breadbasket reduced to destitution by economic policies Mugabe’s critics have long blamed on him.

A teacher of Colombian origin was arrested for last year for sending suggestive photos to her students and threatening to make them fail if they refused to have sex with her.

The woman, identified simply as Yokasta M. was arrested after a father of one of the students saw photos of the teacher on his son’s phone and reported to the relevant authorities. This was in 2016.

Soon after she was exposed, her husband filed for divorce. The case was highly sensational last year and made news headlines. It was reported that the teacher selected the boys, all less than 17 years of age, based on their appearance.

An investigation has been ongoing since and a recent report from Channel 4 of Nicaragua says she has been sentenced to 40 years in prison. A lot of people are questioning the sentence, saying 40 years is too long a time for the crime she committed.

Bryan Anthony Bowen approached two girls on Facebook, sending them obscene messages and asking for nak-d pictures, according to the Daily Post.

Judge Rhys Rowland said that Bowen, 26, of Welshpool, was “small in stature and emotionally inadequate,” saying he would have a hard time in prison.

Bowen, who had no previous convictions, sent a 15-year-old girl messages saying, “Do you want to f***?” and “I will f*** you for your birthday present.”

When police searched his laptop, they found he had previously approached a 13-year-old girl with a series of messages, including one saying she was, “Fit as f***.”

Judge Rowland handed Bowen, who has learning difficulties and went to a special school, a 48-week prison sentence suspended for two years.

He will register as a sex offender for 10 years.

(Metro)

A teenage American model has finally sold her virginity for around $3 million to a wealthy Abu Dhabi businessman.

Giselle, 19, who put her innocence up for sale with Cinderella Escorts, says she wanted to give it up so she can pay for tuition fees and go traveling around the world.

According to reports, she was offered the huge amount by a millionaire businessman from Abu Dhabi who outbid an unidentified Hollywood actor and the third highest bidder, a Russian politician.

An excited Giselle said:

‘I would never have dreamed that the bid would rise so high and we would have reached 2.5 million euros. This is a dream come true. ‘I think the trend to sell your virginity is a form of emancipation and I am shocked about people who are against allowing a woman to sell HER virginity. ‘If I want to spend my first time with someone who is not my first love, that’s my decision.’

I’m happy to be part of this new trend’ that ‘finally breaks the taboo about a woman’s virginity’.

She added that selling her virginity was her idea and she only used the website so the transaction and meeting could be carried out safely.

UK Metro reports that a hotel in Germany has already been booked. She will be accompanied by security from the agency who will stay close by while the businessman takes her virginity.

A spokesperson for Cinderella said:

‘On our website you will find a video where girls from all over the world talk about the reasons to sell their virginity. Girls from Australia, Europe, Africa, North and South America. From Arab countries and Asian.

‘This shows us that the desire to auction a virginity is no exception. ‘And on the other hand, the high bidding for Giselle’s auction shows us how high the demand for virgins is. Business people from all over the world have been bidding.’

Three Ohio pastors are facing life imprisonment for sex trafficking underage girls.

The Rev. Cordell Jenkins, 47, the Rev. Anthony Haynes, 38, and the Rev. Kenneth Butler, 37, were named in an 11-count superseding indictment handed up Tuesday by a federal grand jury charging them with conspiracy to sex traffic children. All three of them pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Michael Freeman, an assistant U.S. Attorney, told the court that if the men are convicted, prosecutors would recommend sentences of life in prison.

“These three men violated the trust of these children and the communities they purported to serve,” U.S. Attorney Justin E. Herdman said in a news release. “We are grateful for the courage of the victims and the dedication of our law enforcement personnel in bringing these men to justice.”

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, a girl who was just 14 when the conspiracy began in 2014 was sexually assaulted by all three men. Some of the sex acts are believed to have taken place at Greater Life Christian Center where Mr. Haynes was pastor.

Between 2014 and 2017, Mr. Haynes groomed and exploited the girl, used his cell phone to record the sexual assaults, routinely gave her money afterward, and told her not to tell anyone because it could ruin his family and his church, prosecutors say.

Mr. Haynes also is accused of introducing the teen to other men, including Mr. Jenkins, for sexual activity and for sharing pornographic photographs and videos.

Prosecutors allege that between December 2016, and March 2017, Mr. Jenkins sexually exploited the girl at his West Toledo home on Barrington Drive, at his office at Abundant Life Ministries where he was the pastor, and at a motel in Toledo. Prosecutors said he paid her for sex usually between $100 and $300 referring to the payment as “hush money.” Like Mr. Haynes, he’s accused of recording some of the interactions with his cell phone.

Mr. Jenkins is accused of paying for sex acts with a second underage girl in March.

Mr. Butler is charged with trafficking a third underage girl between 2015 and March, 2017. According to court documents, the girl told investigators she met Mr. Butler at Mr. Haynes’ church when she was 15 and he would give her rides to his church in the Detroit area.

The girl said she had sex with Mr. Butler in his car twice and he gave her money once. He later reportedly told her to lie to the FBI if she was questioned about him.

Both Mr. Haynes and Mr. Butler are charged with obstruction of a sex trafficking investigation Mr. Haynes for allegedly trying to destroy electronic evidence of sex trafficking and Mr. Butler for instructing another person to lie and lying himself to law enforcement about his involvement.

At their arraignment Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Jack Zouhary asked each of the men to tell him a little bit about their educational and work backgrounds.

Mr. Haynes described himself as “a former pastor,” while Mr. Jenkins said he had “pastored full time” for the past 23 years.

Mr. Butler, pastor of Kingdom Encounter Family Worship Center, did not mention serving as a pastor but said he had worked in a variety of security jobs, most recently as a security guard for Mercy Health St. Vincent Medical Center, Mercy Health St. Anne Hospital, and Mercy Health St. Charles Hospital.

In addition to the conspiracy charge, Mr. Butler who was not named in the original indictment filed in April against Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Haynes was indicted on two counts of sex trafficking of children and one count of obstruction of a sex trafficking investigation.

Judge Zouhary scheduled a Jan. 8 status hearing for all three co-defendants, who are to remain in custody.

Source: toledoblade