‘Weeping’ Virgin Mary at Donegal shrine shocks visitors

August 15th, 2009 COLOMBO - Over 400,000 devotees have gathered in Sri Lanka's northern Mannar district Saturday to participate in an annual religious festival, military officials said. The festivities at the Madhu Church, the holiest shrine for the island's Catholic minority, ends Sunday.

August 3rd, 2009 NEW YORK - Former US Vice President Dick Cheney daughter, Mary, threw diva tantrums with the Secret Service, a new book claims. Ronald Kessler, the author of 'In the President's Secret Service', alleges that Mary once complained about the Secret Service vehicle assigned to her.

July 28th, 2009 LONDON - Brit industrialist Sir Richard Branson has lost the sole use of the word 'virgin' in branding, after a court ruling on July 27. The court ruled in favour of South African company Bodtrade, which was granted a trademark to use the phrase: "You can't be a virgin all your life, it's time", reports the Sun.

July 18th, 2009 LONDON - A Brit train driver may lose his job following claims that he pleasured himself at the controls of a 125mph locomotive. The driver has been accused of ogling porn and performing a sex act while operating on one of the country's busiest lines, and a colleague allegedly wandered into his cabin mid-journey and spotted that his privates were exposed.

July 10th, 2009 LONDON - Claims by workmen of the appearance of an image of the Virgin Mary in the remains of a felled churchyard tree have caused a religious fever in the Irish village of Rathkeale, Co Limerick. The image is said to have attracted hundreds to pray and light candles in the grounds of Holy Mary Parish church, with some believing that the willow should be preserved and covered in glass.oel White, the Rathkeale Community Council Graveyard Committee chairman, said that workmen sprucing up the church land saw the image when they cut the tree.

June 7th, 2009 SHANGHAI - In a bid to prevent Internet addiction of their children, Chinese parents are turning towards electro-shock therapy at a clinic that claims they will be "reborn" free of the obsession. However, the harsh methods used by the clinic have caused an outcry among 3000 teenagers, who have been subjected to this odd treatment, The Sunday Times reports.

May 15th, 2009 MELBOURNE - Filmmaker Justin Sisely is getting death threats over the posters he has put up in Sydney offering virgins 20,000 dollars to appear in his documentary. The image the Melbourne-based filmmaker has selected to describe his controversial project features the Virgin Mary with male genitalia on her forehead.

May 8th, 2009 PESHAWAR - Militants have destroyed a second shrine in Peshawar, weeks after destroying the Rehman Baba shrine. Police said the Sheikh Omar Baba shrine was completely destroyed on Friday morning.

May 6th, 2009 LONDON - British billionaire businessman Richard Branson has incurred the wrath of trade union leaders by dressing up as a station cleaner in a TV commercial promoting his Virgin Trains network. Branson, who also owns the Virgin Atlantic airline, appeared in the ad wearing an orange fluorescent jacket, his forearms covered in fake tattoos and some of his front teeth blacked out, as he drives a refuse cart through the main train station in Glasgow, Scotland.

May 5th, 2009 LONDON - British supermodel Kate Moss is writing an autobiography and businessman Richard Branson has agreed to publish. Branson, who heads Virgin Atlantic airlines, owns a 10 percent stake in Virgin Books.

May 1st, 2009 MIAMI - A restaurant in the small town of Calexico on the California-Mexico border has attracted a lot of diners after the image of the Virgin Mary was reported to have appeared on the food griddle. After the restaurant's cook reported the sighting of Our Lady of Guadalupe, restaurant manager Brenda Martinez revealed that there have been more than 100 people who have visited the place to have a look at the image.

April 21st, 2009 LONDON - Former Spice Girls singer Geri Halliwell's dream of making movies will come true with the help of Virgin Media. Halliwell said she wanted to give up music and go into movies as she is really passionate about 'story-telling'.

April 18th, 2009 LONDON - A teenage student in Germany, who is auctioning her virginity on the Internet, has revealed that three persons have raised bids up to more than 5,500 pounds ever since a doctor has confirmed that she is still innocent. Brunette Alina Percea was earlier not allowed to go on with the sales by the website, after one of her former teachers raised doubts she was still a virgin.

March 27th, 2009 LONDON - Alina Percea, the Romanian teen who is auctioning her virginity online for 50,000 pounds, has hit back at her former teacher's claims that she's not a virgin. Alina was devastated when former teacher Alexandru Dumitrescu claimed: "Her virginity is a fairytale.

March 26th, 2009 LONDON - Alina Percea, the Romanian girl who has auctioned her virginity for 50,000 pounds on the net, has been dismissed as a fake by her former teacher. The 18-year-old said she needed money to pay for her college tuitions, but her claims of being a virgin have been labelled a "fairy tale" by Alexandru Dumitrescu.