Big is beautiful at Club Bounce

The woman behind a club for larger than life ladies in California says business is booming.



Lisa Marie Garbo, a 5ft 7in, 19st 4lbs self-proclaimed 'size-acceptance activist', opened Club Bounce in Long Beach five years ago.

It has proven such a success that she has recently opened another in Phoenix and has plans for a third in Dallas.

Club Bounce, logo: "Where Size And Style Meet", claims to be the world's first dance club for plus-sized ladies.

It's regularly packed dance floor is a magnet for BBW (big beautiful women) and the BHM (big handsome men) who love their curves.

Ms Garbo's aim was to provide a place where women could go and have their size accepted and celebrated.

She says she has only learned to love her own curves since hitting 30 - until then, she says, she felt ugly and unattractive.

But the club has also come in for criticism from some people who say she is promoting obesity.

Ms Garbo argues that many of the women who come to the club are actively trying to shed the pounds.

"But why must these women sit at home watching TV until the weight, which they may actually never lose, is gone?" she asks.

Huge audience watched op to separate twins

More than 100,000 watched online as surgeons carried out a five hour operation to separate conjoined twin girls.



Orphaned sisters Ling Ling and Ling Mai - born sharing a liver, stomach and sternum - are now recovering after what medics in Shanghai, eastern China, say was a completely successful op.

At one point so many people were watching the procedure online that it threatened to crash the entire internet network in the region.

Lead surgeon Professor Xu Weiyu said: "It was a lot more complicated than we expected. The slightest error could have caused a massive haemorrhage."

Medics managed to separate the 11-month-old girls' shared liver and untangle intestines that were separate, but wrapped around each other.

The separated breast bone will be covered with skin grafts in a later op, said Professor Weiyu.

"They will be able to lead completely independent lives," he added.

Swedes quash lesbian town rumour

Swedish tourism officials are struggling to quash rumours in China that the country is home to a women-only town where residents are desperate for men.



Several Chinese media outlets have published reports claiming that 25,000 women live together in Chako Paul City, reports the Daily Telegraph.

Millions of Chinese men have since searched the internet for more details of the city, said to have been founded by a man-hating widow in the forests of northern Sweden in 1820.

According to the rumours, the residents have turned to same-sex relationships to satisfy their desires, and any men attempting to gain entry risk being "beaten half to death" by the blonde sentries at the gates.

The far-fetched fantasy appears to have been swallowed by so many Chinese men that Swedish officials have issued a formal denial that the town exists, or ever existed.

"I have no idea where something like this could have come from," Claes Bertilson, of the Scandinavian country's Association of Local Authorities and Regions, told The Local newspaper.

"At 25,000 residents, the town would be one of the largest in northern Sweden, and I find it hard to believe that you could keep something like that a secret for more than 150 years."

The mythical town has reportedly been mentioned in stories on the Xinhua and Harbin News news agencies and featured in a segment produced by the Shanghai Media Group.

It is unclear where the story originated, although officials have suggested that a publicity stunt by the northern Swedish town of Palaja in the 1980s may have been lost in translation.

The male-dominated town arranged for busloads of women to be driven through in an effort to attract more female residents

Russell to meet Katy's parents

Things are obviously getting serious between Katy Perry and Russell Brand as he is set to meet her parents.



However, lets hope Keith and Mary Hudson haven't done any research on Russell's background as they are strict Christians.

It's highly likely they would approve of Russell's reputation with the ladies.

Katy is trying to arrange for Russell to meet her parents before she hosts the MTV Europe Awards in Berlin next month.

A source told The Sun: "Katy is as besotted with Russell as he is with her. However, her parents are extraordinarily strict Christians.

"Katy is sure that, after a bit of getting used to him, they would approve of Russell, but she wants to get that initial meeting out of the way as early as she can.

"Keith and Mary are devoted to the church and hold the institution of marriage as a central core of their beliefs.

"They are genuinely happy for their daughter, but want to give Russell the once-over to check that he is, in fact, as suitable as Katy claims."

Keith and Mary run an evangelical ministry in Temecula, 74 miles south of Los Angeles, are licensed to marry couples in California.

The source added: "Obviously both Katy and Russell are very busy. Katy is heading back to LA soon to work on her second album. Russell has got some stand-up shows at the beginning of November, so they have a window of the last couple of weeks in October available to them.

"Katy is really keen to get the meeting out of the way early-on, so her and Russ can get on with their relationship without anything hanging over their heads."

So, if the meeting goes well they could end up marrying the pair!

Conman gives himself away on Facebook

A fraudster who went on the run from US authorities gave himself away - because he couldn't help himself from posting on Facebook.



Cameroon-born Maxi Sopo's messages made it clear he was living the high life in the Mexican resort of Cancun.

He also added a former US justice department official to his friend list who ended up helping to track him down, reports the BBC.

US officials say Mr Sopo and an associate falsely obtained more than �125,000 in credit from banks.

In recent status updates Mr Sopo said he was "loving it", described himself as "living in paradise" and said he was "just here to have fun".

"He was making posts about how beautiful life is and how he was having a good time with his buddies," said Assistant US Attorney Michael Scoville.

"He was definitely not living the way we wanted him to be living, given the charges he was facing," he added.

The 26-year-old, who is now in custody in Mexico City, initially sold roses in Seattle nightclubs after arriving in the US in 2003. He then allegedly moved on to bank fraud.

The former justice department official whom Mr Sopo befriended on the social networking site said he had only met the fugitive a few times in the city's nightclubs and had no idea that he was on the run.

He was able to discover exactly where Mr Sopo was living and the information was passed to the Mexican authorities who arrested him last month.

Cheryl won't sing live

Cheryl Cole won't be performing her single live on this weekend's X Factor show after all.



The Girls Aloud star's performance of Fight For This Love will now be recorded on the day in front of an audience of just 800, instead of live for 14 million viewers.

She was scheduled to sing prior to Whitney Houston belting out her new hit on the show.

X Factor chiefs have defended Cheryl's choice and claim she wouldn't have time to go from her seat on the judging panel to the stage so had to pre-record the slot.

Speaking about the performance Cheryl admitted she's terrified.

She revealed: "The nerves started weeks ago. It's really here and happening. I love performing but I've sat for weeks judging people and now I'm putting myself out there to be judged."

So, does Cheryl have the X Factor? We'll have to wait until Sunday night to find out!

Calendar girl gets rivals' goat

Creators of a calendar of Swiss farm girls have been slammed - after one of the models turned out to be German.



The calendar of pictures of scantily clad models in rural settings didn't raise an eyebrow in Switzerland.

But a row erupted when it emerged than one of the 12 models was actually from Germany.

Johanna Saenger, 23, is pictured in a classic Swiss Alpine setting while cuddling two white goats, as Miss April.

One angry Swiss model told a local radio station: "It is not as if there are not enough good-looking Swiss girls.

"There was no reason for them to take a German girl."

But agriculture student Johanna, from Gottingen, Germany, says the row is a storm in a double D cup.

"I love animals, which is why I agreed to be in the calendar and I'm proud of my body and wanted to show it off," she explained.

Joyriders tried to steal helicopter

Police in Hertfordshire are hunting two ambitious teenage joyriders who tried to take a helicopter for a spin.



The pair struck while the unlocked aircraft was parked in a field at Letchworth Rugby Club, reports Sky News.

The pilot, in his 40s, returned from a meeting to find an iPod, first aid kit, torches and fire extinguisher stolen.

He then discovered that the light-fingered culprits had also undertaken the first stages of starting the engine.

After carrying out safety checks, the helicopter owner took off and hovered at low altitude to check nothing was awry.

At this point he spotted two teenagers, both with bicycles, hiding in a bush nearby and watching him.

PC Quentin Lane, who is investigating the incident, said the pilot discovered that a series of electrical switches had been tampered with.

One youth is described as white, aged about 15, and was wearing a grey and white hooded top. The second is slightly younger and was wearing a camouflage top.

The pilot travels regularly between Berkshire and Letchworth on business and had an arrangement with the rugby club to use their property to park.