INTernationaL NEWS in brief

Kate applauded for not hiding new mommy tummy

NEW YORK (AP):

As Kate and William showed off the royal baby, what caught the eye of many women was not the new heir to the throne but the Duchess of Cambridge's post-childbirth silhouette: that little bump under her pretty polka-dot dress.

"I love that she came out and there was a mommy tummy. It was there! We all saw it!" said Lyss Stern of New York City, who remembers turning down offers of a girdle and diet pills after her first child was born nine years ago.

Stern, whose company Divamoms.com organises events and product launches, added that Kate was sending "the right message," in stark contrast to Hollywood celebrities who are shown "three weeks after childbirth with a flat stomach and G-string bikini. That's not real."

Pakistan bans racy condom commercial

ISLAMABAD (AP):

Pakistan's media regulatory agency has banned a condom commercial starring a sultry Pakistani model after it received hundreds of complaints the ad was too racy, a senior official said Thursday.

The 50-second television commercial shows a Pakistani couple wondering why their neighbour's new bride, the model and actress Mathira Mohammed playing herself, is working so hard to keep her husband happy. When asked about his secret, the neighbour smiles and holds up a pack of condoms made by Josh, which means excitement in Urdu.

WikiLeaks Party candidates named

CANBERRA, Australia (AP):

Secrets spiller Julian Assange on Thursday launched his WikiLeaks Party's Senate candidate team for Australian elections due this year.

Assange, a 41-year-old Australian citizen who last left his homeland in 2010, addressed the party launch in the Victoria state capital of Melbourne via Skype from the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, where he has taken asylum from extradition to Sweden to face questioning over sexual offense allegations.