To the surprise of right-wing commentators, it is possible to be too lefty for the BBC.

The British public broadcaster, which is often criticized by conservatives for its political slant, will not allow a statue of George Orwell to grace the entrance of its new headquarters, reportedly because the idea is too partisan.

Orwell, who worked briefly at the BBC, earned international renown through his writing, aiming his pen at imperialism,unbridled capitalism, the Spanish civil war,revolutionary excess, and totalitarianism. In 2008 he was named the second-best British writer since the war, trailing only Philip Larkin in a list compiled by the Times of London.

But in spite of his fame -- and a range of targets that has seen him claimed by both the right and the left -- outgoing BBC Director-General Mark Thompson was apparently quick to dismiss the idea of Orwell's statue at the broadcaster's entrance.

"I met Mark Thompson at a BBC reception and mentioned the project," Baroness Joan Bakewell, a supporter of the George Orwell Memorial Trust, told the Daily Telegraph. "He said, 'Oh no, Joan, we can't possibly. It's far too left-wing an idea'."

Horrifying undercover footage from inside a Californian slaughterhouse shows incompetent workers standing on the mouth and nostrils of a cow to suffocate it after failing to kill the animal with a bolt-gun.

The shocking video, which allegedly demonstrates rampant animal abuse and suffering from inside Central Valley Meat Co., has led the the U.S. Department of Agriculture to shut down the slaughterhouse which was a major supplier of their National School Lunch Program and In-N-Out Burger.

The sad film produced by animal rights group Compassion Over Killing reveals how already sick cows are stunned when they are unable to walk to their deaths and shows how they are hoisted up by their legs onto conveyor-belts even if the bolt-gun has failed to kill the animal.

Most of the animals slaughtered by CVM are 'spent' dairy cows who are no longer economically viable as milk-producers to the dairy industry.

And now USDA regulators who shut down the slaughterhouse after viewing the animal welfare video are investigating whether beef from sick cows reached the human food supply.

The investigation will determine whether sick cows were slaughtered and whether meat products from the company should be recalled, said Justin DeJong, a spokesman for the USDA Food Safety Inspection Service.

There is no indication any of the cows slaughtered at the Central Valley Meat plant were diseased and the USDA did not order a recall of beef coming from the plant.

A spokesman for In-N-Out Burger said that CVM provided between 20 to 30 percent of the meat used by their restaurants and that it canceled its contract immediately.

The west cost burger chain has a loyal following and is regulalry patronised by Hollywood celebrities such as the soccer player David Beckham.

On the firm's website the chain claims to make its own hamburger patties 'using premium cattle selected especially for In-N-Out Burger', and says it pays 'a premium' for this.

In a statement to ABC News, the company's chief operating officer, Mark Taylor said, 'In-N-Out Burger would never condone the inhumane treatment of animals, and, in fact, all of our suppliers must agree to abide by our strict standards for the humane treatment of cattle.'

The agency suspended operations Monday at Central Valley Meat Co. in Hanford after receiving the video Friday from the animal welfare group Compassion Over Killing (COK).

The footage shows animals bleeding and thrashing after being repeatedly shot in the head with a pneumatic gun in unsuccessful efforts to kill them for slaughter.

Federal regulations say that to avoid unnecessary suffering during slaughter, animals must be rendered unconscious by a single shot to the head from a pneumatic gun that fires a bolt through the skull to pierce the brain.

The USDA said investigators are trying to determine whether the cows in the video were just lame or sick, which would render them unfit for human consumption.

'That's the main issue right now,' said DeJong of the USDA's Food Safety Inspection Service.

Central Valley Meat Co., owned by Brian and Lawrence Coelho, declined to comment on the video, saying company officials had not seen it.

Germany's conservative coalition, led by Chancellor Angela Merkel, is planning to pay mothers who stay at home to care for their children.

The draft law has touched off debate between those who see this as offering more people the option of staying at home and those who see it as a missed opportunity to expand access to affordable child care outside the home.

Private daycare or nannies are uncommon in Germany, and most often only chosen if government-funded or church-funded daycare is not available.

But the government system struggles to handle the demand, especially in large cities like Berlin, Munich, or Hamburg, where parents scramble to register for daycare even before their child is born. Private daycare for little children is on the rise, but expensive.

The proposed law, which is scheduled to be debated for a second time in parliament at the end of August, might ease some of the burden on the system. Women would receive 150 euros per month (about $190) if they decide to look after their children ages 1 to 3 at home rather than sending the child to government-funded daycare.

Televangelist Pat Robertson on Thursday cautioned his viewers to think twice before adopting disadvantaged children that had been sexually abused or deprived of food because they could grow up "weird."

During Thursday's edition of The 700 Club co-host Kristi Watts read a letter from a woman who wanted to know why men stopped dating her when they learned that she had adopted three daughters from three different countries.

"Can I answer?" Watts asked. "I was going to say because they're dogs. ... That's just wrong on every level."

"No, it's not wrong," Robertson disagreed. "A man doesn't want to take on the United Nations, and this woman's got all these various children and blended family. What is it?"

Parents in southern city threatening to hold strike if district court does not revise decision to integrate illegal migrants' children in local school system

Less than a week before the new school year is set to begin, parents in Israel's southern city of Eilat are threatening to hold a strike in the city's schools. The reason: A Beersheba District Court decision on the integration of illegal migrants' children in the city education system.

The migrants called the threat insulting and racist.

A recent US State Department terrorism report listed violence by Jewish settlers on Palestinians in the West Bank as "terrorist incidents," for the first time, following a recent upsurge in such attacks.

"Attacks by extremist Israeli settlers against Palestinian residents, property and places of worship in the West Bank continued," said the Country Reports on Terrorism 2011.

According to the UN, violent attacks by settlers on Palestinians and their property, mosques and farmland has increased by almost 150% since 2009.

A Santa Monica, California, woman claims that the city's new parking meters are causing her to have ear infections and tightness in her neck - so she wants the city to pay her billions for the inconvenience. Denise Barton has demanded the city pay her $1.7billion for the damage done since the new meters were installed in April and $1.7million every month thereafter.

The city has denied the meters emit dangerous levels of radiation, saying the WiFi 's range is only five to eight feet and is on par with other consumer electronics. 'I know it seems a little big,' said Barton, a well-known local activist, to the Santa Monica Daily Press. 'But they can't do things that affect people's health without their consent. I think that's wrong.'

She says the city began rolling out the new meters in April and her problems started shortly thereafter. The smart meters use wireless signals to process credit cards and monitor when a car arrives or departs. A month after the devices were installed, Barton went to a doctor for an ear infection and needed antibiotics. Barton believes that the radiation emitted by the smart meters is harming her health.

A Georgia college student who cared for abandoned animals for nearly a decade was attacked and killed by a dog, police said.

Rebecca Carey, 23, was killed at her Decatur home sometime over the weekend, MyFoxAtlanta.com reports.

Authorities said Carey, who worked with dogs since she was a young teenager, had five dogs living with her at the time of her death. They included a pit bull, which she had owned for six years, a boxer mix and a Presa, a large Spanish breed. She was also dogsitting another Presa for a friend.

Carey's body was discovered Sunday afternoon after she failed to show up for work at Alpharetta's Loving Hands Animal Clinic. The dogs that she was caring for in her home were euthanized on Wednesday. It was unclear which dog killed Carey.

A Massachusetts couple boating on a pond drowned Monday trying to rescue their dog, The Associated Press reported.

Authorities said Daniel Cyr, 64, and his wife, Patricia, 61, were on their pontoon boat at Hampton Ponds State Park when their female terrier dog ended up in the water around 6:25 p.m.

The Westfield News reported that Daniel Cyr jumped in after the dog and became distressed, prompting Patricia to go in after him and she then ran into trouble herself. Boaters in the area heard screams and came to assist the couple.

Witnesses said a boat pulled Patricia out of the water while a jet skier pulled Daniel to the surface so a second boater could take him to shore.

South Africa's police commissioner on Friday defended the actions of officers who opened fire on miners a day earlier during a wildcat strike at a platinum mine. She said the episode left 34 people dead and 78 wounded, a sharply higher toll than initially reported.

The commissioner, Riah Phiyega, described a desperate struggle by the police to contain the machete-wielding crowd of thousands of angry miners who broke through two lines of defense, leaving officers with no choice but to open fire with live ammunition.

"The militant group stormed toward the police firing shots and wielding dangerous weapons," Ms. Phiyega said at an emotional news conference here, using an extensive array of aerial photographs and video to demonstrate how the violence unfolded. Previous attempts by the 500-strong police force to repel the crowd with rubber bullets, water cannons and stun grenades had failed, she said.