BRAZILIAN MODEL LOSES BOTH HER HANDS & FEETS

A Brazilian model has had both hands and feet amputated after suffering a severe urinary infection.
Mariana Bridi da Costa remains seriously ill following two emergency operations in hospital in Serra, in the south-eastern Brazilian state of Espirito Santo.
Surgeons were forced to amputate when septicaemia to set in in her limbs, cutting off circulation.
She had been on the shortlist to represent Brazil at the Miss World contest.
Ms Brindi da Costa's boyfriend Thiago Simoes, told the G1 news website that Bridi fell ill on December 30, but was initially misdiagnosed with kidney stones.
She returned to hospital for tests and was eventually found to be suffering from an infection of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacterium, which can often prove fatal.
By that point it was too late to save the 20-year-old model's hands and feet.
Her father, Agnaldo da Costa, told the Folha de S Paulo newspaper that "the concern is over her life" - although her condition is now thought to have stabilised.
Ms Brindi da Costa's website is being regularly updated with news of her health.
It also makes a plea for donations to help cover the medical bills and tells people who have the same blood type as the model where they can go to donate blood.
Ms Brindi da Costa started modelling aged 14, according to her website.
She twice made it into the national finals for the Miss World contest, and last year travelled to China to participate in the Miss Bikini International pageant.