Nothing To Do With Arbroath

Wherever I lay my hat

2012-02-02T06:08:00.001Z

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Here are a pair of slow lorises hanging around

2012-02-02T06:07:00.002Z

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Via Daily Picks and Flicks.

Little fella is future table tennis star

2012-02-02T06:06:00.001Z

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Rotten tomato with face of Jesus found

2012-02-02T06:05:00.010Z

After being forgotten in a fridge in Australia, apparently a divine miracle occurred and the tomato has taken on the face of our lord and saviour Jesus Christ.

And it's for sale.

64-year-old tub of lard is still edible

2012-02-02T06:05:00.009Z

A German pensioner who had kept a tub of lard in his cupboard for 64 years, took it to authorities who pronounced it very much fit for consumption - if a little tasteless. Retired chemist Hans Feldmeier, 87, said he had received the pig fat as a student in 1948 near the northern city of Rostock as part of the post-war US aid programme.

Feldmeier said he had been given the tub together with two tins of noodles and some milk. "I just didn't want to throw it away," he explained. Finally, after 64 years, he took it to food safety agents and was astonished at their appraisal.

"There is of course a slight lack of smell and taste," sniffed Frerk Feldhusen, from the office of agriculture, food safety and fisheries in the eastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

Moreover, the lard was "of gritty consistency, difficult to dissolve and looked a bit old," the officials added. However, "all in all, given its level of freshness and its material composition, the product is assessed as satisfactory," Feldhusen said, adding it would stand up to today's definition of being fit for the dinner table.

Chicken nuggets, punches thrown in Dinkytown fight

2012-02-02T06:04:00.001Z

A University of Minnesota student was assaulted with a Chicken McNugget and punches at the McDonald’s in Dinkytown.

Early on Thursday morning, a man threw a McNugget at the male student, who declined to comment on the incident, and started talking “trash,” according to the Minneapolis police report.

The student addressed the man to ask why he threw the food, when a second man walked up to and dumped a drink on him. The first man then punched the student in the face about four times, knocking his glasses off his face, the report said.

The first suspect is described as a white male in his early 20s, 5 feet 11 inches to 6 feet tall, lightly built and wearing light-coloured clothing. The second suspect was a black male in his early 20s, around 6 feet tall with a medium build and wearing dark-coloured clothing. The suspects took off from the scene in a silver car.

Woman with no teeth robbed bank to buy dentures

2012-02-02T06:03:00.008Z

A woman accused of robbing First National Bank in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania and who appeared in a surveillance video to have no teeth told police after her arrest on Tuesday she had robbed the bank to buy a set of dentures. She handed a teller a note asking for a specific amount of cash.

The note also stated she had a gun and warned the teller not to call police. Evelyn Marie Fuller, 49, of 310 Park View Knoll, Carmichaels, formerly of Waynesburg, was arrested by Waynesburg Borough police and charged with robbing the bank office at 1 West High St. on Jan. 20.

Fuller was arraigned before District Justice Lou Dayich on two counts of robbery and one count each of theft and terroristic threats. She was placed in the Greene County jail on $75,000 bond and faces a preliminary hearing.

Waynesburg Patrolman Tom Ankrom, the arresting officer, said Fuller had given a confession admitting to the crime. "During her confession, she stated she wanted to use the money to pay for dentures she was unable to get through welfare until next year," he said.

Sisters accused of sexually assaulting man with pliers then forcing him to drink urine

2012-02-02T06:03:00.003Z

Two sisters have been charged in St. Croix County Court with sexually assaulting a man with pliers and giving him urine to drink.

Valerie M. Bartkey, 24, and Amanda L. Johnson, 17, both of Somerset are each charged with a felony count of second-degree sexual assault by force and misdemeanor counts of battery and criminal damage to property. Johnson is also charged with a misdemeanor count of intimidating a victim. The felony has a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison. They each are scheduled to make their initial court appearances on April 12.

According to court records: An 18-year-old man told police he was at a Somerset residence on Oct. 1 when the sisters punched and kicked him, and later put one of the man's shoes in the toilet and soaked the other in a sink. The man said the sisters later brought him a cup of liquid that they said was lemonade and forced him to drink it. It was urine from the sisters.

The man said the sisters later forced him to undress, saying one wanted to have sex with him. Bartkey reportedly pulled and twisted the man's penis with pliers while Johnson threatened him with a belt. The man said, on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 the most pain he'd ever experienced, that the incident was 10. Johnson later ripped the man's shirt to the point at which it would not stay on his body. Johnson reportedly called the man on Oct. 27 and threatened him, saying she would tell authorities he smoked marijuana on Oct. 1. The man denied smoking marijuana but said Bartkey and Johnson did.

Fur seal spooks cows in paddock 15km inland

2012-02-02T06:02:00.003Z

A New Zealand farmer got a surprise Tuesday when he investigated reports his cows "were acting a bit funny."

In a paddock nearly 15km inland he discovered a wayward New Zealand fur seal, apparently causing the cattle some consternation. It is believed to have wandered in via a shallow flood channel on the farm, west of Dunedin on the southeast coast of New Zealand's South Island.

"One of our workers gave me a call and said the cows were acting a bit funny, so I went to have a look and there was a seal sitting there," property owner Matt Kerr said. "He's certainly a long way away from home. It's not very deep in that channel."

Department of Conservation coastal ranger Jim Fyfe said the seal looked "happy and healthy." Authorities were monitoring the roaming mammal and hoped it would follow the same channel back home to the sea.

RIP Taihg

2012-02-02T06:01:00.006Z

I never met him, but I know others who knew him well.

YouTube link.

Taihg, aka Daniel Lloyd was part of Canterbury’s street music scene. He was in his 20s.

His and the body of 17-year-old Hugo Wenn were discovered 10 hours apart in Reed Pond, Canterbury, on Monday. Both had drowned.

Fancy dress robber admits armed raids - Update

2012-02-02T06:00:00.017Z

An armed robber has pleaded guilty to raiding a string of bookmakers in fancy dress disguises, including an Elvis Presley outfit. Martin Reilly, 53, from Northamptonshire, stole more than £20,000 in a crime wave that police say started in Kettering last June and swept through the country.

Reilly admitted charges of robbery, attempted robbery and possession of an imitation firearm at Lewes Crown Court. He will be sentenced in April. Homeless Reilly, formerly of Kettering, sparked a nationwide manhunt after targeting shops as they opened, while dressed in various disguises.

Police accused him of raiding 11 bookmakers across Northamptonshire, Sussex, Hampshire, Surrey, Bedfordshire and Essex. Reilly, who has been remanded in custody, admitted 15 of the 20 charges but denied the raids in Kettering on 13 June, Bedford on 17 June and an attempted robbery in Eastbourne on 17 July.

Those five charges are to lie on Reilly's file. Det Insp Ian Still, of Sussex Police, who led the inquiry, said: "This was a demanding investigation but one which was particularly satisfying."

Previously.

Pair in third naked pedalo Atlantic crossing bid

2012-02-02T06:00:00.002Z

Two men are planning a third attempt to cross the Atlantic on a home-made pedalo while naked. Kieran Sweeney, 26, and Callum MacDonald, 25, of Whitehaven, want to raise £50,000 for the Children's Heart Unit at Newcastle's Freeman Hospital. A broken drive system scuppered their first attempt at the 3,000-mile crossing in December, and food poisoning ended their second last week.

They are wearing no clothes to avoid chafing from salty, wet material. Mr Sweeney said the trip from Gran Canaria to Port St Charles in Barbados was daunting. He said: "What we see off our local shores, it's nothing compared to... once you get out there.

"The swells and the waves are a lot bigger than what we are, and you soon realise how small you are." Mr Sweeney said it took two months of research before he designed and built the boat himself. The 22ft pedalo has to carry everything they will need for a month at sea because they have no support vessel.

Mr Sweeney said: "We have a 100 days worth of food, we have 150 litres worth of water, but we also have a water maker that takes the sea water and gives us clean water." The pair are now recuperating and say they expect to set off for a third time soon. Mr Sweeney said: "It is scary but we're doing it for a good cause and you've got to have determination. We're just going to battle on and try and achieve our goals."

With video.

Beware

2012-02-01T06:07:00.002Z

Sheep cyclone

2012-02-01T06:07:00.001Z

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Cat investigates lamp shade

2012-02-01T06:06:00.001Z

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Via Daily Picks and Flicks.

Anchor repair man accidentally joins South Pole expedition

2012-02-01T06:05:00.006Z

A New Zealand repair man is on his way to Antarctica after a renegade Norwegian yachtsman set sail unaware he was still on board. The marine mechanic was reportedly working on an anchor aboard the 52ft Nilaya in Auckland harbour, when the yacht hurriedly cast off as immigration officials tried to serve deportation papers on the skipper, Jarle Andhoy, 34. Mr Andhoy and three crew members have embarked on an unpermitted voyage to Antarctica's Ross Sea, in defiance of both the Norwegian and New Zealand governments.

A previous trip he made to Antarctica almost a year ago ended in disaster when his yacht Berserk sank in a fierce storm and three men died. Declaring himself "a Viking", the Norwegian adventurer says he is seeking the wreckage of the Berserk, which was serving as a supply ship for an attempt to reach the South Pole on quad bikes. New Zealand authorities, who co-ordinated an extensive search and rescue operation last year in which Mr Andhoy and a companion were airlifted to safety, are furious about his return voyage. They are trying to track down the Nilaya.

Mr Andhoy told the Norwegian public broadcasting service NRK that the presence on board of the unnamed New Zealander was not part of his plan, but was the result of "a hectic departure" from Auckland last week. He said it was "a somewhat tricky situation" because the man did not have a passport or papers with him. But Mr Andhoy insisted: "Everything is on schedule and the atmosphere is good on board. We are well prepared for what may befall us." The broadcaster reported him as saying that the Nilaya was not carrying a locator beacon so it would not put rescue services at risk.

Murray McCully, the New Zealand foreign minister, spoke to Norwegian government officials on Tuesday to express concern over the Auckland man understood to be on board. "It's fair to say the actions of the skipper are of some concern to the New Zealand government and have been for some time," Mr McCully said. A Foreign Ministry spokesman added: "The Southern Ocean is one of the most remote and inhospitable areas in the world. New Zealand government agencies are obviously concerned about any possibility that there could be a repeat of last year's events in the Ross Sea.'' Marine experts said the workman was unlikely to have adequate clothing and would put an extra strain on the yacht's provisions.

Mystery outbreak of Tourette's-type illness at US school

2012-02-01T06:05:00.003Z

Pupils have been struck by a mysterious Tourette's-type illness at a school in New York, leaving doctors baffled. Up to 15 girls at Le Roy High School have developed the ailment over the past few months. It causes twitching and uncontrollable verbal outbursts - including swearing in some cases.

Doctors say the symptoms could be due to conversion disorder - once known as mass hysteria. Even though it is a psychological condition, the symptoms are real. However, campaigner and environmentalist Erin Brockovich is now investigating whether it could have something to do with pollution. Ms Brockovich is looking into whether a chemical that spilled in a 1970 train derailment about four miles from the school could have anything to do with it.

Although the school has ruled out a link with the derailment because "the plume has been shown moving in the opposite direction some three miles away", it has called in an independent environmental expert to investigate. The school wants "sound advice" from professionals on the situation, "void of self-interest", school administrator Kim Cox said.

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"Our community has suddenly found itself at the centre of national attention due to the students who have been exhibiting neurological symptoms," the school's administrator said in a statement. This has led to much speculation, conjecture and misinformation in the national media and consequently within our community." According to the Mayo Clinic, females are much more likely to get conversion disorder and it is more common in adolescents or young adults.

Australian firm seeks brothel sex inspector

2012-02-01T06:04:00.003Z

It’s billed as a bachelor’s dream job — being paid $70k annually to "partake of sexual services" at brothels in NSW on behalf of local councils. An advertisement for the job as a "Brothel Buster Investigator", placed by Lyonswood Investigations and Forensic Group in Sydney, was published in My Career in late January. Applicants are required to be unmarried and preferably single, to be willing to have protected sexual intercourse with prostitutes and to provide sworn evidence in court. Lyonswood operations manager Lachlan Jarvis said it was a completely legal service the company had provided for local councils in NSW for many years.

Councils hire the investigator to visit suspected illegal brothels and gather evidence to prove they are offering sexual services, Mr Jarvis said. "Some [jobs] require the offering of sexual services, some actually require the partaking of sexual services … because it is considered the most convincing evidence," he said. Lyonswood, which is based in the Sydney suburb of Drummoyne, conducts about 10 to 20 brothel investigations each year, and the job often puts investigators in situations most people only see in movies.

"We have a filing cabinet of cases that would blow you away," Mr Jarvis said. He recalled one incident years ago when an investigator rigged up a hidden camera in a bolo tie to film two prostitutes performing sex acts on a stage. "It was all going swimmingly, we were getting the evidence, until shortly into the performance the camera malfunctioned and smoke started coming from the string tie," he said. "We looked down and the camera had caught fire, the investigator obviously beat a hasty retreat — it gives a whole new meaning to the term hot under the collar."

Investigators often come across other illegal activity at the brothels, including sex trafficking, weapons, improper fire exits, breaches of health and safety and incorrect disposal of waste, Mr Jarvis said. Not surprisingly, Mr Jarvis said the ad proved popular with Sydney job seekers. "We have had dozens [of people] if not more than that apply, it is certainly a popular job," he said. Applicants are required to have a private investigator licence, awareness of occupational health and safety, and good command of written and spoken English.

Doctors to remove parasitic twin found in Peruvian toddler's stomach

2012-02-01T06:03:00.010Z

Surgeons were yesterday preparing to operate on a three-year-old boy to remove the body of a 'parasitic twin' growing inside his stomach. Isbac Pacunda was left with the rare condition after absorbing his would-be sibling inside the womb.

Doctors in Peru say the partially formed foetus has eyes, bones and hair on the cranium, but did not develop a brain, lungs, heart or intestines. It weighs a pound and a half (700 grams) and is nine inches (25 centimetres) long.

Dr Carlos Astocondor, of the medical team at Las Mercedes Hospital in the northern port of Chiclayo, says the condition occurs in about one of every 500,000 live births. Identical twins form when an egg splits in half after fertilisation. But conjoined twins or foetus-in-foetu siblings, as in the case of Isbac, occur when the egg fails to fully separate.

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Dr Jonathan Fanaroff, a neonatologist at Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital in Cleveland, said some conjoined twins can survive as 'parasites', but not when one twin absorbs the other. He said that the operation to remove Isbac's twin was likely to be far easier than attempting to separate two living conjoined siblings.

30ft lamp post stolen from Irish village

2012-02-01T06:03:00.009Z

A 30ft lamp-post with a street light on top has been stolen from the centre of Convoy, County Donegal. Thieves cut off the massive pole, worth more than €1,500, at its stump.

The pole was located beside the local Chinese takeaway on the village’s Main Street. It was a decorative lamp which was erected as part of the local Urban Renewal Scheme.

Locals noticed that, over the last 10 days, there appeared to be a “dark spot” on the village’s Main Street. “It took a while for people to cop-on what was missing but then they released there was the stump of a lamp there.

“It just shows you how far people are going now to make a few euro,” said one local. Donegal County Council confirmed that the theft of the pole and light unit had been reported to the Garda.

Nintendo-playing centenarian says video games are secret to youth‎

2012-02-01T06:02:00.005Z

Forget jigsaw puzzles or knitting, a centenarian from East Renfrewshire says the only way to keep her mind active is playing computer games on her beloved Nintendo DS. Kathleen Connell, known as Kit, turned 100 last week but attributes her sharp mind to regular sessions on her hand-held games console.

Photo from SWNS.

"It's absolutely super, I can't speak highly enough of it. I don't know what I would do without it," the grandmother of one said. "I'll play it in the evening, then I'll have a break and a cup of tea, then I'll go back to playing my Nintendo," she added.

The Nintendo DS fan owns around a dozen games including Scrabble, Art Academy and Family Fortunes. She proudly admitted that Brain Trainer had scored her a mental age of 64-years-old - 36 years younger than her real age.

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Mrs Connell said she always spent her evenings playing on the games console until she went to bed, by which time she said her brain was "a bit addled." She also recommended children to have a go at the spelling and maths games. "If children had this at school, it would be wonderful," she said.

Blue balls mystery close to being solved - Update

2012-02-01T06:02:00.002Z

They have provoked much speculation — some serious, many tongue-in-cheek. But scientists believe they are close to solving the mystery of the blue balls that (apparently) rained down on a garden in Dorset. Bournemouth resident Steve Hornsby reported how the sky turned dark, then yellow, then blue, transparent, "jelly-like" balls began falling out of the sky during what he thought was a hailstorm.

He wondered if they had dropped out of a plane. Others thought they may have been eggs from a marine animal, possibly dropped by a bird. Some of the more fanciful suggestions were that they might be the bodily secretions of angels while others began to prepare for an alien invasion. A jar of the objects was taken to the school of applied sciences at Bournemouth University, which provided an initial analysis on Tuesday.

Research assistant Josie Pegg said: "Speculation on the nature of the mystery jelly balls has provided much entertainment, but now that we have possession of a sample we can rule out some of the early guesses. Having examined the balls under a high-powered microscope, we can discount living material." So not eggs are almost certainly not alien life-forms.

The clue may have been in the fact that the balls were only found in the garden and not on nearby roads or roofs. Pegg said: "The balls do look very much like the florists' hydrating jelly, as suggested by some eagle-eyed members of the public. "The next step will be to run chemical analysis of a sample of the mystery jelly, to determine its makeup, and at present a sample is desiccating in preparation for this process."

Previously.

Lady tells the future by looking at asparagus tips

2012-02-01T06:01:00.005Z

A fortune teller who predicts the future using asparagus has unveiled her top tips for 2012 – including two Royal births and British glory at the Olympics. Mystic Jemima Packington, 56, claims to be the world's only Asparamancer and sees the future by tossing the spears into the air and interpreting how they land.

Photo from SWNS.

She has made dozens of accurate predictions in recent years, including the demise of Gordon Brown, the credit crunch, and Oscar glory for British film The King's Speech. Now she has made her predictions for 2012, including two Royal pregnancies, a change of leadership for one of the UK's main political parties, the collapse of the euro and the death of a high-profile British figure.

Ms Packington, who is originally from Pershore, Worcestershire, but now lives in Bath, Somerset, said: "It might sound silly to some people but my readings are very accurate. I have been doing readings using asparagus since I was eight years old. My great aunt read tea leaves and I have inherited her gift." She picks a handful of tips, tosses them into the air and "reads" the shapes they form when they land.

YouTube link.

When she asked the spears to show her what would happen with the euro financial crisis one of the tips ominously broke in half. Ms Packington said: "When a spear breaks it is the equivalent of the death card in Tarot readings. It is not necessarily a bad thing because it indicates a parting of ways."

Woman spotted licking methadone from pavement in front of child

2012-02-01T06:00:00.002Z

This photo showing a woman licking methadone from apavement as a child looks on has sparked fury. The photograph was taken by a stunned onlooker outside Edinburgh’s Wester Hailes shopping centre after the woman dropped the heroin substitute. The woman, in her 30s, had gone to a chemist for her weekly prescription for methadone.

She was accompanied by her friend and a young girl. She was on her way home when she dropped the liquid. She then kneeled down and licked it from the dirty pavement. The image has sparked outrage in the area, where the woman is a well-known addict.

Mother-of-four Debbie Notman, 28, said: “People are disgusted anyone would do this in front of a child. My pal took the photo on Saturday. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. She was so oblivious she didn’t even notice the picture was being taken.”

Campaigners say the woman needs help and should not be vilified. John Arthur, director of Edinburgh drugs group Crew 2000, said: “Addicts can go to extraordinary lengths to get their substances due to the cravings they can experience. This is surely deserving of compassion rather than ridicule.”

Everyone say argh

2012-01-31T06:10:00.002Z

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Dog watches table tennis

2012-01-31T06:09:00.001Z

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Via Say OMG.

How they jump-start a truck in India

2012-01-31T06:08:00.002Z

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Woman sues husband and girlfriend for breaking matrimonial bed during sex

2012-01-31T06:07:00.003Z

A Zimbabwean woman has sued her husband and a girlfriend for breaking a matrimonial bed during a steamy sexual romp. Nonkazimulo Dube of Bulawayo is demanding $200 in damages from her estranged husband Talent Tafara.

According to court papers filed by Dube, a carpenter confirmed that the bed was broken during sex. Dube said she caught Tafara with several women in their matrimonial home and thus she is seeking a divorce from the habitual philanderer. “A carpenter told me that judging by the way it was broken something excessive might have happened.

“After asking my husband he confessed that he had been having sex with another woman,” claimed the woman.Dube said she tried in vain to convince Tafara repair the bed but he refused, forcing her to approach the courts. “I do not want him anymore what I want is for him to restitute me after the damaged bed. I cannot take this anymore because my life has been hell since I got married,” she said.

“I bought the bed last year and caught him having sex with two different women and forgave him. However, I cannot do so anymore because he broke the bed not having sex with me but another woman.” Tafara, however, said he was ready to fix his marriage. The matter is set a for hearing in the courts on February 4.

Australian tuna tossers compete in annual event

2012-01-31T06:06:00.008Z

The 51st Tunarama Festival in Port Lincoln has wrapped up again with the iconic South Australian tuna toss drawing big crowds.

Local Jacqui Hockaday won the ladies toss for the second time with a throw of 9.10 metres.

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Matt Staunton from Perth won the men's section for the third year in a row, with a personal best throw of a whopping 25-metres. He says he has been preparing for the event for the last twelve months.

"I found out earlier in the year that I didn't have to do all the the running and jumping I normally do, so I've been able to dedicate myself to throwing so that means getting bigger and stronger," he says. "I've put on 10 kilos since last year and most of its muscle."

Family cat may have frightened off hairy, unibrowed gunman

2012-01-31T06:06:00.003Z

Police are seeking a man who reportedly forced his way into a home at gunpoint shortly after 3 p.m. on Friday before being scared off by the family cat. Police Sgt. Matthew Duval said the burglar knocked on a door of a residence in Somersworth, New Hampshire, and forced his way inside the home at approximately 3:15 p.m.

The woman who occupied the residence was home alone with an infant at the time, while her husband was at work. The burglar took an unspecified amount of items from the home, but fled after apparently being scared off by the family’s cat, which had begun scratching at the door.

“(The woman) described it as the burglar might have thought someone was at the door,” said Duval. He said the woman stated the burglar had a firearm, which looked like a pistol.

The burglar is described as being a male in his 50s, having lots of dark facial hair that included a beard and what appeared to be a unibrow, and wearing a black zip-up sweater with a hood, a knit hat and jeans.

Near miss as burning truck rolls into traffic

2012-01-31T06:05:00.005Z

A burning truck rolled back into oncoming traffic on a busy highway in Perth, Australia, just as firefighters arrived, after the intense heat of the flames in the cabin caused its brakes to fail.

Several people in a nearby building witnessed the fire after the truck caught alight on. One captured the fire on video, including the agonising moment when the truck begin to roll slowly backwards into oncoming traffic.

YouTube link.

Incredibly, the truck did not hit any moving or parked cars, or damage any property, before it came to a stop on the other side of the highway. Julie Haniff, who witnessed the fire, said she could feel the fire through the window of a nearby building.

"The windows were vibrating, there was black smoke going around the apartment, people inside those apartments actually had to evacuate as well," she said. Pink Hygiene said an electrical fault was to blame for the fire, which started in the dashboard as the truck was being driven.

Man who became unwitting amputee in health ad’s altered photo worried it may affect his acting career

2012-01-31T06:04:00.003Z

Having played a singing elephant on stages across the US, Cleo Berry is well acquainted with the vagaries of show business. But he still was stunned to learn that he had unwittingly become an amputee in advertisements that New York City is posting to warn of the dangers of diabetes.

Mr. Berry was a struggling young actor several years ago when he accepted $500 to pose for some photographs in a Manhattan studio. He had not given those pictures much thought until Friday night, when a friend alerted him that his image — minus one leg — was all over the Internet. An advertising agency for the city’s health department obtained the rights to use the photo to illustrate its campaign — shown throughout the subway system — against supersize portions of fast food and sugary sodas.

To emphasize that consuming too much of those foods could lead to diabetes and the amputation of limbs, the agency edited away the lower half of Mr. Berry’s right leg and conjured up a pair of crutches. “I was beyond shocked,” Mr. Berry said, recounting his reaction to seeing himself portrayed as ailing and crippled. “I cried at my computer screen for, like, a minute.” Then, after studying the ad more closely, “I said: ‘Oh my gosh, they even gave me crutches. Come on, people.’ ”

Mr. Berry, 27, said he supported the city’s efforts to educate people about the dangers of diabetes, but he said he disagreed with the use of a manipulated image of an able-bodied person, instead of an image of a real victim of the disease. Although only the bottom of his face is shown in the ads, Mr. Berry said he was immediately concerned about the effect this depiction could have on his career as an actor. “I’ve always wanted my photo in an ad all over the city, but I was hoping it would be for a TV show or something, not — this,” Mr. Berry said.

Grenade disguised as toy left on German supermarket shelf

2012-01-31T06:03:00.000Z

A hand grenade disguised as a toy and placed at child’s eye level on the shelf of a supermarket could have killed someone, say German prosecutors investigating it as an attempted murder.

A security guard working at the Real supermarket in Wetzlar near Frankfurt, spotted the grenade on the toy aisle, and called police who evacuated the shop. Around 50 officers searched the supermarket while experts removed the grenade for examination.

It was “most probably functional,” said a spokesman for Hessen state prosecutor. He suggested that whoever had hidden the hand grenade was intending for it to go off. He said: “sadly we have assume he actively wanted to hurt children,” because the grenade was disguised as a toy and hidden among other toys.

Detectives are examining footage from the supermarket’s security cameras in the hunt for clues, but the public prosecutor spokesman said not all aisles were covered. He admitted they were completely in the dark about who put the grenade there, and that “the motive of the attacker is unclear.” He added that the case was being treated as attempted murder.

CNN tells viewers London is in Norfolk

2012-01-31T06:02:00.003Z

American news channel CNN failed to locate London, one of the world’s biggest capital cities, on a graphic, which aimed to show viewers where the recent phone hacking arrests had taken place, instead pointed to Norfolk, in East Anglia, about 120 miles from the capital.

The humorous but embarrassing blunder, was shown on the leading US news channel on Sunday evening.

Woman, 25, asked for ID to buy teaspoons as they could be used as drug paraphernalia

2012-01-31T06:01:00.004Z

A woman was asked to prove her age when buying a pack of teaspoons as a shop worker claimed they could be used as drug paraphernalia. Elinor Zuke, 25, was told by the self-service checkout at Sainsbury's that she needed age verification as she tried to buy a £1.19 pack of spoons.

When Ms Zuke, a reporter on trade magazine The Grocer, asked why the purchase had to be verified, she was told that the six-pack of spoons 'could be used as drug paraphernalia.' A shop worker then intervened and said it was because of the risk they could be used for drugs - heroin users 'cook up' the drug in teaspoons.

Heroin, which comes in powder form, is put in the spoon with water and citric acid and heated with a lighter to rid it of any impurities. Ms Zuke said: 'I could not understand what the problem was when the supervisor said it was because they could be used as drug paraphernalia I was completely shocked.

'I would imagine the vast majority of spoons sold by Sainsbury's are used for nothing more nefarious than stirring a cup of tea. Having to prove I was over 18 to buy them seemed total madness.' The supermarket giant apologised for the blunder at the store in West Green, Crawley, West Sussex, and blamed a fault in their system.

Homeowners forced to keep metal garden gates indoors to prevent theft

2012-01-31T06:00:00.003Z

Fearful homeowners have been forced to keep their own front gates indoors after thieves began stealing them for raw metal.

Residents in Shirley and Freemantle, Southampton, have seen 10 front gates stolen recently as enterprising thieves try to cash in on the rising price of raw materials.

And the epidemic of gate thefts is becoming so extreme homeowners are having to lock away their gates in their own houses to keep thieves at bay. PC Jordan Williams, of Hampshire Police, said the rising price of scrap metal meant private properties were most at risk.

In Scotland, 30 homes had their gates stolen in one night by raiders who managed to get away despite having to load their haul onto trucks. Elsewhere 30 gates were taken from a street in Berkshire at the end of last year, along with livestock gates, drain covers and even guttering.

Oink

2012-01-30T06:08:00.000Z

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Baby's first words

2012-01-30T06:07:00.003Z

YouTube link.

Irish racehorse trainer gets very excited on live TV

2012-01-30T06:06:00.004Z

Following the win of his horse, Flemenstar at Leopardstown yesterday, Peter Casey tells Tracey Piggott how he intended to celebrate.

Contains NSFW language.

YouTube link.

Update: There's an interview with Mr Casey and his wife the following morning here.

Pair arrested with baby's head in bag of tomotoes

2012-01-30T06:05:00.003Z

Two people, Tanko Haruna and Muhammed Yusuf were arrested by the Niger State Police Command for allegedly being in possession of a four-month-old baby girl’s head in a polythene bag at Erena, in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State.

The two young men were arrested by the policemen on a highway in the area after they were sighted with a bag which also contained tomatoes.

It was gathered that the policemen were taken aback when they searched the bag and discovered a head of a four-month-old baby girl.

The suspects were then arrested and transferred to the Police Headquarters, Minna. Both suspects were about to board a vehicle heading to an unknown destination when the police stop-and-search team apprehended them.

Umpire strikes back to kill cricket spectator

2012-01-30T06:04:00.000Z

A cricket umpire killed a teenage spectator in Bangladesh by hitting him on the head with a bat in a dispute over a contested decision, police said on Sunday.

Nazrul Islam, 15, ran onto the pitch during an amateur game in the remote northern district of Kishoreganj and started an argument with the umpire, who took one of the players' bats and hit the teenager.

Islam showed no serious injury from the blow during the game on Friday but suffered an internal haemorrhage overnight and died in hospital the following day, local police chief Mosharraf Hossain said.

"The two argued over a not-out decision by the umpire. He accused the umpire of bias. At one stage, the umpire became angry, took a bat and hit the young boy on the head," Hossain said. The umpire was being sought for questioning but had gone into hiding, he added.

Children set new world record by dressing up as Mahatma Gandhi

2012-01-30T06:03:00.003Z

Draped in his iconic khaddar, round spectacles and walking stick, some 485 children in Kolkata created a new Guinness World Record for dressing up as Mahatma Gandhi, the founding father of India, to mark the 64th anniversary of his death.

Most of the children taking part in the event were aged between 10 and 16 and came from underprivileged backgrounds. It was organised to promote the Gandhian ideology of non-violence.

The children marched for half of a kilometre through Kolkata to recreate Gandhi’s peaceful march to Dandi in 1930 to protest against the British salt tax which led to a wider Indian independence movement.

Guinness verified the successful attempt, which broke a previous record set in 2010, when 255 students dressed up as Gandhi in Coimbatore in southern India.

There's a photo gallery here.

Teenage thief caught after stealing neighbour's jumper then wearing it an hour later

2012-01-30T06:02:00.003Z

A teenager dubbed Scotland’s thickest robber stole his next-door neighbour’s stripey jumper in a break-in – then wore it an hour later. Jamie Alexander, 18, was caught when his victim looked a few yards across his lawn and saw the thief wearing the distinctive top and trying to tune in his flat-screen TV. Jason Rendall, from St Ninians, Stirling, phoned the police, who were able to recover most of his belongings, including the 42in telly, a Sky HD box and a Freeview box.

Other items stolen included jewellery, an iPod, a camera, a shaving set, a £5 alarm clock, CDs, DVDs and children’s toys. Alexander even took £100 in notes and a cider bottle filled with five pences, worth £60. At Stirling Sheriff Court,Alexander admitted stealing the items on December 19. Jason said: “He smashed my living room window using a hammer from my shed.

“He must have found a key to the back door, which faces his house, and just passed everything over the hedge. He shut my pet dog in the kitchen and took anything he could get his hands on. I walked in the front door after work and noticed there was a hole in the window. There were only cables where the television had been.

“I went in to the garden, looked at my neighbour’s house and there he was – wearing my jumper and trying to tune in my TV. He was wearing my jeans as well so I knew it was him. I was fizzing mad but even I had to laugh at his stupidity.” Sheriff Wyllie Robertson jailed Alexander for seven months. Jason said: “People find it hilarious but he deserves to go to jail.”

Pub landlord suspended for serving pints too full of beer

2012-01-30T06:01:00.003Z

A pub landlord and landlady have been suspended and threatened with the sack for serving pints “too full” of beer. Pete and Debbie Gibson were ordered to close their Junction Inn pub on New Year’s Eve because brewery bosses said the heads on their pints of beer and lager were not big enough.

Pete, 48, and Debbie, 47, say they have been told they owe brewing firm Samuel Smith £10,733 in lost stock for topping up customers’ pints. The dispute centres on whether or not customers are entitled to ask for more than 95 per cent of their pint glass to be filled and get the pint topped up so there’s less of a frothy head.

Millionaire brewery owner Humphrey Smith turned up at the pub at 8.30pm on New Year’s Eve and told the Gibsons in front of astonished customers that he was shutting it.

Loyal customer Ged Barnes, who has used the pub for 31 years, said: “It’s ridiculous. It’s a scandal, the pint we get off Pete and Debbie here is just perfect. I’ve never heard of anything like it. We have the friendliest landlord and landlady... how can you treat people like that when they are just looking after their customers?”

Undercover dog wardens to use night-vision goggles in crackdown on dog fouling

2012-01-30T06:00:00.003Z

Undercover wardens in Lancashire using night-vision goggles are to start following people and staking out hot-spot areas to target dog fouling. Hyndburn’s team of dog wardens are to use covert techniques to crackdown on the problem including the use of plain clothes officers and surveillance vans after an increase in complaints.

The wardens, who were asked by borough councillors to step up patrols in the worst affected areas, are urging residents to supply intelligence of regular offenders who they should be following. The campaign will see people encouraged to ‘name and shame’ by contacting Hyndburn Council with details of people who regularly flout the dog fouling laws.

A team will continue regular patrols in uniforms but will also use information from the public to stake out certain places covertly. Rishton councillor Ken Moss, launched a campaign for councils to gain powers to raise instant dog fouling fines to £1,000, has asked the Hyndburn wardens team to step up action in the town.

Hyndburn currently hands out £75 penalties in line with neighbouring authorities, whose fines range from £50 to £75. Second time offenders can be taken to Hyndburn Magistrates Court where they face fines of up to £1,000. The council has historically taken a tough stance on the issue, employing one of the first dog wardens, becoming the first to ban dogs without leads from cemeteries and piloting a special street sweeper nicknamed the ‘Super Dooper Pooper Scooper’.

No longer acceptable

2012-01-29T06:10:00.004Z

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Rabbit herds sheep

2012-01-29T06:09:00.001Z

YouTube link.

Via Daily Picks and Flicks.

I don't think one of these frogs is happy

2012-01-29T06:08:00.002Z

YouTube link.

Woman plans to marry partially demolished warehouse in gay marriage ceremony

2012-01-29T06:07:00.005Z

Babylonia Aivaz's love knows no bounds - that's why she will marry a 107-year-old doomed warehouse in Seattle later today. The Seattle activist has planned the weekend ceremony because she is head over heels in love, and she also wants to make a statement against the warehouse’s slated demolition.

A luxury apartment complex will be built in its place, and Aivaz is mourning the loss of a place she and other protesters have inhabited for more than a month. 'If corporations can have the rights as people, so can buildings,' said Aivaz, referencing a Supreme Court decision on political advertising.

'I'm doing this to show the building how much I love it, how much I love community space and how much I love this neighborhood. And I want to stop it from gentrification.' She is calling the upcoming ceremony a 'gay union'. The wedding will be held from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at 10th and Union Warehouse. The public is invited to the wedding, and encouraged to bring food.

YouTube link.

But there's a big snag in the road for this happy couple. Demolition crews have already started to dismantle the bride-to-be. Still, it's been said that true love never dies and Aivaz says she's going ahead with her wedding plans, anyway. Even though cranes have already started demolition work at 10th and Union Warehouse, Babylonia Aivaz reports 'I'm STILL Getting Married.'

Man who stole security cameras caught on camera

2012-01-29T06:06:00.004Z

Police in Bakersfield, California, are looking for a man who stole security cameras from a business on San Dimas Street.

The suspect's face was caught on video during the Dec. 10 theft. Police released the photos this week in an effort to track down the suspect.

Fat cat has knee-replacement surgery

2012-01-29T06:05:00.003Z

A fat cat has become America's first ever feline to undergo knee-replacement surgery after vets ruled out amputating his cancer-stricken leg because of his size. Cyrano, a 10-year-old tom who weighs more than 20 pounds, has been helped by doctors and engineers at North Carolina State University after cancer left his left hind leg almost useless. Surgeon Denis Marcellin-Little and university engineer Ola Harryssonare are at the forefront of osseointegration, a process in which a prosthetic limb is fused to a living bone.

Although a British doctor carried out a full knee replacement on a cat crushed by a car in 2009, the surgery carried out by Marcellin-Little used materials more like those used for human operations. 'This is the most complex implant that NC State has made and really, in all honesty, that anyone has built for any situation that I know of,' Marcellin-Little, a French-born vet, said. The scientists used plastic and cobalt chromium alloy implant for the operation on Cyrano, whose full name is Mr. Cyrano L. Catte II. 'It has a form of articulation that is unique - that allows the implant to bend and rotate,' Marcellin-Little said. 'The devil is in the details.'

While these implants are commonplace in dogs, a cat's small frame is harder to work with. Cyrano's damaged bones posed an extra challenge, Marcellin-Little said. The new knee was made using a laser process that hardens metal powder to replicate his tiny bones. The two interconnecting parts each measure around two inches long. Marcellin-Little practiced the procedure four times on plastic models ahead of the surgery, which took around six-and-a-half hours to complete. The kitty is expected to be back on his paws in about a week - but won't be catching mice just yet. 'We would like him to take it easy for about three months after surgery,' Marcellin-Little said. 'And then we will let him be himself.'

YouTube link.

Treating the process more as a research project, much of the time and materials used were donated so a cost estimate was impossible to make. But it cost owners Sandra Lerner and Len Bosack around $20,000. Speaking from the waiting room, Lerner said that 'Rat Boy' is worth every penny. 'He's my child. And if it were your child, would you begrudge the money?' she said. 'I have a personal philosophy that people are, at best, equal with the other inhabitants of the planet. And I'm very, very grateful that I have the money and (am) able to do it.'

Man head-butted woman in row over cheese

2012-01-29T06:04:00.006Z

An Aberdeen man has been jailed after head-butting a chip shop worker in a row over a 30p portion of cheese.

Michael Moir was sentenced to five months for the incident at a takeaway in Aberdeen. A furious row broke out after Moir, 23, and his girlfriend, Megan Ross, 20, discovered she had not received a portion of cheese with her chips and gravy order.

Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard Ross threw the food at worker Kathleen Hadden at Balnagask Chip Shop then Moir head-butted her.

Moir, whose address was given in court papers as 203 Portland Street, Aberdeen, had previously pleaded guilty to the assault and was sentenced to five months in prison. Sentence was deferred on Ross, whose address was given in court papers as 114E Victoria Road, Aberdeen, after she pleaded guilty to assault.

Mystery over blue jelly balls in hailstorm

2012-01-29T06:03:00.001Z

A man in Dorset has been left mystified after tiny blue spheres fell from the sky into his garden. Steve Hornsby from Bournemouth said the 3cm diameter balls came raining down late on Thursday afternoon during a hail storm. He found about a dozen of the balls in his garden. He said: "[They're] difficult to pick up, I had to get a spoon and flick them into a jam jar."

The Met Office said the jelly-like substance was "not meteorological". Mr Hornsby, a former aircraft engineer, said: "The sky went a really dark yellow colour. As I walked outside to go to the garage there was an instant hail storm for a few seconds and I thought, 'what's that in the grass'?"

Walking around his garden he found many more blue spheres were scattered across the grass. He said: "The have an exterior shell with a softer inner but have no smell, aren't sticky and do not melt." Mr Hornsby said he was keeping the balls in his fridge while he tried to find out what they were.

LiveLeak link.

Josie Pegg, an applied science research assistant at Bournemouth University, speculated that the apparently strange phenomena might be "marine invertebrate eggs". "These have been implicated in previous 'strange goo' incidents," she said. "I'd have thought it's a little early for spawning but I suppose we've had a very mild winter. The transmission of eggs on birds' feet is well documented and I guess if a bird was caught out in a storm this could be the cause."

Overturned lorry spills mackerel across field

2012-01-29T06:02:00.003Z

This is the Biblical scene that met Northern Ireland farmer Gordon Flinn after a lorry overturned into his field, spilling tonnes of fish. “It was like a catastrophe, as though the fish had fallen out of the sky,” said Mr Flinn’s daughter, Louise. “We really couldn’t believe it until we saw it. It really was like something out of the Bible.”

The 27-year-old — who doesn’t like fish — said that the family was taking it all in their stride, as a bit of fun — although it could have been a very different situation had the driver been hurt. The man was initially taken to hospital, but seems to have had a lucky escape and later returned to the scene uninjured, said Louise’s father Gordon (71).

Mr Flinn said the bulk lorry was travelling on the Comber Road towards Ardglass when it appears to have caught the verge before ploughing through a hedge and falling around 8ft into his field. The sheep and cattle farmer said the fish were piled up to two feet deep in places.

“It was some scene!” said the Killyleagh, Co Down man. “My wife took a call from the police, and when we went and saw the field, I found it hard to take in at first. It’s an accident black spot, so we’re used to hearing about crashes — but you usually don’t get fish delivered. It was a big surprise — there was a whole area of the field that was silver. Incredible.”

There's a news video here.

Piano teacher mutilated her own hands with kitchen knife in bid to convince police she was being targeted by slashing stalker

2012-01-29T06:01:00.001Z

Piano teacher Tracy Frankcom stabbed herself with a knife, wrote poison pen letters then claimed she was the victim of a stalker. It triggered a police manhunt which resulted in an innocent man being arrested. Frankcom, 41, mutilated her own hands with a kitchen knife and slapped herself in the face - then wrongly alleged her injuries were caused by a sinister assailant who attacked her three times in 12 weeks at her music shop and farmhouse home. She also sent herself poison pen text messages and abusive Christmas cards saying: ''It's your last bitch'' and ''You're dead bitch'' and helped officers compile e-fit of the fictitious assailant.

Frankcom's husband Martin, also a musician, was so worried about the terror campaign he went on the internet and bought his wife a stab proof vest and a stun gun for protection. Police staged a major operation to track down the stalker gave Frankcom police protection when she left work, referred their inquiries onto murder squad detectives and scrambled the force helicopter to search for suspects. They eventually arrested an innocent man, held him for 18 hours and forced him to take part in an ID parade before releasing him without charge. Officers eventually became suspicious of Frankcom's account when inquiries drew a blank. She later confessed she had made it up - claiming she was ''in a dark place'' following a minor bust up with a customer at her sheet music store in Darwen, Lancs.

She claimed she was due to carry out a fourth and fatal attack upon herself. The self mutilations damaged her tendons in her left thumb and may affect her piano playing for the rest of her life. The total bill for the police operation was £10,000. At Preston Crown Court, Frankcom who also teaches violin and guitar and plays keyboards in a Jean Michel Jarre tribute band broke down and wept as she admitted three charges of perverting the course of justice. She was ordered to pay police £5,000 compensation for the wasted manhours and will have to pay £1,500 prosecution costs. She was further ordered to complete a three year community order in which she will seek help for her problems.

Judge Andrew Woolman told Frankcom: ''You are an educated woman, hardworking and a talented music teacher. There's no explanation why a woman of 41 years old should embark on such a series of lies and exaggerations with serious consequences to you and everyone else. It is a bizarre case, one of the most bizarre cases I've come across as a judge, and it does not fall into the normal categories. Usually the case is that is made against a named individual to false rape or the like and if a person lies like this they go to prison. But I think there is some deep seated problem in your character that caused you to behave like this. No good would come of imprisoning you and it might well be enough to stop you again given people will now know the lengths you went to.''

Man, 88, takes on bank robbers armed with just his walking stick

2012-01-29T06:00:00.004Z

An 88-year-old former policeman from Bath who attacked a pair of robbers armed only with his walking stick says: 'I'd do it all over again tomorrow'. Second World War veteran Gordon King, who lives in the city, had been walking along Moorland Road on Wednesday morning when he saw the duo attack a security van driver outside the Lloyds TSB bank. The great-grandfather-of-two sprung into action and, without a thought for his own personal safety, ran over to confront the men and try to stop them getting away with the box of money.

Mr King, who was a police officer in Bath and Bristol for 29 years, said: “I had come up to go the shop to get a washing up bowl. I was talking to some people so that held me up for a few minutes. But then I was coming to cross the road (Crandale Road) and the security van pulled up by the bank. “My first thought was that it wasn’t very good security only having one man. Then something made me look again and I realised what was happening. I got my stick and gave him a whack. Then I gave him a few more whacks and broke my stick over his head. I would’ve laid him out, but then this other guy came over and pushed me down in the road.” Mr King’s aluminium, collapsable walking stick was broken in the incident and he was left with a bump to his head, which needed hospital treatment.

Photo from SWNS.

As the pair fled the scene, other passers-by intervened. But unfortunately they managed to escape and police recovered an abandoned stolen car, with false number plates, in a nearby street. Mr King said his policing instinct kicked in when he saw the crime taking place and that he would do exactly the same thing again. He said: “It was instinct. I just knew what was happening, I thought you don’t see people in balaclavas unless something is wrong. I jumped straight in and didn’t think twice. Afterwards I did think to myself that they could’ve had a knife or a gun. But I would absolutely do it again. I may be 88 but I am still fit and strong. I do all my own gardening. After all that effort I just hope the police catch them.”

Det Chief Insp David Gill, who is leading the investigation, praised Mr King for his public-spirited actions. He said: “From our point of view there is a bit of a mixed message because we don’t want to say to people ‘don’t get involved’ but in this situation Mr King should be highly commended for what he did. I think both his family and the citizens of Bath would be amazed at what has gone on. He certainly acted on instinct with no fear for his own safety and took steps to stop that crime taking place. Unfortunately on this occasion the two people got away. But it is great that Mr King is still in one piece and as lively as he is today.”

Free golf

2012-01-28T06:10:00.001Z

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Man chooses not to use stairs in Polish nightclub

2012-01-28T06:09:00.004Z

YouTube link. There's a longer video here. And an animated gif.

Dog fetches ball

2012-01-28T06:08:00.001Z

YouTube link.

Man withdrew mouse from ATM

2012-01-28T06:07:00.003Z

A bank customer in Ersboda, northern Sweden, got more than he bargained for when he made a withdrawal from a cash machine and pulled out his money, followed by a mouse. Gholam Hafezi was mystified when he didn't get a receipt for his 700 kronor ($104) withdrawal, but noticed instead what looked like a shoe lace hanging out of the machine.

Photo from here.

Hafezi grabbed hold of it and to his amazement realized it was the tail of a mouse, with the head and the rest of the body stuck inside the machine. “I pulled once more and then his tail came off,” said Hafezi who rushed in to the customer help desk at the neighbouring Coop Forum grocery store for help.

Staff at the store ignored his pleas, however, because the cash machine had nothing to do with the shop owners. Hafezi eventually got help from staff who were looking after trolleys, and together they managed to extract the rest of the rodent from the machine “One of them pulled out the mouse, and its head was left intact, although it was a little bloody. Then I got out my receipt,” Hafezi said.

Photo from here.

However, the shocked bank customer remains uncertain whether the rogue rodent survived the ordeal. “I don’t know, but it was certainly still warm”, the shocked man replied, adding that he thought the mouse must have sneaked into the cash cartridge when the money was first loaded in.

Bored man who wanted to be cat burglar stole stuffed leopard and dingo from museum

2012-01-28T06:06:00.005Z

Two stuffed animals were stolen from the glass display in front of the Buena Vista Museum of Natural History in Bakersfield, California on Wednesday morning. Bakersfield police officers said that at about 9 a.m., someone called 911 reporting a break-in. The front glass of a display case was shattered and someone had stolen a wild cat that had been stuffed by a taxidermist. Officers said 55-year-old Henry Slivers was found two blocks away at the Jack In The Box Hotel with a stuffed dingo.

That's where he was arrested in connection with the break-in. "I was just bored and decided I wanted to be a cat burglar," Slivers said in a jailhouse interview. "So I kicked in the window and tried to steal the lion but it was too heavy, so I stole the cat. I took the leopard to my hotel. I then decided I wanted the dingo so I went back and took it. I took it to Jack In The Box because I wanted to have breakfast with it."

When asked Slivers what he was planning on doing with the dingo he replied, "I was going to take it around town with me." Slivers said he hadn't taken his medicine for over a week. Slivers also said that he hears voices and his old commander tells him what to do. He said, "In the military they give you a machine gun and tell you to shoot people. When you're done, they send you back to America and you have to try and fit in." Slivers said that he served in the military from 1974 to 1980.

YouTube link.

He said he was part of the Army Airborne Assassination Team who served in South America, Central America and Algeria. Police said after Slivers' arrest, they searched his room at the Bakersfield Hotel on 19 Street and recovered a stuffed African leopard worth $5,000. Hotel manager, Gita Patel, said she was awoken by Slivers carrying up the leopard to his hotel room. She laughed and said it was extremely strange. When asked if he would do it again, Slivers said, "If I had the chance, yes."

Baby bites head off snake

2012-01-28T06:05:00.003Z

An encounter between a snake and a baby ended in a surprising outcome on Thursday, when the infant's mother walked into his room to find him chewing on the dead reptile. The infant, Imad Gadir, whose family resides in Shfaram, northern Israel, was not hurt when he bit the unlucky coin snake, but was taken to Haifa's Ramabam Medical Center, just in case.

According to Imad's grandfather, Shaheen Shaheen, who recalled the family's tumultuous morning, the boy woke up when his father left for work at 6:30 am. The 1-year-old left his parents' bed and headed to his room, where he found the 35-centimetre (13-inch) snake. He then grabbed it and bit its head off. "It wasn't a pretty sight," Shaheen said. "He's a baby, he didn't know what he was doing. He thought it was a game. I don't wish this kind of thing on anyone."

When Imad's mother realized what had happened she began screaming, until a neighbour jumped the house's fence, entered the room and snatched the snake out of the boy's hand. "I went to the kitchen to get him some milk, and when I came back I saw he was already eating," the mother, Alain, said. "I screamed until the neighbors came. I still can't believe what I saw."

Veteran snake-catcher Eli Cohen said he has never come across a case of this kind. "I guess the kid acted out of a childish instinct when he put the snake in his mouth," he said. "Luckily for him, the coin snake isn't poisonous, otherwise it could have ended in a tragedy." Eli Cohen, the owner of a pest control company, estimated that the snake was three years old, and said that his bite often hurts but is not dangerous to anyone who isn't allergic to it. He said that this type of reptile chokes his prey. "If it was a bigger snake, the boy could have been strangled."

Indian woman declared dead 'wakes up' as family prepare funeral pyre

2012-01-28T06:04:00.002Z

In a bizarre incident a 72-year-old woman, who was declared 'dead', started breathing when her relatives were about to burn her 'body' on the funeral pyre on Wednesday. The woman is presently ailing since she has a severe blood clot in her brain and is undergoing treatment at a private hospital.

The incident took place at a village in Nawalgarh district of Jaipur. Hundreds of relatives of Magan Kanwar, a native of Dadi Ka Phatak in Jhotwara, had gathered and were preparing for the woman's funeral. When some women were performing the ritual of bathing the 'dead body', they realized she was breathing. Immediately after, her son Surendra Singh Rathore took her to hospital and in the afternoon she was admitted to another private hospital.

Divulging the details of the incident, Rathore said, "My mother had slipped in the bathroom on January 23. We took her to a private hospital in the city. The hospital authorities on the morning of January 24 declared her dead. We asked them to check again since she was on a ventilator and the doctors had diagnosed her with brain haemorrhage." Rathore said when the doctors verbally declared her dead, the family without seeking any death certificate took her to the native village for funeral on Wednesday.

"At the village while performing some rituals we found my mother was breathing and alive. Later, a doctor there told us everything, including her heart beat and blood pressure, was normal. The doctors had said she was unconscious due to severe blood clot in her brain and so we brought her here," Rathore added. He claimed the hospital that had declared his mother dead did not gave them a valid death certificate. "I did not get it since I was disturbed at the news of her death."

Boat from US crosses the Atlantic and turns up in Spain three years later

2012-01-28T06:03:00.006Z

Last week an American-registered 26-foot pleasure boat was located 20 nautical miles off the northern coast of Spain and towed to shore. It was with amazement that authorities discovered that it was the hull of the yacht Queen Bee, a North Carolina-built Regulator, which had 'ejected' its crew one stormy day three-and-a-half years earlier off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts, and set off for Europe.

The U.S. Coast Guard received the report of the located flotsam from Maritime Rescue Coordination Center in Madrid on Jan. 24, 2012, and were able to link the vessel to a search and rescue case that occurred on Aug. 25, 2008, near Nantucket. During that case, the Coast Guard responded to reports of two men who had been ejected from the vessel Queen Bee while attempting to cross a bar in 6 to 8-foot sea conditions.

Both crew, Scott Douglas and Rich St Pierre, were able to swim to the nearby Esther Island and were provided first aid upon recovery. Their own survival was considered a miracle at the time. The men had located a rescue bag and then swam for two hours to reach the nearest shoreline. 'Three things popped out after we got hit,' said Douglas, the vessel owner and operator. 'Rich, me, and that bag. There were times when both of us didn't think we were going to make it,' he said, 'Everything had to go our way. It was a miracle.'

Due to the dangerous sea state, the vessel was left to drift once the men were rescued and nothing was seen of it again - until last week, when the second miracle surfaced, the Queen Bee, admittedly upside down but still floating after three-and-a-half years. 'The Queen Bee likely drifted into the Gulf Stream and then north to the North Atlantic Current,' said Art Allen with the Coast Guard's office of Search and Rescue. From there it would have headed east to Spain before being located 1,241 days later, after a 3,500 nautical mile trip.'

There's a news video here.

French boy, 10, takes dad's car after missing school bus

2012-01-28T06:02:00.002Z

A 10-year-old French boy was apprehended by police on Thursday after taking his father's car and trying to drive it to school when he missed the bus.

The boy, who brought along a nine-year-old friend who also missed the bus, managed to make it more than two kilometres (more than a mile) in his father's Renault Megane before crashing into a roadside pylon, police in the southeastern town of Valence said.

"I had my seatbelt on," the boy pleaded to police when they arrived at the scene. Neither of the boys was injured during the crash.

Police said the boy could face charges of driving without a licence and damaging public property, but that prosecutors would decide whether to press ahead with the case.

'Spiderman' burglar wearing horror mask breaks in to supermarket

2012-01-28T06:01:00.003Z

A Liverpool supermarket was raided by a “spiderman” style burglar. CCTV shows a man wearing a Scream horror movie mask dropping down in to the shop and filling canvas bags with cigarettes from the display.

He then climbed back up in to the ceiling area and used ropes to pull the bags up, before dropping back down to steal more cigarettes. Staff at the shop said that the burglar must have used cutters, saws, a sledge hammer and possibly a screw gun to cut his way through the metal roof and subsequent layers of felt, asphalt and strawboard.

Matt Mahalingam, 31, who is a partner in the Pendle Drive Supersaver in Litherland said that thousands of pounds worth of cigarettes were stolen and that the damage will cost around £2,000 to repair. The burglary took place during the early hours of Tuesday morning. Mr Mahalingam said: “We have all had a tough time in the shop recently and this raid could not have come at a worse time for the business.

YouTube link.

“We have been having problems with some kids on the estate recently. They have been throwing bricks at our windows and the racist abuse just never stops. Bur I cannot believe the CCTV footage. This man has cut his way though our roof with heavy tools while wearing a mask from a horror film.”

18th century mummified cat falls out of ceiling as house is being renovated

2012-01-28T06:00:00.003Z

Bringing old homes up to scratch is nothing out of the ordinary for property renovators Andrew and George Hartley. But this professional couple nearly jumped out their skin when greeted by their most recent form of preservation - as a mummified cat fell on them. The couple got a face full of the ancient feline as they removed ceilings from an 18th century property in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire.

Mr Hartley was removing plasterwork and ceilings, to assess what work was needed, when the strange discovery fell from within the roof. He said 'It is well preserved, and I think it has very likely been up there over 100 years at least. We had a look on the internet and it seems that this sort of find is quite uncommon.'

Although experts are not 100 per cent sure if the cat was dead or alive when it was mummified it is thought that because it was positioned in the roof it was mummified intentionally, whilst alive. According to folklore, it is said that cats were often put in to walls of properties as a sort of good luck charm and Mrs Hartley added 'Dead cats were put in houses to supposedly ward off evil spirits. During the renovation work, we have also found remains of lots of dried onions around the house, again signs of warding off unwelcome spirits.

'We don’t know if this cat would have been put up in the roof before it died, but it has no teeth which indicates it was an old cat that had died, or perhaps it lost its teeth trying to get out of the space. Since we have had it, already the body is starting to change and has started to soften since being exposed to the elements. It had obviously been perfectly preserved up there. We’re not sure what we’ll do with it now, but maybe we should bury it back in the foundations of the house where it came from.'

Inverted

2012-01-27T06:15:00.000Z

Click for bigger.

This is a pink fairy armadillo

2012-01-27T06:14:00.004Z

They're an endangered species and I'm not sure this one should have been removed from its natural habitat.

YouTube link.

Here's a screaming albino hairy armadillo

2012-01-27T06:13:00.000Z

YouTube link.

Man accused in bizarre murder-for-hire plot planned to put blame on cat

2012-01-27T06:12:00.001Z

A convict with a conscience helped the feds unravel a murder-for-hire plot that involved a carjacking and electrocution by cat, according to federal court records.

It also included the suspect's ex-stripper wife being used as bait.

Brett L. Nash, 45, of 43 Shirlwin Drive in Granite City, was arraigned in federal court on Tuesday on charges of interference of commerce by threats of violence. Charges state he recruited an unidentified friend to "help in robbing an old man" who Nash intended to lure with his wife, carjack, hold hostage while the victim wrote cheques and then murder.

Nash planned to put the victim in a Jacuzzi and electrocute him by throwing in a radio, court records state. They planned to toss the cat in the water to make it appear the cat knocked in the radio. The plot came apart when Nash's unnamed friend told FBI agent Nick Manns that "he did not want the intended victim killed."

Full story here.

Indonesian man arrested for kicking woman he thought was a ghost

2012-01-27T06:11:00.003Z

A 38-year-old Indonesian security guard has been charged with assault after kicking a 20-year-old woman in the face after mistaking her for a predatory ghost. The guard was on duty in Bandung, Java, when "suddenly a figure, who was sitting on the floor and clad in white with hair covering the face, moved slowly in a weird way toward the elevator".

The guard "sensed a threat to himself and the others in the elevator" and kicked the ghost to the floor "so that everyone ... could run and save themselves," the security officer's lawyer said. But guard Sunarya's seemingly noble deeds have landed him more punishment than accolades, as the "ghost" turned out to be the 20-year-old daughter of a coal businessman who was in the hotel playing a "ghost trick" for a friend's birthday. She was later hospitalised for a bruised face and broken tooth.

Sunarya now faces charges of assaulting the girl, who was dressed as suster ngesot, a "crawling nurse ghost". The Indonesian archipelago, while predominantly Muslim, is strongly influenced by spiritual and supernatural myths from its Malay, Hindu and Buddhist heritage. Common ghost sightings often refer to floating female figures dressed in white, with long hair and, sometimes, long fingernails.

As one reader, following Sunarya's story, wrote to the Jakarta Post: "Sunarya should receive a medal, or at least be showered with honours, for acting so courageously in facing what he initially thought was a real ghost." But the security officer remains modest. "I have a wife and two little children, I hope everything will be fine," he told reporters. "I just did my job as a security guard."

Hermaphrodite six-legged lamb born in Georgia

2012-01-27T06:10:00.002Z

A Georgian farmer has proudly showed off the latest addition to his menagerie of livestock, a hermaphrodite lamb with six legs and a big appetite.

The wondrous birth happened in Velistsikhe, Georgia. Abadzhanov explained the birth had caused chatter amongst locals and his peers.

YouTube link.

He said: 'I have been asking the other shepherds, but none of them remember such a case.

'There were three-legged lambs, one-eyed, but not six-legged, bisexual one. The lamb eats well, but moves with difficulty.'

Thief smashes window of unlocked car and steals woman's teeth‎

2012-01-27T06:09:00.003Z

Police are trying to find the thief who made off with a woman's false teeth during a series of vehicle break-ins in Bridgeville, Pennsylvania.

Police said they believe the thief hit 17 cars in two nights, including one that had Kathy Saunoras' teeth inside.

Saunoras said her car was unlocked but her window was smashed anyway. The dentures were the only thing taken, and she said it will cost her $500 to replace them.

"They took my teeth, nothing else. They took my teeth," said Saunoras. "It's costing me money and they didn't get anything out of my car except my teeth. I'm looking at $350 for my window and $500 to replace my dentures they took."

With news video.

Woman stayed in crashed car for a week just yards from help because she was told 'not to leave vehicle if stranded'

2012-01-27T06:08:00.003Z

A Texas woman who drove her rental car into a muddy pond in Idaho spent a week in the stranded vehicle before going to ask for help. Lynn S. Keesler, a Houston resident, said she survived on peanut butter M&Ms and water inside her car while it was stuck.

The 61-year-old had thought she saw a river she had to cross to reach a hotel in Burley, Idaho, but the body of water turned out to be a dairy's wastewater pond. Keesler tried to drive around it but got stuck in mud in the pond.

She later told police she stayed inside the car because she had been told not to leave her vehicle if it became stranded. She flashed her headlights throughout the first night until the battery went dead. She finally left the car Sunday, Jan. 22, when the water level began to rise in the pond and went to a nearby house for help.

Keesler thought she had only been stranded for three to five days, according to a Cassia County Sheriff's Department report, but a deputy said he had given her directions to the hotel on Jan. 15. She was examined by paramedics but declined to go to the hospital, claiming she only needed "a warm bed and a bath."

With news video.

Chinese women brave broken bottles to become bodyguards

2012-01-27T06:07:00.002Z

Female bodyguards are proving to be big business in China. They may generally be smaller than their male counterparts, but are in increasing demand as a sign of growing prosperity in the country.

Chen Yongqing, the manager of Beijing's Tianjiao Special Guard and Security Consultant Company, says the fact that around 30 per cent of China's millionaires are women is fuelling demand.

"In China, the market for male bodyguards is growing steadily. However, a social and market preference for female bodyguards has increased since last year. Many female entrepreneurs, celebrities and pop stars, as well as their family members, children and parents, all need female bodyguards for protection," he said.

YouTube link.

The recruits have to endure, amongst other trials, having bottles smashed over their heads to test endurance.

Switzerland's 'Dementiaville' designed to mirror the past

2012-01-27T06:06:00.003Z

Its detractors may end up dubbing it "Dementiaville", but Switzerland is brushing aside a debate raging among geriatric-care experts with plans to build a mock-1950s village catering exclusively for elderly sufferers of Alzheimer's and other debilitating mental illnesses. The newly approved €20m (£17m) housing project is to be built next to the Swiss village of Wiedlisbach near Bern and will provide sheltered accommodation and care for 150 elderly dementia patients in 23 purpose-built 1950s-style houses. The homes will be deliberately designed to recreate the atmosphere of times past.

The scheme's promoters said there will be no closed doors and residents will be free to move about. To reinforce an atmosphere of normality, the carers will dress as gardeners, hairdressers and shop assistants. The only catch is that Wiedlisbach's inhabitants will not be allowed to leave the village. A similar pioneering, yet controversial, approach to geriatric mental care is already under way in Holland, where the Hogewey nursing home for dementia sufferers was set up in an Amsterdam suburb in 2009. Its residents pay €5,000 a month to live in a world of carefully staged illusion.

Markus Vögtlin, the Swiss entrepreneur behind the Wiedlisbach scheme, visited Hogewey before launching his own project and is full of enthusiasm for the Dutch approach. "People with dementia are often restless and aggressive, but at Hogewey they were relaxed and content," Mr Vögtlin said. He said that his plan to house dementia sufferers in 1950s-style houses with front gardens was designed to increase patients' sense of security. He said they had difficulty remembering what was happening at present but usually had firm memories of the past. "Such an environment makes them feel comfortable. I call it travelling back in time," he said.

Switzerland, like the rest of Europe, is struggling to cope with an elderly and growing population of dementia sufferers. There are 107,000 elderly people afflicted with mental illness and that figure is expected to double over the next 20 years. Yet not all geriatric-care specialists are convinced that creating an illusory world is the right approach. Michael Schmieder, director of Switzerland's Sonnweid home that caters to 150 resident dementia patients, said he opposed the idea of creating an illusory 1950s-era atmosphere. "The very notion is an attempt to fake the normality that people with dementia don't have," he said. But Switzerland's Alzheimer's Association, which promotes a variety of schemes to help sufferers from the disease, said it supports the project. Its spokesman, Birgitta Martensson, denied that it was creating a ghetto for the mentally ill. "Different types of care programmes are needed because the illness has different stages," she said. "A dementia village is a good solution for people in advanced stages of the disease."

Doll 'protesters' present small problem for Russian police

2012-01-27T06:05:00.003Z

Russian police don't take kindly to opposition protesters – even if they're 5cm high and made of plastic. Police in the Siberian city of Barnaul have asked prosecutors to investigate the legality of a recent protest that saw dozens of small dolls – teddy bears, Lego men, South Park figurines – arranged to mimic a protest, complete with signs reading: "I'm for clean elections" and "A thief should sit in jail, not in the Kremlin".

"Political opposition forces are using new technologies to carry out public events – using toys with placards at mini-protests," Andrei Mulintsev, the city's deputy police chief, said at a press conference this week, according to local media. "In our opinion, this is still an unsanctioned public event." Activists set up the display after authorities repeatedly rejected their request to hold a sanctioned demonstration of the kind held in Moscow to protest disputed parliamentary elections results and Vladimir Putin's expected return to the presidency in a March vote.

Passersby admired the display with giggles, but police took it more seriously, examining its details and writing down each placard. "The authorities' attempt to limit citizens' rights to express their position has become absurd," said Lyudmila Alexandrova, a 26-year-old graduate student and protest organiser. "We wanted to hyperbolise this attempt and show the absurdity and farce of officials' struggle with their own people."

The activists in Barnaul say they have no choice but to adopt creative measures. Local authorities have refused to issue approval for opposition protests since 10 December, the first nationwide day of protest in Russia. Around 2,000 people turned out in Barnaul that day, an unprecedented number for the small city. Police have tried to pressure them into shutting down the doll protests, organisers said. "They tried to tell us our event was illegal – they even said that to put toys in the snow, we had to rent it from the city authorities," Alexandrova said.

There's a photo gallery here.

Dublin dole office bans people wearing pyjamas

2012-01-27T06:04:00.004Z

A social welfare office in Dublin has banned interviewees from wearing pyjamas.

A notice has appeared at Damastown social welfare office which warns claimants that "pyjamas are not regarded as appropriate attire when attending Community Welfare Service at these offices".

It is believed the decision was made after a number of people complained.

Radio Times forced to apologise after soldier has his private on parade

2012-01-27T06:03:00.005Z

A Royal Marine has prompted the Radio Times into apologising after he went commando for a photo shoot. The unknown soldier had his penis on parade as he posed with 42 Commando comrades for an article promoting forthcoming Channel 5 documentary Royal Marines: Mission Afghanistan.

The article was printed before the marine's prank was spotted, with RT staff only realising the over-exposure in this week's edition when a reader tipped them off. The reader wrote: 'I know that British soldiers serving in Afghanistan are well equipped, but seeing the roll call of Royal Marines gives the expression a whole new meaning.'

Click for bigger.

The magazine quickly published an apology on its website, publishing a censored version of the photograph with a red x over the area in question. 'We apologise for any upset caused to readers by the rogue member of 42 Commando,' said editor Ben Preston.

A spokeswoman for the Radio Times added: 'The unnamed marine is, like the rest of his unit, posing for the photograph dressed only in shorts. What we took to be the marine's finger proved, on closer inspection, to be another part of his anatomy.' A naval spokesman said: 'We apologise for any offence caused by this private photograph that was not intended for publication.'

Bidders fight to own Homer Simpson-shaped glue blob

2012-01-27T06:02:00.006Z

Christopher Herbert says he could not believe it when Simpsons fans started bidding for his bit of dried glue that bears a resemblance to Homer Simpson. The blob of dried glue, that can be said to bear a vague resemblance to the famous cartoon character, has attracted bids of over £50,000 at eBay.

After finding the item whilst clearing out his stationery cupboard, London-based seller Christopher Herbert listed the object online after his girlfriend noticed it shared some of Homer's distinctive features including his large eyes and oval-shaped head.

Putting it up for sale more out of fun than expectation, Mr Herbert started the bidding at just 99p. It has since increased to almost £55,000 after 53 bids with the auction due to close on Monday.

YouTube link.

In his listing, Mr Herbert describes the peculiar item as the 'missing piece' in any Simpsons fan's collection and states its origins as "made naturally by an overflowing tube of Uhu glue!" The 36-year-old Londoner, said: "I've never actually sold anything on it [eBay] before, so I thought I'd just stick it on for a bit of a joke to be honest. I didn't think anyone would actually bid for an old bit of dried glue, even one that looks like Homer Simpson.

Hero Labradoodle sounds the alarm after owner’s 40ft ravine plunge in real life Lassie story

2012-01-27T06:01:00.004Z

Hero hound Monty saved his injured owner's life by dashing half a mile to a pub to raise the alarm. Maurice Holder, 73, had been taking pet labradoodle Monty for a walk along a tidal river when the ground suddenly gave way and he plunged 40ft towards the water.

Photos from SWNS.

The pensioner was knocked unconscious and broke six ribs. He woke up to the sound of Monty barking at him. Maurice said: "When I woke up the tide had come in up to my chest and I was bleeding from my head. Monty was sat next to me."

The grandad — who has owned Monty for 11 years — struggled up the bank of the River Camel, near Bodmin, Cornwall, before collapsing. Monty then dashed to the Borough Arms pub where he barked until he attracted the attention of a local and led him to the scene.

Maurice, from Newquay, was rushed to hospital and treated for head injuries, broken ribs and cuts and bruises. He was later told his accident could have proved fatal if Monty had not got help to him in time. He said: "Monty is the perfect pet. He isn't the best behaved but he's loyal — and that's what matters."

Uninsured man had 11 people in Audi A4, including 4 children in the boot

2012-01-27T06:00:00.006Z

A Leicester driver has been banned from the roads for a year after being caught driving with 11 people in his car – including four in the boot. Leicester magistrates banned Zoltan Lakatos and gave him 14 days to pay £1,325 in fines and costs after hearing of his overloaded Audi A4 saloon. Six of the passengers were children – including the four in the boot. When Lakatos, 38, of Martin Street, Belgrave, was interviewed by police, he was told of the importance of securing young children in the car.

Lakatos, through a Hungarian interpreter, replied: "It doesn't matter, they are only children." Prosecutor Ian Johnson told the court how Lakatos was stopped at 10.30am in St Nicholas Circle in Leicester city centre on June 18 last year with four people in the boot and another five in the back seat. Lakatos was in the driver's seat and there was a 49-year-old woman alongside him in the front passenger seat. The four people in the boot – who were lying on top of each other – were an 11-year-old girl, a 10-year-old boy, a seven-year-old boy and a five-year-old girl.

Mr Johnson said the five people in the back seat were a 65-year-old man, a 49-year-old woman, a 24-year-old woman, a three-year-old and a nine-month-old infant. Lakatos, who did not attend court, was found guilty in his absence of using a motor vehicle to carry passengers in such a way as to create a danger of injury to them. Mr Johnson said: "There were 11 people in that vehicle – and to add insult to injury it was not covered by any form of insurance." Lakatos was also found guilty in his absence of not having any insurance.

Chairman of the bench Simon Edwards said using a motor vehicle and causing danger to passengers would normally be a lower level fine, but because of the aggravating circumstances due to the fact that there was no insurance and due to the number of persons carried, they were going to give a higher level fine. He was able to fine Lakatos the higher amount of £700 with £85 costs and a £15 victim surcharge. Mr Edwards said: "Because the offence is so serious we are going to impose a 12-month discretionary driving ban." He also fined Lakatos £525 for driving without insurance.*

*I have to say that had Mr Lakatos insured this car, I strongly suspect it would have cost him considerably more than £525 per annum. Probably more than the £1,325 he was fined in total. So in that respect he's probably saved himself some money.

Town has entire market stolen by thieves

2012-01-27T06:00:00.000Z

Thieves have stolen a market from a Derbyshire town. About 60 stalls used at Ashbourne Market were taken from the Mayfield Road depot overnight, along with a strimmer and a leaf-blower.

Police said the raiders had stolen two trailers with the stalls inside. One of the trailers was found at Darley Moor. Derbyshire Dales District Council's Jim Fearn said the Thursday market was open as normal with traders using their own makeshift stalls.

He said: "The traders are operating out of the back of vans, using trestle tables and some even have their goods on the floor. "We're obviously not charging them today." Mr Fearn said the thieves broke through a locked gate to get into the compound and then smashed their way into the depot building on site.

He said he thought the raiders were more interested in the trailers themselves, worth an estimated £6,000 each, than the market equipment inside. The trailer was recovered at 08:25 GMT after a farmer reported it dumped on her driveway.

Waitrose love

2012-01-26T06:12:00.003Z

Click for bigger.

A similar thing also happened at a different branch.

Puppy discovers inherent fun involved with door stop

2012-01-26T06:11:00.010Z

YouTube link.

Dog kills Billy Bass

2012-01-26T06:10:00.005Z

YouTube link.

Truck driver in Colombia spills someone's pint

2012-01-26T06:09:00.009Z

YouTube link.

Goblins terrorise women in Zimbabwe

2012-01-26T06:09:00.008Z

The love for quick riches has backfired for a Bulawayo man who has confessed to buying five “goblins” which he said were now sexually molesting his wife. Malibeni Mhlanga of Entumbane suburb confessed his “goblins” were traumatising his wife, Margaret Dube. Mhlanga said he bought the five “goblins” in Insuza — 80km north of Bulawayo — but he now remained with two as the other three were killed in an exorcising ceremony.

The man claimed he acquired the goblins to amass wealth, but all that had remained a pipedream as the traditional healer who sold him the creatures had died. His neighbours said their wives were also being sexually abused by the gnomes at night. Scores of residents gathered at Mhlanga’s home yesterday demanding that he be removed from the area. “I am seeking assistance to ensure the removal or destruction of these goblins because it now affects our daily lives such that we cannot even live in our own house,” he said.

“I had five goblins, but two have remained and I cannot live in this house. I urinate blood every time, and it has sex with my wife every time.” His wife confirmed the “abuse”. “It walks like a goat, and when it has sex with me, I often feel tired and spit blood. One day my bag was mysteriously increasing in size and we called a Gokwe prophet to cleanse our homestead. It (the goblin) looked like an owl, the prophet removed two snakes, a human-creature-like goblin which when ripped apart contained a picture of our son,” she said.

“After the event, a tenant who lived here was involved in an accident. We have sought assistance from the police and we had a meeting with the councillor yesterday. This thing is a mysterious. It is a power that is in use.” Dube said the goblin follows her to an extent where her relatives do not want to live with her.

Teenage girl called 911 because she heard her mother having sex

2012-01-26T06:08:00.004Z

A Florida teenager who called 911 last week asked police to place her in a Christian children’s shelter because she “heard her mother having sex.” Responding to a domestic disturbance call on Thursday at around 4 AM, a police officer questioned the mother and daughter at their Panama City residence, according to a police report.

The duo had been involved in a “verbal altercation,” it was noted. The girl, 15, told an officer that she wanted to go to a local shelter “because she heard her mother having sex” and “felt disrespected” by her 35-year-old parent’s actions.

The girl acknowledged that “there was no form of abuse or neglect in the house.” The mother explained to police that she had invited her boyfriend over and “sometime during the visit, her daughter heard them having sex and became upset.” The woman added that “their bedrooms are next to each other and she didn’t intend to wake her daughter up.”

After speaking with a representative from the shelter, the teen decided that she did not want to leave her home because “it was almost time for school.” The Panama City Police Department reported leaving a domestic rights brochure at the residence.

Thai police catch prolific underwear thief

2012-01-26T06:07:00.002Z

Police in Thailand said Wednesday that they had apprehended a thief with more than a thousand pairs of women's underwear in the boot of his car.

Police also found more than ten thousand pairs at the house of the 48-year-old Thai suspect, who was arrested late on Tuesday with an accomplice after breaking into a building in Bangkok's Chinatown.

They said the man admitted to stealing and collecting women's underwear since the age of 18.

"He smelled them all the time even while driving," said police Major General Saroj Promcharoen. The suspect will be charged with stealing property, though not the underwear for now because there is no plaintiff, police said.

Girl, 7, saved unconscious mother by slapping her with slice of pizza

2012-01-26T06:06:00.003Z

When seven-year-old Rita Lawlor couldn't wake her mother up, she did what many have probably never thought of doing. She slapped her with a slice of pizza.

Now the little girl from Sarasota, Florida, has become the youngest person to receive an award from her local fire department for saving her mother, Virginia's life. Speaking at a gathering for the heroes, Rita said: 'I called 911, but first I slapped her with a piece of pizza.'

When this didn't work Rita realised her mother may be in serious trouble and rang for help. 'They did ask where I lived and my number, and I had to tell them what kind of house and I had to stand outside on the lawn and I saw the ambulance coming,' she said. When paramedics arrived they found Rita waiting for them outside her home while calmly speaking to a dispatcher on the phone.

'We walked up and said "are you the one who called 911?" And as we walked up she started telling us what was going on,' said firefighter and paramedic Chris Zengel. 'She couldn't wake up her mom. She kept trying to wake her up and just couldn't wake her up, so she called 911,' he added. Luckily Rita's mother was revived and is now doing fine, while Rita is delighted with her award and thank you goody bag.

With news video.

Bank robber shoots himself in the foot

2012-01-26T06:05:00.003Z

Security camera footage from Brazil shows how a hapless bank robber was quite literally the architect of his own downfall. CCTV from a bank in northern Paraná, Brazil recorded the action when three armed men stormed the building on Monday.

All appeared to be running smoothly for the trio of thieves as the security guards quickly capitulated and the bank tellers handed over around 30,000 Brazilian reais (£11,000) to them. Unfortunately the check-shirted man who was acting as the lookout at the front door was armed with two pistols and an apparent itchy-trigger finger.

YouTube link.

Idly fumbling with one of the weapons he managed to accidentally shoot himself in the foot with the gun in his right hand. He is last seen on the CCTV limping from the bank behind his two accomplices.

The following day the bungling robber was arrested at a hospital a short distance from the bank. In total, police believe six men participated in the assault, despite only three of them appearing on camera. As well as the criminal who managed to shot himself, one other man has so far been arrested.

Corpse of suspected bank robber found stuck in air duct of French bank

2012-01-26T06:04:00.002Z

The corpse of a suspected bank robber who died after becoming wedged in an air vent has been discovered in the French city of Lyon. Rescue workers on Tuesday were trying to keep a half-rotted corpse intact to try to determine if the dead man was trying to rob French bank Credit Foncier.

Employees had been complaining of a bad smell in their bank branch in the city of Lyon since last September, and on Monday a worker trying to find the source of the stench discovered the body.

The dead man became stuck in a bend in the vent and investigators were trying to find out "if it was a homeless man seeking refuge or an attempted break-in that went wrong", said local prosecutor Marc Desert.

Firefighters and plumbing specialists were planning to widen the 20 inch shaft to get better access to the body and keep it in one piece to help police inquiries. Lyon prosecutor Marc Desert said: "It may be the body of an unlucky burglar who got stuck. But it could also perhaps be that of a homeless man seeking shelter."

Woman claims neighbour’s energy efficient windows are melting cars

2012-01-26T06:03:00.004Z

A SoCal woman says the energy efficient window installed in a neighbour’s condominium is melting the plastic components on cars parked in her carport. Heather Patron of Studio City was dealing with a mystery regarding her Toyota Prius. “The side view mirrors were melting,” she said. “Anything that was plastic on the car was melting.”

Toyota told Patron nothing was wrong with the car. After having the mirrors replaced, she noticed the mirrors on the car parked next to hers were also melting. Patron then observed a powerful beam of light that was reflecting off the window of a next door condominium, casting a concentrated beam over her carport. “I’m positive that this window is what is causing the damage to my car,” she says.

Patron is not alone. Reports across the US have alleged damage brought on by concentrated sunlight reflected off of energy efficient windows. The National Association of Home Builders is now conducting a study on the matter. “I just don’t feel like it’s fair,” says Patron.

“I feel like it needs to be known that this is happening. And a lot of people probably have damage out there, that they aren’t aware that it’s the windows that are causing this.” The Los Angeles City Department of Building and Safety says even if the window is the source of the damage, there are no code violations involved. The department say it’s not against the law to install a window that reflects sunlight.

With news video.

Shopkeeper fends off machete-wielding attacker with mop

2012-01-26T06:02:00.002Z

Dinesh Gorania, a shopkeeper from Rushden in Northamptonshire has been captured on CCTV fending off a machete-wielding attacker with a mop. Mr Gorania beat off the masked man as he tried to force his way into the family-run convenience store. Mr Dinesh was mopping up just inside the doorway of the Premier Store in Rushden, Northamptonshire, when three masked men pulled up in a car.

One of the robbers, armed with a two-foot machete, burst into the store only to be struck by Mr Dinesh's mop which forced him backwards. The man tried twice more to get back into the shop but was repeatedly hit with the mop. Two other masked robbers joined in the fracas, with one throwing a metal bar at Mr Dinesh which he blocked with his forearm.

YouTube link.

The robbers then retreated to their getaway car but not before smashing the windows of the cars belonging to Mr Dinesh and his son, Kishan. Kishan, 21, said: "They were hitting the door, smashing the door in and Dad was hitting them back with the mop. Dad did good, he did well. He just jumped at it, quick time." Mr Dinesh said: "After my son said 'there are robbers coming', I got the mop and hit him, I wasn't giving them the chance to hit me first.

"He fell back straight away. He tried to get back in but I wouldn't let him. I wasn't scared - I just wanted to defend my shop - but I could see that he was a scary person, he was dressed like something from a horror movie." Northamptonshire Police confirmed that they are investigating the incident, which happened on Friday, January 20th, just before 10pm, and appealed for witnesses or anyone with information to contact them.

Giant hair ball removed from cat in life-saving operation

2012-01-26T06:01:00.004Z

Vets have removed a 5in hair ball, said to be "largest we have ever seen" in an operation on a cat in Cambridgeshire. David Fennell, from Cromwell Vet Group in Huntingdon, said the procedure was carried out on Gemma, an eight-year-old long-haired cat, who is now recovering.

Photo from SWNS.

"It was about 12.5cm (5in) wide, filled the entire stomach cavity and she had not eaten for days. It would certainly have killed her," he said. He said the owners were "very caring" but needed advice on grooming Gemma. Mr Fennell said the cat was brought in to the surgery after failing to eat its food for three days.

"She was clearly hungry, but as we later found out, there was absolutely no room in her stomach for anything else," Mr Fennell explained. At first the surgeons thought Gemma had a tumour. After an X-ray and scan, her owners agreed to an exploratory operation and vets found the hairball, weighing 215g (7.5oz).

Photo from SWNS.

"Cats do groom a lot, and they often cough up small hair balls," Mr Fennell said. "For some reason Gemma had not been able to do that, and there was no way she could do that once it had become that size." Mr Fennell said Gemma was now at home with her owners and he was confident this would not happen again.

Swingers sprayed stranger in face with bear repellent

2012-01-26T06:00:00.002Z

A "swinging" couple, Stephen Barclay and Leanne Reid, appeared in court on assault charges after a stranger who spent the weekend with them had bear repellent sprayed in his face. Barclay, 36, and his lover Reid, 31, contacted Owen Greenan online and invited him to spend the weekend at their secluded cottage. He arrived on a Friday evening and a court heard the drug-fuelled weekend had "gone well" until the early hours of Sunday morning, when he refused to have his photograph taken on a mobile phone. Barclay then sprayed him with Sabre Wild Max Bear Attack and Mr Green fled the house in the village of Glespin, Lanarkshire, leaving his belongings behind.

A lorry driver found him running down the road and police were called to cottage. Barclay and Reid were later arrested and charged with a string of offences. Lanark Sheriff Court heard that the couple admitted assaulting Mr Greenan on March 27 last year. Gary Dow, prosecuting, said the visitor was woken by Reid on a couch at the cottage at 4am and invited into the couple’s bedroom. When Mr Greenan sat down, Barclay, who was in a hot tub drinking beer, held out his mobile phone and said: “Smile for the camera."

Mr Dow added: "He went to get up and Leanne Reid said '------- smile'. She also had said that she was going to get a knife to stab him. Mr Barclay then said to the complainer, 'Do you think you can come here all weekend, shag my wife, and nothing will happen?'." Barclay told his girlfriend to give him the repellent, which he said he bought in Canada, before spraying it on his victim. Mr Greenan was later treated at Wishaw General Hospital.

Neil McShane, representing Barclay, told the court his client had “very little sleep from Friday to Sunday” and the incident happened after those involved had been taking ketamine. Sheriff Nikola Stewart, who said she was "intrigued" by the case, deferred sentence until next month. Barclay and Reid admitted assaulting Mr Greenan by threatening to stab him and discharging the bear repellent in his face. Barclay also admitted unlawful possession of cannabis worth up to £7,650. Reid's not guilty plea to a charge that she had wasted police time by alleging Mr Greenan had raped her was accepted by prosecutors.

Super

2012-01-25T06:12:00.000Z

Click for bigger.

Woman who looks a bit like Sarah Millican holds little person requesting a fork

2012-01-25T06:11:00.007Z

Well I think that's what they're saying.

Can anyone decipher the name? I just keep hearing Grandma.

YouTube link.