Teddy bear barred from Facebook

A teddy bear has had his Facebook profile deleted because it breached the social networking site's rules.

Bartie Bristle's membership was revoked over concerns that he could be a dummy bear.

'They felt Bartie could be somebody masquerading as somebody else and it could be dangerous. I call it species-ism,' said Amanda Middleditch, who makes the £85 bears.

Bartie (pictured) had built up 150 friends during his six-month stint on the site.

'It was an entirely innocent bit of fun,' added Mrs Middleditch, of Beaulieu, Hampshire.

Police called in over cuddly toy tiger

OK, bar the plastic nose, glassy eyes and distinctly synthetic sheen, perhaps it does look like the real thing.

At least, that's what members of the public thought when they spotted a 'big cat' being driven in the back of a Volvo and rang police.

Teaching assistant Adam Dobby, 45, was cycling on the A39 near Bude in Devon when the Volvo passed him.

'I noticed a big cat. It was lying in the back and I thought it looked like a tiger,' said the father of four. 'I did a double-take. Its head was moving and was pretty big. It was definitely a tiger.'

Joy Hamilton, and daughter Zoe, 18, saw the 'animal' when the Volvo pulled out of a Morrisons store.

'Zoe was aghast, put her hands to her chest, and did a double-take,' she said.

Police identified the owner of the Volvo as farmer Terry Western.
'Its name is Tigger and it does look very real,' said the 69-year-old, of Clovelly, north Devon.

'It's been in the boot for ages. I keep forgetting to take it out.'
A police spokesman said: 'No action was taken. We encourage people not to carry things that disturb other drivers.'

Girl, 9, drives mum home

An Ontario woman was charged with a traffic violation after having her nine-year-old daughter drive her home following a night of drinking.

"The woman was concerned that she was unable to drive having consumed some alcohol at a social function," police said.

The child was driving the car slowly along country roads in southeastern Ontario on October 12 when police noticed how tiny she was and pulled her over, police said.

A breath test indicated the woman's blood-alcohol level was within the legal limit.

Man eats 15lbs belly-busting burger

A chef has chomped his way through a burger weighing 15lbs in a marathon eating session.

Brad Sciullo, of Uniontown, is the first person to successfully eat the huge burger at Denny's Beer Barrel Pub, said pub owner Dennis Liegey.

He also chomped down 5.2lbs of toppings in the 4 hours and 39 minute marathon.

The burger - called the Beer Barrel Belly Bruiser - includes a bun, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, onions, mild banana peppers and a cup each of mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard and relish.

When asked what possessed him to eat a burger that big, Sciullo said: "I wanted to see if I could."

"I've always had a heck of a capacity and I can down about two gallons of water and I can do a gallon of milk in 20-some seconds," said Sciullo, a chef at Pasta Lorenzo's in Uniontown.

He said he realised when he had eaten through half the burger in a half-hour that he had plenty of time to finish it up.

"About three hours into it, things got tough," Sciullo said. "It's exhausting. I chewed for five straight hours. I didn't talk."

As is customary in such challenges, Sciullo was appointed a pub escort. Philip Fimon, a pub cook, stayed with Sciullo through the eating frenzy, even going with him to the restroom three times to make sure he didn't throw up, Liegey said.

For completing the challenge in the under-five-hour time limit, Sciullo won $400, three T-shirts, a certificate, "and a burger hangover, as I call it," Liegey said.

Thieving donkey is jailed

An Egyptian donkey has been jailed for stealing corn on the cob from a field belonging to an agricultural research institute in the Nile Delta.

The ass and its owner were held at a police checkpoint that had been set up after the institute's director complained that someone was stealing his crops.

The donkey was found in possession of the institute's corn and a local judge sentenced him to 24 hours in prison.

His owner got off with a fine of 50 Egyptian pounds (£5).

Iran aims for ostrich sandwich record

A team of chefs are attempting to make the world's biggest ostrich sandwich.

The massive snack will consists of 1,000kg (2,205lb) of meat and stretching to a length of 1,500 metres.

The record attempt will take place at a food festival in Tehran, as part of a bid to promote healthy eating.

The organisers also want to promote Iran's fledgling ostrich farming business.

About 1,500 cooks will make the sandwich to earn a place in the Guinness Book of Records for the largest ostrich sandwich ever.

The venture is being organised by Tehran city council along with industrial ostrich farms and food and catering groups.

They want to promote the bird's meat as a healthy alternative meat in a country where people's diets largely consist of beef, lamb and, occasionally, camel.

Man breaks cockroaches-in-mouth record

An American man has broken the world record for holding the most cockroaches in his mouth, after keeping 11 of them in his mouth.

Travis Fessler, 35, held them in his mouth for ten seconds to smash the previous record of nine Madagascan Hissing Cockroaches, according to US media.

He said of the attempt: 'One of them tried to crawl down my throat.

'That made me gag quite badly. It was difficult not to be sick but I held it in and saw it through to the end.'

He said he did not want to swallow any of them because he is a vegetarian.

Mr Fessler, a professional sword swallower and fire-eater, keeps more than 1,000 of the bugs as pets.

Colin Powell busts his hip hop moves on stage

Former US Secretary of State Colin Powell put George Bush to shame last night when he showed off some dance moves at the Royal Albert Hall.

He was pictured in a variety of poses with Nigerian hip-hop band Olu Maintain who were one of the acts playing as part of the Africa Rising festival.

Taking to the stage to rapturous applause the African-American politician said: "Africa is a great place, with a great tradition: It will rise."

He now follows in the footsteps of his former boss, George Bush, and the late Russian leader Boris Yeltsin as politicians who could not resist the urge to get up and dance.

Angry man smashes store over crack costs

The soaring cost of living has had severe consequences for many people in these economically troubled times. Among them is a Florida man accused of smashing up a grocery store in protest at the rising price of crack cocaine.

According to police, the man entered that Dixon's Food Mart in Fort Pierce, on the east Florida coast, and smashed a counter partition and DVD case.

When police turned up to arrest him, they say he smelled of alcohol, and was 'challenging people to fight.' He claimed he was angry about the fact that a rock of crack now cost twenty dollars, instead of ten.

Authorities say that the man, identified as Gus Young Jr., then claimed he had actually been trying to punch a drug dealer in the store, but that the dealer ducked, causing him to hit the partition instead.

Young continued to bemoan that state of things when taken to jail, shouting about 'unfair the price of crack had become', according to TCPalm.com
'Stanky (expletive)! I brought me a ten and they're twenty tonight!' he added.

Dead woman's relatives barbecue her body

The family of a dead woman cremated her remains on a makeshift barbecue and continued collecting her retirement cheques amounting to more than $25,000, according to authorities in Northern California.

Ramona Allmond's daughter and grandson were arrested Sunday on suspicion of embezzlement, elder abuse and disposing of a body without a permit.

Allmond, 84, likely died of natural causes, though investigators were still trying to determine the exact cause of death, said Tehama County sheriff's Capt. Paul Hosler.

Allmond's daughter, Kathleen Allmond, 50, and Allmond's grandson, Tony Ray, 30, told investigators their relative died in December.

They left her body on her bedroom floor for a week before cremating the remains in their backyard fire pit, Hosler said.

Investigators said the two kept collecting Allmond's monthly retirement cheques, amounting to more than $25,000. Sheriff's Detective Richard Knox said they may have been trying to honor Allmond's desire to die at home and be cremated.

The two were arrested after Allmond's son grew suspicious about her whereabouts.

Both were in jail in lieu of bail, with arraignment scheduled for Thursday. The sheriff's department said they do not yet have attorneys.

Newlyweds' 40 toaster presents

A bride and groom have had a wedding toast to remember - their 40 guests each bought them a toaster.

Paul and Lynne Davies did not want presents so friends and relatives concocted the prank instead.

Mrs Davies, 40, of Stoke-on-Trent, said: 'I'll be dishing out very predictable presents for a while.'

Judge stops lawmaker from suing God

A judge has thrown out a Nebraska state legislator's lawsuit against God, saying the Almighty wasn't properly served due to his unlisted home address.

State Senator Ernie Chambers filed the lawsuit last year seeking a permanent injunction against God. He said God has made terroristic threats against the senator and his constituents in Omaha, inspired fear and caused 'widespread death, destruction and terrorization of millions upon millions of the Earth's inhabitants.'

Chambers has said he filed the lawsuit to make the point that everyone should have access to the courts regardless of whether they are rich or poor.

On Tuesday, however, Douglas County District Court Judge Marlon Polk ruled that under state law a plaintiff must have access to the defendant for a lawsuit to move forward.

'Given that this court finds that there can never be service effectuated on the named defendant this action will be dismissed with prejudice,' Polk wrote.

Chambers, who graduated from law school but never took the bar exam, thinks he's found a hole in the judge's ruling.

'The court itself acknowledges the existence of God,' Chambers said Wednesday. 'A consequence of that acknowledgment is a recognition of God's omniscience.'

Therefore, Chambers said, 'Since God knows everything, God has notice of this lawsuit.'

Chambers has 30 days to decide whether to appeal. He said he hasn't decided yet.

Chambers, who has served a record 38 years in the Nebraska Legislature, is not returning next year because of term limits. He skips morning prayers during the legislative session and often criticizes Christians.

Horse arrested for being drunk

Romanian police have arrested a horse for being drunk.

The officers in Lelesti said the cart it was pulling 'looked out of control', especially after it struck a man who was sitting on a bench. They ran an alcohol test, and it came back positive.

Police suspect the horse might have been given alcohol to make it look stronger and healthier before it was sold.

Drunk pony takes a 3am pool dip

A greedy pony who got drunk after gorging on apples had to be rescued by fire crews after falling into a swimming pool.

The brown Moorland Pony, appropriately named Fat Boy, made a splash after breaking into a garden for a late night snack.

Fat Boy, and another equine partner in crime, wandered off from their stables, lured by the property's apple tree - but had one too many.

Because the fruit had already started to rot and ferment, the horses soon began to show the effects.

Punch drunk Fat Boy then stumbled into the pool, which was covered by a tarpaulin sheet, at the bungalow in Newquay, Cornwall.

Homeowner, Sarah Penhaligon, 28, could not believe her eyes when she awoke at 3.00am on Tuesday morning to find Fat Boy stuck in the shallow pool.

The 28 year-old was asleep in her bungalow when she heard strange noises.

"When I looked outside I saw this massive animal in the dark and I thought the Beast of Bodmin was in the pool," she said.

"I was terrified, but when I took a closer look I realised it was a horse."

Police and fire crews were tasked to the scene while Fat Boy tried to climb out of the water.

Unaware the animal was drunk, Ms Penhaligon then fed it more apples to keep it calm.

Ms Penhaligon said: "He looked a bit panicked - he was trying to get out of the pool but couldn't manage it and was getting very tired.

"I decided to sit down next to him and calm him down, so I fed him some apples to keep him occupied.

"The other horse just kept munching away from the tree and didn't seem to care about what was going on at all."

Police and fire crews arrived but were unable to help Fat Boy - who acquired his name due to a love of food and his big belly.

A specialist crew from Bodmin fire station were called in to deal with the incident, putting hay bales in the pool to make a step for the pony to climb out.

They finally got Fat Boy out of his watery misery at about 5am after giving him a helping hand out with harnesses.

Giant pink rabbit can be seen from space

The vast, 200ft-long pink creature can be found lying on its back – like a toy discarded by a giant, fractious toddler – in the Italian Alps, near the village of Artesina.

And now you don't even need to travel to Italy to see it – because it has appeared on Google Maps.

The creation of Viennese art collective Gelitin, the rabbit was made in 2005, following (according to the artists) five years of intensive knitting and stuffing with straw. They write on their website that it's intended to appear 'as if knitted by giant grandmothers'.

Visitors to the rabbit aren't just expected to stand and stare at the art, nodding wisely. Gelitin suggest climbing over the rabbit, exploring the knitted internal organs spilling out of the hole in its side, or possibly going to sleep on its belly.

Man legs it with Stephen Hawking

It's certainly a bit different from having 'mum', 'dad' or a loved one's name etched into your skin.
An admirer has had a particularly lively image of Prof Stephen Hawking tattooed on his leg as a tribute to the theoretical physicist and his achievements.

Fan Jack Newton said: 'He has worked on some ground-breaking scientific res­earch and is an amazing example of how illness does not necessarily stop a man from doing great things. He's an inspir­ation to us all.'

The trainee artist came up with the idea after reading the Cambridge professor's best-seller, A Brief History Of Time.

'To be honest, I didn't understand a word but I respect the man,' said the 23-year-old from Brighton.

Suitably res­olved, he made space and time to have the wheelchair-bound phys­icist's likeness inked on to his right calf.

He then added a line from Monty Python's Life Of Brian – 'He's not the Messiah. He's a very naughty boy' – possibly in a bid to lighten up the otherwise highly cerebral image.

The entire effort, at Angelic Hall tattoo studio, took artist Stewart Francis seven hours.

But it was time well spent. The depiction of the 66-year-old scientist has alr­eady won two trophies at tattoo conventions.

The next project is not yet clear but, given Mr Newton's fertile imag­ination, the thigh's the limit...

Grandmother gets black belt at 73

A karate black belt has been won by a 73-year-old grandmother who promised her late husband she would earn the martial art's highest accolade.

Barbara Dyson became Britain's oldest woman black belt after training four times a week with people a fraction of her age.

The former Leeds district nurse took up karate at 63 with her grandson, who quit when he won his red belt.

Wives get carried away in contest

The resort of Sunny River in Western Maine isn't normally associated with sporting heroics. But on Sunday, it saw 43 dedicated teams of athletes battle it out for supremacy in that noblest of sporting events: the North American Wife Carrying Championships.

Perhaps unexpectedly, given that this is an event traditionally associated with Wife Carrying, the couples don't actually have to be married. And in good news for gender equality, the woman can carry the man if that works better for them.

Couples must navigate a 250 metre obstacle course in the fastest time possible. Many teams favour the 'Estonian' carry, where the 'wife' holds her 'husband' around his waist and tightens her legs about his neck, thereby freeing the husband's hands.

After a hard fought competition, Reeder Famnestock and Sarah Silverberg of New Hampshire claimed victory in the final, after a stumble in the water left Austin Stonebreaker and Cary Girod in second place.

Victory allowed Famnestock and Silverberg to finally lay to rest the memory of last year - when the duo missed out by just three tenths of a second, the closest margin in the event's history.

The duo won the impressive prize of Sarah's weight in beer, and five times her weight in cash – which came to $610.

They will go on to represent their country in the world championships, which take place in Sonkajarvi, Finland next summer.

Afinal, onde nasceu D.Afonso Henriques ?

Algums dizem que nasceu em Guimaraes, outros dizem Viseu, outros dizem Coimbra e Lisboa

Afinal aonde nasceu D. Afonso Henriques

AQUI

Rogue elephant sends text warnings

Elephants in Kenya can no longer raid villagers' crops - because their collars warn rangers via text message if they step out of their enclosure.
The elephants have a mobile phone SIM card inserted into their collars that automatically sends a text message if they stray too near farms.

The rangers then use spotlights to frighten the elephants back inside the 90,000-acre Ol Pejeta conservancy.

The Save the Elephants group is using the system as an alternative to shooting the elephants. The Kenya Wildlife Service has reluctantly shot five elephants from the conservancy who refused to stop crop-raiding.

Beer surge to bring peace, hangovers to Iraq

A beer hall in Iraq has held its own version of Munich's famous Oktoberfest party - complete with frothy steins, sausages, an oom-pah band and dirndl-clad waitresses.

German-born Gunter Voelker, owner of the Deutscher Hof Erbil restaurant in Irbil, in Kurdish controlled Northern Iraq, says he wants to dispel the notion that Iraq isn't a holiday destination and insists beer is bringing people together.

'We can make this festival with Iraqi people, Turkish people, Kurdish people, American people, German people, with (people from) all over the world in peace and in a real good mood,' he said after the three-night party ended on Sunday

Driver Survives Lightning Shocker

What started as a routine stop for petrol has ended in a near-death experience for one motorist in the US.

CCTV cameras captured the moment a lightning strike threw William Hall to the ground while he was filling up in Niagra County.

Police think he is lucky to be alive.

Mr Hall said: "I started pumping the gas, and I saw a very bright orange light, followed by a very bright white light, and then total darkness. I went out."

Mr Hall was unconscious for about five minutes. He says he felt the current travel through him before he passed out.

"I was very numb... shakey... hard to catch my breath.. my heart was beating really rapidly."

Luckily, the explosive nature of the incident is not reflected in his injuries.

"Actually, I feel pretty good," he says. "Every muscle in my body is really sore.

"I have a slight headache but other than that I feel great. I feel very lucky."

Local police chief Ross Annable said: "It was fortunate that it was not a direct strike.

"It struck the parking lot and travelled through Mr Hall at the pumps."

Boozy Horse Banned From Local Pub

A horse named Peggy who regularly propped up the bar at a Tyneside pub has been barred by a landlady worried about her new carpets.

The 12-year-old mare used to enjoy a pint of John Smiths bitter and a packet of pickled onion crisps alongside owner Peter Dolan inside O'Malleys in Jarrow, South Tyneside.

But a refit at the pub, which included new carpets, meant landlady Jackie Gray had to tell Mr Dolan his four-legged companion was no longer welcome.

She said: "Although she is probably cleaner than some of my customers, I had to put my foot down and show her the door."

Peggy reportedly still comes to the pub, now named the Alexandra Hotel, but is tethered outside a window where she can see her former boozing pals enjoy their pints.

Owner Mr Nolan, a 62-year-old retired oil rigger, added: "People come into the pub and the first thing they say is 'Where's Peggy?'

"I tell them she's kicked the habit and is teetotal now."

Peggy started propping up the bar several years ago when one day she simply followed Mr Dolan into the pub, instead of staying outside on the grass as usual.

He said: "No-one even took any notice of her. Everyone just saw her as one of the locals."

Peggy's social life hit the headlines in October 2006 when her story went around the world.

Mrs Gray had only just taken over the pub then, and said she was shocked to find one of her new regulars was a horse.