'We did not serve poo' say hotel

A pub accused of serving ice cream contaminated with human excrement says a lab report has cleared them.

The Coogee Bay Hotel in Sydney pub has been accused of serving poo in ice cream to a family of five.

The Whyte family claim they were served a large bowl of ice cream covering what looked like "compacted chocolate".

But the pub has strongly denied the accusation and says a lab report has cleared them after it failed to find any excrement.

But the Whyte family, who say they were served the contaminated ice-cream on October 5 after they complained they could not hear a televised rugby final over the pub's loud music, say their own independent test found the dessert contained "properties similar to human excreta".

The state food authority is investigating.

Both the Whytes and the hotel staff have now offered to undergo DNA testing.

Teen forced gran to make 'gangsta' video

A Florida teenager has been sentenced to 18 months in juvenile detention for coaxing his senile grandmother into holding a gun and threatening to shoot "all the pigs" in a homemade "gangsta rap" video.
Eighteen-year-old Michael Alfinez pleaded guilty Tuesday to elder abuse charges. His family has said the case was a misunderstanding.
The 85-year-old grandmother can be seen in the video holding a handgun, wearing a black mask and threatening to shoot "all the pigs."

Alfinez was arrested in April after authorities seized the tape during a routine traffic stop.

Alfinez and others also could be seen in the video shooting a pistol around town.

Alfinez also pleaded guilty to charges of firing out of a moving vehicle and into a building.

Official website gives tips to prostitutes

A government website for Brazil's prostitutes that suggests they be prepared to perform fantasies and "offer specialties," among other tips, is going to be toned down, an official says.

Prostitution is legal in Brazil and sex worker advocacy groups say the Labour Ministry website aims to promote the human rights of prostitutes.

But critics say the site goes too far, and its contents have become fodder for Brazilian newspapers.

The site contains such tips as: "demonstrate an ability to perform erotic fantasies," "seduce with affectionate nicknames" and, in a nod to the globalized marketplace, "demonstrate a capacity to communicate in a foreign language."

"The information was created with the help of NGOs and the prostitutes themselves," said a labour ministry spokeswoman, who spoke on condition of anonymity because she wasn't authorised to discuss the topic.

The spokeswoman said, however, that the language and some of the explicit tips on the site would be moderated. She said the changes would be made by the end of the year.

The site, which began in 2002, also gives prostitutes advice on how to negotiate condom use with customers and encourages them to denounce violence. It gives information on HIV.

Opponents had said the site should be changed so it doesn't appear to encourage prostitution.

"What is on the site gives the impression of an apology for sexual exploitation," law professor Luiz Flavio Gomes told the O Globo newspaper in its online edition.

Traffic cone heist puzzles police

The motive behind the theft of 100 traffic cones from a busy road is a "mystery", police said.

The "unusual" heist of the brand-new cones happened on the A303 near Crewkerne in Somerset overnight between October 23 and 24 last week, officers said.

The theft occurred sometime between 5pm and 7am, and the cones were part of a lane closure leading from the Cartgate roundabout to the Ash/Martock junction.

The batch of orange unmarked cones belongs to a private firm and is worth £700.

Walnut argument leads to arrest

A couple who were feuding over a walnut have been charged by police.

It is not know why the pair from Dayton USA were fighting over the walnut but a neighbour complained about the argument after being disturbed.

The couple were bickering about the nut in their back yard before the police intervened.

The neighbour called the cops after seeing that the chairs on his porch had been smashed during the dispute.

The couple were both charged. One with menacing and the other with criminal damage.

Drunk woman wets herself in police station

A drunken woman who was arrested for driving under alcohol influence wet herself while being questioned.

Officers became suspicious of the lady when they found her car stuck in mud.

After falling out of her vehicle she tried to pull down her pants to relieve herself but was quickly taken to the station.

However after arriving she refused the offer to use the ladies room and ended up urinating on herself.

Man accused of centipede bed attack

A Malaysian man is accused of trying to hurt his neighbour with a dangerous weapon - centipedes.

A news report says a court has charged the man with allegedly unleashing the insects in the neighbour's bed following an argument.

The Star daily reports Wednesday that R.

Prabakaran, aged 21, pleaded not guilty in the court in Johor Baru city to a charge of attempting to cause harm with a dangerous weapon by putting four centipedes and bugs in the bed of his neighbor, K. Rajama, aged 30, last Friday.

Court officials could not immediately be reached to confirm the report.

It was not clear what species the centipedes were. Some species are poisonous.

If found guilty, Prabakaran faces up to three years prison and a caning.

Fancy a little bite to eat?

Two artists have carved success out of making as little as possible - fashioning pinhead-sized grapes and a kitchen knife you could pick your teeth with.

Charlotte and Martin Willmott spend their days creating tiny pine-apples, complete with 35 individual leaves, or tackling their latest bugbear - string onions.

'It's getting that texture right, with the very faint stripe they've got in them and the roots,' said 54-year-old Mrs Willmott.

The pair, who have no formal sculpture training, craft their work from polymer clay, which is then fired in their domestic oven before being hand painted. Their farmhouse table laden with produce goes for £85 and a mini Atlantic salmon for £45.

The couple, from Ipswich, caught the bug 30 years ago after reading about a man who made 1/12 scale chairs.

'They were just perfect. We were fascinated,' added former insurance specialist Mrs Willmott.

Husband Martin, 63, finally plucked up the courage to leave his job as an art teacher in 1991. They now sell their creations to collectors at miniature fairs across the country.

Amazon accidentally calls Obama a terrorist

Oooops. Amazon.com look like they'll have a little explaining to do - namely, explaining why when you searched for the phrase "terrorist costume", the only result returned was a mask of Barack Obama...

Amazon have now managed to remove the mask from those searches - unfortunately, not before the internet noticed, went crazy and swore never to shop at their horrible racist site ever again.

Of course, it's probably not poor little Amazon's fault, beyond the fact that they let their users ad helpful tags to the products, which then help other people search for them. Some naughty people have clearly decided to tag the Obama mask with 'terrorist' (even though that was last week's talking point - don't they know that this week he's a SOCIALIST who'll make ALL YOUR CHILDREN GAY?)

Either way, it's now unleashed a tag war between the Democrat and Republican factions: at the time of writing, the John McCain mask was tagged with the words 'evil', 'loser', 'war monger' and 'erectile dysfucntion'.

Yep, this is what political discourse has come to in 2008 - tagging masks of your opponent to say their penis doesn't work*. Amazon community moderation team: we feel your pain. Only eight more days of this madness to go.

Via qwghlm via damienmulley

*OK, we'll admit that's actually pretty funny. We do like presidential penis wars, after all.

Sausage smuggler rumbled

A woman tried was rumbled trying to smuggle spicy sausage across the US/Mexico border in babies' nappies.

Customs inspectors became suspicious when the 21-year-old woman from South Texas declared the nappies "soiled", local media reported.

Suspicious of the chunky nappies, inspectors with US Customs and Border Protection at the international bridge in Hidalgo found several links of spicy pork sausage, or chorizo, inside.

The nappies had been folded to look soiled, according to a customs agency statement.

The woman was fined $300 and her chorizo was seized.

Boffins: 'There could be life on Mr Spock's planet'

Mr Spock's fabled home star could harbour an Earth-like planet, boffins claim.

Epsilon Eridani was borrowed by the creators of Star Trek as the location of Vulcan, Mr Spock's home.

But now NASA astronomers say Epsilon Eridani resembles a younger twin to our solar system.
The star is about 62 trillion miles away from Earth but it is the closest known solar system.

The boffins report that the triple-ringed star has an asteroid belt and a Jupiter-like giant planet in roughly the same orbits as in our own solar system.

It is a fifth the age of Earth's sun, at 850 million years old.

"We certainly haven't seen it yet, but if its solar system is anything like ours, then there should be planets like ours," say astronomer Massimo Marengo of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in the US.

Driver: 'I was blinded by mobile phone'

A teenager who sped away from police at more than 100mph said she was having trouble seeing while talking on her mobile phone.

Kimberly Messer, 18, from Springfield, Oregon in the US, was clocked doing 107mph, Oregon media reported.

State trooper Ryan Hockema said she told him she had trouble seeing while talking on her mobile phone before stopping for the officer.

According to the police report, the officer had tried to stop a red 1995 Ford Mustang he spotted going 87mph near a construction site.

The car then accelerated to speeds as high as 107mph in the work zone while failing to maintain the travel lane, following other vehicles too closely and making unsafe lane changes.

Messer was arrested on charges of reckless driving and recklessly endangering another person and has been jailed.

Revealed: The world's longest dreadlocks

Asha Mandela lets down her record-breaking hair after getting her dreadlocks measured at 2.6m (8ft 9in).

The 1.6m (5ft 5in) American from Miami, 46, has been growing her hair for 20 years.

Man pleads guilty in frozen chicken attacks

A man accused of attacking a woman with a frozen chicken has pleaded guilty to assault.

Frederick McKaney, 40, was accused of stabbing his mother with a fork and attacking a second woman with 10lbs of frozen chicken.

He has pleaded guilty to one count of felonious assault.

McKaney, from Jackson, Michigan in the US, had additional assault, larceny and other charges against him dropped.

Prosecutors said McKaney stabbed his mother with a fork June 23 and later exchanged words with another woman as he rode a stolen bicycle.

They said he hit her in the head with a plastic bag of frozen chicken, opening a wound that required five surgical staples to close.

McKaney will be sentenced Dec. 11. He faces up to four years in prison and a $2,000 fine.

Prosthetic ear found under rollercoaster

A prosthetic ear and leg have been found during a clear-up at a theme park's rollercoaster ride.

The unexpected finds were found in and around Alton Towers' Corkscrew ride.

Russell Barnes, from the theme park, said: "As the Corkscrew is the oldest rollercoaster in the Park, we were expecting to find some strange items when we started clearing the Corkscrew area but a prosthetic leg definitely tops the list as the most bizarre.

"If anyone has any information on the missing leg, we would be keen to hear from them."

The theme park said usual lost property was car keys, money and mobile phones.

The 28 year-old Corkscrew rollercoaster is being closed and will run for the final time on November 9 when the park will be hosting a special day for members of the public who would like to ride the coaster one last time.

Man gets arm stuck in train toilet

A passenger on a French train had to be rescued after having his arm sucked down the on-board toilet.

The 26-year-old Frenchman became trapped while trying to fish his mobile phone out of the toilet on a high-speed train, passengers said.

They said he fell foul of the toilet's the powerful suction system which drains the loos on board, the rail network's regional office said.

Firefighters had to cut through the U-bend to free him.

The high-speed TGV train had to stop for two hours while firemen cut through the train's pipework.

The man was carried away by emergency services, with the toilet still attached to his arm.

"He came out on a stretcher, with his hand still jammed in the toilet bowl, which they had to saw clean off," said Benoit Gigou, a witness to the man's plight.

The incident happened on Sunday evening, aboard a train travelling in western France between La Rochelle and Paris.

Cyclist takes the long way home

One cyclist really has done his bit for the planet - pedalling 48,000km (30,000 miles) home to Britain from Japan.

Peter Gostelow is taking a well-earned rest after a three-year stint in the saddle that took him through 30 countries, including Iran and Afghanistan.

Despite wobbling through war zones and treacherous terrain, the worst challenges he faced were sunburn, food poisoning and just 20 tyre punctures.

'I was surprised how safe I felt in Pakistan and Iran,' said the 29-year-old.

Even when his bike was stolen in Nepal and sold for £10 he soon recovered it with the help of locals. The cyclist thought up the idea after finishing his job teaching English in Japan.
'I've travelled before but it has always been by plane. I felt like I was in a capsule and wasn't experiencing the world properly,' he said.

But his welcome home after the £6,000 trip was slightly delayed. Arriving in Dover, he cycled to Dorset to see his mother - only to find she had moved to Surrey.

Hero dog risks life to save kittens

A dog was hailed as a hero after it risked its life to save a litter of newborn kittens from a house fire, rescuers said.

In a case which gives the lie to the saying about 'fighting like cats and dogs', the terrier cross named Leo had to be revived with oxygen and heart massage after his ordeal.

Fire broke out overnight at the house in Australia's southern city of Melbourne, where he was guarding the kittens.

Fire fighters who revived Leo said he refused to leave the building and was found by them alongside the litter of kittens, despite thick smoke.

"Leo wouldn't leave the kittens and it nearly cost him his life," fire service Commander Ken Brown told reporters.

The four kittens also survived the fire and on Sunday Leo, who fire fighters nicknamed 'Smoky', was again back at the house.

Modern day Guy Fawkes- Except this one is naked

Its only a week to wait till bonfire night, but an eager man took fireworks display to a new level in Australia yesterday.
The half naked man was caught running down the street in the town centre of Mt Isa with firecrackers jumping out of his head and exploding in the air.

The 22-year-old prankster had nothing on but some shorts and a helmet with the firecrackers attached to it and as he flew down the street the crackers did the same.

He was apprehended by police and will appear in court.

But although no accidents were caused policeman Hopkins said the act was dangerous.

"He was running close to one of our main roads, where the big road trains travel," Supt Hopkins said.

"It could have been quite tragic."

Palin wig is a must-have

A Sarah Palin wig has become one of a New York company's most popular items.
Georgie Wigs vice-president Shlomo Klein said they had sold about 50 Palin wigs since the Alaska governor joined John McCain on the Republican ticket.

"It's a very conservative yet fashion-forward look," he said.

"It can be worn down, it can be worn up. There are a lot of styling options. The bun higher, the bun lower."

Car scratching yob was an OAP

A vandal who keyed a classic car causing £1,000 of damage has been unmasked as a 76-year-old.

'Everyone blames youths for crime but it's not always true,' said Roy Bearman, owner of the Triumph Dolomite Sprint.

The male pensioner was cautioned for the attack on the car in Hunstanton, Norfolk.

'Leopard man' recluse moves to proper home

A man whose body is covered in leopard spot tattoos has moved from a ruined cabin on a Scots island to a proper home.

Tom Leppard - the so-called Leopard Man of Skye and, until recently, the world's most tattooed man - now lives in a house using electricity and sleeps in a bed for the first time in years.

The 73-year-old said of his former existence: 'I'm getting too old for that life.'

Woman gives birth to triplet granddaughters

A woman became a grandmother when she gave birth to her grandchildren.

The 56-year-old gave birth to triplets by having IVF, and embryos implanted into her uterus.

Jaci Dalenberg, 56, from Ohio USA, carried the two identical twins and their sister as a surrogate mother for her daughter Kim Coseno and her husband.

The twins and their sister were two-months premature and all four are said to be doing fine.

Jaci is said to have offered her service after her daughter was waiting to adopt with her husband.

Lightning bolt kills 52 cows

A single lightning bolt killed 52 cows at an Uruguayan ranch.
Newspaper El Pais reported the cows had pressed against a wire fence during a storm when the lightning bolt struck in the northern state of San Jose.

A photograph released by the San Jose Police Department shows the black and brown cows lying dead in a long row.

The newspaper said that veterinarians at the scene confirmed the cause of the deaths, which happened on Wednesday.

The veterinarians told the newspaper that cows often crowd around fences to seek protection during storms.

Meteorologist Fernando Torena told the newspaper he wasn't surprised that a single lightning bolt killed so many cows. But he called it "very bad luck".

Burglars rob unlocked police station

Two drunken burglars stole police equipment after discovering the door of a rural police station had been left unlocked, it was revealed today.

Shane Bowkett, 22, and Matthew Goodchild, 21, turned up at the station in Newent, in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, at 4am on August 23.

They had been drinking at a nearby pub and had gone to the police station because they thought Goodchild's brother had been arrested and was being held there.

They pressed the buzzer, but after getting no answer found the door was open and all the lights on, so went inside.

When they realised the station was unmanned, they stole two stab vests, two high-visibility jackets, two police caps and the key to a patrol car.

Bowkett, of Coleford, and Goodchild, from Newent, both admitted burglary on October 14 and were each given a 12 month conditional discharge by Gloucester magistrates and ordered to pay £30 each.

The stolen equipment was recovered by police.

Police have also apologised to widow Chris Harrison, 59, for mistakenly smashing in her front door when they were searching for the culprits.

Mrs Harrison, who runs an equestrian equipment shop, has made an official complaint and compensation claim.

Gloucestershire police said there was a fault with the door to the police station which meant that it could not be locked properly.

Security had been stepped up since the incident.

A spokesman said: "It is important that police stations throughout the county are accessible by members of the public and that during periods when the station is not manned, they can locate the help points which put them in direct contact with the contact centre.

"On this occasion the station had been left insecure due to a fault with the door and the offenders gained access into the building.

"We have now reviewed the security of this station and will be making sure that an incident like this doesn't happen again."

Half-ton man's big fat Mexican wedding

The world's heaviest man has tied the knot. Manuel Uribe, who hasn't left his bed in six years, married his longtime girlfriend Claudia Solis Sunday in northern Mexico.
Wearing a white silk shirt with a sheet wrapped around his legs, Uribe smiled as Solis, 38, walked down a flight of stairs wearing a strapless ivory dress, a tiara and hot-pink lipstick.

He later broke into tears as a notary declared the couple husband and wife in a civil ceremony attended by more than 400 guests.

For the traditional first dance as newlyweds, Uribe and Solis held hands and swayed to a romantic ballad.

A popular local norteno band played accordion-heavy tunes at the reception, which featured a banquet of meat and buttered vegetables.

Uribe's mother, Orquedia Garza, said the groom steered clear of the five-tier wedding cake.

"He didn't break his diet," she said. "His doctors are here and they are watching him very closely."

The wedding, which was closed to most media, will be featured in an upcoming Discovery Channel documentary on Uribe, the 43-year-old former mechanic said.

"I have a wife and will form a new family and live a happy life," Uribe told hordes of reporters earlier as they followed him through the streets of Monterrey.

A flatbed truck was brought in to tow his custom-made bed decorated with a canopy, flowers and gold-trimmed bows to the wedding at a local event hall. Two police patrol cars escorted him ahead of a long line of traffic.

Uribe tipped the scales in 2006 at 1,230lbs (560kg), earning him the Guinness World Record as the world's heaviest man.

He has since shed about 550 pounds (250 kilograms) with the help of Solis, whom he met four years ago.

Uribe said he's gunning for a new title: world's greatest weight loser.

Palin as President: your interactive web glimpse of a nightmare future

As the polls in America continue to suggest that absolutely nobody in the country likes John McCain and they're all crazy drunk on hope-juice, the prospect of comedy trainwreck Sarah Palin being a heartbeat away from the nuclear codes seems to be receding somewhat. But let's get in a few more cheap gags at her expense while we can, OK?

Palin as President is a lovely little website with a fun approach to mickey-taking that we can't remember seeing before - the interactive Flash satire. You're shown President Hockeymom kicking back in the Oval Office, and you get to click on the various objects in the room to reveal hidden jokes, or prompt phrases from Palin ('Maverick!' ). The site's creators say they'll be adding new gags to it every day until the election, which promises plenty of fun trying to spot the fresh jokes.
Our favourite bit is the dinosaur that occasionally walks past the window outside. (Palin is apparently of the belief that humans and dinosaurs walked the earth at the same time. Which is totally unfair, John McCain's not that old.) On that theme, here's a lovely picture of Palin riding a dinosaur by artist Zina Saunders, whose paintings of the election are all wonderful.

Woman jailed for virtual murder

A woman has been non-virtually jailed after virtually killing her virtual husband in an online role-playing game.

The 43-year-old became so angry about her sudden divorce from her online husband that she logged on with his password and killed his digital persona, police said.

The woman, who has been jailed on suspicion of illegally accessing a computer and manipulating electronic data, used his ID and password to log onto Maple Story, a popular Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG), to carry out the virtual murder in May, a police official in the northern city of Sapporo said on Thursday.

'I was suddenly divorced, without a word of warning. That made me so angry,' the official quoted her as telling investigators and admitting the allegations.

The woman, a piano teacher, had not plotted any revenge in the real world, the official said.

She has not yet been formally charged. If convicted, she could face up to five years in prison or a fine up to US$5,000.

Players in Maple Story create avatars for themselves, while engaging the usual MMORPG pastimes of fighting monsters in dungeons, going on quests, and forming relationships with other players.

The woman killed her ex-husabnd's avatar using login information she had obtained from the 33-year-old office worker during happier times. The man complained to police when he discovered that he was dead.

The woman was arrested Wednesday and taken 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) from her home in southern Miyazaki to be detained in Sapporo, where the man lives, the official said.

The police official said he did not know if she was married in the real world.

Bad online behavior is usually handled within the rules set up by online worlds, which can ban miscreants or take away their virtual possessions.

In recent years, misbehavior in the virtual world has in some cases had consequences in reality.

In August, a woman was charged in the U.S. state of Delaware with plotting the real-life abduction of a boyfriend she met through virtual world Second Life.

In Tokyo, a 16-year-old boy was charged with stealing the ID and password from a fellow player of an online game in order to swindle virtual currency worth US$360,000.

Daylight Saving Time or SUMMER TIME end today

EU - European Union - Clock Changes

This applies to most states in Europe even those not in the European Economic Union (EU).

NB In the United Kingdom Summer Time is referred to as British Summer Time (BST).

Summer Time Rule

Start: Last Sunday in March

End: Last Sunday in October

Time: 1.00 am (01:00) Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)

Since 1996 all clocks in Europe have changed on same date.

Year - DST Begins - DST Ends

---------1 am GMT -1 am GMT

1999--- March 28---October 31
2000--- March 26---October 29
2001--- March 25---October 28
2002--- March 31---October 27
2003--- March 30---October 26
2004--- March 28---October 31
2005--- March 27---October 30
2006--- March 26---October 29
2007--- March 25---October 28
2008--- March 30---October 26
2009--- March 29---October 25
2010--- March 28---October 31
2011--- March 27---October 30

Source EU: EU Summer time arrangements

Europe - Standard Time Zones

Most European countries follow EU directives for time-keeping.

There are three different time zones across the EU:

Western Europe Time (Standard Time = GMT)

United Kingdom, Ireland, Portugal

Central Europe Time (Standard Time = GMT+1)

Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Spain, France, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden
Non-EU: Norway, Switzerland

Eastern Europe Time (Standard Time = GMT + 2)

Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania
EU members from 2007 (tbc): Bulgaria, Romania
Non-EU: Belarus, Moldova, Turkey, Ukraine

Reference

Source: European Union

Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on summer-time arrangements(Directive 2000/84/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 January 2001 on summer-time arrangements)

Is this the most dangerous job in the world?

Kids in this country aren't even allowed to play conkers without wearing goggles.

But in Russia, men fit air-conditioning units 16 floors up by hanging out the window with no safety net.

This fearless chap first lowered the unit out of the block of flats before enthusiastically launching himself from the window and embracing it in a giant bear hug.

The flimsy metal brackets luckily held and he managed to clamber back inside without plummeting to the street below.

The fun is not just confined to the former Soviet Union - in Egyptian capital Cairo another picture shows a man being dangled by his legs as he repairs another air-conditioning unit.

The contrast with Britain could not be greater.

Here, anyone installing such devices would no doubt need to put up scaffolding, close roads and employ hard-hatted safety officers to supervise the process.

There has been growing anger in Britain about alleged health and safety killjoys clamping down on innocuous activities.

But the Health and Safety Executive insists it is not seeking to ban everyday activities and says there are myths surrounding its business.

'There have been many reports of the HSE banning all sorts of things - flip-flops at work, knitting in hospitals, sports days, and even cuddly toys on dustbin lorries,' a spokesman said. 'This is simply not true.'

Wild boar killed in sweet shop rampage

Police marksman were called in after three wild boars went on the rampage in a Chinese province.
The creatures have become more prevalent following a recent ban on hunting them, leading to shortages in food in country's eastern Anhui province.

This, and the fact that the winter months have led to a scarcity of food for the boars, caused them to head for the town of Toncheng.

Officers killed one of the animals in a sweet shop during the incident.

Sex-change hen ruling the roost

A cockerel called George is ruling the roost – after transforming from a hen called Georgina.
The one-in-10,000 sex-swap has taken about two years and started when Georgina shared a home with other hens.

'As she was surrounded by other hens with only one other male in the group she has decided to take on the role of a cockerel,' said Jane Howorth, who keeps George at the Battery Hen Welfare Trust headquarters in Chulmleigh, north Devon.

George has even developed a cockscomb on his head.

The change is believed to happen when a damaged ovary causes the hen's testosterone levels to soar, turning the remaining ovary into a testicle.

Runaway hamster back in custody

The escaped hamster who defied a team of firefighters after going on the run was back in her cage today.

Fire crews used the traditional hamster-hunting tools of a chocolate-covered camera and a sock-covered vacuum cleaner to try and wrangle missing Fudgie out of her hiding place at six-year-old Zoe Appleby's home in Dunbar, East Lothian.

The girl's mother contacted the fire service six days after the pet scuttled down a hole in the kitchen floor.

Despite their efforts, they failed to recover Fudgie and called in the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA).

The Daily Record said the hamster had been found this morning running around a cage that the SSPCA had put out to catch her.

In the search for Fudgie, firefighters took the family cooker and gas pipes to pieces.

They also dropped a mini-camera coated with chocolate underneath the floorboards.

They then hoped to suck out the furry rodent using a vacuum cleaner with a sock over the nozzle.

The Appleby family are looking after Fudgie for a friend of Zoe's.
Her mother Angela, told the Record they were delighted that the hamster had ended its nine-day exile.

'It was like Christmas morning,' she said.

'Zoe sat in her pyjamas in front of Fudgie's cage and watched her for ages. She said "I love you Fudgie".'

Woman jailed for virtual murder

A woman has been non-virtually jailed after virtually killing her virtual husband in an online role-playing game.

The 43-year-old became so angry about her sudden divorce from her online husband that she logged on with his password and killed his digital persona, police said.

The woman, who has been jailed on suspicion of illegally accessing a computer and manipulating electronic data, used his ID and password to log onto Maple Story, a popular Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG), to carry out the virtual murder in May, a police official in the northern city of Sapporo said on Thursday.

'I was suddenly divorced, without a word of warning. That made me so angry,' the official quoted her as telling investigators and admitting the allegations.'

The woman, a piano teacher, had not plotted any revenge in the real world, the official said.

She has not yet been formally charged. If convicted, she could face up to five years in prison or a fine up to US$5,000.

Players in Maple Story create avatars for themselves, while engaging the usual MMORPG pastimes of fighting monsters in dungeons, going on quests, and forming relationships with other players.

The woman killed her ex-husabnd's avatar using login information she had obtained from the 33-year-old office worker during happier times. The man complained to police when he discovered that he was dead.

The woman was arrested Wednesday and taken 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) from her home in southern Miyazaki to be detained in Sapporo, where the man lives, the official said.

The police official said he did not know if she was married in the real world.

Bad online behavior is usually handled within the rules set up by online worlds, which can ban miscreants or take away their virtual possessions.

In recent years, misbehavior in the virtual world has in some cases had consequences in reality.

In August, a woman was charged in the U.S. state of Delaware with plotting the real-life abduction of a boyfriend she met through virtual world Second Life.

In Tokyo, a 16-year-old boy was charged with stealing the ID and password from a fellow player of an online game in order to swindle virtual currency worth US$360,000.

Chainsaw relief for tree-trapped horse

This mare has had a bit of a 'mare – after getting her head stuck inside a tree.

The filly, called Gracie, had to be cut free with a chainsaw when owner Jason Harschbarger discovered her wedged in the trunk – after he was alerted by hearing the horse making strange noises.

'I had taken a break from using the weed eater and when I turned it off I could hear her crying,' said Mr Harschbarger.

'I looked up and all I could see was her belly. I ran up to see her and she looked in a lot of trouble. She was hanging there by the back of her jaws. I ran back down to my vehicle and got a chainsaw and ratchet strap.

'I don't know what possessed me to get the camera as well.'

I think she was just being curious and stuck her head in there
When attempts to pull her free with the ratchet strap option failed, Harschbarger decided it was time to crank out the chainsaw.
'I started cutting on the tree right above her head. That really stressed her and she reared up three times and her head came out.

That chainsaw really spooked her.'

But the drama didn't end there. Gracie may have freed her head, but as she came back down her left hoof got stuck back in the tree. But twenty minutes, and some nifty chainsaw work, later, Gracie was free once more – although slightly shocked.

Gracie has emerged mostly unscathed with a few scars down her neck and a bit of nerve damage to her nose and lips. But things have changed a bit for the Harschbargers after the pictures were shown all around the US.

'We've been on Fox News,' said Mr Harschbarger. 'My friends are asking me how it feels to be a celebrity.'

'I think she was just being curious and stuck her head in there.

Then her hoof might have slipped on the wood and she fell backwards and got her head wedged,' he speculated.

The robot apocalypse looms ever larger

Phrases that give us pause:

"What we have here are the beginnings of something designed to enable robots to hunt down humans like a pack of dogs. Once the software is perfected we can reasonably anticipate that they will become autonomous and become armed."

and

"Once the bits are joined, there will be a robot force under command of a single soldier with potentially dire consequences for innocents around the corner."

Sounds bad enough. But when those are actual descriptions of the Pentagon's newest military destructobot program - they're actively seeking contractors to 'develop a software and sensor package to enable a team of robots to search for and detect human presence in an indoor environment' - you pretty much know that it's time to abandon civilisation, and head for the mountains, where we will live in caves surrounded by elaborate booby-trap mechanisms to fend off the roaming packs of killer hound-droids.

'Fraudsters landed me with £150 McDonald's bill'

A British fraud victim spoke today of his shock when he discovered a £150 bill at a Brazilian McDonald's restaurant on his bank statement.

Joe Pearson, 53, who has never been to Brazil, was horrified to find the £151.99 transaction at the fast food outlet - which could buy a customer 76 Big Mac burgers or 43 medium Big Mac meals.

Retired Mr Pearson, from Gloucester, does not know how his Barclays bank account details were accessed, but a code on his statement allowed anti-fraud staff to track the transaction to an outlet in Brazil.

A call centre worker contacted him to alert him to the possible fraud, so Mr Pearson used internet banking to check his balance.

He said: "I looked at my statement online and there were two transactions from McDonald's. The total came to £151.99.

"I called Barclays Bank and they told me it was from a McDonald's restaurant in Brazil.

"Well, I couldn't believe this. I couldn't believe someone could spend that much in McDonald's - they must have been having a party or something.

"I wouldn't eat at McDonald's myself and I couldn't even travel to Brazil if I wanted to - my passport is expired."

Mr Pearson, who retired due to ill health, said he previously used his card to purchase items online, but is careful with his details.
"I have only had the card for a year," he said.

"I'm very careful with my details, I don't give them out. I've made purchases on the internet through Paypal, but aside from that I only use it in the machine."

Mr Pearson had to sign statements to confirm it was not him who made the transaction and Barclays agreed to refund the money to his bank account.

A spokesman for the bank said: "Our fraud detection system must have picked it up and thought it was bizarre that either the gentleman was in Brazil or realised it was such a large amount to spend in a fast food restaurant.

"Although we have a very sophisticated and successful fraud detection system we still want customers to be aware and we would encourage all our customers to be vigilant and to review their bank statements regularly."

One dead, six injured after faulty toilet seat falls

A range of faulty raised toilet seats has led to at least six people being injured, a safety watchdog warned today.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said it had received 91 reports of broken Homecraft Rolyan Savanah seats.

The MHRA said six people had fallen off the toilet because the seat slipped, with injuries including bumps to the head, bruising and back injury.

One woman died following one of the incidents, although it was not clear to what extent the fall had contributed to her death, the MHRA said.

It urged the public and health and social care providers to be vigilant over the two and four-inch raised seats.

Nearly 25,000 of the seats were sold in the UK between May 2007 and January. However, they do not carry a batch or serial number.

The product codes are AA2112 and AA2112L for the two-inch seats and AA2114Y and AA2114L for the four-inch seats.

MHRA spokesman Clive Bray said: "The MHRA has received reports of 91 seats being affected so far where the rubber pad has come away from the brackets which are used to secure the toilet seat.

"Six of the reports resulted in the person falling off the toilet because the toilet seat slipped. Injuries have included bumps to the head, bruising and back injury.

"Tragically following one of these incidents a woman died, although it is not clear how much the fall contributed to her death."

People can report any safety related issues concerning medical devices to the MHRA by calling 0207 084 3080 or visiting www.mhra.gov.uk.

INTERNATIONAL CAPS LOCK DAY!!!

THIS BLESSED DAY SEES THE CELEBRATION OF THE KEY OF KEYS, THE KING OF ALL THE KEYBOARD. ALL THE LESSER KEYS MUST OBEY THEIR GREAT AND CRUEL MASTER, LORD CAPSLOCK.
YOU CAN CELEBRATE INTERNATIONAL CAPS LOCK DAY IN MANY WAYS, BUT PROBABLY THE BEST IS TO WRITE EVERYTHING IN CAPS LOCK FOR THE WHOLE DAY. PLEASE NOTE: JUST HOLDING DOWN THE SHIFT KEY IS NOT ENOUGH, YOU MUST ACTUALLY USE CAPS LOCK OTHERWISE IT ISN'T CAPS LOCK DAY, IS IT?

YOU MAY ALSO WISH TO ALERT OTHERS TO THE EXISTENCE OF CAPS LOCK DAY. ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVE A BOSS WHO ENJOYS SENDING OUT ALL-CAPS MEMOS, OR AN AUNT WHO THINKS IT WILL MAKE HER EMAILS EASIER FOR YOU TO READ.

PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT WE HAVE HEARD DARK MURMURINGS ON THE INTERNET THAT SOME MAY BE TEMPTED TO MERGE CAPS LOCK DAY WITH THE AS-YET-UNCREATED INTERNATIONAL COMIC SANS DAY. DO NOT DO THIS.

COMIC SANS IS EVIL AND MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO SULLY THE BEAUTY AND PURITY OF OUR CAPS LOCK.

JOY AND BEST WISHES TO YOU ALL ON THIS DAY. WHICH IS CAPS LOCK DAY.

CAPS LOCK DAY CAPS LOCK DAY ON METAFILTER CAPS LOCK DAY ON MOFI CAPS LOCK ON TWITTER SCALZI ON CAPS LOCK RECIPE FOR SALMON TOAST

Protesters pelt PM with shoes

A crowd of angry protesters hurled shoes and plastic bottles at the Thai prime minister after cornering him in an underground car park.

Somchai Wongsawat's security agents and police shielded him from the flying foowear and huddled him into a waiting car, which sped off in a motorcade.

The protest was staged by more than 100 employees of the state-owned telecom operator TOT during a visit by Somchai to their headquarters outside the capital Bangkok.

It marked the first time in Thailand's months of political crisis that state employees have come into direct confrontation with the prime minister.

It was not, however, the first time that Somchai has had to make a quick getaway.

On October 7, Somchai escaped a violent protest outside Parliament by climbing over a back fence to safety.

Riot police outside the building fired tear gas to disperse rowdy protesters, leaving hundreds injured and two dead.

Somchai's motorcade had today detoured into an underground car park lot to avoid a crowd shouting "Somchai, Murderer!" in reference to the October 7 disturbances.

Protesters swarmed around him in the parking lot, waving noisy plastic clappers shaped like giant hands.

After holding a meeting inside the building, Somchai left through the main entrance, where more protesters had gathered.

Some hurled clappers at his entourage and plastic water bottles and shoes.

Throwing shoes is particularly insulting in Thai culture, which considers feet the dirtiest part of the body.

Somchai, who took office last month, has come under growing pressure to step down to ease Thailand's deepening political crisis.

He is a brother-in-law of deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, around whom the crisis revolves.

Former Manchester City owner Thaksin was convicted of corruption and sentenced to two years in prison in a landmark ruling yesterday.

But he is currently living in self-imposed exile in London and most Thais doubt he will ever serve time behind bars.

Firefighters fail to recapture hamster

Eight firefighters were called in to help find an escaped hamster, it was revealed today.

Two fire crews used a chocolate-covered camera and a vacuum cleaner to try and locate missing Fudgie at six-year-old Zoe Appleby's home in Dunbar, East Lothian.

The girl's mother contacted the fire service after the pet had scuttled down a hole in the kitchen floor, and stayed there for six days. She had to reassure neighbours when two fire engines from Dunbar and Newcraighall pulled up outside their house on Monday afternoon.

In the search for Fudgie, firefighters took the family cooker and gas pipes to pieces.

They also dropped a mini-camera - coated with chocolate in an effort to lure Fudgie towards it - underneath the floorboards.

They then hoped to suck out the furry rodent using a vacuum cleaner with a sock over the nozzle.

Despite their efforts, they failed to recover Fudgie and called in the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA).

The hamster, who was being looked after for a friend during the school holidays, has now been missing for eight days.

A spokeswoman for Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue said: 'The call related to a hamster that was trapped behind a wall.

'They got a Fibroscope camera and put that down under the floorboards to see if they could find it.

'In the end we left it in the hands of the SSPCA.'

Zoe's mother Angela told the Daily Record newspaper: 'When we got in touch with the fire brigade, eight of them turned up in two separate engines.

'I had to reassure the neighbours that everything was OK and it was just a hamster.

'But the firefighters were excellent and tried everything they could. The drama that tiny animal has caused is unbelievable.'

The nursery nurse said she believed Fudgie has made a home for herself under the floor using cardboard tubing that she put down for the pet to climb up

Lonely gorilla in 'love search'

Even though Polo is 6 feet (183 centimeters) tall, dark-haired, bilingual and good-natured, the 36-year-old silverback gorilla is still single after a fruitless eight-year search.

"We have written to all major zoos in the world. We have tried everything," said Vijay Ranjan Singh, the director of the zoo in Mysore, a city in southern India about 525 miles (845 kilometers) southeast of Mumbai.

Polo, who was sent to Mysore from Ireland's Dublin Zoo in 1995, has been alone since 2000 when his mate, 46-year-old Sumathi, died.

Singh said that because gorillas are considered highly endangered, other zoos are reluctant to part with theirs. The Mysore zoo doesn't want to send Polo abroad to find a friend because he is India's only gorilla. Also, animal transfers are usually done within the framework of breeding programs that are often regional.

Worried that failure to find a companion for Polo could cause him psychological harm, his keepers decided to make one final plea. "He needs psychological and emotional enrichment that we can't provide," Singh said by telephone from Mysore on Thursday.

Polo is a western lowland gorilla, native to the forests of central Africa. Silverback gorillas - marked with a distinctive patch - are dominant males who usually live in family groups in the wild.

"He is not very happy. The few joys he enjoys are bathing and searching for food that his keeper hides in blocks of ice or in bamboo to keep him energized," Singh said.

For the prospective mate, Singh says Polo is good-natured and responds to commands in both the local Kannada language and English.

The mystery of the vanishing cats

The RSPCA is investigating the mysterious disappearance of a large number of cats in a town dubbed the Purr-muda Triangle.

More than 40 pet cats are reported to have vanished from homes in Stourbridge, West Midlands, over the last eight years.

The RSPCA has been investigating the disappearances - but said to date, no cat remains had been found.

Julie Wootton, whose 15-year-old cat Norman went missing last year, told the Daily Mail website she had formed a group to try and solve the mystery.

She said: 'It's terrible, the area is just deserted of cats now, people have stopped replacing pets because they can't face the heartache.

'We have even found a few collars afterwards, on one it said that the cat was microchipped.

'If the animal is found by the bin-men, or is brought into a vet, they will always scan it for a microchip, so they aren't being found.'

A RSPCA spokesman said: 'We share the concerns of worried cat owners when their pets have gone missing and in liaison with the police have investigated the incidents we have been notified of.

'In this case there have been reports of missing cats with no information about how they have gone missing, with no bodies of cats as evidence therefore it is difficult to investigate further without any evidence.

'We will continue to look into any further incidents which are reported to us and it is our intention to make door to door enquiries in the local area with a leaflet drop to see if any further information will be forthcoming.'

Have you been abducting cats in Stourbridge for the past eight years? What are you doing with them? Let us know in the comments.

Toilet swearing woman gets compensation

An American woman who was arrested and prosecuted for swearing at her toilet has won $19,000 in compensation.

Dawn Herb's legal fees will also be paid as part of the settlement with the city of Scranton.

Herb was arrested last year after a neighbor, an off-duty police officer, heard her swearing at the overflowing lavatory through an open window.

She was charged with disorderly conduct and faced a possible 90 days in jail.

But the judge at her trial found her not guilty, saying that swearing was not illegal and her language was constitutionally protected free speech.

Civil rights group the American Civil Liberties Union announced the settlement on Wednesday.

Horse and hound in mad chasing game

At first glance, it looks like this dog is about to be maimed for life.

But Asti the horse and Freya the Belgian shepherd are just horsing around after striking up an unlikely farmyard friendship.

Yapping dogs are usually greeted with a hoof in the face but this 12-year-old male enjoys the game.

'They have been playing this game since Freya was a pup,' said farmer Jurgen Schmidt, 52.

'They chase each other around each day and none of them has ever been harmed.'

Mr Schmidt lets all the other horses out of their stables before allowing the pair their game of chase.

And, despite the advantage of long legs, Asti has never managed to nip the seven-year-old farm dog.

'Freya can change her direction so very quickly, Asti runs out of luck each time,' said photographer Lothar Lenz, who captured the horseplay in Bruchkoebel, Germany.

'Horses have to build up a rapport with dogs before they can trust them.

'The other horses look quite confused at what exactly is going on.'