Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Naked man found wedged in chimney

A naked man found wedged in the chimney of a supermarket in Wigan has been arrested on suspicion of burglary.

Police officers discovered him trapped in a chimney breast of a Tesco Express store on Ormskirk Road, Pemberton.

Firefighters were called to rescue the man who had become trapped in the chimney as he tried to get out.

Police said that because the man was naked he was taken to hospital as a precaution but was treated and discharged before being arrested.

A GMP spokeswoman said: "It is believed some his clothes came off as a result of him struggling to get out of the chimney."

A 22-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of burglary and remains in police custody.

Sarkozy Voodoo Doll

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has threatened to sue a publishing company if it does not withdraw from shops a "voodoo doll" in his image. The doll comes with pins and a manual with instructions on how to put the evil eye on the president.

Users can stick the pins into choice quotes from Mr Sarkozy which are printed on the doll. Mr Sarkozy's lawyer said the president had the "exclusive and absolute rights" over his own image.

Publishers K&B have issued 20,000 editions of the kit and have also produced a similar doll of Segolene Royal - Mr Sarkozy's Socialist party rival in the presidential elections last year.

Her lawyer said she is considering legal action, calling the doll an affront to her human dignity. The publisher said Mr Sarkozy's reaction was "totally disproportionate" and has so far refused to pull the doll from shops.

The product went on sale on 9 October.

Friday, October 17, 2008

Newspaper thief

STOKES COUNTY, N.C. - It's unlikely that authorities in Stokes County will charge a thief who has stolen a woman's newspaper at least 20 times – unless they plan to prosecute man's best friend.

Deputies said the Sandy Ridge woman reported the thefts, prompting investigators to set up a surveillance camera in hopes of capturing the thief on tape. The woman said her newspaper was delivered each day and left on a well house that was on her property.

Deputies said that after reviewing the tape they saw a hound dog circle the house, grab the paper, then run away.

"She does have a few neighbors, but at this point we haven’t verified who the owner is and we wouldn't begin to say at this point," said Detective Scott Gordon.

Gordon said it also wasn't known where the dog left the papers.

Video HERE

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Supergran

It was an unequal chase: a 68-year-old grandmother against a teenage thief who had just run off with her bag.

The bag-snatcher had no chance.

Janet Lane was sitting on a park bench when three teenagers grabbed her handbag containing £100 in cash, her mobile phone, an umbrella, a first-aid kit and a present that she had just bought for a friend.

What the thief did not know was that Mrs Lane had won the Yorkshire cross-country championship as a schoolgirl in 1953 and had kept herself in shape ever since.


As he and his two accomplices ran away, Mrs Lane set off in pursuit, chasing them 100 metres across a park and into the grounds of a hotel. Despite wearing sandals, the 5ft 6in (1.68m) tall grandmother managed to catch up and grabbed one of the youths by the collar. The youth, aged about 15, dropped her bag and begged to be let go. All three escaped empty-handed.

Mrs Lane, a retired nurse, said: “Those boys saw a little old lady and thought I was easy pickings, but there was no way I was going to sit there and let them get away with it. I was so angry when they took it. I had been to collect my pension and I had water rates to pay with that money.

Bike tightrope record



There were moments that drew gasps from spectators. Nik Wallenda sat down and called NBC's "Today" show at one point, saying the wind was stronger than he had thought.

He gave the crowd a scare when he rebalanced on the wire during the 235 foot walk across the wire, which was suspended between two cranes next to the Prudential Center arena.

He then rode the bike back.

Wallenda wants a place in Guinness World Records for the longest distance and greatest height ever traveled by a bike on the wire. The stunt coincided with the return of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus to Newark after a 52-year absence.

Toxic nut theft

Thieves who stole 660 pounds of hazelnuts in Germany have been urgently warned not to eat them.

Hamburg police spokesman Holger Vehren said the sacks containing the nuts were full of poisonous hydrogen phosphate gas, used to extend their shelf life. The nuts must first be treated to make them safe for consumption.

"We're looking for the perpetrators because they could face a very serious health risk if they eat these hazelnuts," he said.

"The gas is even lethal if they inhale it."

Monday, October 13, 2008

Blind speed record

Belgian Luc Costermans has broken the world blind road speed record, on an airstrip in France. Mr Costermans topped 308.78km/h (192 mph) while driving a Lamborghini Gallardo supercar at Istres, near Marseille, in southern France.

Mr Costermans thanked his co-pilot Guillaume Roman, saying: ""I'm very, very happy. It's a team effort."

Mr Costermans took the record from Briton Mike Newman, whose BMW M5 reached 268km/h three years ago. Mr Costermans, 43, was blinded in an accident four years ago.

He hit the top speed in two runs in the borrowed car. He dedicated his effort to the Formula 1 racing driver Philippe Streiff, who has been a tetraplegic since suffering an accident in a Grand Prix in Brazil in 1989.

World Pizza Eating Champion

Joey Chestnut has set a new gut-busting record of eating 45 pizza slices in 10 minutes at the Famous Famiglia pizza-eating contest in Times Square. Chestnut broke the previous record of eating 22 slices in 10 minutes, held by a Chicago chef Patrick Bertoletti.

He is also world's hot-dog eating champ. He folded the slices very quickly, and thrust them into his mouth. He jumped around some, to help them go down the hatch, or knocked back water from paper cups. He never appeared to chew. The slices were the typical cheese and tomato sauce variety, dished from a 16-inch pie carved into eight wedges.

"It's as weird as it gets," he said of competitive eating. "But it's fun. We make people smile," the New York Daily News quoted Chestnut as saying.

"He is truly a god among eaters," contestant Adam Gertler said of Chestnut. "He could probably put an entire work boot in his mouth," he added.

Chestnut beat 10 other contenders, including the previous pizza-eating recordholder Bertoletti, who ate 43 pizzas in the contest.

Thursday, October 09, 2008

Toilet girlfriend man feeling flush

Things were looking down for Kory McFadden at the beginning of the year, as the world discovered that his girlfriend had been sitting on the toilet for the past two years – so long that she'd become physically stuck to the seat.

But now things have improved, as the 37-year-old Kansan has won £20,000 on his state lottery – for the second time this year.

The toilet issue came to light in February, when McFadden called authorities to report that his girlfriend, Pam Babcock, had been in the bathroom for two years.
Officials found her physically attached to the lavatory seat, which had become stuck to open sores on her body. The toilet seat was only removed once she was taken to hospital.

In July, McFadden was given six months probation after pleading no contest to charges of misdemeanor mistreatment of a dependent adult.

But on Monday, McFadden won the Kansas state lottery in Great Bend – the second time this year that he's won it.

Here's your half!

An estranged couple in Cambodia have sawed their house in half to avoid the country's convoluted divorce process.

Moeun Rim and his wife, Nhanh, who have been married nearly 40 years, split the building last week following an argument, local officials said. Mr Rim has removed his share of the property and the couple have also divided their land into four parts; two for their children, and two for them.

Divorce cases in Cambodia can be costly and may take a long time to settle.

The house - or one half of the house - is located in Prey Veng province, about 90km (56 miles) from the capital, Phnom Penh. The couple fell out after Mr Rim accused his wife of neglecting him whilst he was ill.

"We tried to persuade them to think clearly before they did this because they had been married for nearly 40 years," local chief Vorng Morn told the Phnom Penh Post newspaper. "But they did not listen," he said.

A local lawyer told the newspaper that dividing a property was legal if both parties had agreed to it - but that it did not meant the pair were legally divorced.

"If in the future they have any disagreements, the provincial chief will not be responsible, as there had not been a judgment from the court," Prak Phin said.

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Naked swimmer defies police

Japanese police have detained a Spanish tourist who swam naked in the moat around the Imperial Palace in the heart of the capital Tokyo. The middle-aged man jumped into the water, climbed the palace wall and splashed water at police who tried to catch him from a rowing boat.

The man then charged at police with a pole and rock while a huge crowd including journalists watched. After a chase that lasted two hours the police eventually seized the man.

Police say that it is unclear what his motives are and they believe that he may be mentally unstable, Reuters news agency reports. Local media say that he claims to have dropped a bag in the water which included his passport.

The palace is one of Japan's most sacrosanct sites and is home to their emperor and empress who are respected by the public. Most of the palace is strictly off limits but the area outside is popular with tourists and residents who can walk freely around the moat.

Red Squirrel Beer

A new drink has been created by a Scottish brewery to help efforts to protect red squirrels. Part of the proceeds from sales of Red Squirrel Ale will be donated to the Highland Red Squirrel Group (HRSG).

The Highlands are considered a stronghold for the mammals, which has been threatened by competition and a disease carried by non-native greys. The ale has been made by Atlas Brewery in Kinlochleven.

HRSG said it has been estimated that only 160,000 red squirrels are left in the UK. Loss of habitat has been identified as another factor in their demise.

Thursday's launch of the ale coincides with Red Squirrel Week from 4-12 October.

Ian Collier, chairman of the HRSG, says: ‘I hope there will be plenty of people asking for a pint of Red Squirrel Ale and a bag of nuts. We are really pleased to be in partnership with Atlas Brewery to raise the profile of red squirrels in the Highlands and to take the opportunity to raise funds for the Highland Red Squirrel Group charity’.

Goat Condoms

Maasai herdsmen in Kenya have turned to an age-old contraceptive device, the "olor", to protect their precious goat herds from an ongoing drought.

The olor is made from cowhide or a square piece of plastic, and is tied around the belly of the male goat.

It prevents the bucks from mating with the female goats.

The herdsmen are using the device to limit the goat population and ensure there are not too many animals grazing on sparse vegetation.

"We don't want them to breed in this drought," says Mr Ole Ngoshoi Kipameto, a goat owner in Kajiado district.

The area, which is 80km (50 miles) from the capital, Nairobi, has received insufficient rainfall, making the landscape barren and forcing residents to move from place to place in search of pasture and water.

In the Maasai community, livestock are often people's only assets and sole means of survival.

"We tie this hide under the belly of the buck for three months. After that we remove it and then they can breed by November when the short rains come," Mr Kipameto says.

Sunday, October 05, 2008

Big Daddy

Bao Xishun, 57, a 7-foot, 9-inch Inner Mongolian herdsman listed by the Guinness World Records as the tallest living man, became the world's tallest father this week with the birth of his son at a hospital in Zunhua, Hebei province Oct. 2, 2008.

The boy's whose initial height seems a compromise between his gigantic dad and average-sized mom (22 inches).

Bao had briefly lost his title as tallest man, but regained it in August when his successor, Ukrainian Leonid Stadnyk refused to be measured.

Mystery meat on beaches

Officials in New Jersey are trying to work out why large chunks of mystery meat have been washing ashore in the American state.

Bob Schoelkopf of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center noted: 'The largest piece that we found intact was 5 feet... Almost as if someone had blown up an animal and it floated to shore.'

Experts from the center, who were called in to investigate the meat, say that it was actually internal organs from a large marine animal – possibly a whale or a shark. However, they're unable to pin down exactly what species might have been – or exactly how it got broken up into meat lumps.

To add to the mystery, it's not just New Jersey that's being inundated with innards. When the center officials contacted the National Marine Fisheries Service to let them know about the meat, they discovered that the beaches of neighboring Delaware had also been hit by a meat influx.

The meat is now undergoing DNA tests to discover what animal it used to belong to – bit it could be months before the results are back. By which time, residents must hope, their beaches will no longer be covered in meat.