Trial separation

Secret divorce couple are to split up again

Sussex: A woman is divorcing her husband after getting a previous divorce overturned because she said it was granted without her knowledge.
Terence Tan divorced his wife Eileen in 2002, but she only found out about it last year.
After getting the first divorce overturned in the High Court, she is now divorcing him again.

Last updated: 14-Mar-07 11:49 GMT
New Scotsman

Absolute pants

Knicker thief’s stash retrieved
Police found more than 4000 items of lingerie in the home of a Japanese construction worker who used climbing skills developed on his job to scale apartment blocks and steal women’s underwear.
Investigators think Shigeo Kodama, 54, amassed the 3977 panties, 355 bras and ten pairs of stockings over a six-year period.
After the man’s arrest, police in Hiroshima raided his home and discovered the haul of stolen items.
Last updated: 14-Mar-07 11:49 GMT
New Scotsman

Wriggler on the Roof

DIY man, 91, finds himself in a very sticky situation

A 91-YEAR-OLD German sparked a rescue operation when he slipped while repairing his roof and got stuck fast in tar “like a beetle on its back”, police said yesterday.
Passers-by were so shocked to see the elderly handyman working on the roof that they thought at first he was planning to commit suicide, according to police officers in the eastern city of Magdeburg.
Magdeburg firefighters carefully detached the man using ropes and ladders. He was unharmed, but had rather sticky clothes, police said.

Last updated: 14-Mar-07 01:34 GMT
New Scotsman

Doggerel

Pupils read to teacher’s pet

A US primary teacher is making his pupils read to his pet, Kayla, the school’s official literacy dog.
Tom Pawlisch from Wisconsin, says the retriever listens to the students, and doesn’t judge them if they make a mistake.

This article:New Scotsman

Last updated: 12-Mar-07 11:35 GMT

Big time smuggling

Elephant gang held in Thailand

FIVE men have been arrested after being caught smuggling two elephants into Thailand from neighbouring Myanmar, authorities said.
The men and beasts – a calf and a female adult – entered Thailand by boat on Thursday making the trip across the Salween River.

This article: New Scotsman

Last updated: 13-Mar-07 01:15 GMT

When the balloon goes up…

Pupils’ green protest stops balloon race fundraiser

SCHOOLCHILDREN staged a revolt after the teachers and parents planned a balloon race to help raise funds for playground equipment.
The young eco-warriors dug their heels in and said they would not take part because of the damage balloons can do to marine life.
The pupils also insisted that a ban on balloon races is written into the school’s green constitution.
The children discovered that balloons can be eaten by dolphins, turtles and other wildlife, causing death in many cases.
 

This article:New Scotsman

Last updated: 10-Mar-07 00:58 GMT

Set a thief…

Afghan anti-bribe chief served time

THE newly appointed head of Afghanistan’s anti-corruption and bribery unit served four years in Nevada state prison from 1988, it emerged yesterday.
Izzatullah Wasifi was arrested in Las Vegas for selling an undercover officer $65,000 worth of heroin.

This article:New Scotsman

Last updated: 10-Mar-07 00:58 GMT

Only half the story…

Not exactly a trial separation, then

A 43-YEAR-OLD German man engaged in a bitter divorce chain-sawed the single-storey wooden family home in two and used a forklift truck to drive his half to his brother’s house.
“I don’t think his wife was too pleased,” police in the town of Sonneberg said.

This article: New Scotsman

Last updated: 10-Mar-07 00:58 GMT

Oh, Rats!

Chinese official’s name may be mud, but it can’t be poison

A CHINESE company has been refused permission to use the name of a disgraced official as a trademark to sell rat poison.
The Shenyang Feilong Pharmaceutical Company applied to the authorities to use the name of Zheng Xiaoyu, who was fired as the head of the national drug watchdog on suspicion of taking bribes, for a brand of rat poisons and pesticides.
Although Mr Zheng is under investigation, he still enjoys the right to protect the use of his name.

This article: New Scotsman

Last updated: 10-Mar-07 00:58 GMT

Cold wind blowing

Put the sand back on our beach? No way

By Nigel Bunyan

Last Updated: 1:42am GMT 09/03/2007

For Arthur Bulmer the benefits were as plain as the Sahara – he would clear his garden of the sand blown in and the beach opposite would begin to be replenished after two months of gales had whipped across it. But Mr Bulmer, 79, reckoned without the long arm of bureaucracy which threatened him with fines for flytipping if he put the sand back on the foreshore at St Anne’s, Lancs. Officials at Fylde council said the sand was part of the Queen’s Crown Estate. “Dumping anything from your garden on to the beach constitutes flytipping under the Neighbourhoods and Environment Act,” said a spokesman. Under the law Mr Bulmer could face fines of up to £50,000. Continued breaches could land him in jail and see his vehicle – in his case a wheelbarrow – confiscated.