Malled by witches

Witches win shopping centre name battle

By staff and agencies

Last Updated: 1:37am BST 24/07/2007

A coven of witches is claiming victory in its battle to get the name of a £350 million shopping centre changed.
The witches were outraged when developer Hammerson called the Leicester project – a huge extension of the city’s Shires malls – the Highcross Quarter.
That is also the title for sacred times in the wicca calendar, and the group of Leicestershire witches had already set up a website with the same name.
Now, after a year-long wrangle, Hammerson has changed the name of the development to Highcross Leicester.

Daily Telegraph

False leads

Father who spied on daughter catches his wife cheating

AN ISRAELI who hired a detective to find out whether his daughter was cheating on her husband was told by the investigator that his wife was in fact the one being unfaithful, an Israeli newspaper reported yesterday. The man had his daughter followed at the request of his son-in-law. The daughter was innocent but the private investigator snapped photographs of the mother and another man.

This article:New Scotsman

Last updated: 22-Jul-07 00:05 BST

Panhandling

You’d be completely potty to buy it – the £100,000 pan

WHAT do you buy the couple who have everything?
Well, if the lucky newlyweds in question like to cook, then you could do worse that these choice kitchen accessories.
Selfridges is catering for a demand for luxury items by launching a diamond-encrusted cutlery set priced at £200,000.
Meanwhile, Harrods is tapping into the same market with a “show-stopping” gold and diamond-studded cooking pan priced at £100,000.
This article:New Scotsman

Last updated: 22-Jul-07 00:05 BST

Diesel on troubled waters

Hunt is on for medium who triggered diesel search

ZIMBABWEAN police are hunting a medium who led the government on a fruitless search after claiming diesel was oozing from a rock in a shrine in the north-west of the country.
The 35-year-old traditional healer and spirit medium Rotina Mavhunga said “the diesel was a gift from ancestral spirits who saw that their children were suffering because of the fuel shortage”, a government newspaper reported.

This article:New Scotsman

Last updated: 22-Jul-07 00:05 BST

Play on!

Player’s tooth stuck in head

A RUGBY player in Australia kept competing for more than four months without realising he had an opponent’s tooth lodged in his forehead.
Ben Czislowski, who was playing for Brisbane team Wynnum, had a clash of heads during an April 1 match and had a headwound stitched up afterward.
But Mr Czislowski later complained of shooting pains in his head and a visit to his doctor revealed a tooth still imbedded in his head.

This article:New Scotsman

Last updated: 17-Jul-07 11:51 BST

Money well spent?

Lord mayor and the voice of Darth

THE lord mayor of Darwin in Australia, Peter Adamson, has refused to quit despite being convicted of stealing council money and spending it on items including a Darth Vader voice changer, a fridge and women’s underwear.

This article:New Scotsman

Last updated: 14-Jul-07 02:21 BST

Dig this

Doctors link moles to longevity

PEOPLE who never seem to age are also likely to be covered in moles, new research from King’s College London suggests.
A study of twins found a striking link between high numbers of moles and a biological marker for slow ageing.
As a result, people with a lot of moles might be expected to live longer.

This article:New Scotsman

Last updated: 11-Jul-07 12:13 BST

Living up to your name II

Anger as school says no to a boy called Hell

THE Hell family may tell a Catholic school in Australia where to go after it objected to enrolling their son because of his name.
Officials said the boy had since been offered a place at St Peter the Apostle school in Melbourne after discussions between the principal, the parish priest and the family.
But Alex Hell said he would rather send five-year-old Max elsewhere because the school had originally balked at taking him and only changed its mind when he went to the media.
“We are the victims of our name,” claimed Mr Hell, who has an Austrian background and says the name means “bright”.

This article:New Scotsman

Last updated: 09-Jul-07 00:26 BST

Living up to your name I

1,500lb wrecking ball injures three

A 1,500-POUND wrecking ball broke loose from a crane cable in Pennsylvania and raced downhill, smashing into cars and injuring three people before coming to rest in the boot of a car. The wrecking ball, about 3ft across, snapped free during a demolition on Monday.

This article:New Scotsman

Last updated: 10-Jul-07 00:33 BST

Branching Out

Man disguises himself as tree to rob local bank branch

A MAN disguised himself as a tree to rob a bank in the United States.
Just as the Citizens Bank branch opened in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Saturday morning, the man walked in with leafy boughs duct-taped to his head and torso, and robbed the place.
Although the branches and leaves obscured much of the man’s face, someone who saw images from the bank’s security camera recognised the robber and called police.
Officers said James Coldwell, 49, was arrested early on Sunday at his Manchester home and charged with robbery.

This article:New Scotsman

Last updated: 09-Jul-07 00:26 BST