Soldier Get Jailed for Yawning

A Israeli soldier has been handed over 3 weeks jail because he yawned during an official ceremony.

The soldier who has not been identified yawned loudly during a memorial event held for late Israeli prime minister Rabin, when commander of the Ramat David Israel Air Force base was delivering a speech.

Speaking on the Israeli radio, the soldier's mother commented that the commander spotted him, halted his speech and later ordered for punishment for his disrespect.

A spokesman for the Israel Defence Force was quoted in the Haaretz newspaper that the soldier was tried for his "disrespectful act" and sentenced to 21 days in military prison. Though the soldier is still able to request for pardon which will be considered as per military regulations.

While the soldier's mother felt the punishment meted out was harsh and that yawning is known to be an uncontrollable physical act.

Gifting Lingerie can be Injurious

Buying sexy lingerie cost a husband his ankle which was broken by his wife after receiving the gift in Guangzhou, Guangdoug province.

Zhao's wife reacted violently after the husband suprised her with the 'gift'. She accused him of being indecent before kicking him and breaking his ankle reported the China Daily.

The couple was forced to disclose their story after they went to a local hospital to see doctor later that night.

China Cop Arrests 48 Relatives

A police chief in a remote county of southwestern China has taken down as many as 48 of his relatives including his brothers, cousins and a number of his wife's family for various crimes, the local media reported.

Laobulaluo, a police chief in Heizhuguo township, sichuan province had seen 25 relatives either jailed, sent for "re-education through labour" or punished in other ways according to reports posted on Chinanews.com

The police chief who is in his 30's has in a career span of over 10 years has personally arrested a brother and two cousins after finding that they had beaten local teachers at a primary school while drunk.

The policeman's sense of duty has infuriated some of his relatives, some of whom who have taken turns to threaten his parents and even had secretly cut off the tails and slashed the legs of their cows.

"In the first few years, I did not dare to head back to my home town to pass the New Year holiday but now its all right. Everyone understands and supports what I was doing at the time" the report quoted him saying.

Man told to divorce his 82 of his 86 wives

Abuja - Nigeria's Islamic authority has told an 84-year-old man with 86 wives and 170 children that he must whittle his number of spouses down to four or face the death penalty, reports said on Thursday

The BBC said that Mohammed Bello Abubakar, a former teacher and preacher, could face the death penalty under Sharia law, which was reintroduced to the Muslim-majority Niger State, North-West Nigeria, in 2000.

Nigerian media and the BBC interviewed Abubakar two weeks ago, when he claimed there was no punishment in the Qu'ran for having more than four wives. Abubakar also told the BBC that Allah had given him to power to control his 86 wives.

Death in Sleep

People in Pune kept themselves awake throughout the night as there rumors doing the round of stories of people dying in the sleep due to a planteray effect. The rumors started coming on Thursday, as people got calls about the sudden deaths, warning them not to sleep.

This resulted in panic and anxiety among people, mostly staying in chawls or hutments. The Pimpri police confirmed that a rumor had spread among the citizens. "We have received three to four calls in the morning from some students, a college and bank employee asking if the situation was normal and people could travel" the duty officer said.

Dog on Death Row

An eight year old mongrel has been awarded "death sentence" by the court of SDO five years ago for barking and biting passerbys. The dog has been making the rounds of the court for his acquittal. The dog named Chotu was looked after by Rajkumar Devi and Kusum. Probably the only condemned canine, it got a reprieve after animal activists, including Maneka Gandhi, rushed to his rescue. The DM has directed the SDO to revoke the order to "shoot the dog".

As for now it has been handed out a fresh date for hearing and we thought it happened only to humans!!

Barack Obama too thin to win White House?

LONDON: Barack Obama, who hopes to become the first Black-American President, may be ahead of Republican candidate John McCann in some opinion polls, but when it comes to figure, he is far behind.

In fact, The Wall Street Journal has indicated that Obama is too thin to win the White House as his slim physique could be a liability in a nation of mostly obese voters and it might also affect his presidential campaign.

To be specific, the report suggested that Obama might be too thin and too fit to appeal to voters who tend to like candidates with flaws that they can identify with, British newspaper The Sunday Times reported.

Obama's enthusiasm for exercise first raised eyebrows last month, when he stopped three times in one day for workouts at Chicago gyms, prompting a reporter to wonder: "Sometimes it's hard to tell if Barack Obama is running for President or Mr Universe."

It has also been widely noted that Obama sometimes seems appalled when presented at election meetings with the pride of local cuisine, often a fat-smothered hunk of meat or a sugary bun dripping in aerosol cream.

Aussie PM related to an underwear thief: Study

CANBERRA: Australia's prime minister Kevin Rudd is a descendent of a child underwear thief and a convict sent to Australia from England for stealing a bag of sugar, a new family history of the PM has found.

Australia's Mormon church spent more than a year researching Rudd's family history, and presented the findings to the prime minister on Thursday.

The Mormon church has a reputation for the excellence of its genealogical research. It found Rudd, like many Australians, had convict ancestors — including his fifth great-grandmother who was sent to Australia at the age of 12 after originally being sentenced to death for stealing another girl's dress and underwear.

The family history reveals Rudd's fifth great-grandmother Mary Wade lived in poverty in England and survived by sweeping streets and begging. In 1788, aged about 12, she and another girl robbed an eight-year-old girl of her dress and underclothes. Wade was caught and tried in January 1789 and was sentenced to be executed, but after three months she was transported to Australia.

Guests mistake police for strippers

BERLIN: Police say two officers who responded to complaints about a raucous weekend party in western Germany were mistaken for male strippers by the female guests. Simmern police spokesman Bernd Hoffmann says neighbors called police around 12.45 am on Sunday to complain about noise from a birthday party in their building.

A round of applause from the apartment resident - who had just turned 30 - and her friends greeted two officers who went to investigate. Hoffmann said on Monday that ``they thought the policemen were dressed like that because they were strippers. It took them a while to realize they were real police officers.'' Hoffmann says the women had not ordered strippers but thought someone had sent them as a birthday surprise.

The incident resulted in no arrests.

The Worst Typo Error

New Hampshire: A US newspaper has made one of the most embarrassing typographical errors in media history. New Hampshire's Valley News spelt its own name incorrectly - in the masthead on the front page. This Monday readers were surprised to see the paper's name spelled ‘Valley Newss’.

The newspaper, which covers the Upper Valley area straddling New Hampshire and Vermont, published an ‘Editor's Note’ acknowledging the error the following day.

"Readers may have noticed that the Valley News misspelled its own name on yesterday's front page," it read.

"Given that we routinely call on other institutions to hold themselves accountable for the mistakes, let us say for the record: We sure feel silly."

The misspelling has already been touted as favourite for typo of the year by the Regret the Error blog, which monitors media mistakes.

No sagging pants in this Chicago suburb

LYNWOOD: Be careful if you have saggy pants in the south Chicago of Lynwood. Village leaders have passed an ordinance that would levy $25 fines against anyone showing three inches or more of their underwear in public.

Eugene Williams is the mayor of Lynwood. He says young men walk around town half-dressed, keeping major retailers and economic development away. He calls the new law a hot topic.

The American Civil Liberties Union says the ordinance targets young men of color.

Young adults in the village, like 21-year-old Joe Klomes, say the new law infringes on their personal style. He says leaders should instead spend money on making the area look nicer.

Rabbit saves Australian couple's lives

SYDNEY: A pet rabbit in Australia was credited with saving its owners on Thursday after scratching at the door of their bedroom as their house burned, emergency workers said.

The couple was sleeping in the bedroom of their Melbourne home on Thursday morning when the pet, called Rabbit, began scratching at the door. The husband got up to investigate, Metropolitan Fire Brigade commander Mick Swift said.

Swift said the man discovered a fire in the back room with smoke spreading through the house and the couple could have been seriously injured if the bunny had not hopped to the rescue.

"The rabbit saved the couple from injury," Swift said. He said it took four fire crews to extinguish the blaze, which caused substantial damage. The rabbit and its owners were unhurt.

At a Beirut restaurant, a sandwich can kill you

BEIRUT: At Buns and Guns, you can order a Kalashnikov sandwich from a bullet-shaped menu, prepared by chefs in military fatigues with the roar of explosions as background music.

This new fast food restaurant in Beirut's southern suburbs, where the Hezbollah movement holds sway, was the brainchild of co-owner Ali Hammoud. He said the war theme was a novel concept that had nothing to do with Lebanon's bloody recent history.

“It's just an idea I had, nothing more, nothing less. I could have put toys in place of the sandbags and teddy bears instead of guns. But it was just an idea,” said Hammoud.

“You could say that the situation in the country made people pay attention,” said Hammoud, sitting outside his restaurant, which has become popular with teenagers. Guns, bullets and pictures of other weapons decorate the interior. The slogan “A sandwich can kill you”, with a picture of a gun superimposed on a burger, is displayed outside. Sandbags surround the outdoor seating area complete the war motif. The menu features sandwiches and burgers with names such as Terrorist meal and RPG, as well as Kalashnikov.

“The first time I came here, I thought it was a weapons shop. When I looked at the names of the dishes, I still thought so. I only realised it was a restaurant when I went inside,” said 15-year-old Hussein al-Hajj Ali


Diamond earrings found in NY garbage dump

NEW York: Diamonds in the rough? Try a USD 20,000 pair of diamond earrings in a reeking truckload of trash.


A Staten Island jeweller has gotten her 3-carat diamond earrings back after she, her husband and city sanitation employees sorted through a smelly heap of garbage. The studs were in a small jar of cleaning solution, which a worker at the couple's jewelry store had accidentally thrown away.


The earrings were recovered on Thursday at the former Fresh Kills landfill, where trash is compacted and shipped out of state.


Owner Haya Sharon calls the find "a miracle" The earrings were an anniversary gift from her husband.


Sanitation Department spokesman Keith Mellis says engagement rings and other precious possessions have been plucked from piles of city garbage in the past.


US motorists mad for free gas

NEW YORK: Some US motorists sick of getting clobbered at the pump seem willing to do just about anything for free fuel, from giving up the right to name their children to stealing from day-care centers to donating blood.

In Orlando, Florida, David Partin pledged to name his son after local radio hosts to win a $100 gas card as part of a contest.

Partin will collect the card in December, when his son is born, if he can produce a birth certificate proving the baby is named Dixon Willoughby Partin, after the hosts. "(His wife said) this is his problem to explain when the child is older," Greg Stevens, WHTQ-FM programme director said.

At the Shady Lady Ranch brothel in Beatty, Nevada, clients who spend $300 or more this month will receive $50 gas vouchers as part of a promotion to beat the summer slump in business.

"It's rocking along. We're doing quite well. June and July historically are not big months," said James Davis, who co-owns the ranch with his wife, Bobbi.

The first $1,000 in gas cards were given out within a week, he added.

In Mesquite, Texas, thieves drained $100 worth of gasoline from buses used by the Higher Ground Church day-care center and have hit four or five other church center fleets in the area.

"It was someone who was desperate," said James Green, the church's pastor. "All he had to do was come and ask us and we would have bought him a tank of gas."

The American Red Cross, meanwhile, is running a summer raffle where blood donors are eligible to win a year's supply of fuel.

At St. Ann's Parish in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts, the Rev. Edward McDonagh has decided to institute a drawing for a $50 gasoline card at weekly mass.

The drawings are symbolic gestures and not intended to boost attendance, he said.

"When Jesus was at the wedding feast of Cana, the groom ran out of wine, he produced the wine for them," he said. "In that spirit, we feel that this might be comparable."

Knife found in Subway sandwich

A man in New York claimed in a lawsuit filed on Wednesday that he found a knife with a 7-inch (18-cm) blade baked into the bread of his foot-long "Cold Cut Trio" Subway sandwich.

John Agnesini, 26, a magazine designer, said he had already taken a few bites from the sandwich in late June when he spotted the knife jutting out from the bread's crust. The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan state court, seeks $1 million.

"If I didn't look at it, I don't know what would have happened," said Agnesini. "That's the last thing you think about a sandwich you eat all the time." A colleague telephoned the chain to complain, but Subway never apologized, he said. Subway spokesman Kevin Kane said in a statement the company was investigating. "At Subway restaurants, we take food safety and customer comments very seriously.

Doctors rescue metal-eating man

LIMA (REUTERS):Doctors in a coastal town in northwestern Peru have rescued the innards of a 38-year-old man by removing 17 metal objects - among them nails, a watch clasp and a knife - that he ate. Luis Zarate was taken to the regional hospital of Trujillo earlier this week by his family after complaining of sharp stomach pains.

Doctors took X-rays of his chest that showed his insides littered with screws. "There were 17 strange objects found at the level of his stomach and colon," said Dr. Julio Acevedo, one of the surgeons who operated on Zarate. The black-and-white scans showed Zarate's skeleton interlaced with things like bolts, barbed-wire and pens. "The objects had caused the stomach to expand," said Acevedo.

Woman passes driving test after 27 years and 450 lessons

LONDON: A 62-year-old woman has finally passed her driving test - 27 years after her first lesson.

Teresa Clarke, of Wroxham, Norfolk, spent 15,000 pound in fees, had 450 hours of tuition from 20 instructors and failed 12 previous tests and cancelled a further 35 and had 50 mock exams.

She had her first lesson in 1981 shortly before American president Ronald Reagan was shot and Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer.

However, Clarke was lucky for the 13th time, thanks to the help of her stepson, who runs a driving school, she finally was allowed to ditch her L-plates last month.

Clarke, a former shop assistant who is 5ft tall and has to sit on a cushion to reach the steering wheel, has admitted that she was a hopeless learner because she found it very difficult to concentrate for long period of time. She was such a disaster that many instructors refused to carry on her after a few lessons - either too scared or too frustrated to continue.

Farmer's Bride Turns Out to be a Groom

A German farmer who married a woman he met on the internet has asked for the annulment of his marriage after he found out that the woman he was married to was a man.

The farmer came to know about it when his bride told him on the wedding night that she had a penis and that her real name was Ralf. The only true thing she did say was that she had two children, but she was the father — not the mother!!


"Barren Wife" Swapped for Goat with Three Kids

A farmer who blamed his wife for not providing him with a child has swapped her for a goat with three kids.

Three times-wed Stoil Panayotov struck a deal with another farmer at a livestock market and handed over his wife in exchange for an eight year old goat. The deal was reached when the wife gave her approval. Stoil said "The deal was reached when my wife gave her approval. The goat has given birth to three kids and my wife to none. It was more profitable to the goat owner. I got a second hand goat, he got a brand new wife".

The trade took place before a stunned crowd in the market town of Plovdiv in Bulgaria. Locals are now wondering what will happen if things don't work out between Stoil and the goat.


Farmer found using live missile as anvil in Romania

Romanian fire-fighters were shocked after a farmer was spotted using an unexploded missile as an anvil. The 122mm caliber missile, discovered by the man in his garden in Puieni village, Giurgiu county, had been used for sharpening hoes and scythes.

Experts specialists said the missile was still active and endangered not only the farmer's family but also his neighbors. A spokesman for the fire-fighter said This is really crazy. How can one hit a bomb with the hammer? It could have exploded any time.

The missile was destroyed in a controlled explosion by an army bomb squad.