Parents in eastern China have pushed to get a plane diverted to avoid disturbing their children taking nationwide university entrance exams that could make or break their futures, state media reported on Thursday.
Xinhua News Agency said the students are taking their two-day exams, which started Thursday, at a school close to Huangshan airport in Anhui province. Their parents, worried that noise from an aircraft taking takeoff would mar the English comprehension test on Friday, appealed to the local education department and the airport decided to divert the plane. Across China, about 9.5 million students are taking the entrance exams, competing for 5.67 million spots.
Don't Panic! Lighten Up!
A wannabe rapper has been arrested after he stole Eminem's phone number from his ex-wife Kim Mathers and then used the number to ring Eminem so that the hip-hop star could listen to his demos.
Kyle Spratt lifted Mathers' phone from her handbag when she was playing at Paradise Bingo - the company that Spratt worked for. He later replaced it, after he had taken Eminem's phone number.
It's reported that the wannabe then phoned Eminem a few weeks later on a number of occasions desperately trying to get the rapper to listen to his music.
Kyle Spratt lifted Mathers' phone from her handbag when she was playing at Paradise Bingo - the company that Spratt worked for. He later replaced it, after he had taken Eminem's phone number.
It's reported that the wannabe then phoned Eminem a few weeks later on a number of occasions desperately trying to get the rapper to listen to his music.
Police have prevented the five-year-old Indian boy, who sparked controversy when he became the world's youngest marathon runner, from embarking on his next feat, a 500km (310 miles) walkathon in eastern India.
Officers lined the sun-scorched road in Orissa's capital, Bubaneshwa, yesterday to block Budhia Singh's path, citing a government order that declared the child's 65 km run last year to be torture.
Officers lined the sun-scorched road in Orissa's capital, Bubaneshwa, yesterday to block Budhia Singh's path, citing a government order that declared the child's 65 km run last year to be torture.
Dutch students have invented powdered alcohol which they say can be sold legally to minors.
The latest innovation in inebriation, called Booz2Go, is available in 20-gramme packets that cost 1-1.5 euros (70 pence-1 pound).
Top it up with water and you have a bubbly, lime-coloured and -flavoured drink with just 3 percent alcohol content.
"We are aiming for the youth market. They are really more into it because you can compare it with Bacardi-mixed drinks," 20-year-old Harm van Elderen told Reuters.
Van Elderen and four classmates at Helicon Vocational Institute, about an hour's drive from Amsterdam, came up with the idea as part of their final-year project.
The latest innovation in inebriation, called Booz2Go, is available in 20-gramme packets that cost 1-1.5 euros (70 pence-1 pound).
Top it up with water and you have a bubbly, lime-coloured and -flavoured drink with just 3 percent alcohol content.
"We are aiming for the youth market. They are really more into it because you can compare it with Bacardi-mixed drinks," 20-year-old Harm van Elderen told Reuters.
Van Elderen and four classmates at Helicon Vocational Institute, about an hour's drive from Amsterdam, came up with the idea as part of their final-year project.
Police in Brighton are to put on extra patrols on nights when there is a full moon to combat an increase in violence.
It follows research by the Sussex force which concluded there was a rise in violent incidents when the moon was full - and also on paydays.
Insp Andy Parr told the BBC he compared crime statistics for Brighton and Hove with lunar graphs to discover the trend.
A spokeswoman for Sussex Police said: "Research carried out by us has shown a correlation between violent incidents and full moons."
More officers will be out on Brighton's streets during full moons over the summer months, she added.
It follows research by the Sussex force which concluded there was a rise in violent incidents when the moon was full - and also on paydays.
Insp Andy Parr told the BBC he compared crime statistics for Brighton and Hove with lunar graphs to discover the trend.
A spokeswoman for Sussex Police said: "Research carried out by us has shown a correlation between violent incidents and full moons."
More officers will be out on Brighton's streets during full moons over the summer months, she added.
Aliens are alive and well - and could be tuning into vintage human radio broadcasts, according to scientists.
Experts involved in the study of alien worlds told the Government they were convinced that life exists elsewhere in the universe.
They gathered at the Department of Trade and Industry in London to meet the Science Minister, Malcolm Wicks, reports the Daily Telegraph.
They told him that there have been remarkable advances in looking for stars with planets and said they are beginning to find Earth-like planets that might have water.
Experts involved in the study of alien worlds told the Government they were convinced that life exists elsewhere in the universe.
They gathered at the Department of Trade and Industry in London to meet the Science Minister, Malcolm Wicks, reports the Daily Telegraph.
They told him that there have been remarkable advances in looking for stars with planets and said they are beginning to find Earth-like planets that might have water.
Israeli diplomats fed up with a protocol requiring they entertain guests at less-than-fancy kosher eateries abroad have asked for the rules to be relaxed, only to be overruled by a religious Jewish cabinet minister.
Trade Minister Eli Yishai, a member of the Orthodox Shas party, persuaded the Foreign Ministry not to accept the appeal by dozens of Israeli envoys to be allowed to hold official functions in non-kosher restaurants, Maariv newspaper said.
"Keeping kosher preserved the people of Israel," the daily quoted Yishai as saying.
According to Maariv, the ambassadors had complained that in many foreign postings, most kosher restaurants are fast-food establishments far below the standards of diplomatic dining.
Trade Minister Eli Yishai, a member of the Orthodox Shas party, persuaded the Foreign Ministry not to accept the appeal by dozens of Israeli envoys to be allowed to hold official functions in non-kosher restaurants, Maariv newspaper said.
"Keeping kosher preserved the people of Israel," the daily quoted Yishai as saying.
According to Maariv, the ambassadors had complained that in many foreign postings, most kosher restaurants are fast-food establishments far below the standards of diplomatic dining.
Mohammed will likely become the most popular name for baby boys in Britain by the end of the year, The Times newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing government data.
Three cartoons in honor of Paris Hilton - that fabulously talented social butterfly who is overly abused by a legal system run amok... we're rootin' for ya!
A man in southeast China says 40 years of swallowing tree frogs and rats live has helped him avoid intestinal complaints and made him strong.
Comment: Sickening!
Since the record was made in May last year that would mean that the boy was only 4 YEARS OLD!!!
There is nothing in the above that indicates that the foster father has the boy's interests at heart.
But through the abuse of the boy the foster father can carve out a name for him self AND wealth.