Italian Piero Paci, who turns 90 this October, has successfully climbed a 3,000-meter (9,000-foot) mountain, setting a Guinness record, witnesses said.
The elderly mountaineer reached the top of Gran Sasso, at an altitude of 2,914 meters (8,742 feet), without assistance. His son and daughter accompanied him during the climb.
Another long-lived Italian, Giovanni Viglione, 100, recently took a test for a new driver's license. He also studies at a local university where he enjoys taking watercolor classes.
A third, still-employed 100-year-old, asked about the secret of his longevity, said: "I get up at 6:00 a.m. every morning, drink a glass of red wine and go to work. When I feel hungry, I eat a big portion of pasta that my daughter-in-law cooks for me. "
CHIPPEWA FALLS, Wis. - Jack Allen Falkner is one lucky baby.
The son of Dan and Leslie Falkner was born July 7, 2007, considered by many the luckiest day of the century.
But Jack's luck didn't stop there. The infant weighed in at 7 pounds, 7 ounces, at St. Joseph's Hospital in Chippewa Falls.
German police broke into a darkened flat fearing they would find a dead body after neighbours complained of a nasty smell seeping out onto the staircase.
The shutters of the apartment had been closed for more than a week and the post-box was filled with uncollected mail.
Comment: Wonder if the neighbors knocked on the door?
Sami Torma
ReutersSun, 08 Jul 2007 14:30 UTC
Estonians took gold and silver at the world wife-carrying championships in Finland on Saturday, defying rain and exhaustion to stumble along a path with women clinging upside-down to their backs.
They were among 44 couples from 12 countries competing in the annual event in Sonkajarvi, central Finland.
The race, held for the 12th time, is intended to evoke the spirit of a legendary Finnish brigand, Rosvo-Ronkainen, who made those who wanted to join his gang run through a forest carrying heavy sacks on their backs.
In the modern version, couples race along a 250-metre track, tackling a pool and several hurdles, with the men carrying the women on their backs.
Estonian Madis Uusorg finished first, in a time of 61.7 seconds, despite having Inga Klauson on his back upside-down with her legs around his neck.
About 30 or 40 10,000 yen notes were spotted floating down from an area near a bridge over the Sumida River in Tokyo on Friday, police said, adding that several residents apparently walked off with the cash.
Police arrived and recovered four 10,000 yen notes, one 5,000 yen note and one 1,000 yen note after receiving a call from a resident at about 11 a.m. saying that about 30 or 40 10,000 yen notes had fallen down from an area near the Kototoi Bridge over the Sumida River in Sumida-ku, Tokyo.
Will Durst
AlterNetSat, 07 Jul 2007 18:43 UTC
I got your checks and balances right here. Well, right there, under Dick Cheney's foot, holding hands with individual liberties, writhing in their death throes.
Alright, I got a message for the American public, and the message is this: leave Dick Cheney alone. He's not answerable to you. Get off his big white furry butt. You are not the boss of him. Nobody is the boss of him. Dick Cheney is the boss. Of you, me, Bush. Nouri Al- Maliki. Gitmo. All of us. He's Boss Dick. And the only reason you're out to get him is because when he smiles he looks like he swallowed a small black child. And that is just prejudiced people. Doesn't matter that he's keeping this country safe. And the only two ways to do it are his way and the highway. Well, actually, under the highway. Sometimes as part of the highway. Mixed in with the rebar.
James Clothier
The SunSat, 07 Jul 2007 17:29 UTC
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This was the chaotic scene when a driver high on crack veered into a farmer's field - and came a cropper after being chased round and round by two cop cars.
Richard Owen
The TimesSat, 07 Jul 2007 05:30 UTC
When Roberto Regnoli started finding bottles with messages inside them on his local beach on the Adriatic coast of Italy he thought little of it. But they kept coming - and he now has more than 80, ranging from political appeals from the Balkans to poignant messages from the lovelorn.
Mr Regnoli, 59, a doctor at Termoli, near Campobasso, said that whenever possible he replied to the messages, which have been posted on his website messaggidalmare.com. Some have travelled hundreds of miles, drawn to Termoli by the strong currents around the Gargano peninsula. The messages were in Italian, English, German, French, Croatian and Russian.
The first bottle that he found contained an appeal in 12 languages from Montenegro, dated October 2005, asking anyone who found it to help the country to achieve independence from Serbia - which it did in June last year. "By the time I opened the bottle and found the message, Montenegro was already an autonomous republic, so it was a bit late," Mr Regnoli said. "The sea takes its time. But every message tells a story."
They're flush with pride in a southwestern Chinese city where a recently-opened porcelain palace features an Egyptian facade, soothing music and more than 1,000 toilets spread out over 32,290 square feet.
Officials in Chongqing are preparing to submit an application to Guinness World Records to have the free four-story public bathroom listed as the world's largest, the state-run China Central Television reported Friday.
"We are spreading toilet culture. People can listen to gentle music and watch TV," said Lu Xiaoqing, an official with the Yangrenjie, or "Foreigners Street," tourist area where the bathroom is located. "After they use the bathroom they will be very, very happy."
A German motorist surprised by euro notes swirling in the air around her car hit the brakes and collected a "substantial amount of money" before turning it over to police, authorities in Worms said on Thursday.
A police spokesman in the small western town said the 24-year-old woman saw the money flying through the air in her rear view mirror late on Wednesday. She pulled over and tried to collect all the notes, unsuccessfully.
Comment: Wonder if the neighbors knocked on the door?