Don't Panic! Lighten Up!S


Magic Hat

Czech speedway rider knocked out in crash wakes up speaking perfect English

When Matej Kus's teammates heard him talking after he was knocked out in a speedway accident, they were relieved he was conscious.

But they were also a little surprised.

For although the 18-year- old Czech knew only the most basic English phrases, he was conversing fluently in the language with paramedics.

©NNP
Czech Matej Kus, 17, was banged on the head in a racing accident - and came to speaking perfect English.

Bizarro Earth

The €19 alibi - for when life gets a bit complicated

"Let whoever has never needed a small alibi for their little fibs cast the first stone!" The welcoming comment on the company website sets the tone. Suffocating in the family pressure-cooker and need some air? In the midst of a "passing adventure" but don't want to jeopardise your marriage? Then Alibila claims to have the answer.

The company is France's first agency for adulterers who don't want to be found out. It provides alibis for a range of other situations, but acknowledges that its clients are often men who "need a little freedom".

Smiley

The abandoned monkey who has found love with a pigeon

They're an odd couple in every sense but a monkey and a pigeon have become inseparable at an animal sanctuary in China.

The 12-week-old macaque - who was abandoned by his mother - was close to death when it was rescued on Neilingding Island, in Goangdong Province.

©UPPA/Photoshot
The macaque nestles his head against his feathered friend

Coffee

The world's greatest paintings on Etch-A-Sketch

The red frame and twiddly white knobs are strangely familiar.

But the astonishing images on the screen are not.

Rather than abandon his Etch-A-Sketch to childhood, Jeff Gagliardi decided the simple toy had huge potential - and turned it into an art form.

©Daily Mail
Masterpiece: The Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci

Stop

Italy urged to go on pasta strike

Consumers' associations in Italy have asked people to refrain from buying or eating pasta for the day, in protest against recent price increases.

The groups are requesting the government intervene to reduce pasta prices.

An increase in the price of wheat in recent months has forced pasta manufacturers to pass on the cost.

Star

Surfer Rescues Dog Swept Off Mich. Pier



©AP Photo/Don Dobbin
Surfer Joe Riopelle, left, pulls in Matt Smolenski and a rescued dog Tuesday afternoon.

GRAND HAVEN, Mich. - A surfer rode a wave on his stomach to rescue a struggling dog that had been swept off a pier and into Lake Michigan by a wave.

Matt Smolenski, 25, said he grabbed the pooch's collar just as the exhausted, black-and-brown mixed breed stopped dog-paddling on Tuesday.

Magic Wand

Latvian mushroom hunter finds $140,000 Maserati in forest

A Latvian mushroom picker has found a Maserati sports car worth $140,000 in a deep forest near the Gulf of Riga, local police said Friday.

©Unknown

The luxury car, which was missing its plates, was covered with a camouflage net.

Police are trying to determine whether the car was stolen and are searching for whoever concealed it in the forest.

Evil Rays

If the beard is black you must attack; Is bin Laden's beard a signal?

"First, is this his beard?'' Republican Senator Norm Coleman asked the spy chief.

"Do we expect that - is it a signal?''

USA

Bank robber uses own check in robbery

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. - A man robbing a bank demanded the money by writing a note on one of his own checks, authorities say. Not surprisingly, he was caught soon afterward.

Forest Kelly Bissonnette, 27, apparently tried to cover his name on the check, then handed the note to a teller Sept. 5 at the Bank of the West in Englewood, according to authorities.

Coffee

Buffet worker stomps garlic with boots

NANUET, N.Y. - Stomping on garlic with your shoes on is apparently not the correct way to prepare food. The Rockland County health department hit the Great China Buffet restaurant with two violations after someone took pictures of an employee stomping on a bowl of garlic with his boots in an alley. The man alerted health inspectors.

"I go back there, and the guy's stepping on garlic," said Dan Barreto, who used to eat at the restaurant. "There he was just jumping up and down on it, smashing it up, having a good time."