IANSSun, 30 Dec 2007 10:06 UTC
A tribal man married a hill in a symbolic gesture to end Maoist insurgency in Jamshedpur district of Jharkhand. The man is already married with two children.
The 'marriage' was solemnised in Bomaru village of Ghatshila block in Jamshedpur on Thursday, 170 km from the state capital Ranchi. According to reports in the local media, Nandi Munda, 30, 'married' a hill named Lakhasaini to end the Maoist terror in the area.
Munda, dressed as a traditional bridegroom, went to marry the hill accompanied by hundreds of baratis (revellers). A tribal priest presided over the wedding rituals. The wedding was followed by a feast attended by hundreds of people. The menu included mutton and handia, a local rice brew that tribals love.
Maria Puente
USA TodaySat, 29 Dec 2007 14:06 UTC
Polls may show George W. Bush as the most unpopular president in modern history, but a different kind of measurement shows he's the most popular president ever for selling calendars.
As the Bush presidency winds down, the
Bush Out of Office Countdown 2008 desk calendar ($11.99) is winding up as the No. 2 humor calendar (behind
The Far Side Scared Silly 2008 Wall Calendar) for the new year, according to Calendars.com, the largest purveyor of calendars online and at retail kiosks.
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| ©Hillel Levin
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| As the Bush presidency winds down, the Bush Out of Office Countdown 2008 desk calendar is just winding up.
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BBCSat, 29 Dec 2007 14:02 UTC
A town in the US state of Louisiana is to be allowed to change its telephone prefix so that residents can avoid a number many associate with the Devil.
Christians in Reeves have been unhappy since the early 1960s about being given the prefix, 666 - traditionally known as the Biblical "number of the beast".
For the next three months, households will be able to change the first three digits of their phone numbers to 749.
Mayor Scott Walker said CenturyTel's decision was "divine intervention".
However, he admitted it helped that Louisiana's two senators had also lobbied for the change with the phone company and the state Public Service Commission.
Police said Friday they were waiting to question a man who had to be rescued by firefighters after he got stuck in the chimney of an Australian outback pub.
Forget killing pesky pests -- Hollywood's feeding birth control kibble to its pigeons.
The program is one of a number of experiments in giving contraceptives to nuisance animal populations including deer, squirrels and pigeons, which may carry disease, damage farmland or compete with native species for food, the Los Angeles Times said.
Some 300 Hollywood pigeons are eating OvoControl P in pill-shaped kibbles in a pilot program that hopes to half the city's pigeon population by 2012, the Times said.
AUBURN, Calif. - A three-pound Chihuahua mix named Tink helped police put a fugitive in the clink.
The dog's Christmas Day adventure began when four suspects who were fleeing police crashed a stolen minivan into a hillside in this Sierra foothill town east of Sacramento, and one of them fled.
The U.K. will launch six extra-long stamps to mark the centenary since the birth of Ian Fleming, known as the creator of the world's best known secret agent, James Bond, Royal Mail said Friday.
The stamps will be issued in January, 2008, and will feature different editions of Fleming's most famous novels, including Casino Royale and Dr No.
The 54 penny stamps will reveal the covers of Goldfinger and Diamonds Are Forever, and the final series of the 78 penny stamps will display For Your Eyes Only and From Russia With Love.
In October, 007, Her Majesty's secret agent, or just plain, "Bond - James Bond," celebrated 45 years as a big screen hero.
Dr No, the first of Ian Fleming's novels about the smooth-talking British spy to be made into a movie, was released in 1962.
A collector from New York has purchased a rare 24-cent stamp depicting an upside-down airplane for $825,000, according to an auction house.
The unidentified buyer of the "Inverted Jenny" stamp was described as a Wall Street executive and longtime coin collector by Heritage Auction Galleries, which announced the sale Wednesday.
The 1918 stamp depicts a Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny," a World War I training aircraft that became an airmail plane. About 700 of the stamps were misprinted, but inspectors caught all of but 100 before they were sold.
...and finally:
* Joey "Jaws" Chestnut, of San Jose, California, won this year's World Hot Dog Eating Championship at Coney Island, New York, having consumed 66 in 12 minutes - a world record, but disgusting.
* Jamaican sprinter Asafa Powell broke the world 100 metres record in September, running 9.74sec in Rieti, Italy.
* And let's hear it for Paul Collins of Seaton and Sonia Feukes of Poole, men's and women's winners of the 11th World Nettle Eating Championships in June at The Bottle Inn, Bridport, Devon.
A Chinese teenager was born with six fingers and toes on each hand and foot, China's Xinhua news agency said on Thursday.
Hao Hao, 16, who weighs in at a hefty 135 kilograms (297 lbs), says his extra digits do not interfere with his life and he runs and climbs trees like any ordinary teenager.
However, his extra fingers mean he has difficulty holding a pen and has been unable to continue his education.
