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Friday 13th one of the safest days on the roads

Traffic
© BreakingNews, Ireland
Motorists with a fear of Friday the 13th are being advised it is one of the safest days of the year to drive.

A new survey by Chill insurance, shows that claims from motor accidents are no more common on Friday the 13th, than on any other day of the week, or any other Friday in the year.

New research shows a 14% decrease in road accidents where Fridays fell on the 13th of the month.

According to Chill this suggests that fears about bad luck may actually have a positive impact on driving behaviour, making our roads safer.

The insurer released the results to ally the fears of those suffering from paraskevidekatriaphobia (a morbid, irrational fear of Friday the 13th) ahead of next Friday.

Heart - Black

Sickening: 8-year-old Yemeni girl dies from internal injuries after marriage to man more than five times her age

child bride
© Unknown
An 8-year-old Yemeni girl who was forced to marry a man more than five times her age died from internal injuries sustained on her wedding night.

The girl, identified only as Rawan, died after suffering a tear to her genitals and severe bleeding. The girl's groom is believed to be over 40 years old.

Yemeni and Kuwaiti activists are asking police to arrest the groom and the girl's family to help send the message that the practice of marrying young girls to older men has to end.

Heart - Black

Racist Tip: Horror of Red Lobster waitress as she collects check from customer to see 'none ni**er' written in the tip section

  • Server was in the middle of her shift on Saturday afternoon when couple wrote insult on receipt
  • Young woman has put the jibe down to 'racists living in the Southern U.S.'
  • A few have questioned the authenticity of the taunt noting two different styles of handwriting
  • A server working at a Red Lobster restaurant in an affluent suburb of Nashville, Tennessee claims she was subjected to a racist jibe after customers allegedly left the words 'none ni**er' in the tip section of the check.

    Toni Christina Jenkins, who is 19, was in the middle of her shift at the seafood restaurant in Franklin and serving a couple of customers who racked up a $45 bill during their afternoon meal.

    When the time came to pay the check, Miss Jenkins, who is training to be a nurse, says she found the racist insult written on the couple's receipt.
    racist tip
    © facebookRacist tip: A server working at this Red Lobster restaurant in Franklin, Tennessee was subject to racists abuse in the tip section of the receipt

    Airplane

    Thai Airways Airbus 330 skids off runway in Bangkok, 14 injured

    Thai Airways staff cover up plane's logo after accident. Official says move was to protect airline's image after 14 people were hurt when plane skidded off the runway at Bangkok

    A Thai Airways plane carrying more than 280 people skidded off the runway while landing at Bangkok's main airport, injuring 14 passengers, according to the airline.

    After the accident, workers on a crane blacked out the Thai Airways logo on the tail and body of the aircraft, as part of an effort to protect its image, an official said.

    It was the second mishap in less than two weeks for Thailand's national carrier.

    Question

    Letter box appears on bridge in the middle of the Thames

    Letterbox
    © INSVillagers of Sonning-on-Thames, including Uri Geller, have been left puzzled as to how people could post letters or collect them from a letter box that has appeared on their bridge.
    The bright red letter box frontage appeared about a metre above water level on a parapet of the bridge, which crosses the river.

    Villagers of Sonning-on-Thames, including Uri Geller, have been left puzzled as to how people could post letters or collect them from the box which is impossible to reach on foot and liable to flooding.

    Mr Geller, who has lived in the Berkshire village for three decades, said: "I have never seen anything like this anywhere in the world, it's a new one on me."

    But Mr Geller said the village had been known to have its unusual stories.

    He added: "There are many sightings of a child ghost that walks on the bridge.

    Cardboard Box

    Dennis Rodman reveals name of Kim Jong-un's daughter

    Former US basketball star and frequent North Korean visitor shares name of leader's baby Ju-ae
    Dennis Rodman
    © UnknownDennis Rodman and Kim Jong-un raise a toast. Rodman's trips to Pyongyang are being sponsored by Irish bookmaking firm Paddy Power.
    When it comes to announcing a baby's name to the world, some will have a quiet word with friends and family while others might send a discreet email.

    But the Kim dynasty in North Korea has never been one for the orthodox. On Sunday, the name of Kim Jong-un's baby became known almost by accident, courtesy of a certain former US basketball star who keeps popping up in Pyongyang.

    Dennis Rodman has already described Kim as an "awesome guy". On Sunday, he told the Guardian the leader was also a "good dad" to his baby daughter, whom he named as Ju-ae.

    Eye 2

    14-year-old finds snake in shoebox at store in Gadsden, Alabama

    A 14-year-old girl shopping for shoes Saturday instead found a slithery surprise in a box.

    She might have wanted snakeskin shoes, but she surely didn't want the live snake she found when she opened a box at a store in East Gadsden.

    According to the report filed with the Gadsden Police Department, the 14-year-old and her mother were shopping when the girl opened a shoe box and a live snake fell out on her leg.

    The report said the juvenile ran away from the snake. A store employee called police, and an officer responded and killed the snake, disposing of it outdoors.

    The report said the snake appeared to be 6 to 7 inches long.

    The teenager told the responding officer the snake only scared her and she was not injured. The mother requested a police report about the incident.

    The report did not say if they purchased any shoes.

    X

    Four face death for 'cold-blooded' murder in Delhi gang rape

    Four men were convicted on Tuesday of the "cold-blooded" murder of a woman who was raped and tortured on a bus in New Delhi, a crime that shook India and forced the country to confront sexual violence in a society undergoing wrenching change.

    The four - a bus cleaner, gym instructor, fruit seller and an unemployed man - face hanging, the maximum penalty for murder. The trial judge will hear prosecution and defense arguments on sentencing on Wednesday, when he could deliver his ruling.

    The minimum sentence the men could get is life imprisonment, two defense lawyers said.

    "She has got justice today. We are very happy," said the father of the 23-year-old trainee physiotherapist who was attacked on December 16. "We are very confident that all of them will be hanged."

    Bizarro Earth

    Symbolic? Train service in Norway disrupted by railway communication failure

    Train service in Norway was disrupted by a failure in the railway communication system on Tuesday morning, the Norwegian railway authority said on its Twitter account.

    Also known as NSB, the Norwegian State Railways said that a software error of the GSM-R system used for communication between trains and control centers, brought down the railway network in many parts of the country, including the speed train running in and out of the Oslo airport.

    According to NSB, reports of the problem came in at about 9 a.m. local time (0700 GMT).

    All affected trains have either stopped immediately or ran to the nearest stations for further notice, said NSB spokesman Arvid Baardstu.

    Comment: Read the following forum thread to learn more about other recent cases of railway disruptions.


    Syringe

    Let them eat fake - 'Artificial egg' made from plants backed by Bill Gates set to revolutionize cooking goes on sale at Whole Foods

    Image

    A radical 'artificial egg' backed by Paypal billionaire Peter Thiel and Bill Gates goes on sale in US supermarkets for the first time today. Made from plants, it can replace eggs in everything from cakes to mayonnaise - without a chicken ever coming close to the production process.

    The team today started selling their 'plant egg', called Beyond Eggs, in Whole Foods in California - and say it could soon be available in supermarkets worldwide.

    'We want to take animals out of the equation,' said Josh Tetrick, the firm's founder. 'The food industry is begging for innovation, especially where animals are involved - it is a broken industry.'

    Tetrick's idea was to find a mix of easy-to-grow plants that, when mixed together in the right way, replicate the taste, nutritional values and cooking properties of an egg.

    This, he believes will allow the firm to produce its substitute for mass market foods - and to allow developing worlds to grow their own versions with added nutrients.

    'Eggs are functionally incredible, they do everything from hold oil and water in mayo to making the muffin rise and holding scrambled eggs together,' he said 'I started to think what if we can find plants that can do this. We have about 12 plants pre-selected, including a pea already widely grown in Canada. There's also a bean in South Asia that is incredible in scrambled eggs.'