The world’s longest-running beauty pageant, Miss World, celebrated its 60th anniversary in China on Saturday night with, not for the first time, the odd bit of controversy thrown in for good measure.
Farewell fair cephalopod
Paul the octopus, the star of the 2010 World Cup who successfully predicted the outcome of seven matches, including the final, has died at his aquarium in Germany. Staff at the Sea Life centre in Oberhausen were devastated to learn that he had passed away during the night. Octopuses, however, rarely live beyond two years and Paul was two-and-a-half years old. Paul …
Improving standards of public decency in Italy
Castellammare di Stabia, a seaside town in Italy, is aiming to take advantage of new powers to crack down on what is deemed to be anti-social behaviour, the intention being to ban miniskirts and other revealing clothing to improve what the mayor calls standards of public decency.
Knacker of the Yard would turn in his grave
No more ‘Vice Squad’ at the world famous Scotland Yard, political correctness has taken over. The unit, which traditionally dealt with prostitution and underworld crime (namely vice), is being renamed in order to be more politically correct and to reflect its increased sphere of operations.
Fake reviewers face possible legal action
Fraudulent contributors to TripAdvisor, and other user-generated review sites, are to be named and shamed and fake Tripadvisor reviewers could be facing legal action. People who post fake online hotel reviews are to be granted a two-week amnesty to remove the offending posts or face legal action.
Latest leaks
The Wikileaks Iraq war logs provide a unique picture of every death in Iraq. These events have been mapped using Google Fusion tables Wikileaks Iraq war logs: every death mapped
Big Brother may be back
Every email, phone call and website visit is to be recorded and stored after the UK Government has revived controversial Big Brother snooping plans The information will include who is contacting whom, when and where and which websites are visited, but not the content of the conversations or messages, and the argument is that such information is needed to tackle …
Oh, ha ha
Researchers have been carrying out a survey to find the ‘funniest joke ever’, starting off with a list of around 1,000, mostly one-liners, then pruning it down to the top 50. Once the Top 50 was agreed, 36,000 people then voted to put them into order.
Health and safety first
People may laugh at the recent Health and Safety signs in the UK warning people to beware of falling acorns, but in Switzerland they have taken things a step further. Concerns about the dangers of falling leaves in autumn have led to strict regulations being imposed relating to cafes located in wooded areas.
The wrong sprog, Grommit
In Örebro in central Sweden, a grandfather who had apparently agreed to pick up his grandchild from a daycare centre managed to take the wrong child home with him, prompting the school to review its procedures. The grandfather went to the Hasselmusens nursery school in Varberga to pick up his 3-year-old granddaughter and promptly left with the wrong child, only …