Dubai makes dieting worth its weight in gold
Municipal officials are offering a gramme of gold — worth about $45 (€34) at current prices — for each kilogramme of weight lost in a 30-day challenge. The minimum drop is 2kg to cash in.
Dubai official Hussain Lootah said there is no limit on the payout for the golden losers, who must sign up and weigh in tomorrow.
USA: A man hoping to dodge the $15 entrance fee at San Francisco Zoo took a walk on the wild side as he led security officers on a chase through animal exhibits.
Visitors saw the man climbing an exterior fence and running through the African Savanna exhibit, an enclosure occupied by giraffes, zebras, and ostriches. When security officers gave chase, the man ran into the Primate Discovery Centre. He was found hiding in bushes near an exhibit containing mandrills — large monkeys from West Africa.
No animals were hurt, but Justin Montgomery, a 24-year-old from Los Angeles, was arrested on trespassing charges.
ENGLAND: A learner driver dialled 999 asking for “emergency” police assistance during a row with his instructor.
Call handlers at West Midlands Police were baffled when they received the call from a man just after 8am reporting that his instructor had arrived minutes late for the session, telling them: “I’ve got an emergency... the person who’s supposed to be teaching me came late and now she’s asking me to get out of her car. She’s saying I’m giving her attitude... please come over.”
West Midlands Police have released a recording of the call, stressing the importance of using 999 only to report genuine emergencies.
ENGLAND: A dog was left feeling under par after swallowing three golf balls which almost killed him.
Doberman Azar had owner Louise Powis from Warwickshire, stumped when he suddenly lost weight and became severely ill. Vets were stunned when an X-ray revealed he had gobbled up the three balls.
The six-year-old pet was lucky to survive emergency surgery to retrieve the objects, veterinary charity PDSA said.
CHINA: China’s number of internet users has grown to 591m driven by a 20% rise over the past year in the number of people who surf the web from smartphones and other wireless devices, an industry group reported.
The end-of-June figures from the China Internet Network Information Centre represent a 10% rise in total internet use over a year earlier. The number of wireless users rose to 464m.
The rise of web use has driven the growth of new Chinese industries from online shopping and microblogs to online video.
USA: A masked robber thought the 96-year-old owner of a store in Marshfield, Wisconsin, would be an easy target. But, he was so wrong.
Margaretta Wolf has owned the store for 54 years. And she wasn’t about to turn over her cash to the armed intruder after he ordered her to open the cash register.
“I said: ‘I’m not opening up that cash register and that’s it, I’m not opening it. I said you can have all the Tootsie Rolls you want but I am not opening that cash register.’”
She stood her ground when the man flashed a pocketknife and placed it on the counter.
“I said, ‘I’ll press a button and I’ll have somebody here in seconds’,” she said.
Wolf said the would-be robber appeared frustrated, looked around, spotted a security camera in the corner, grabbed the knife, and fled.
