QUIRKY WORLD ... Chinese actor’s apology to wife over infidelity sets web record
The scandal surrounding film and TV star Wen Zhang has resonated among Chinese partly because of his image as a sensitive and happily married family man, and the volume of comments underlines the relative freedom users have to focus on entertainment news online where politics is often off-limits.
Wen Zhang posted a statement on Monday that his wife, Ma Yili, “and the children could have had a warm and nice life, but everything was destroyed by me”. By yesterday, his post had been forwarded more than 1.2m times and received nearly 1.9m comments. Many comments expressed anger toward Wen, who has more than 52m followers.
Extramarital affairs are not as taboo in China as they once were, and sex scandals provide an outlet for relatively free commentary by people online, said Zhan Jiang, a journalism professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University.
A woman who was slapped across the face with a fish has received an apology, police said.
The 52-year-old victim was working behind the fish counter at an Asda store in Lancashire, when a teenage girl picked up a large, wet bream from the slab and slapped the worker across the face before running out of the store. The victim believes the incident was being filmed on a mobile phone.
Police said a 13-year-old girl has been spoken to by officers and has taken part in a “community resolution” whereby she has sent the victim a letter of apology.
A pair of white storks could be the first to breed from a traditional nest in the UK for almost 600 years.
They have built a nest on top of a 36ft-high chimney at Thrigby Hall Wildlife Gardens near Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. Ken Sims, director of the gardens, said: “They have definitely mated and are very busy, so we’ll be keeping a close eye over the next month or so to see if they begin feeding activities, which will mean that chicks have arrived.”
The last time a pair of storks bred successfully in the wild in the UK was in 1416.
Researchers have recruited a body double for King Richard III for a new Channel 4 documentary attempting to clear up some of the myths surrounding the medieval monarch.
Richard was killed at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485 — ending the Wars of the Roses and the Plantagenet dynasty — and his body was taken to Leicester by supporters of the victorious Henry VII and buried in Greyfriars church, now the site of a car park.
A documentary followed the discovery of Richard’s bones under the car park and showed scientists from Leicester University, who appeared to confirm he suffered from scoliosis — an abnormal curvature of the spine.
Now the broadcaster has started working with a 26-year-old, who suffers from the same form of scoliosis, and will attempt to discover whether his disability would have prevented him from fighting at the battle.
zzzoneeyedhorserescue_large.jpg[]
Firemen launched a dramatic rescue to haul a stricken one-eyed horse from a river.
Ruby the 21-year-old mare stumbled into the River Irwell near Bolton, Lancashire, while out with her rider. After receiving the call, 10 firefighters from Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service spent an hour hauling the distressed animal to safety.
Accompanied by a vet, they tied a harness around Ruby before dragging the animal to the river bank. After a brief rest, she trotted back to the stables, where she was given the all-clear by a vet.
exam011113elonmuskcar_large.jpg[]
A CBS News editor made an “audio error” in dubbing the sound of a loud traditional car engine over footage of the much quieter Tesla electric car in a story.
Spokesman Kevin Tedesco said that the loud car audio has been edited out of the online version of the story on Tesla founder Elon Musk.
Anchor Scott Pelley reported the story and CBS said he was not aware of the added audio ahead of time.
