Quirky World ... Cheese factory workers bathe in milk vats

A criminal investigation has been launched into breaches of hygiene at a cheese factory after footage of bare-chested workers bathing in vats of milk went viral on the internet.

The Investigative Committee announced it was probing the factory in the Siberian city of Omsk for producing food that could cause harm to health, after photographs of grinning workers bathing in foaming milk horrified Russians.

“It has already been established that the liquid that the factory workers were bathing in was the raw milk that was used for making the cheese,” the investigators said in a statement.

The scandal broke after a worker at the Omsk Cheeses factory posted the photographs on a social networking site with the caption: “Actually our work is pretty boring.”

One photo shows six workers posing in a vat, several wearing only shorts, and raising victory signs. Video footage also emerged showing factory workers kneading the cheese bare-chested in a dirty-looking production area, gaining more than 300,000 views on YouTube.

Russia’s food watchdog banned the factory’s cheese late last month and a court on Thursday closed the factory for 40 days.

The factory had sold more than 49 tonnes of its cheese this year in 14 cities, the Investigative Committee said. It specialises in string cheese.

ENGLAND: A burglar left a house empty-handed after being challenged by a 94-year-old woman in the middle of the night.

The elderly lady had been asleep in a chair in the lounge and woke at around 2am to find the man searching the room. She bravely challenged the intruder and he left the house in Wolborough, Newton Abbot, Devon, without taking anything.

Devon and Cornwall Police are trying to trace the burglar, described as more than 6ft tall.

RUSSIA: A senior diplomat says US officials should do yoga and watch TV comedy to ease what he calls their irrational fixation on punishing Russia over Ukraine.

Deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov’s comments reflected simmering tensions between Moscow and Washington over Russia’s annexation of Crimea. The US and the EU have slapped members of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s entourage with travel bans and asset freezes.

Mr Ryabkov said the US had got “fixated” on halting co-operation with Russia. He said his “advice to the US partners is to spend more time outdoors, do yoga... and watch TV comedy series” instead of “childish whims, tears, and hysterics that won’t help”.

USA: Police in Philadelphia are looking for several suspects in what appears to be a case of rat retaliation.

Investigators said a dispute over a man escalated, and a woman in her 20s, her mother, and a pack of eight or nine other women went to the victim’s house with a baseball bat and a box containing an unknown number of white rats.

The group allegedly smashed in windows and the front door and then dumped the rats into the home. Police said one woman in the group also punched the 30-year-old victim and took her purse.

ENGLAND: A slice of cake baked for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding is to be auctioned next week.

Auctioneer Mellors and Kirk is expecting the slice of fruit cake to fetch between £50 (€60) and £150 when it goes up for sale on Wednesday.

It is being sold on behalf of Adrian Richardson, a former employee of Crown Speciality Packaging in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, which was commissioned to make presentation tins for the royal wedding in 2011. A few employees were sent a piece of the royal cake in thanks for their work.

Kate Middleton And Prince William's Wedding Cake Slice Up For Auction! Will you be placing a bid? pic.twitter.com/wEAmWBGPFE

— Brides The Show (@Bridestheshow) April 4, 2014