QUIRKY WORLD... Secrecy not selfies at South African ballot boxes

The election watchdog has urged voters to refrain from taking ballot paper “selfies” in tomorrow’s election, as images would “undermine the secrecy of the vote”.

“Voters are reminded that it is an offence to take and/or publish photographs which reveal a person’s vote on a ballot paper.”

The Independent Electoral Commission says the offence is punishable by a fine or imprisonment of up to a year.

The organisation said exuberant expatriate voters around the world had already posted pictures of their marked ballot papers on social media.

South Africa goes to polls tomorrow in the fifth democratic elections after the fall of apartheid in 1994.

While the commission said it was committed to monitoring the regulation, it admitted that it would be difficult to remove cameras or mobile phones from every voter before entering the voting booth.

Social media networking is popular in South Africa, with a latest study in March showing that Johannesburg has largest number of active Twitter users in the continent.

BLOOD-CURDLING

USA: It sounds like the stuff of vampire movies, but scientists have shown that an infusion of young blood can reverse signs of ageing.

Although the ghoulish experiment was conducted on laboratory mice, the next step could involve a study of elderly humans.

The researchers, from Stanford University, believe young blood may contain natural chemicals that turn back the clock to rejuvenate the ageing brain.

BEAR NECESSITIES

SCOTLAND: The playful antics of two polar bears at a wildlife park are being captured on camera, with viewers able to watch them live online.

Bears Walker and Arktos will be filmed in their enclosure at Highland Wildlife Park near Aviemore in the Highlands.

The footage will be captured by an eco-friendly camera powered by a solar panel and mini wind turbine, with the images streamed live using satellite broadband internet.

Keepers at the park say the pair, who are the only polar bears on public display in Britain, are “best buddies”, describing their relationship as a “bear bromance” as they are often seen wrestling, swimming, sleeping and eating together.

TWINS REUNITE

USA: It’s been 78 years since Ann Hunt and Elizabeth Hamel were last together — in their mother’s womb.

The twin sisters have been reunited for the first time since birth in Fullerton, California, thanks to a nudge from their children and help from a psychology professor.

Mrs Hunt, who lives in England, was given up for adoption and only learned she had a twin when she began looking for her birth mother after her adopted mother died.

Mrs Hamel, who lives in Oregon, always knew she had a twin, but never thought she would see her again.

NAKED PUSH-UPS MAN KILLED BY CAR

USA: A naked man who was reportedly doing push-ups in the road was struck and killed by a car early yesterday in Portland, Oregon.

Officers responded after getting a report just after 4am local time that a naked man was running in traffic near North Columbia Boulevard and Portsmouth Avenue.

A second report came in that the man was doing push-ups in the road, and a third said he had been hit by a car.

Portland police say the driver who hit the pedestrian was not impaired by alcohol or drugs.

The road was closed for several hours. The state medical examiner’s office will conduct a postmortem.