QUIRKY WORLD... Journalists destroy studio in Jordanian TV row

JORDAN: Two journalists in Jordan having a televised debate about the civil war in neighbouring Syria literally turned — and overturned — the table on each other during an on-air brawl.

Fri, 09 May, 2014 - 01:00

The speakers broke apart the studio’s table they had been seated at in an attempt to fight each other.

The show aired on the Seven Stars satellite television channel. It featured journalists Shaker al-Johari and Mohammad al-Jayousi talking about the three-year-old war pitting rebels against President Bashar Assad’s government, a conflict activists say has killed more than 150,000 people.

However, the debate fell apart as al-Jayousi accused al-Johari of supporting the Syrian rebels. Al-Johari then accused al-Jayousi of taking money for supporting Assad. The two men fought each other and pulled the table apart in their scuffle.

SLIM HOPE

ENGLAND: A house dubbed the capital’s narrowest must be returned to its original use as a garage, a planning inspector has ruled.

Ian Currie said the two-storey, flat-roofed building, finished in wood, was “singularly out of place” and “wholly unsatisfactory”.

He dismissed an appeal against an enforcement notice issued by Waltham Forest Council against the six-foot wide development in Manor Road, Leyton, east London.

Mr Currie said the building was in a wholly residential area, and was sandwiched between brick terrace houses with pitched roofs to its north and south and dating from the late 19th century.

COCAINE SANDWICH

SPAIN: Police said they have arrested a Colombian man after he was found to be carrying a ham and cheese sandwich stuffed with over 100 grams of cocaine.

The 29-year-old was detained at a bus station in the Mediterranean beach town of Benidorm.

A photo released by police show a sandwich open in half with nine small cylindrical plastic capsules spread over cured ham and cheese.

Police found over a kilo of cocaine in the man’s home in Benidorm as well as marijuana and detained his roommate, a 20-year-old Colombian.

Spain’s close ties to its former colonies in Latin America have made it the key entry point for cocaine from the continent bound for Europe.

Instant marriage for TV strangers

ENGLAND: Six singletons are going to be introduced at the altar and immediately married off on TV in an attempt to find the formula for the perfect relationship.

The couples will take part in an experiment to find out if science can produce a stable marriage.

Channel 4’s Married At First Sight, based on a hit Danish show, will reduce a pool of 200 people down to six singles willing to say “I do” without having met.

The couples will be matched up by a panel of experts and cameras will follow their first six weeks together.

At the end of filming, they are asked if they want to stay together or go their separate ways. The channel is also planning documentaries looking at the treatment of dementia and newly-elected police commissioners.

Chief creative officer Jay Hunt said she wanted to build on successful shows including Benefits Street and the Winter Paralympics.

Goat born with eight legs

CROATIA: A goat born this week had one befuddled farmer questioning his own eyes when he counted eight legs on the kid.

Nicknamed “octogoat,” the baby also had both male and female reproductive organs, leading vets to believe its condition was a result of an under-developed twin.

“I counted his legs and I thought I was seeing things. Then I called my neighbour to make sure that I am not crazy,” farmer Zoran Paparic said.