QUIRKY WORLD...Klass hits out at demanding birthday present requests
The Classic FM presenter posted two emails received “from some school mums” on her Instagram account, shortly before displaying her own tongue-in-cheek reply.
The 36-year-old mother of two described as “madness” the messages detailing the parents’ preferences for “a class gift for their daughters this year” — namely a desk and a Kindle.
The group mail suggests a donation of €14 each. The former Hear’Say singer who lives in north London entitled her reply “Let’s put the fun back into Bdays!” and suggested her daughter Ava might like a unicorn as her birthday gift. She added that money could be donated at fictitious site, www.getwhat youregivenandendthis madness.com. Klass was widely praised for her reply.
President Cristina Fernandez, while on a state visit to China seeking investment, caused a furore by joking about her hosts’ accents on Twitter. She tried to mimic a Chinese accent by switching “r’s” with “l’s” in a tweet in Spanish that translates as: “Did they only come for lice and petloleum.”
A few minutes later, she said: “Sorry, the levels of ridiculousness and absurdity are so high they can only be digested with humour.”
The tweets came as she met President Xi Jinping.
There was no official response from China about the comments by Ms Fernandez, a prolific tweeter who has 3.53m followers.
But that did not stop the Twitterverse in the country and beyond from exploding with criticism of what many considered a racist tweet.
“Cristina Fernandez’s lack of tack and respect is incredible,” wrote @FaundezLafarga. “She goes to China looking for (economic) agreements and she makes fun of their accents.”
The palace said 150 people who sent letters of condolence on the death in December of Paola’s sister-in-law Queen Fabiola received replies thanking them for their “comforting words following the death of Her Majesty Queen Paola”.
“It’s a human error,” said a spokesman.
Paola, 77, is a blonde Italian princess who has long brought a dash of glamour to the Belgian royal house. She has played a less public role since her husband, King Albert II, abdicated in favour of their son Philippe in 2013.
Queen Fabiola, the Spanish widow of Albert’s late brother King Baudouin, died on December 5 aged 86.
Suzy Walsham dashed up 1,576 steps to the 86th-floor observatory in the Empire State Building Run-Up on Wednesday in 12 minutes and 30 seconds. T
he men’s race was won by German runner Christian Riedel, a first-time winner who came in at 10 minutes and 16 seconds.
The course records are 9 minutes and 33 seconds for the men, set by Australian Paul Crake in 2003, and 11 minutes and 23 seconds for the women, set by Austrian Andrea Mayr in 2006.
German Thomas Dold holds the record for most men’s victories, with seven.
The Empire State Building Run-Up is one of the best known tower climbs in the world.
The Brevard County Sheriff’s Office says Benjamin Alexander Shaw, 25, demanded money from a Circle K store clerk, threatening to return with a gun if he refused.
An arrest report says Shaw got €35 and left the store. Police arrived and the clerk handed them Shaw’s wallet with an ID inside.
Shaw was found a few blocks away and arrested.
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