Quirky World: David Cameron disappoints car worker as the wrong DC

ENGLAND: Prime Minister David Cameron has consoled a worker at a luxury car manufacturer who believed that the VIP guest visiting the plant with the initials DC was going to be Formula One driver David Coulthard.

During a jokey question session at the Rolls Royce factory in Goodwood, West Sussex, Cameron praised the “renaissance” of the country’s motor industry as well as speaking of his hopes for his favourite football team, Aston Villa.

One staff member said he had been “a little bit disappointed” because he had heard rumours the special visitor was going to be Coulthard. He then asked Cameron if he was an Arsenal fan, only to be disappointed a second time when Cameron replied that he was a Villa fan, which received groans from the crowd.

‘Be mild and gentle sheep’

CHINA:

Hong Kong’s Beijing-backed leader has called on residents of the Chinese territory, rocked last year by months of pro-democracy protests, to be like “mild and gentle” sheep.

Chief executive Leung Chun-ying made the appeal in his Lunar New Year message to welcome in the Year of the Sheep, which begins today.

The message reflects how tensions continue to simmer after the protests ended in December without him offering any concessions to the student-led demonstrators.

“Sheep are widely seen to be mild and gentle animals living peacefully in groups,” said Leung, who has been nicknamed the Wolf by critics who regard him as cunning and untrustworthy.

“Last year was no easy ride for Hong Kong. Our society was rife with differences and conflicts. In the coming year, I hope that all people in Hong Kong will take inspiration from the sheep’s character and pull together in an accommodating manner to work for Hong Kong’s future,” Leung said.

Thousands of pro-democracy protesters occupied streets across the Asian financial hub for 11 weeks last autumn.

Twitter traits

ENGLAND:

A tool has been created to analyse the hidden personality traits of frequent Twitter users.

The first psychoanalysis of the social network aims to discover what the subconscious mind is thinking when posts are made. The tool, created by television psychotherapist Dr Sandra Scott and wine brand Apothic, analyses a user’s most recent 3,500 tweets.

According to a study using the tool, the majority of the nation’s Twitter users (72%) have a dark side — with “passionate” being the most common personality trait, followed by “materialistic” and “egoist”.

Twitter users can analyse their tweets at apothic.co.uk.

‘EastEnders’ feels the heat

ENGLAND:

There was real-life drama in Albert Square after a fire broke out on the EastEnders set.

The blaze, in one of the houses on the set at Elstree Studios, is believed to have been started accidentally by a firework and will not affect this week’s 30th anniversary celebrations, which include a live episode tomorrow and the unmasking of Lucy Beale’s murderer.

Fire crews fought the blaze in the first floor and roof of a building on the square. A spokeswoman for the show said: “There was a very small fire on set on Tuesday night after rehearsals had finished. It has not affected any EE Live week plans and nobody was harmed.”

Spot the dog

USA:

Snow in the town of Troy, New Hampshire, was so deep that residents were finally able to capture a black labrador retriever which had been on the run for three years.

The female was spotted regularly, but nobody could get close enough to catch her. But hampered by the deep snow, the dog could not get away.