QUIRKY WORLD ... Man sues after ‘damaging’ stare through TV by actress

CHINA: Rules making it easier to file lawsuits in China have led to concerns over frivolous claims, such as one in which a man says actress Zhao Wei stared at him too intensely through his TV set.

The regulations making it more difficult for courts to reject lawsuits took effect on May 1, leading to an increase in cases nationwide last month of 29% compared with same period last year, to just over a million cases, according to the Supreme People’s Court.

The change has led to Shanghai Pudong New District Court receiving a case against Zhao, the court’s litigation service hotline confirmed. The court official, who declined to identify himself, refused to say whether the court had accepted the case.

Zhao is one of China’s biggest and richest movie stars, and starred in director John Woo’s Red Cliff.

Reports say the lawsuit filed by a Shanghai man involves the prime-time TV show Tiger Mom, which debuted in May and centres on a couple’s differing approach to raising their daughter. Zhao plays the big-eyed mother who relentlessly pushes her daughter’s development, while the father wants his child to have more freedom.

The Legal Daily said the plaintiff was alleging Zhao’s stare caused him “spiritual damage”.

New lives

ITALY:

A cat which accompanied her owner across the desert from Sudan to Libya and then on a migrant boat to Italy has been taken into quarantine on the island of Lampedusa after authorities promised to reunite the pair, the La Repubblica daily newspaper reported.

The paper said the black and white cat, named Lola, was rescued with her owner by a British patrol boat after evading border controls and migrant traffickers during the months-long journey hidden in a travelling bag.

TV footage on La Repubblica’s website showed aid workers calming the distraught owner, identified only as Sama, after she had disembarked and Lola was held back for health reasons.

The mayor of Lampedusa, Giusy Nicolini, and the island’s doctor, Pietro Bartolo, intervened to save the cat, which would otherwise probably have been thrown into the sea to drown, La Repubblica said.

On the run

USA:

A semitrailer carrying 2,200 piglets has overturned on an Ohio highway.

Numerous agencies and volunteers worked to corral the animals after the crash on Monday night on US Route 35 in Xenia Township, near Dayton. Crews picked up the pigs by their hind legs. They were taken to Greene County Fairgrounds.

Authorities say 300 to 400 pigs were killed, and some of the animals ran into a nearby wooded area.

Is the law an ass?

ENGLAND:

A man known as the naked rambler has made legal history by appearing before leading judges in the nude.

Former marine Stephen Gough, from Hampshire, watched proceedings at the Court of Appeal in London via video link from prison.

Gough, who says it is his human right to be naked in public, remained seated behind a large table as the judges were asked to quash his most recent conviction.

A lawyer representing him in court argued on his behalf that the conviction for breaching an antisocial behaviour order — by walking out of prison wearing only his boots and socks — was “unsafe” because he was not permitted to stand trial “not wearing any clothes”.

The trial at Winchester Crown Court in October last year was held in his absence. He was found guilty by a jury and sentenced to two and a half years in jail.

His appeal against the conviction was thrown out today by Lady Justice Rafferty and two other judges.