Rip off' mayor elected

A Croatian politician has been swept to power after promising voters he would rip them off at every opportunity.

Bare-faced Josko Risa was voted in as mayor in Prolozac with a landslide victory using the slogan: "All for me - nothing for you."

"I just told them the truth. This town will be like my family business. If I get a little something, so do they," he explained.

Locals who backed Risa said they would be happy to have him as mayor, despite his bizarre campaign pledge.

Ivan Vjisnic, 57, said: "We know what we're letting ourselves in for.

"We're going to get ripped off no matter who takes over. At least he's being honest and up front about it. And he has said that if things get better for him then they will get better for us."

========================================================================

Dad called police after son refused to clean his room

A US man called police because his 28-year-old son wouldn't clean his bedroom.

Andrew Mizsak, of Cleveland, Ohio, called 911 after a domestic argument got out of hand.

His son, also called Andrew, had thrown a plate of food across the kitchen table and clinched his fist at his dad when told to clean his room.

Andrew junior, who serves on the local school board, told the Cleveland Plain Dealer: "I know this looks bad."

Mr Mizsak, who lives with his parents and also works as an independent political consultant, was "crying uncontrollably" after being told to clean his room, according to a police report.

His 63-year-old father decided against pressing charges and told police: "I don't want to ruin his political career."

He later told reporters: "I overreacted. No big deal."

His son said he was embarrassed to have taken police away from more important work.

"My dad and I love each other very much," he said, promising to keep his basement room clean. "I'm lucky to be living in their house."

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Spider-cat climbs walls

A cat has amazed its owner by learning to climb up the walls of her house to get back in when he's locked out.

Charlie scales the walls of his master's home in Denny, near Falkirk, to sneak indoors via an upstairs balcony.

The ginger and white tomcat's gravity-defying skills have earned him the nickname 'Spider-cat', reports the Daily Telegraph.

His owner Hannah Smith discovered his talent when she let him out of the front door, only for him to reappear indoors moments later.

Miss Smith said: "Charlie miaows at the front door to be let out. So we let him out but no sooner is he let out than he wants back in.

"But if no one hears him at the front door, he wanders round to the back of the buildings to find the balcony. He then climbs up to the balcony to get back in.

"So Charlie really goes out the front door and in the back door."

She added: "I got him as a wee kitten and out of the litter Charlie was the one that looked most mischievous and I liked that about him. He's certainly lived up to his reputation.

"I think it is totally incredible how Charlie is able to climb up a roughcast wall. I've seen cats climb trees but I've never seen a cat climb a wall. It's amazing."

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Schoolgirl goalkeeper claims a record

A schoolgirl goalkeeper is set for the record books after scoring twice in a single match from her own penalty box.

Emily Dickson, 14, stunned her team-mates and the opposition with two huge drop kicks down the full-sized pitch.

With both attempts, the ball bounced over the opposing keeper and into the net during the under-15s match, reports the Daily Telegraph.

Emily, from Broxbourne, Herts, is now awaiting confirmation from FA officials, who believe her effort is a record.

The Hoddesdon Owls Girls player said: "I'd never scored a goal from my goal before. So it was totally brilliant to get two in one match."

By scoring two goals, Emily, a pupil at Broxbourne School, helped her side to defeat the Stevenage Vixens 3-2.

The FA's official historian David Barber believes that Emily, could be the first keeper in the country to have scored twice on a full-sized pitch in a competitive match.

Emily said: "I was in a really bad mood because I'd just let in a goal. I took the ball and smashed it as hard as I could when it came to me. It bounced over the keeper and went in. I couldn't believe it."

Her manager came onto the pitch afterwards and told her 'double or quits', priming her for a second attempt.

Emily said: "So when the ball came to me next, everyone shouted 'shoot', so I did and in it bounced."

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Ball and chain forces children to revise

Parents can now help their children revise - by buying a ball and chain that only unlocks when they have studied for long enough.

Concerned mums and dads set the desired study time on the Study Ball and attach it to their child's ankle, reports the Daily Telegraph.

A red digital display counts down the 'Study Time Left' and the device beeps and unlocks when the time expires.

The prison-style device weighs 9.5 kg (21 pounds), making it difficult to move while wearing it.

It cannot be locked for more than four hours and comes with a safety key that allows the manacle to be opened at anytime.

The ball and chain costs £75 and is sold online at curiosite.com.

The website says: "Quite often, students who are having problems concentrating tend to get up every ten minutes to watch TV, talk on the phone, take something out of the fridge, and a long list of other distractions.

"Were they to dedicate all this wasted time to studying, they would optimise their performance and have more free time available."

Designer Emilio Alarcon said: "The project was born of a conversation I had with a friend who was studying for a civil service exam. He said: "I haven't left the house in a week, this is like being in jail"."

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Nurse stranded after dog ate car key

A nurse was left stranded after her cocker spaniel ate her car key.

Alfie pounced after Charlotte Hanson, 27, dropped the Peugeot key at home in Leeds, reports the Yorkshire Evening Post.

The mother of one said: "I tried to prise the key out of his mouth, but he thought it was a game and refused to let go.

"I grabbed a piece of sausage to tempt him to open his mouth. But he just swallowed the keys and the sausage in one gulp."

Charlotte hoped nature would take its course. But next day there was no sign of the key and Alfie appeared ill, so he was taken to the vet's for an op to remove it.

Alfie had already had a trip to the vets after eating socks belonging to Charlotte's seven-week-old baby son Victor.

The dog loving mum also revealed that they had been forced to cancel an appointment with an obedience class which had been arranged to help Alfie's jealousy problems since the arrival of little Victor.

She said: "Ever since Victor was born he's been a bit more naughty than usual so we had a training session booked for him to help him get used to the new member of the family.

"He'll do anything for attention at the moment so I can't help but wonder if swallowing the car key was another ploy by him."

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Sex theme park bulldozed

China's communist leaders have called in the bulldozers to demolish what would have been the country's first sex theme park.

Love Land had been set to open in October in the southwestern city of Chongqing, reports The Times.

Within hours of a nationwide blaze of publicity for the park and its over-sized statues of naked genitalia and sex workshops, the bulldozers moved in.

Among the first displays to fall victim to the wreckers ball was a rotating signboard with the park's name straddled by a giant pair of women's legs topped by a red thong.

The park's manager, Lu Xiaoqing, had defended the venture, saying: "Sex is a taboo subject in China but people really need to have more access to information about it.

"We are building the park for the good of the public. I have found that the majority of people support my idea, but I have to pay attention and not make the park look vulgar and nasty."

But he failed to win the support of city propaganda officials. A hasty weekend inspection tour after pictures of the theme park appeared in the media spelled its demise.

One city propaganda official said: "The investigation determined the park's content was vulgar and that it was neither healthy nor educational. It had an evil influence on society and had to be torn down immediately."

He Shizhong, head of the municipal publicity department, said the company behind the park had "ignored its social responsibility and was interested only in profiting from sensationalism".

A project manager for developers, the Mexin Group, said: "It's a pity the park had to close, but we accept the decision. We apologise if we upset any members of the public."

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Teen held up shop with banana

A US teenager tried to rob an internet cafe with a banana - then ate the 'weapon' before he was arrested.

Police say John Szwalla entered the shop in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, with the banana concealed under his T-shirt and demanded money, reports the BBC.

The shop's owner and customers overcame the thief and called for help, but the teenager ate his banana before police arrived.

Officers joked they may charge the 17-year-old with destroying evidence.

Bobby Ray Mabe, the owner of store, said police officials took pictures of the banana skin instead.

"f he had had a gun he would've shot me," Mr Mabe told the Winston-Salem Journal newspaper. "But he had a banana."

Mr Szwalla has been charged with attempted armed robbery.

THE END

.

A WAKE UP THOUGHT TO PONDER :

Before you criticize someone,

you should walk a mile in their shoes...

That way, when you criticize them,

you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

.

132nd day of 2009 - 233 remaining

Tuesday, May 12, 2009 LIMERICK DAY

Edward Lear was born on this day in 1812 in Highgate, England. Lear was a poet and a talented illustrator. A big champion of the limerick (which dates back to the early 18th century), Lear wrote Edward Lear’s Book of Nonsense and other such amusing pieces. The Nonsense book especially helped the limerick to become very popular. The limerick is the only fixed-verse form indigenous to the English language. So, what are you waiting for? Write a limerick today! Here’s one to get you started: There once was a man named Nation, Who worked for a radio station. Although he was tall, His hands were too small, Wee paws for station identification.

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Hubble fix mission set for launch

By Paul Rincon
Science reporter, BBC News

The Hubble Space Telescope is set to receive its final overhaul when a space shuttle mission launches from Florida.

The shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to blast off on Monday in an attempt to repair the stricken space observatory.

Hubble has been hit by failures to its science instruments and to its onboard gyroscopes.

Engineers hope the challenging flight will give a new lease of life to one of the most important scientific tools ever built.

A successful mission would make Hubble up to 90 times more powerful than it was in its original guise and extend its operating lifetime until at least 2014.

Shuttle Atlantis is due to lift off at 1901 BST (1401 EDT) from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The seven crew have arrived at the pad and have begun boarding the vehicle.

Nasa said the weather remained favourable, with a 90% chance of good conditions at the time of launch.

The fifth and final servicing flight was delayed last year, when a critical component of the telescope failed. No more such missions are planned because of the space shuttle's impending retirement in 2010.

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE

• Named after the great US astronomer Edwin Hubble
• Launched in 1990 into a 600km-high circular orbit
• Equipped with a 2.4m primary mirror and five instruments
• Length: 15.9m; diameter: 4.2m; Mass: 11,110kg

"Our workload is going to be very high," the mission's lead spacewalker John Grunsfeld told BBC News.

"There's no time to take a breather and look around, it's just going to be work, work, work."

He added: "It's going to be a marathon at a sprint pace for 11 days on orbit."

But if all goes well, it could trigger a magnificent renaissance for the much-loved space telescope.

Martin Barstow, professor of astrophysics and space science at the University of Leicester, UK, has been closely involved in planning for the mission.

He told BBC News: "If (the mission) is successful, as we all hope, it will not just return Hubble to health but increase its capability tremendously with the addition of two new, even more powerful instruments.

"It is a testament to the ingenuity and commitment of many scientists and engineers. I have no doubt that we will continue to be amazed by Hubble's new discoveries during the next few years."

After launch, Atlantis will rendezvous with Hubble, grab the telescope with its robotic arm and pull it on to a work platform to give astronauts easy access to its interior.

Crew members will install new instruments and thermal blankets, repair two existing instruments, replace gyroscopes, batteries and a unit that stores and transmits science data to Earth.

The overhaul will be carried out over five spacewalks. Astronauts will remove the existing Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 instrument to make way for the new Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3).

WFC3 will be Hubble's first "panchromatic" camera with a wide field of view and is able to take amazingly sharp images over a broad range of colours.

"Wide Field Camera 3 is just going to blow people away with the pictures it is going to be able to take across a very wide wavelength spectrum, from the infrared to the ultraviolet," Mr Grunsfeld said.

It will enable astronomers to carry out new studies of dark energy and dark matter and search for remote galaxies previously beyond Hubble's vision.

"People have devoted their lives, their hearts, their souls, their blood in some cases to building, operating and servicing Hubble"
John Grunsfeld, shuttle astronaut

In pictures: The best of Hubble

Spacewalkers will also take out the Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement (COSTAR) device, installed during Hubble's first servicing mission to correct the telescope's flawed mirror.

This is no longer needed as instruments installed since have been designed individually to correct for the faults.

In COSTAR's place, astronauts will install the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS), designed to help researchers probe galaxy evolution, the formation of planets, the elements required for life and the web of gas between galaxies.

Repairs will be made to the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS), which suffered a power failure in 2004, and to the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), which was hit by an electrical short in 2007.

"Personally, I'm hoping that the astronauts will have time to repair the ACS camera. It may not get done because there are higher priorities on the schedule," said Dr Richard Massey, a fellow in astronomy at the Royal Observatory Edinburgh.

The WFC3 will seek out even earlier galaxies

Peering into Hubble's future

Referring to the two European Space Agency satellites, Herschel and Planck, which launch on Thursday, Dr Massey said it was a "make-or-break week for astronomy".

Astronauts will also replace a worn-out fine guidance sensor, helping to maintain a robust ability to point the telescope.

After the work to Hubble is complete, Atlantis will boost the telescope to a higher altitude, ensuring that it survives the tug of Earth's gravity for the remainder of its operating lifetime.

Professor Barstow commented: "I have to say that it has been a nail biting time waiting for this with all the problems that have got in the way, the most recent being the failure of the command and data handling module just about a week before the mission was due to launch last October.

"I think the team have done an amazing job of solving the problem of adding that repair to the programme and I wish them well for the mission."

'Unique beast'

Launched in 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope is now regarded as one of the most important instruments in the history of astronomy. It has made a remarkable contribution to our understanding of the origin and evolution of the Universe.

Hubble has obtained the deepest views of the cosmos, finding high-interest objects for other observatories to investigate in detail. Its studies of the Universe's expansion also dramatically refined the best estimates for the age of the cosmos.

Its pictures have produced hard evidence for the existence of black holes and confirmed theories of planetary formation.

Three of the seven shuttle crew are veterans of previous Hubble servicing missions. This will be Mr Grunsfeld's third consecutive flight to the orbiting observatory.

Speaking to me at a conference last year, he said: "Hubble is something that has a huge family here on planet Earth. People have devoted their lives, their hearts, their souls, their blood in some cases to building, operating and servicing Hubble.

"The results that we get - the science - are a bit like the love you would get from a pet. Hubble is this unique beast. When we go up into orbit, I really do feel this kinship with it. Even more so after spending five days up close and personal working on it.

"When it's time to leave, I do feel a little bit of sadness... but my big goal is not to break it, and to send it off so it can do new science."

Following the Columbia disaster in 2003, which claimed the lives of seven astronauts, another mission to service Hubble was considered too hazardous.

The reason was astronauts would not be able to use the International Space Station (ISS) as a safe haven if the shuttle sustained damage on launch.

Nasa has now accepted the risk of the mission, but will have the shuttle Endeavour ready to launch immediately to bring the crew home if the servicing mission is endangered.

This unprecedented measure comes at a cost, however: a shuttle mission costs upwards of $450m (£298m; 333m euros).

==============================================================================

Web murderer given life sentence

Heiss became angry when his obsessive messages were blocked

Murder reveals hidden online life

A man from Germany has been jailed for life for stabbing a Nottingham student 86 times after stalking his girlfriend.

David Heiss, 21, from Limburg, became infatuated with 20-year-old Matthew Pyke's girlfriend Joanna Witton, 21, during repeated internet exchanges.

Heiss, who denied the murder charge and said he was acting in self defence, was found guilty at Nottingham Crown Court.

The judge described Heiss's motive as "bizarre" and ordered him to serve at least 18 years for the 2008 attack.

During the trial the jury heard that on 18 September, 2008, Heiss flew from Frankfurt to Birmingham with a knife and made his way to the flat Mr Pyke shared with Miss Witton on North Sherwood Street in Nottingham.

He waited until Miss Witton left for work the following morning and confronted Mr Pyke, originally from Stowmarket in Suffolk.

Heiss had claimed he was acting in self defence after Mr Pyke charged at him with a knife.

The court heard Miss Witton, who was originally from Selby in North Yorkshire, met Heiss through a website she ran with Mr Pyke.

Heiss spent six months pestering her with declarations of love and visited the couple twice in Nottingham before the attack.

He became infuriated when the couple, who conducted their entire social life online, blocked Heiss from their website, preventing him from sending further messages to Miss Witton.

'Wonderful man'

Mr Justice Keith said Heiss had remained in denial about the murder.

He told Heiss: "The law permits only one punishment for the crime of murder and the sentence I pass on you is one of imprisonment for life.

"The fact that your motive for murder was so bizarre doesn't make your killing of Matthew any the less serious."

Speaking after the trial, Mr Pyke's brother Adam said: "All it takes is one stab wound and somebody dies.

"He was a great brother to have and it's still difficult to come to terms with the fact that he's not going to be here any more."

A statement issued on behalf of Mr Pyke's family and Miss Witton said: "We will never truly come to terms with what happened to Matthew that morning.

"While we have wanted justice throughout the course of this trial, all we really want is Matthew back with us.

"There will always be a massive part of our family missing and not a day goes by without us thinking about Matthew and what might have been.

"It's not fair that we should all have to live like this for the rest of our lives because of one man's actions. He has taken a wonderful, caring, loving young man from all of us."

Det Ch Insp Tony Heydon from Nottinghamshire Police warned people about the dangers of the internet.

"It is the worst case I have dealt with. It is a horrific incident, a very pre-planned premeditated murder.

"The scene we found on the day was horrific and what happened to Matthew was a terrible act, everyone is shocked about what happened.

Web warning

"David Heiss was very clever on the internet, and he learned a lot of information about Joanna Witton and Matthew Pyke and others.

"It is very, very interesting that he could do that.

"One of the things that's important here is that people need to realise that on their computers there is a lot of personal information that other people can gather.

"We know that Heiss found out a lot of information about where they lived and where they worked and all sorts of things about their social network that perhaps now with hindsight they wouldn't want him to know.

"So people need to bear that in mind when they are on their own systems using Facebook, people need to be careful."

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on this date :

1971 - The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger married Bianca Perez Morena de Macias. Mick couldn’t remember her whole name very well, so she became known as Bianca the world over.

1977 - The Eagles earned a gold record for the hit, Hotel California. The award was the second of three gold record singles for the group. The other million sellers were New Kid in Town and Heartache Tonight. Two number one songs by The Eagles -- Best of My Love and One of These Nights -- didn’t quite make the million-seller mark.

==================================================================================

Pupils urged to attack dummy teachers

Pupils at a Chinese school are being encouraged to attack punchbag dummies of their teachers to relieve stress.

Lichang 1st Middle School in Jinan attached pictures of teachers to sandbags and gave pupils boxing gloves to work off their frustrations.

Vice principal Meng Fanxiang said: "Adolescent students may have a lot of problems and be under great pressure from studies. It's better for them to release it within the school than other places."

Meng's own picture, as well as those of other teachers and admin staff, has been attached to the sandbags.

But the vice principal told the Qilu Evening Post: "I don't care if they beat up my dummy."

The 'physical release' room is part of a new programme of support services for students which also include a private chatroom and a consultation room.

The school says that most boys prefer the physical release room for the release of stress, while the majority of girls prefer the private chatroom

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'Little old lady' robs bank

Police are hunting a crook who got clean away with more than £10,000 after robbing a bank dressed as a little old lady.

The bandit shuffled into the bank in Hamburg, Germany, wearing a headscarf, thick glasses and a long coat before pulling a gun on cashiers.

More than 100 police officers took part in a chaotic city-wide search for the cross-dressing blagger - and arrested five real-life old ladies as suspects before letting them go.

A police spokesman said: "A cashier said they saw a smiling little old lady come up to the cash desk, but then she suddenly whipped out a gun, roared in a deep male voice to hand over the cash and then fled like as quickly as an Olympic athlete.

"A lot of bank robbers just put a balaclava over their heads to hide their face, but this particular disguise was very well thought out and makes catching them especially hard."

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Brits use wallabies as lawnmowers

British gardeners are increasingly buying wallabies as pets to trim their lawns.

Private orders for the marsupials have jumped in recent years as landowners seek new ways of keeping their grass neat, reports The Times.

Wallaby enthusiasts say the animal is a cuter, friendlier and more exotic alternative than sheep.

A pair of wallabies are not cheap, with males costing £150 and females around £650, in addition to food and bedding costs.

But Waveney Wildlife, Britain's biggest private supplier, reports a doubling in wallaby orders in five years, driven by growing interest from individuals.

Trevor Lay, who runs the centre in Bungay, Suffolk, now sells 35 a year and says he could find homes for three times as many.

"It's crazy. To be honest, if I had 100 I could easily get rid of them," he said.

Quintin Spratt, a breeder from near Diss in Norfolk, also told the newspaper that he had received a surge of inquiries from would-be owners.

Anyone looking to keep a wallaby should have enough land for them to roam, half an acre, and fences at least 5ft high to ensure they cannot jump for freedom

=====================================================================

Man sues over sex ban

A Kenyan man is suing the organisers of a politically motivated sex ban for causing him "anxiety and sleepless nights".

James Kimondo is seeking damages for the ban which was called by women's groups in a bid to force political leaders to put their rivalries aside, reports the Daily Telegraph.

"Since the women called for the sex boycott, my wife has denied me my conjugal rights. This has caused me anxiety and sleepless nights," he said.

"I have been suffering mental anguish, stress, back aches, lack of concentration," Mr Kimondo told reporters outside the Nairobi High Court.

The strike ended on Wednesday with the organisers claiming it had been a success.

The leaders of the G10, a coalition of women's groups, argued that the country's male leaders should not have time for matters of the flesh when the country is ensnared in economic and political turmoil.

President Mwai Kibaki and his rival Raila Odinga, pictured, were pressured into a power-sharing deal by international mediators following violence which accompanied December 2007 polls.

But lingering tensions have crippled the coalition government and fuelled widespread discontent.

The two, who have hardly met recently, held brief talks last Monday and held a cabinet meeting on Thursday, the first in a month.

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hi all...here we've posted stuff we' cover on the show...enjoy :)

there are prizes we have for you come mum and dads day so you may wanna check back here from time to time ya ;)

meantime...lets do ENTERTAINMENT NEWS :

Vampires vs Slumdog for MTV award

Teen vampire film Twilight has taken the lead with seven nominations at this year's MTV Movie Awards.

The film, based on the Stephanie Meyer book, is up for best movie and male breakthrough performance for its star, British actor Robert Pattinson.

It competes with Slumdog Millionaire in four categories, including best kiss. The Oscar-winner has six nods in all.

The awards will be hosted by Saturday Night Live star Andy Samberg on 31 May in Los Angeles.

Twilight, the story of a passionate romance between a mortal girl and an enigmatic vampire, is also nominated for best female for star Kristen Stewart, best fight and best song - for Paramore's Decode.

Taylor Lautner will also go up against his co-star Pattinson for best breakthrough male.

Slumdog Millionaire, a rags-to-riches story set in the slums on Mumbai, is up for best movie, male and female breakthrough performances, best kiss and best song - for AR Rahman's Jai Ho.

Its final nomination comes in a category for the most surprising scene of the year, for a sequence in which a young boy escapes from an outhouse to meet his movie idol.

Public vote

Other nominees for the "golden popcorn" trophy for best movie include High School Musical 3: Senior Year and comic book epics The Dark Knight and Iron Man.

Kate Winslet, who won an Oscar for her role in The Reader, is up for best female performance, along with Angelina Jolie for Wanted, Anne Hathaway for Bride Wars, Kristen Stewart for Twilight and Taraji P Henson for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

The nominees for best male performance include Christian Bale for The Dark Knight, Robert Downey Jr for Iron Man, Shia LaBeouf for Eagle Eye, Vin Diesel for Fast & Furious and High School Musical heartthrob Zac Efron.

Heath Ledger, who won a posthumous Oscar for his performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight, is also nominated in the best villain category.

For the first time, awards organisers are allowing MTV fans to choose the nominees, as well as vote for winners.

Votes can be cast on MTV's website until 27 May for all categories except best movie which will remain open until 31 May, when the show will air live in the US from the Gibson Amphitheatre.

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Cage stunt car in New York crash

A car driven by actor Nicolas Cage's stuntman for his latest film has crashed into the front of a restaurant in New York's Times Square.

Two pedestrians suffered minor injuries during shooting of the chase sequence, after the car skidded out of control and mounted the pavement.

Regular traffic had been halted for filming and replaced with stunt cars.

Cage's latest film, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, is set in present day New York and due for release next year.

Incident captured

The movie is based on a famous Mickey Mouse sequence in Disney animation Fantasia, and sees Cage play a sorcerer who recruits a reluctant college student.

A statement from the production said that the two pedestrians had been taken to hospital for checks but later released.

One woman suffered an injured foot, while a man was hit on the head by a pole which fell after being struck by the Ferrari. The stunt driver was unhurt in the accident.

The statement added that filming by the movie's second unit "will continue as planned".

The accident was captured in an amateur video, which has been shown on the New York Post newspaper's website.

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Studio sues over Bollywood 'copy'

A Hollywood film studio has taken legal action against Bollywood movie-makers who it claims copied 1992 comedy hit My Cousin Vinny.

20th Century Fox has sued BR Films for 70m rupees (£940,000) at Mumbai's High Court, saying Banda Yeh Bindaas Hai is an illegal remake.

The script and storyline is virtually identical to the original US movie, the studio contends.

BR Films has rejected the allegations, saying their film was original.

It argues the characters and settings for their release were different.

Long history

Fox said that the Bollywood studio was given permission to use the film's idea for the basis of a new production, but the rights for a Hindi language remake had not been approved.

The Indian movie industry has a long history of remaking Hollywood productions for the local market.

Recent objections from US film-makers have included a possible remake of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which has been threatened with legal action.

In September, a case against the Bollywood makers of Hari Puttar: A Comedy of Terrors was dismissed.

The makers of the Harry Potter films had claimed the name was too similar to the adventure franchise.

Comic crime caper My Cousin Vinny earned co-star Marisa Tomei an Oscar for best supporting actress.

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Gauguin 'cut off Van Gogh's ear'

Vincent van Gogh did not cut off his own ear but lost it in a fight with fellow artist Paul Gauguin in a row outside a brothel, it has been claimed.

It has long been accepted that the mentally ill Dutch painter cut off his own ear with a razor after the row in Arles, southern France, in 1888.

But a new book, based on the original police investigation, claims Gauguin swiped Van Gogh's ear with a sword.

The authors argue the official version of events contains inconsistencies.

Witness statements

The book, titled In Van Gogh's Ear: Paul Gauguin and the Pact of Silence, is the product of 10 years of research by German academics Hans Kaufmann and Rita Wildegans.

They looked at witness accounts and letters sent by the two artists, concluding that the row ended with Gauguin - a keen fencer - cutting his friend's ear off.

Van Gogh then apparently wrapped it in cloth and handed it to a prostitute, called Rachel.

Mr Kaufmann said it was not clear whether it was an accident or a deliberate attempt to injure Van Gogh, but afterwards both men agreed to tell the police the self-harm story to protect Gauguin.

He said the traditional version of events is based on contradictory and improbable evidence, and no independent witness statement exists.

"Gauguin was not present at the supposed self-mutilation," he told Le Figaro newspaper in France.

"As for Van Gogh, he didn't confirm anything. Their behaviour afterwards and various suggestions by the protagonists indicate they were hiding the truth."

Gauguin later moved to Tahiti, where he produced some of his most famous works. Van Gogh died in 1890 after shooting himself in the chest.

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Chuck Norris protects baker

Store bosses have seen off burglars by placing a life-sized photo of Hollywood action star Chuck Norris in the window.

The posh bakery shop in Split, Croatia, had been broken into almost every week until they put up the poster of the karate champ with a sign saying: "This shop is under the protection of Chuck Norris."

Now the bakery hasn't had a single burglary for more than a month.

Sales assistant Mirna Kovac said: "To be honest we just started it as a joke but it really has worked. Thieves haven't been anywhere near us for ages. People seem to respect him.

"Everyone around here has seen his films and he's quite a popular character, perhaps even among criminals, so they've decided to leave us alone."

She added though: "We have had a few customers come in and ask us whether they can get Chuck's autograph. They really believe he is sitting in our storeroom out the back ready to pounce on any burglars."

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Mexico to begin lifting flu curbs

Restaurants and cafes in Mexico City are to reopen on Wednesday after the country recorded a fall in new cases of the swine flu virus.

Libraries, museums and churches are to follow suit a day later but cinemas, theatres and bars are to remain closed, the mayor's office said.

Government officials are meeting to discuss when schools and businesses across the country can resume work.

More than 1,000 cases of the virus have been reported in 20 countries.

Confirmed cases in the US have risen from 226 to 286, spread over 36 states, with most patients suffering mild symptoms. One death has been confirmed - that of a Mexican two-year-old boy who was visiting Texas.

CONFIRMED CASES

• Mexico: 101 suspected deaths - 26 confirmed; 701 confirmed cases
• US: One death, 286 confirmed cases
• Canada: 140 confirmed cases
• Spain: 54 confirmed cases
• UK: 27 confirmed cases
• Germany: 8 confirmed cases
• New Zealand: 6 confirmed cases
• France: 4 confirmed cases
• Italy: 4 confirmed cases
• Israel: 3 confirmed cases
• El Salvador: 2 confirmed cases
• Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong, South Korea, Irish Republic, Costa Rica, Colombia, Portugal: 1 confirmed case

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Countries with confirmed cases of secondary transmission:

• Mexico, US, Canada, Spain, Germany, UK

Quarantined hotel guests frustrated

In pictures: Weathering swine flu

Officials say the rise in cases in recent days was due to results of lab tests coming through, rather than because of a new surge in cases.

The UN says it has seen no evidence of a spread at community level in Europe and Asia - a development that would trigger the highest level of alert.

Dr Keiji Fukuda, deputy chief of the World Health Organization (WHO), told reporters it was essential that surveillance remained strong worldwide.

Transmission to people who have not visited Mexico has been confirmed in six countries.

The virus is suspected of claiming 101 lives in Mexico though the number of confirmed cases there is 26, its health minister said on Monday.

After Mexico accused China of unfairly quarantining some of its citizens, the two countries sent planes to pick up each other's citizens.

In other developments

• Canada's confirmed number of cases rose to 140

• Of nine new confirmed cases of swine flu in the UK, seven appear to have been acquired from people who had not been to Mexico; total confirmed cases stood at 27

• About 250 recruits and personnel at an army camp in the western Swiss canton of Fribourg were placed under quarantine after two recruits reported having flu symptoms

'Phase of decline'

Mexico's shutdown is credited with stemming the spread of the virus but it badly affected the country's economy.

SYMPTOMS - WHAT TO DO

• Swine flu symptoms are similar to those produced by ordinary seasonal flu - fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, chills and fatigue
• If you have flu symptoms and recently visited affected areas of Mexico, you should seek medical advice
• If you suspect you are infected, you should stay at home and take advice by telephone initially, in order to minimise the risk of infection

Q&A: Advice about swine flu

President Felipe Calderon went on national TV on Sunday night to say a nationwide shutdown and an aggressive information campaign appeared to have helped curtail the outbreak in Mexico.

"We have succeeded in detaining or at least slowing the spread of the virus precisely because the measures have been the correct ones," he said.

Swine flu has been confirmed as the cause of 26 deaths in Mexico and 701 people have been infected, Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova said on Monday.

Earlier, he had said the epidemic was "in its phase of decline", having peaked between 23 and 28 April.

Talking about the possible reopening of schools, he warned it would "not happen just like that". "There will have to be training, preparations for teachers and parents," he told reporters.

Inhabitants of the capital interviewed by Reuters news agency on Sunday spoke of their frustration at the upset caused by the restrictions.

"They should open everything back up so we can work," said Alberto Vazquez, 28, who washes cars for a living.

"These last days have been hard on us. If we don't work, we don't eat."

'Deceptive' virus

Mexico has criticised China for placing in quarantine up to 70 Mexicans even though they showed no sign of having contracted swine flu.

A Mexican-chartered plane has left for Beijing to pick up Mexican citizens from different Chinese cities.

China, which denies discrimination, sent a plane in the opposite direction to pick up 200 Chinese nationals stranded in Mexico City.

A Mexican man staying in a Hong Kong hotel was confirmed to have contracted the virus on Friday. More than 250 guests and staff at the hotel are being held under quarantine for a week.

Canada asked China for an explanation on Monday after it also quarantined a group of at least 20 Canadian students, none of whom had shown any flu symptoms, in the north-eastern town of Changchun.

WHO chief Margaret Chan said there was "no indication" that swine flu, or H1N1, might develop into a pandemic similar to the Spanish Flu which killed tens of millions at the end of World War I.

Addressing a meeting of the UN General Assembly in New York by video link from Geneva, she also cautioned against complacency: "Flu viruses are very unpredictable, very deceptive... We should not be over-confident. One must not give H1N1 the opportunity to mix with other viruses."

UN chief Ban Ki-moon, in New York, said the WHO did not plan to raise its pandemic alert to the highest level if the outbreak continued in its current pattern.

The severity of the swine flu virus remains uncertain, the BBC's Imogen Foulkes reports from Geneva.

Health experts worldwide want to know which population groups are most vulnerable and why the virus has caused severe pneumonia among some patients, and diarrhoea - not normally associated with flu - in others, our correspondent says.

On Tuesday the WHO will hold a meeting of doctors and scientists to discuss these questions. The answers, the WHO says, will help all those working to control and treat the virus.

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Tattooed man donates skin to art

A retired history teacher is donating his tattooed body to an art gallery.

Geoff Ostling, 65, is virtally covered in colourful depictions of exotic flowers after a 15 year collaboration with acclaimed cult tattooist, eX de Merci.

Covering every part of his body, save for his face, neck and parts of his forearms, Mr Ostling's tattoos are on the theme of "all the flowers of a Sydney garden".

He said: "I wanted something unique so I thought about a garden of plants, of natives and imported flowers, what you would find in a Sydney garden with a distant view of the city from Heartbreak Hill."

Mr Ostling has pledged to donate his skin to Canberra's National Gallery after his death.

"To donate skin is not the most amazing thing in the world but the tattoos are revolutionary," he said.

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May the 4th be with you'

A Star Wars obsessed couple themed their wedding on the films with the groom playing Han Solo and the bride Princess Leia.

Duncan Thomson, 41, and Sammi Gardiner, 39, got married surrounded by friends and family all dressed as characters from the sci-fi movies.

And they chose Monday as the date for the service, so they could bill it as "May the 4th be with you", reports the Daily Telegraph.

The couple, from the Isle of Wight, even invited the movie's director George Lucas, who wrote back to them saying he couldn't make it.

During the wedding in Shanklin on the island, Mr Thomson told his bride: "I promise to protect you from carbon freezing and promise to protect you from the Dark Side, through hyperspace and into the far reaches of the galaxy."

Mr Thomson, an amateur astrologist, said: "We had both been married before with traditional services and wanted to do something a bit different and fun to put a smile on everyone's face."

The couple had to remove certain Star Wars references from the 20-minute civil service because Jedi is a recognised religion, he added.

The bride's ring was made out of meteorite found in Canyon Diablo in the US, engraved with: "May the 4th be with you."

Following the ceremony, the couple departed for a honeymoon on a cruise to the Mediterranean, with a special guard of honour using light sabres.

Sammi, an IT worker, said: "The films brought us together and are something that our families, young and old, have always loved."

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A man placed an ad in the classifieds: "Wife wanted."
The next day he received a hundred letters.
They all said the same: "You can have mine."

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now on to entertainment ya.....

Pink Takes Over London Square

Pink thrilled thousands of volunteers filming a commercial in London on Thursday when she made a surprise visit to sing for the crowd.

More than 13,000 members of the public converged in the British capital's Trafalgar Square to participate in a mass sing-along for phone company T-Mobile's new TV ad.

Those gathered were instructed to sing hits such as The Beatles' "Hey Jude" and Britney Spears' "...Baby One More Time," while the event was filmed by 24 cameras and recorded by more than 2,000 microphones.

The crowd was stunned when an image of singer Pink was transmitted onto giant screens hanging over the square.

And they were then sent into a frenzy when cameras panned around to reveal the singer was at the event in person.

The star joined in halfway through a rendition of the Erma Franklin track "Piece of my Heart," before removing her hood and singing her hit song "So What?" on a raised platform.

Speaking after the event, she told reporters: "What a fantastic experience! Everyone singing along together in the middle of London -- it was incredible. I was thrilled to be a part of such an amazing event and to share it with so many people."