World Hot News

 

If you're going to burgle your own pizza restaurant, it might be a good idea to at least remove your distinctive, colourful company uniform first.

But this proved beyong Hungry Howie's Pizza employee Joseph Whittenton, who was caught on camera breaking into his own workplace.

He allegedly smashed open a back door, broke three security cameras and swiped cash and credit card receipts before escaping.

But the owner of the restaurant in Jacksonville, Florida, enjoyed a slice of good luck when reviewing CCTV footage.

He noticed something familiar about the raider - his standard-issue company clothes.

Whittenton was arrested and charged with burglary.

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird

 

A light aircraft accidentally landed on top of another preparing to take off today.

No-one was injured in the accident at Roanoke airport near Dallas, Texas, although both planes were badly damaged.

Reports said both pilots were neighbours, knew each other, and had been talking on the radio just before the crash.

It appeared that each thought the other had agreed to give way.

The undercarriage of the landing plane, being flown by a learner pilot, became wedged in the top of the wing of the other, and both propellors smashed together.

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird

 

When irritated by an itch, you may feel almost anything would do as a backscratcher - but not, perhaps, a revolver.

Unfortunately that was precisely what was used by Jorge Espinal - who managed to shoot himself in the back in the process.

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird

By David Willey BBC News, Rome

Father Funes says the universe is so vast that other life forms may exist

The Pope's chief astronomer says that life on Mars cannot be ruled out.

Writing in the Vatican newspaper, the astronomer, Father Gabriel Funes, said intelligent beings created by God could exist in outer space.

Father Funes, director of the Vatican Observatory near Rome, is a respected scientist who collaborates with universities around the world.

The search for forms of extraterrestrial life, he says, does not contradict belief in God.

The official Vatican newspaper headlines his article 'Aliens Are My Brother'.

'Free from sin'

Just as there are multiple forms of life on earth, so there could exist intelligent beings in outer space created by God. And some aliens could even be free from original sin, he speculates.

Asked about the Catholic Church's condemnation four centuries ago of the Italian astronomer and physicist, Galileo, Father Funes diplomatically says mistakes were made, but it is time to turn the page and look towards the future.

Science and religion need each other, and many astronomers believe in God, he assures readers.

To strengthen its scientific credentials, the Vatican is organising a conference next year to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of the author of the Origin of Species, Charles Darwin.
BBC News

Customers of a German supermarket chain will soon be able to pay for their shopping by placing their finger on a scanner at the check-out.

An Edeka store in the southwest German town of Ruelzheim has piloted the technology since November, cutting out on time otherwise wasted scrabbling for coins or cards.

The company plans to equip its stores across the region with the new technology.

Store manager Roland Fitterer said: "All customers need do is register once with their identity card and bank details, then they can shop straight away".

The technology is based on comparing the shopper's fingerprint with those stored in its database along with account details. Edeka bosses said they were confident the system could not be abused. The chance of two people having the same fingerprint is about one in 220 million.
http://www.stunning-stuff.com/

A biology teacher in Brazil is being sued for asking students to masturbate for a class project.

The teacher asked three teenagers to provide sperm samples (in other words: masturbate) so the class could study sperm under the microscope.


One of the students told his parents about the incident. His shocked parents immediately notified the police.

A spokesman for the police said: "It is a disrespectful and bizarre thing to ask a student, we are all horrified."

The school, located in Campo Grande, Rio de Janeiro, says it's equally appalled by the biology teacher's behaviour.
http://www.stunning-stuff.com/

A mobile telephone number in Bahrain is on sale for $19,000. This mobile telephone number has become the most expensive in the history of the local market, for no reason other than aesthetics.

Abdullah al-Hammadi, who specialises in selling mobile and licence plate numbers is obsessed with owning an eye-catching sequence of such numbers. He said: "I'm sure that there are some people who want to buy this number, which is 9111119, at this price. There is a market for trading in mobile and car numbers".


Since Abdullah started his business in 1988 he has sold 5,000 special mobile phone numbers. About his customers he said: "They are wealthy people who are willing to pay virtually anything for a unique licence plate or mobile number". Once, he sold a licence plate number for about $110,000!

Abdullah says that there are also some people who ask me to sell their number because they need the cash for medical treatment, or just because of a lack of cash.
http://www.stunning-stuff.com/

An aeroplane has made an emergency landing on one of the busiest roads in the world's second biggest city Sao Paulo.

During a flying lesson, the small plane's engine broke down. The pilot had to make an emergency landing on Joao Paulo I avenue because there were no alternative places to put the plane down on the ground safely.

Fortunately there were no cars on the road and no-one other than the occupants were hurt when student pilot Gledson Gimaraes Teixeira landed the aeroplane.

People who were nearby heard the noise of the plane's landing and thought it was a terrorist attack.

When Gledson called his mother, Regina Helena de Matos Canto, to tell her what had happened she didn't believe him at first. She thought it was an April fool's joke.

Regina said: "it took a lot of talking for me to believe he was telling the truth".
http://www.stunning-stuff.com/

Sniffing the scent of the ocean while booking a vacation online or the smell of whisky and cigars while digitally listening to jazz. The British cable company Telewest adds a whole new dimension to internet: Smell!

The technology makes it possible to send and receive a large number of odours through e-mail. The user has to attach a special scent device to his computer. This device contains 20 aromas that, while mixed properly, can produce about sixty scents.


The sender will have to send a code along with the e-mail to attach a special odour to it. The scent divice translates this code into a special smell that will be spread all around the computer.

Think about it! The scent of fresh bread while doing your online shopping or a relaxing aromatherapy.

The scent device can easily be connected through on of your serial ports on your computer. The hardware can be bought for the price of 250 British pounds.
http://www.stunning-stuff.com/