World Watch
Italy
Italy’s farm animals are being given showers, fans and air conditioning in their stalls to try to keep them cool during the current heatwave there. Temperatures in Italy have reached up to 40°C and this has caused a fall in production on the country’s farms.
Yerevan, Armenia
Activists in the Armenian capital have turned the tables on police by drenching officers in protest against the use of water cannons. The protestors used buckets, water pistols and drink bottles to inflict their soaking outside the presidential palace in Yerevan.
Cambodia
Cambodia has begun using “life-saving” rats to sniff out deadly landmines in the country. The elite rats, imported from Africa, are used to find the landmines that still dot the countryside after decades of conflict. Unexploded devices have killed nearly 20,000 Cambodians and wounded 44,000 since 1979.
Croatia
A long-awaited bridge connecting two separate parts of Croatia has finally been given the go-ahead. At present Croatians driving to the popular seaside city of Dubrovnik have to pass through a 14km stretch of coast belonging to neighbouring Bosnia. The new bridge will bypass Bosnia so that Croatians do not have to leave their country to get to Dubrovnik.
Japan
Police in Japan have dealt with more elderly than juvenile crime in the past six months. Japan has seen a fall in overall crime rates over the past 10 years, but not among its growing elderly population. Crime by over-65s rose by more than 10 percent compared to the same period last year.
Berezniki, Russia
Residents of a small town in the Ural Mountains will gather at a local pond to celebrate mosquitoes for a three-day festival. Perhaps the oddest part of the event is the “most delicious girl” competition, in which women will be judged on how many mosquito bites they receive after standing around in shorts and vests for 20 minutes.
Colombia
A seven-year-old girl who went missing in the Colombian jungle has been found alive after nearly three weeks. The girl went missing in Tayrona National Park while collecting coconuts with her parents. Hundreds of officers took part in the air and land search in the dense bush of northern Colombia.
Cairns, Australia
An Australian toddler managed to get himself stuck inside a toy machine at a shopping centre in Cairns. The boy was playing by the machine when he crawled inside and managed to wedge himself between the pingu-penguin and a teddy bear. Management were able to release the boy by unlocking the door on the machine.
Grapevine
“They came in hoping to see a story of a hero dressed in black, someone who would fight insurmountable odds in the name of justice and trying to protect others. Instead a different figure appeared by the screen dressed all in black. And he came there with one thing in his heart and in his mind — and that was mass murder.”
George Brauchler — Arapahoe County district attorney
James Holmes, the man who killed 12 people and injured 70 others when he opened fire in a packed Colorado cinema in July 2012, has been found guilty of murder. He had pleaded not guilty due to insanity — his defence said he was controlled by his schizophrenia. Prosecutors will now seek the death penalty.
“Come here right now, with all the 535 members of the House of Representatives and the Senate as well as the imbecile secretaries and deputy secretaries of the government who have made their voices hoarse screaming for new sanctions. They can behold the awe-inspiring sight of the Pyongyang Bio-Technical Institute.”
National Defence Commission of North Korea
North Korea has invited the entire US House of Representatives to take a tour of the Pyongyang Bio-Technical Institute, a facility that biological weapons experts believe is intended to produce massive quantities of anthrax. The statement was the first official reaction from North Korea after the US alleged North Korea was producing anthrax.
“I wouldn’t let this guy buy a car for me, let alone negotiate an arms deal with Iran … If they object, it then goes to an arbitration panel, and the Iranians have a vote on the arbitration panel, as do the Russians and Chinese.”
Chris Christie — New Jersey governor and presidential hopeful
Republican presidential candidates have hit back at Obama after his administration successfully negotiated a deal with the Iranians over their nuclear programme. Governor Christie was especially critical, claiming that Obama had mis-characterised the situation to the public.
“Exposure to air pollution increases the risk of lung cancer, impairs child lung development, and increases the risk of hospitalisation among people with a pre-existing lung condition. It is time we stop talking and take immediate action to prevent more people being needlessly killed by the air that they breathe.”
Penny Woods — CEO of the British Lung Foundation
A new report from King’s College London shows that almost 9500 people in London had their lives cut short by air pollution in 2010, accounting for a fifth of all deaths in the city that year. Figures also suggest that air pollution kills six times as many people in London as the number killed in car accidents each year throughout all of England.
Facts & Figures
Fred and Wilma Flintstone were the first couple to be shown in bed together on prime-time TV.
10% rise in car accidents during the first week of daylight saving.
Alaska the state with the highest percentage of people who walk to work.
The testes increase in size by 50% when a man is sexually aroused.
Astronauts cannot burb in space. There is no gravity to separate liquid from gas in their stomachs.
70% The amount of our DNA that we share with a slug.
79% of pet owners have slept in a bed with their pets.