A new "Whack A Banker" amusement arcade game is proving so popular in Britain that the mallets used to clobber them are wearing out fast, its creator said.
Inventor Tim Hunkin's machine at his seaside pier arcade in Southwold, England, offers punters a "truly rewarding banking experience".
"You pay 40 pence (45 euro cents) to hit as many bankers as you can in 30 seconds as their heads pop up," he said of the game based on the amusement arcade classic "Whack A Mole".
"It's proving very popular. I keep having to replace worn-out mallets. The bankers are bald and all look the same because that's how I think people see bankers - as faceless.
And, of course, the bankers never really lose. If you win the game a banker's voice says: 'You win. We retire. Thank you very much to the taxpayer for paying our pensions'."
Bankers have been the target of public fury in Britain over recent months, given the huge cost to the taxpayer of bailing out failing banks and the whopping bonuses paid out as the country languishes in recession. (AFP)
Bomb threat from vegetable oil?
A French group which advocates the use of cooking oil to run vehicles had its novel fuel confiscated by Danish police on the ground it could be used to make bombs during the Copenhagen climate talks. Members of the association "Roule ma Frite" (Roll on Fries) had travelled to the Danish capital on a bus powered by used vegetable oil - but their return home now hangs in the balance.
"Police came and confiscated the oil for our return journey on the ground that it could be used to make bombs," Gregory Gendre, the coordinator of the group, said.
Three police vans stopped the bus near the Danish environment ministry and seized 17 jerrycans containing a mixture of vegetable oil and diesel. (AFP)
Passengers stranded in Disney monorail failure
A power failure stranded about 300 passengers for a couple of hours aboard three monorail trains at Walt Disney World in Florida.
Bo Jones of the Reedy Creek Fire Department said no one was injured when the monorail system lost power around 1 a.m. local time yesterday.
Mr Jones said firefighters used ladders to assist some visitors aboard one train "more out of customer service than as an emergency situation". Other passengers disembarked later when the trains were towed to nearby stations.
The 15-mile monorail service was restored by the time the parks opened later yesterday morning.
An electrical short disrupted the monorail service in September. (PA)
Monkey business
A Liberian woman who was caught smuggling monkey meat through US customs has been sentenced to probation.
Mamie Manneh was arrested in 2006 after agents seized a shipment of dozens of primate parts hidden in a batch of smoked fish. The boxes included the skulls, limbs and torsos of monkeys and baboons. She was charged with smuggling endan-gered species.
Manneh's lawyers argued that she and other Liberian immigrants in the New York City borough of Staten Island needed the meat for religious reasons. (PA)
Corny revenge
A US woman has been charged with getting back at her sleeping boyfriend after a fight by scalding him with a pot of boiling grits, a corn-based porridge. Sheriff's deputies said 44-year-old Carolyn Brown caused second-degree burns on the man's face and arms.
The man told deputies in St Charles Parish near New Orleans that he came home from work on November 7 and got into an argument with Ms Brown. He told her that he was breaking up with her and then went to bed where the attack happened. (PA)
Mr Post Box
A grandfather revealed the part he has played in handling Christmas mail - he has spent more than 50 years making post boxes.
John Cooper, 69, has been making pillar boxes and lamp boxes - those on poles - for the Royal Mail since the age of 16.
Mr Cooper started making the boxes as a 16-year-old apprentice at Carron Company in Falkirk, then moved to Machan Engineering in Denny which now has the contract to make them. (PA)