A newly-wed bride has forgone the traditional romantic honeymoon hideaway for a tent - so that her husband could take part in a 24-hour mountain bike endurance event.
Nigel Moore, 47, and his wife Alison, 49, dashed straight from their wedding in Staffordshire, to the Original Source Mountain Mayhem event at Eastnor Castle, Herefordshire.
Reflecting on the unusual first few hours of married life, Alison, from Biddulph, Staffs, said: "It's been an absolutely fabulous weekend and one we will always remember. Some people may think I'm crazy to allow my wedding to be taken over by a mountain bike event, but I know it's Nigel's passion and I just wanted to support him." (PA)
World Cup din affects University
A top public university in Bangladesh has closed indefinitely after students clashed over whether to cancel classes to watch the World Cup.
Bangladesh University of Engin-eering and Technology asked students to leave dormitories yesterday to calm the situation, said Habibur Rahman, pro-vice chan-cellor of the university in the capital. The decision was made after at least five students were injured in violence between two groups of students.
One group demanded an early summer holiday so they could watch football on TV without any tension. They asked other students not to attend classes or take tests and locked the university's main gate, prompting clashes with senior students who wanted classes to continue. (PA)
Crying babies are biggest irritant
Crying babies are the biggest irritant to air passengers, according to a poll.
More than 24 per cent reckoned wailing infants were the worst part of a plane trip, the survey by flight comparison site Fly.com found.
Passengers who talk loudly were the second-biggest irritant to air travellers, followed by those lis-tening to loud music, snoring and the annoying habit of kicking the seat in front.
Some of the 691 people surveyed listed smelly passengers as being particularly annoying, while others objected to chatty or large fellow-travellers. (PA)
Dirty car is big turn-off
A dirty car and disgusting driving habits can ruin the road to romance for first-daters, a survey showed yesterday.
Almost two in five people on a first date were put off potential suitors by the age and condition of their vehicle, the poll by www.webuyanycar.com found.
A dirty car was a particular turn-off, as were unfashionable vehicles and old bangers.
Some 57 per cent of the 3,000 people polled were unimpressed with a car that smelled of cigarettes, while others were put off by the bad driving and personal habits of their partner.
The worst behavioural turn-offs were nose-picking, smoking, aggressive driving and talking on mobiles. The car most likely to impress a first date was a Porsche, followed by an Audi TT. (PA)
Helicopter ban at historic site
Helicopters were banned from the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu in an effort to protect local wildlife.
Cusco province published regulations banning choppers at Machu Picchu and the surrounding 125 square miles.
Fernando Astete, the director of the Machu Picchu archaeological park said the noise of helicopter rotors affects habitat for the spectacled bear and red-plumed Andean cock of the rock. He added that wild guanacos and vicunas are a concern, too. (PA)
Burglar nabbed by sweet tooth
An Australian thief has been undone by his habit of stealing treats from his victims' fridges, after police used the DNA he left on a half-eaten doughnut and empty bottles to catch him.
Jamie Scott McKillop left an empty can of Coke in one house he robbed, the remains of a Krispy Kreme doughnut in the kitchen of another and empty bottles of pre-mixed alcoholic drinks in yet another. Police were able to match DNA traces from the litter to Mr McKillop, from Wollongong, south of Sydney.
In rejecting Mr McKillop's appeal against a 17-year jail term last week, Justice Peter McClellan said the thief had become somewhat relaxed about his 2005 and 2006 robberies because he committed so many without being caught. (AFP)
Rare pygmy elephant dies
A rare baby pygmy elephant rescued from a plantation moat early this month has died on Borneo island in Malaysia.
The elephant was one of two calves found starving recently in Sabah state in the first known cases of the endangered animals apparently being abandoned by their mothers. The Star reports the two-year-old female died of internal bleeding in a wildlife park.
The report says another six-month-old female, nicknamed Huminidon, is recovering after being found starving in another plantation last month. (PA)