A building-sized edifice carved with the Bible’s Ten Commandments was unveiled yesterday in the Philippines, making it the largest tablet of its kind.
The tablet, a copy of the rules supposedly handed down by God to Moses on Mount Sinai, was inaugurated by city officials on a hill overlooking the northern resort city of Baguio. A local religious group, donated the imposing 152.90 square metre tablet to the city as they were presented a certificate from Guinness World Records.
The religious leader who sponsored the project, Grace Galindez-Gupana, topped her previous world record, attained in 2009 when she built a similar 65-square-metre tablet on a hill outside Manila. (AFP)
Whopping fine
Police in Sicily issued a whopping €32,000 fine for an illegally parked car after totting up 2,000 years of interest by mistake, Italy’s Repubblica newspaper said yesterday.
The interest due was calculated from the year 208 A.D. after a policeman dated the fine back to the year 208 instead of 2008.
“When she opened the envelope with the parking fine, the owner of the vehicle had a dizzy turn and had to be taken to hospital,” the paper said on its website.
The police later acknowledged the error and the woman’s husband stumped up the 102 euros actually due. (AFP)
Trunk call
Police in California rescued a man stuck inside a hollow tree trunk by following the sounds of his screams down into a river bed.
They found the man stuck up to his chest inside a narrow hole in the trunk, which extended about 1.2 metres or 1.5 metres underground.
It is not known why he climbed into the hole near the base of the tree. (PA)
Zimbabwean ‘trick’
A Zimbabwean man told a court that he hired a prostitute who during the night transformed into a donkey, and that he is now “seriously in love” with the animal.
“I think I am also a donkey. I do not know what happened when I left the bar, but I am seriously in love with (the) donkey,” Sunday Moyo told the court.
Mr Moyo, 28, was arrested in Zvishavane, south of the capital Harare on Sunday. He said he had paid $25 (€14) for a prostitute, and was surprised on Sunday morning when he heard people accusing him of having sex with a donkey. Mr Moyo has been charged with bestiality. (AFP)
Prison luxuries
Guards at a jail in China sold luxuries including pure-breed dogs, spirits and mobile phones to inmates, state media said yesterday.
An investigation into the jail in Hebei province found guards were supplementing their income by selling pets and bottles of the Chinese spirit baiju at high prices. Access to prison keys was poorly supervised and some inmates even had copies. The lax security and perks enjoyed by the inmates only emerged after an inmate who was serving 10 years for robbery escaped in September.
The government has pledged to shut down the prison and move inmates to a new facility under construction nearby. Authorities have sacked the warden and arrested two guards. (AFP)
Wagon tail
A black Labrador puppy has a new home after being rescued from the top of a freight train.
A woman in her car saw the dog moving around on a wagon and followed the train for about six miles in South Carolina.
Firefighters used a ladder to reach the puppy which has been called Boxcar Hunter, or Boxy for short. (PA)
Tiny gamblers
Young children in the UK have been running up gambling debts playing games of marbles in the street, with some resorting to stealing to pay them off, it was reported.
Groups of up to 40 youngsters aged as young as five are playing the game, called “Pits”, which involves flicking the marbles into an open water-meter cover in the street surface.
Police in Plymouth, Devon, said parents have complained that some children are resorting to stealing cash, DVDs and computer games to pay off debts incurred by playing for money, the Plymouth Herald reported. (PA)