World briefs
Fistfight in Ukrainian Parliament
The Ukrainian Parliament had to be suspended yesterday after fighting broke out between politicians. Deputies scuffled during a session in the national Parliament in Kiev when Parliament was scheduled to debate the date of a mayoral election, local media reported.
The brawl was between members of the President’s party and a far-right opposition faction.
It started when one of the President’s supporters accused MPs from the far-right of being neo-fascists after they booed a speech he made.
Several fights broke out simultaneously and at one point a woman was drawn into the fray.
Video shows some MPs climbing on the benches to launch themselves at others. (Reuters)
Cake hotel open for one night
The world’s first “hotel” made entirely from cake is to welcome guests for one night only, with room service in the form of vanilla sponge cushions and a hand-stitched meringue rug.
The hotel within a hotel, in Soho, central London, is the creation of more than 14 artists who spent 2,000 hours baking and 900 hours decorating with more than 600 kilos of sugar.
Guests at the hotel, built to promote a new range from Tate & Lyle Sugars, will be encouraged to eat windows and walls clad with 2,000 macaroons, 20 kilos of marshmallow garlands, windowsills built from fudge and a bath filled with caramel-coated popcorn. (PA)
Baby born in a speeding car
A man pulled over for speeding as he rushed his pregnant wife to hospital said he was determined to keep going despite the police lights flashing behind him.
Tyler Rathjen’s wife Ashley began giving birth to their son in the passenger seat. But a red light with heavy traffic finally forced him to stop in Iowa city.
The baby’s head and arms were already out by the time police officer Kevin Wolfe reached the passenger door. He helped with the final steps of delivery. (PA)
Tightrope across Grand Canyon
Aerialist Nik Wallenda plans to cross the Grand Canyon in June on a tightrope 1,500 feet in the air, without a safety harness – a feat that will be televised live.
Wallenda said he would traverse a remote section of crimson-hued canyon owned by the Navajo Nation in what will be his first major stunt since he last year became the only person to walk a wire over the brink of Niagara Falls. “This is another one of my dreams coming true,” Wallenda, 34, told Reuters in a brief telephone interview. “This is one that has been on my bucket list for some time.”
Wallenda, a seventh-generation member of the “Flying Wallendas” acrobat family, said the tightrope walk across the famed gorge is higher than he has ever before attempted.
The walk, scheduled for June 23, will also be about 1,500 feet (450 metres) long. (Reuters)