A father’s rights campaigner has written a five-star TripAdvisor review of his accommodation after spending more than a week 180 feet up the Tyne Bridge.
Simon Anderton, 56, scaled the Newcastle landmark on Father’s Day and plans to spend another week with just the noisy local gulls for company.
During his stay, Anderton (inset), from Heaton, Newcastle, has written a tongue-in-cheek online review of the “draughty” accommodation, which he praises for its central location and “spectacular views”. He is campaigning for Real Fathers for Justice following a lengthy legal battle.
Time stood still for one second
Global time stood still last night, delaying midnight by a second.
An extra sliver of time – a “leap-second” – has been added to the world’s clocks to adjust for the inaccuracy of the spinning Earth.
The latest pause – the 26th – occured at 23:59:59 co-ordinated universal time (UTC), which is an hour behind British Summer Time.
Computer programmers try to take account of leap seconds but many systems could be caught out, warns atomic clock expert Professor Judah Levine, from the US National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colorado.
Casanova says: ‘I’m a contender’
At only 26 years of age, Jesus Casanova has already earned a degree in journalism, is the owner of a South American swimming championship and last year was crowned Mister Venezuela in the beauty-obsessed nation.
Now he wants to add a new title to his achievements: congressman.
Along with a cadre of athletes, hip-hop artists and TV personalities, Casanova was one of several minor celebrities, most of them political novices, who competed in primaries to select candidates for the ruling socialist party for December’s legislative elections.
A growing appetite for truffles
The growing appetite for truffles is feeding demand for dogs trained to sniff out the pungent fungus prized by chefs and foodies.
As more landowners plant orchards in hopes of harvesting truffles, more dogs are being trained to detect the earthy delicacies, which take several years to ripen on tree roots underground.
“There is huge demand for truffle dogs right now,” said Alana McGee, co-founder of the Truffle Dog Company, which helps orchard owners search for truffles and trains dogs how to find them in orchards or in the wild. “Truffle-hunting is right up their alley. It’s fun for the dogs.
“They get rewarded for using their noses, which is how they see the world.”
Hearse with body inside is stolen
Atlanta, Georgia, police say a hearse with a body inside was stolen outside a hospital.
Atlanta police officer Ralph Woolfolk said authorities believe the hearse was taken from outside Grady Memorial Hospital in the city’s central area. According to reports, the driver drove through the gates of the hospital morgue.
Mr Woolfolk said the suspect or suspects abandoned the hearse near Grady, then stole a gold Ford Explorer and drove off in that vehicle. Police say they recovered the hearse on Auburn Avenue. CBS 46 reports that the body was also recovered.