A German refugee’s hoard of gold coins discovered in a garden will be returned to his descendants.
The coins, which constituted the smuggled savings of Martin Sulzbacher, a Jew who fled Nazi Germany in 1938, are the property of his son Max Sulzbacher, Andrew Scott Reid, coroner for inner north London, ruled.
Mr Sulzbacher’s family hid the jar of American “double eagle” gold dollars in 1940, amid fears banks would be raided by invading Germans. But they were killed when a German bomb struck their Hackney home – taking the knowledge of their precise whereabouts to the grave.
The 80 coins, minted between 1854 and 1913, are expected to fetch £80,000-90,000. Mr Sulzbacher said he would use the cash to restore his family’s crumbling gravestones in Enfield cemetery and give some of the money to the finders. (PA)
‘Wake up’ drink
An Australian state government yesterday dropped a “bizarre” idea to develop a drink for high-school students designed to aid their mental alertness.
The government of Victoria had advertised for businesses interested in developing a non-caffeine energy drink for students aged 12 to 19, as part of a broader US$29.6 million grant programme.
“There is a need for a pleasant-tasting, attention-sustaining, low-priced drink that enables students to work safely and with sustained alertness all day,” it read.
Education Minister Martin Dixon said the idea had come from students, and while the Department for Business and Innovation had advertised to gauge interest in developing the product, it would go no further. (AFP)
Goatee vote
The Caribbean island of Tobago wants your vote – for a goat.
Every year around Easter, the island hosts a goat race, and tourism officials are hoping to use Facebook to drum up more attention for this year’s Buccoo Goat Race Festival, which is scheduled for April 25-26.
They have launched a Facebook application called Vote for your Goat. Fans can become virtual jockeys after picking one of 20 goats. The person who ends up with the most “likes” will win a weekend for two on Tobago. The goat races began in 1925 as a working-class alternative to horse racing. (PA)
Lobster balls
The shells from Maine’s lobsters are being used to manufacture decorative tiles, trivets and drinking-glass coasters.
And at the University of Maine, a professor has developed a biodegradable golf ball whose core is made out of ground-up lobster shells. Professor David Neivandt said the balls are intended for use on cruise ships or at driving ranges on lakes or the ocean, where golfers would drive them into the water.
The university has filed a patent for the lobster-shell mixture, and Mr Neivandt is hopeful that a private company will buy the licensing rights and market the ball. (PA)
Sarkozy role
Film director Woody Allen said he could imagine French President Nicolas Sarkozy playing a role like those of Humphrey Bogart, who was famous for his cynical and hardboiled anti-heroes.
Mr Allen has already directed Mr Sarkozy’s wife, supermodel-turned-singer Carla Bruni, in a cameo role in his latest movie, Midnight in Paris, which will premiere next month at the Cannes Film Festival. Asked by the French weekly Journal du Dimanche whether he could imagine casting Mr Sarkozy himself in a future production, Mr Allen said he could.
“If such an idea ever came into my head, I could no doubt find him work. I could see him in a Bogart-type role,” he said. (AFP)
Thames cable car
The construction of a cable car across the River Thames is to begin this summer, Transport for London (TfL) has announced.
The £50.5 million scheme will connect the Greenwich Peninsula and the 02 to the Royal Victoria Docks and the ExCeL. Up to 2,500 people per hour will be able to make the 1.1km, five-minute journey across the river in one of 34 gondola cabins.
TfL has confirmed it would now be providing “upfront funding for the cable car” and would seek to recoup its costs, but could not guarantee that taxpayers would not foot at least some of the bill.
A spokesman said the decision to pay upfront was “to aid the quick delivery” of the project, in advance of the London Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012. (PA)
Cursing cure
Swearing after injury may be good for your health, new research suggests.
Scientists from Keele University found that letting forth a volley of foul language can have a “pain-lessening effect”.
To test the theory, students placed their hands in a bucket of ice cold water while swearing repeatedly. They then repeated the exercise but, instead of swearing, repeated a harmless phrase instead. (PA)