High street clothing chain Topman has stopped selling two of its T-shirts after a backlash from social media users who said they were offensive to women and could be thought to condone domestic violence.
One of the printed slogan T-shirts read: “Nice new girlfriend – what breed is she?” and provoked a fierce response on Twitter and Facebook. Bella Mackie, who works for the Guardian newspaper, tweeted: “Seriously, comparing women to dogs? Classy.”On the men’s clothing chain’s Facebook page, Alex Chadburn said: “Topman used to be cool, then they decided to redesign the stores, and now this??? I’m ashamed.”
Topman, which is part of billionaire Sir Philip Green’s retail empire, has now withdrawn the T-shirts from sale and apologised for any offence caused by the designs. (PA)
X-ray diamond
A thief in Spain who stole a diamond from a British woman – and then swallowed it – was caught when police stopped him at a checkpoint and forced him to undergo an X-ray.
The theft occurred when two British women entered a restaurant in the luxury southern resort of Marbella and one of them left her handbag on the floor by her chair, police said in a statement. When the men left, the woman discovered that her handbag, containing €2,000 and £400, a mobile phone, a pendant with a diamond worth €12,000 and other valuables, had disappeared.
Hours later, police stopped a car at a routine checkpoint and found the four occupants had criminal records. Inside the vehicle they also discovered a handbag as well as valuables and cash, which they later identified as belonging to the British woman. All that was missing was the diamond. (AFP)
Cheerleader wishes
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev turned 46 yesterday, with a group of fans in cheerleading outfits marking the occasion by singing “Happy Birthday, Mr President” on Red Square.
Five young women who call themselves “Medvedev’s Girls” donned red, white and blue coloured mini-dresses and burst into a slightly off-key version of the song, as performed by Marilyn Monroe for John F. Kennedy in 1962.
“We think Dmitry Medvedev is the best President ever elected. We hope he will stand again in 2012,” said activist Yulia Semyonova.
The group then handed in a cake complete with candles and an iPhone decorated with a picture of Mr Medvedev to the Presidential Administration, but were apparently not granted a personal audience with the leader, who spent the day at work.
The group emerged this summer, adding sex appeal to Mr Medvedev’s image, previously overshadowed by the macho antics of his partner in the tandem, Vladimir Putin. (AFP)
Greatest comedy
Spoof music documentary This Is Spinal Tap has been ranked the greatest comedy movie of all time by experts.
The 1984 film, featuring a cast of unknowns who made much of it up on the spot, triumphed in a poll for Time Out magazine ahead of Airplane! and Monty Python’s Life Of Brian. A panel of comedy stars including Dan Aykroyd, Jackie Mason, Stephen Merchant and Jack Whitehall compiled the top 100. (PA)
Balloon experiment
A bizarre “artificial volcano” experiment taking place at a disused Norfolk airfield next month could help save the planet from global warming.
Scientists will attempt to pump water up a hose suspended one kilometre off the ground beneath a helium-filled balloon.
The long-term vision is to tether 20 kilometre-long pipes to balloons the size of Wembley stadium and light-scattering particles would be pumped high into the atmosphere to reflect the sun’s rays and cool the earth. (PA)
Own goal
A man charged with burgling a jewellery shop called and offered to help solve the case after the owner issued a reward.
Police have since charged 28-year-old Emile Pratt with the raid on the shop in Pennsylvania.
The owner said he announced the reward a day after the burglary and that Mr Pratt called and “said he would help in any way” to catch the thief. (PA)
Japanese record
Japan says it has a record 47,756 people aged 100 or older – most of them women.
The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare said the total was up 3,307 from a year ago – and four times more than Japan had a dozen years ago.
Some 87.1 per cent of them were women. The oldest is 114-year-old Chiyono Hasegawa, who was born on November 20, 1896. (PA)
Nose insurance
Celebrities may have insured everything from their legs to their smile but a new £2 million insurance policy for one master taster is not to be sniffed at.
Dave Roberts has had his nose insured by Nescafe to protect his sense of smell which has been responsible for helping sniff out coffees for a quarter of a century.
Mr Roberts, who is known among his colleagues as Mr Bean, said aromas have always been a powerful role in his life: “One of my youngest memories is of my grandmother making fresh coffee in her kitchen, which is perhaps one of the many things which continues to inspire me working in the coffee industry.” (PA)