Thousands of Egyptians, who took to the streets nationwide yesterday to call on military rulers to put an end to emergency laws dating back to the rule of ousted President Hosni Mubarak.
The protesters in Tahrir Square got an unexpected visit from Hollywood star-turned-activist Sean Penn, who toured the vast protest zone waving an Egyptian flag. He was accompanied by Egyptian actor and political activist Khaled al-Nabawi.
The rallies in the Square, the epicentre of the protests that forced Mr Mubarak out of office in February, and in Alexandria and other cities, were held under the slogan “Reclaiming the Revolution”. (AP)
Bitten off
An angry community leader banned from speaking out at a city council meeting in eastern Ukraine bit off part of a security guard’s little finger yesterday, a correspondent said.
The city council in the eastern Ukrainian city of Lugansk some 800 kilometres east of the capital Kiev was meeting to hear a proposal to move a popular food market from the city centre to the outskirts, when Mikhail Pashchuk, who is against the move, demanded to speak out.
A top city official leading the session asked Mr Pashchuk to leave the meeting, prompting a guard to try to remove the activist from the room by force.
In the ensuing scuffle, Mr Pashchuk hit the guard in the head several times and bit his hand, chomping off part of his little finger. Mr Pashchuk also bit the hands of several other guards who were trying to calm him down before making his exit.
Police detained the biter, who will now be examined by psychiatrists. (AFP)
Tempted dogs
The world’s biggest food company Nestle is seeking to conquer the dog food market with special advertising targeted at men’s best friend.
“Nestle Purina has created the first-ever television commercial especially for dogs,” it said in a statement.
“The TV commercial to be screened on Austrian television uses different sounds – including a high frequency tone – to capture the attention of four-legged friends and their owners,” it added.
The advertisement includes three sounds that can be picked up by dogs, including a squeak that is similar to the sound made by dogs’ toys as well as a high-pitched ‘ping’.
Another is a high frequency tone that can be captured by dogs, but which humans can barely hear. (AFP)
Breathe easy
A deeply unpopular money-saving measure was relaxed on Friday when the British government promised councils new funding to restore weekly rubbish collections in England. A £250 million (€290 million) fund will allow local authorities to switch from fortnightly to weekly bin rounds. The move follows a political row over bin collections, although the government said councils will need to guarantee weekly collections for five years and improve their recycling practices to be eligible for the cash. (AFP)
Early to bed
Sending children to bed early may help to keep them slim, research suggests.
Scientists recorded the bed times and waking times of 2,200 youngsters aged nine to 16. They found that children who went to bed late and got up late were 1.5 times more likely to become obese than those who went to bed early and got up early. Study author Carol Maher, from the University of South Australia, said that, for young people, mornings were more conducive to physical activity than nights, when the temptations of TV and social networking were greater. The findings are published in today’s issue of the journal Sleep. (PA)
Unusual student
A grandson of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il has enlisted at a college in Bosnia.
Spokesman Meri Musa said the 16-year-old Kim Han Sol will be the first student from North Korea to attend a United World College.
The Bosnian college in the town of Mostar says it is part of a network established by a British foundation in 1962 with the aim of bringing together young people “whose experience was of the political conflict of the Cold War era”. The Bosnian school has 124 students from 34 countries, including from Iraq, Israel and Palestinian territories. (PA)