South Korea’s President has turned down the thermostat in his office and donned warmer underwear to save energy, he said yesterday, urging fellow citizens to do the same to avoid a supply shortage.
The warmer underwear was initially uncomfortable, Lee Myung-Bak disclosed in a fortnightly radio address. “But after a while, I got used to it, and now I am very warm and comfortable wearing it,” he said.
Mr Lee said the country faces an uphill battle to meet fast-rising electricity demand and could face an emergency this winter.
Robber in blond wig
A 64-year-old Japanese man in a blond wig robbed a Tokyo cake shop of nearly $10,000 before being brought down by store staff armed with laundry poles.
The jobless man used a survival knife to force an 18-year-old member of staff to hand over the cash, Jiji Press said yesterday.
The man ran off with 755,000 yen ($9,500) but was floored by three shop workers who kept him on the ground with poles, usually used to hang out washing, until police arrived.
Toy poodles join police
Japanese police said yesterday they will be taking on two new recruits – a pair of toy poodles.
Two-year-old Fuga and one-year-old Karin have passed tests to become police canines for Tottori Prefecture Police, said a spokesman.
“Their trainers thought the dogs had keen senses and responded exceptionally well to commands,” the spokesman said, acknowledging poodles were an unusual choice for police, who usually prefer larger breeds like labradors.
He said the dogs would find employment searching for missing hikers in the mountainous prefecture.
Tottori prefecture, some 500 kilometres from Tokyo, does not have a full-time police canine force, and relies on about 20 privately-owned dogs with special training to help with investigations when needed.
Stuck on the motorway
Emergency services in England had to deal with a sticky situation when a tanker carrying more than 20 tonnes of yeast extract – believed to be Marmite – overturned on a busy motorway. Police shut a section of the M1 between junction 32 and 33 near Sheffield after the vehicle crashed and spilt its contents onto the carriageway.
The tanker driver was taken to hospital but his injuries are not believed to be serious, the police said.