A Twitter account in the name of Rupert Murdoch’s wife, Wendi Deng, has been exposed as a fake.
The couple both apparently began tweeting over the recent holiday period, but while the media mogul’s account has been confirmed as the real deal, his wife’s was set up by an impostor, a News International spokeswoman said.
A spokesman for Twitter said: “We don’t comment on our verification process but can confirm that the @wendi_deng account was mistakenly verified for a short period of time. We apologise for the confusion this caused.”
Since writing his first message on the microblogging site on December 31, the News Corporation chief has told his Twitter followers that his New Year resolutions are to “try to maintain humility” and go on a diet.
He tweeted his wishes for a happy new year and said it would probably exceed expectations.
“Happy 2012,” he said. “May it be better than all experts predict. Has to be! Must change everything to create jobs for all, especially young.”
The 80-year-old also sounded bored with his holiday, saying: “Back to work tomorrow. Enough idling!”
Posting under the name @rupertmurdoch, he has already attracted more than 90,000 followers.
Ale for oldest football club
Supporters of the world’s oldest football league club can raise a glass to toast its 150th anniversary with real ale brewed to celebrate the milestone.
Pie Eyed 150 has been launched to mark Notts County FC’s special date and has gone on sale at the Meadow Lane ground and at pubs across the region.
Real ale lover and supporter Eric Jackson, of Keyworth in Nottinghamshire, came up with the name for the beer, from Castle Rock Brewery, and helped add the hops to the brew. As a guest of the Magpies, who play in black and white, he helped the club’s chairman, Ray Trew, launch the beer before the club’s first home game of 2012.
Broody shark seeks mate
A broody shark may be set up with a European lover in a matchmaking attempt by a British sea life centre.
Eight-foot-long female zebra shark Athena, a Great Yarmouth Sea Life Centre resident, has already produced hundreds of eggs, but with no male shark in the tank they have all been infertile.
The aquatic centre has put a call out to sea life centres across Europe in a bid to find a suitor. If the liaison is successful it could lead to Britain’s first captive breeding of zebra sharks.
Norway’s dead herrings
Tens of thousands of dead herring have carpeted a stretch of coast in northern Norway – and then disappeared again.
The fish appeared on New Year’s Eve, leading to speculation that predators might have driven a huge school ashore or the fish could have been washed on to the beach by a powerful storm that hit Norway on Christmas Day.
Locals also started pondering how to clean up the estimated 20 tons of dead fish on the beach in Kvaenes, north of the Arctic Circle, before it decayed. But before they could start, the fish disappeared.
Jens Christian Holst, of Norway’s Institute of Marine Research, said yesterday the herrings have probably been washed back into the North Sea.
Cricket in the South Pole
A team of adventurers has set off for the South Pole to mark the 100th anniversary of Captain Scott’s arrival – with a commemorative game of cricket.
Former SAS officer Neil Laughton and three others aim to be at the Pole on January 17, a century after Scott reached it in 1912.
Armed with cold-weather gear and a cricket bat, the stretch of their journey on foot, pulling their own sleds for 100 miles. They plan to push a roller across the ice when they arrive at the Pole to create as flat a surface as possible for the unusual match.