Lonely, bored dogs left at home all day while their owners are at work could soon be getting some digital company – a TV channel with programming just for pooches.
DOGTV, a 24/7 channel designed specifically for man’s best friend, will air nationally next month on the US satellite operator DirecTV, with hopes of attracting dogs in some of the 46 million US households that have at least one. (Reuters)
Rescued turtle’s retirement
An ailing 320-pound, green sea turtle, believed to be about 50 years old, was packed in a customised FedEx crate to be shipped to Las Vegas yesterday to give it a better home at a luxury casino.
The turtle, named OD, after a dive charter boat that rescued it in 2008, has been cared for at the Florida Keys-based Turtle Hospital for almost five years. It cannot be released due to an irreparable collapsed lung that has left it floating on its side. (Reuters)
The French are all equal
Being rude to the French President is no longer an offence after Parliament agreed yesterday to amend legislation dating back to 1881 in favour of freedom of speech.
Whereas before any rude remark risked an automatic fine for “offending the head of state”, the President is now reduced to the same category as ministers and parliamentarians and would need to have a judge prove there had been slander or defamation. (Reuters)
Eerie levitation in shop
Video showing products from a shop levitating before crashing to the ground has sparked fears of a ghost wandering the aisles.
Shopkeeper Michelle Newbold said she is baffled after CCTV from the Whitstable Nutrition Centre in Kent captured two boxes of tea bags hover off the shelves while a customer browses unaware.
The footage, uploaded to YouTube, then shows them drop to the floor and startle the man.
The High Street shop, which sells a range of natural products, has now become a viral sensation. Ms Newbold told Kent Online: “I was perplexed, I suppose. I just couldn’t believe it. I have no idea about how it has happened. It is just a complete mystery.” (PA)
Prince’s picture for sale
A picture drawn by another young Prince George is expected to sell for thousands of pounds later this year.
It was drawn in 1875 by the then Prince George, later King George V, on his 10th birthday and is being sold at the Lapada Art and Antiques Fair in London.
The sketch shows a soldier and flying insects and is dedicated to “Mrs Kingsley from George with my birthday love”. Mrs Kingsley was the wife of the Reverend Charles Kingsley who wrote children’s books including The Water Babies and was private chaplain to Queen Victoria. Its present owner George Michie, 26, was given the drawing as a gift by his mother but has decided to sell it to raise money to pay his way through film school. King George V was not expected to become king and only became heir after the death of his elder brother Prince Albert Victor in 1892. (AP)