A monument chronicling 124 years of England’s footballing hurt by listing every time the team was beaten between 1874 and 1998 has sold at auction for £425,000.
Starting with a 2-1 loss to Scotland, the magnificent granite sculpture finishes with a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Romania in the 1998 World Cup.
The gloomy untitled piece was created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan and was auctioned by Sotheby’s as part of its Bear Witness art sale, which has already generated £26.5 million.
Man plays dirty in club ban protest
A man has been convicted of carrying out a campaign of throwing balloons full of excrement at a club used by ex-servicemen and women. Charles McGeary, 49, repeated his foul activities on a number of occasions after reportedly being barred from drinking at the Royal British Legion, in South Shields, South Tyneside.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said he “carried out a campaign of filling jars and balloons with excrement, urine and rotten food”.
Gallery is giving selfie takers stick
Selfie sticks are to be banned from the National Gallery.
Visitors will not be able to bring the gadgets – used by people to take photographs of themselves – to the venue because they fall under the category of tripods, which are already prohibited.
Other cultural destinations in London are believed to be considering a similar move.
News team robbed live on camera
Armed men robbed a news team for South Africa’s state broadcaster on a Johannesburg street and were caught in the act on camera.
The robbery happened when journalist Vuyo Mvoko was seconds away from going on live television outside a hospital in South Africa’s biggest city, broadcaster SABC said.
SABC video footage showed two men accosting Mr Mvoko as he was waiting to deliver his report in front of the camera with a microphone.
No ferreting around in New York
Ferrets will not get a legal foothold in New York City.
The city Board of Health has decided to maintain a long-standing prohibition on keeping the animals as pets. The vote was 3-2 to lift the ban but needed six votes to pass. There were three abstentions.
Related to weasels, ferrets have gained popularity as pets in recent decades. Many states have lifted ferret bans over the past 25 years. California, Hawaii and Washington DC still have them.
Hot tub dip saves baby cow’s life
A US farmer jumped into a hot tub with a shivering baby cow to save its life. Dean Gangwer, from central Indiana, says he thinks one of his cows gave birth and he found the barely-breathing newborn in a bank of snow.
The farmer said he decided the quickest way to warm up the calf, named Leroy, would be to use his hot tub.
Mr Gangwer said he “jumped in fully dressed and held Leroy up so he didn’t drown”. He then took the calf inside and wrapped him in electric blankets.
Leroy is recovering, although his hot tub days are over.