Lego has apologised for unveiling a new toy it described as a “window-licker” after mental health charities objected to the “highly offensive term”.
The toy, called Turg, was described on Lego’s website as looking like “an experiment that’s gone very, very wrong”. The description read: “Part frog, part chicken, part back-of-the-bus window-licker, this Mixel has the longest tongue of them all.”
Monkeys drunk on palm sap
Scientists have discovered a group of booze-loving apes who may hold the key to why humans enjoy drinking alcohol.
Experts say they have found the first empirical evidence of “long-term and recurrent ingestion of ethanol” among apes in nature.
They observed wild chimpanzees in the town of Bossou in Guinea, west Africa, over 17 years and watched as the primates drank fermented palm sap using a leafy tool as a sponge.
Drones to check on warship work
The Ministry of Defence has found a new use for drones – not spying on the enemy, but checking warships while they are being serviced.
The Royal Navy has been trialling an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) on the Type 45 destroyer HMS Diamond at Portsmouth Naval Base using high-definition stills and video to assess the state of the warship’s vast exterior.
The remote-controlled aircraft removes the need for costly scaffolding, cherry-pickers and ladders, meaning surveys can be carried out in hours rather than days, or even weeks, as they can reach inaccessible areas even while at sea.
Nuns stuck in lift for three days
The nuns at the Marist Sisters religious order are counting their blessings after two sisters were trapped in a hot lift in Rome for nearly three days before being rescued.
A nun who answered the phone at the order’s headquarters sighed deeply and said in English: “We are OK, but we are not talking to the press. Thank you for your concern. Goodbye.”
News reports say police freed the two sisters, believed to be from Ireland and New Zealand, after they got stuck in a lift during a power cut. No one heard their cries for help over the weekend until a cleaner arrived.
Man sues actress for TV staring
Rules making it easier to file lawsuits in China have led to a new concern over frivolous ones, including a man who is suing actress Zhao Wei for staring at him too intensely through his TV set.
The new regulations making it more difficult for courts to reject lawsuits took effect on May 1, leading to an increase in cases nationwide last month. The Shanghai Pudong New District Court’s litigation service hotline confirmed it had received a case against Zhao, one of China’s biggest and richest movie stars.
Reports say the lawsuit filed by a Shanghai man involves the prime-time TV show Tiger Mom, in which Zhao plays a big-eyed mother who relentlessly pushes her daughter. The Legal Daily said the plaintiff alleges that her staring caused him “spiritual damage”.
Cannabis camp opens in US
Colorado is full of all-inclusive ranch resorts where guests hike, fish, throw horseshoes and roast marshmallows. This one has a new offering – smoking pot.
The 170-acre CannaCamp opening in Durango in south west Colorado calls itself the nation’s first cannabis-friendly ranch resort. Guests will not be given marijuana, because that violates state law. Instead, the resort allows guests to bring their own and use it while there. In addition to horseshoes and hiking, guests are offered yoga sessions and workshops on marijuana cultivation.
“We’re bringing an element of luxury to that adventurous, exploratory vibe of childhood summer camp – in a beautiful setting where visitors can enjoy marijuana in a safe, comfortable, social environment,” Joel Schneider, head of the management group opening CannaCamp, said in a statement.