A homeowner plans to reward his family's pet parrot after it saved them from a fire by frantically squawking to wake them up, it was reported yesterday. Bob, an African grey, may even get a new mate after raising the alarm as the blaze took hold early Sunday morning in the family home in Hampshire.
The blaze broke out in the kitchen, but as it spread into the lounge Bob's squawking became increasingly desperate, waking up Francis Hall and his two sons.
"I'm definitely going to get him a treat - some new toys, a swing, a bell and a mirror," the 59-year old told the Southern Daily Echo newspaper. "It might be the right time to get him a mate," he said.
The family suffered smoke inhalation, but three-year-old Bob was unscathed after they grabbed him as they fled.
Chavez to make up with King Carlos
President Hugo Chavez said he would like to hug King Juan Carlos when he visits Spain this week, as the two move beyond a spat last year when the monarch told the Venezuelan leader to "shut up". Mr Chavez said in his weekly radio talk show Alo Presidente on Sunday that the visit with Juan Carlos comes after an invitation extended by the king.
"The king has invited us," Mr Chavez told his radio audience. Then, addressing his remarks to the monarch, Mr Chavez added: "I'd like to give you a hug... but Juan Carlos, you know I won't shut up."
The Spanish king triggered a brief diplomatic spat last year when he told Mr Chavez, "Why don't you shut up?" during the Ibero-American summit in Santiago, Chile, after Mr Chavez interrupted Spanish Prime Minister Rodriguez Zapatero several times during a speech.
Trading anything for free petrol
Some US motorists sick of getting clobbered at the pump seem willing to do just about anything for free fuel, from giving up the right to name their children to stealing from day-care centres to donating blood.
In Orlando, Florida, David Partin pledged to name his son after local radio hosts to win a $100 (€63) gas card as part of a contest. Mr Partin will collect the card in December, when his son is born, if he can produce a birth certificate proving the baby is named Dixon Willoughby Partin, after the hosts.
At the Shady Lady Ranch brothel in Beatty, Nevada, clients who spend $300 or more this month will receive $50 gas vouchers as part of a promotion to beat the summer slump in business, while in Mesquite, Texas, thieves drained $100 worth of gasoline from buses used by the Higher Ground Church day-care centre.
The American Red Cross, meanwhile, is running a summer raffle where blood donors are eligible to win a year's supply of fuel and at St Ann's parish in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts, Fr Edward McDonagh has decided to institute a draw for a $50 gasoline card at weekly Mass.
Beats speeding ticket with GPS
A teenager has successfully defended himself against a speeding ticket by convincing the court that his GPS was more accurate than a police radar gun.
Shaun Malone, 18, was issued with a ticket after a police radar gun tracked him at 62 mph in a 45 mph zone. However, he appealed against the ticket because his GPS, which was installed by his parents to monitor his driving, apparently showed that he was driving within the speed limit.
A court expert said originally that GPS was not accurate enough to give a precise reading. But after examining the particular system, installed by Rocky Mountain Tracking, he decided that it would be suitable.
"This case has caught the attention of the nation, and it will set a precedent on how police departments use speed traps in the face of an increased GPS presence," said Brad Borst, president of Rocky Mountain Tracking and a former police officer.
$500,000 found in nappies
A package of baby nappies yielded an unlikely load in Mexico, according to the defence ministry: nearly half a million dollars in cash.
Soldiers conducting a routine check "found in a tractor-trailer a packet of diapers containing 490,300 dollars," the ministry said in a statement.
It said that the cash was likely a stash of narco-dollars destined for money-laundering, as the truck had come from Culiacan, the capital of Sinaloa state in Mexico's northwest, a region known for trafficking by major drug cartels.
The driver of the truck was arrested.
Italy's metal friar
Dressed in his traditional brown robe, sandals and twirling the rope around his waist, 62-year-old Friar Cesare Bonizzi is no ordinary heavy metal rocker. But as guitarists around him grind out heavy notes, the long-white-bearded Capuchin, a former missionary in Ivory Coast, has no qualms bobbing his head and shouting lyrics about alcohol, sex, tobacco and life in general into his microphone.
Describing himself as a "preacher-singer", Bro Bonizzi has been singing for over a decade, and last month wowed heavy metal fans at Italy's "Gods of Metal" festival, where he performed with his band Fratello Metallo (Metal Brother) alongside groups such as Iron Maiden.
"About 14-15 years ago, I went to a Metallica concert and fell in love with heavy metal after I saw all the energy there," Bro. Bonizzi said after a rehearsal in a Milan recording studio. "I find (heavy metal) the most energetic, the most alive music."
The Vatican has not voiced an opinion on Bro. Bonizzi's singing but he says his superiors have not said anything negative to him about it. He says his fellow Capuchin friars accept what he does, although he does not play for them: "I could sing this (heavy metal), but they would say it's too loud."