A Star Wars inspired hover chair, a 125 mph electric motorbike and hi-fi speakers that cost as much as a small house, are among the attractions at Britain's biggest gadget show in London this weekend.
Organisers of Stuff Live hope thousands of visitors will forget their financial worries for a few hours and dream instead about the latest hi-tech toys. Scores of exhibitors will show off everything from a pocket-sized DJ mixing desk, a solar-powered mobile phone charger and a "robot guitar" that uses tiny motors to tune its own strings.
Among the more unusual items on show is the British-designed Lounger, a chair that uses powerful magnets to float in the air. Inventor Keith Dixon, of Sussex-based Hoverit Ltd, said he was inspired as a child by the anti-gravity Landspeeder vehicles in the Star Wars films.
"The sensation you feel as you lie back and close your eyes is totally different - like floating on a cloud," said a Stuff Live spokesman.
Its £6,000 price tag may bring visitors back down to earth with a bump, however.
Melamine found in body paint
The Australian importer of a range of edible body paint has withdrawn the product after overseas testing found it contained traces of melamine, authorities said yesterday.
The Boxer Lovers Body Pen Set, in chocolate and strawberry flavours, was found to contain levels of "melamine adulteration" after testing by Canadian and British authorities, Food Standards Australia and New Zealand said. "Consumers who may have bought this product are advised not to consume this body paint, which should be disposed of safely," FSANZ said in a statement.
Traces of melamine, a chemical used in making plastics, have been found in products ranging from milk powder to eggs, which have been made in China. At least four children have died and tens of thousands have fallen ill in China after widespread contamination of milk powder made by the Sanlu dairy group.
Today's paper next week
Buddhist monks prayed for the success of Bhutan's first daily newspaper, which was launched yesterday but could take a week to reach remote areas of the tiny Himalayan nation carried on ponies and on foot.
Bhutan Today, an eight-page morning paper, is part of Bhutan's attempt to build a free press after its former monarch and fourth king, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, forced his largely unwilling subjects to accept democracy earlier this year.
Delivering copies of Bhutan Today will be a chore in a country with few passable roads, meaning newsagents will have to carry it to far-flung districts on foot and on horseback.
Gaddafi to bring tent to Russia
Libyan leader Mhammar Gaddafi has asked Russian officials where he can set up his traditional Bedouin tent during his visit to Moscow this weekend, a Kremlin source yesterday.
"We are in talks with Libya about the possible placement of this tent. It is an important detail for the Libyan leader," a Kremlin official said.
Col Gaddafi has brought the heated tent, which he uses to receive guests, on previous state visits. During a trip to France in December 2007, he set it up in the gardens of the Hotel Marigny, a 19th-century mansion next to the Elysee Palace used as an official guest house on state visits.
Col Gaddafi is visiting Russia for the first time since 1985.
New alcohol laws to stem violence
In an effort to stem a wave of alcohol-related violence on Sydney's streets, authorities will no longer issue 24-hour liquor licences and 50 pubs and clubs will be forced to lock-out patrons and serve drinks in plastic glasses.
Sydney has seen a spate of "glassings" in recent weeks, where drinkers, male and female, have been smashed in the face with a beer glass, and street brawls which have left police injured. Authorities say a culture of binge drinking by young men and women is behind the rise in violence.
Australia's most populous state New South Wales, which includes Sydney the nation's biggest city, recorded 21,000 incidents of alcohol-related violence in the past year, with the rate of violent incidents rising seven per cent annually.