Podgy police in Nepal must lose weight or give up any hope of being promoted under a new drive against obesity among desk-bound officers.
Nepalese Police Headquarters in Kathmandu vowed this week to tackle the problem after complaints from the public that well-padded officers were unable to perform their duties.
"When you are fat, you look lousy and it's obvious that perception of people towards you is not positive. They don't trust you," police spokesman Bigyan Raj Sharma said, adding annual tests would be introduced to monitor progress.
"Officers who fail will be barred from promotion and transferred to less well-paying posts," Mr Sharma said. "Our job demands that we are alert and physically fit at all times." (AFP)
Great-grandmother tagged off
A judge has ordered the removal of an electronic tag placed on a 66-year-old great-grandmother after a goldfish was sold unlawfully to a teenager at her pet shop.
Judge Adrian Smith said the 10-week 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew imposed against Joan Higgins was "inappropriate" for a "respectable lady" with no previous convictions as he ruled the correct sentence was a conditional discharge.
Mrs Higgins, licence holder at Major Pets in Sale, Greater Manchester, was prosecuted by Trafford Council after it sent in a 15-year-old boy to make a test purchase of a goldfish. (PA)
Butterfly effect
Hundreds of rare tropical butterflies have been bred from seven abandoned pupae.
Breeders at Butterfly World in Hertfordshire revealed the kaleidoscope of Heliconius chestertonii - the only ones of their kind in Europe.
The beautiful tropical insects, which have luminous blue and black wings with a yellow band, are originally from the mountains of Colombia. (PA)
Bloody trail
Police are searching for a Dallas husband accused of decapitating his wife with a chainsaw.
Maria Corona, a 44-year-old mother of six, was discovered in the street near her home.
A bloody trail ran from her headless body to her house. Police found two chainsaws nearby, one of them still running. She and husband Josè had been having matrimonial problems. (PA)
Time out
More than 7,000 fake Rolex watches were crushed by a steam roller in Philadelphia to deter would-be counterfeiters.
Customs officials staged the destruction to highlight their role in protecting intellectual property rights.
The watches were taken from a man who made hundreds of thousands of them and was jailed for six years. (PA)
Businessmen, chic and cycling
In the city called Apocalypse on Wheels for its risky roads and gridlocked traffic, a hundred suit-clad businessmen cycled in Bucharest yesterday to reclaim the capital's streets in style.
"We want to prove that you can bike to work and be well dressed", Tudor Maxim, president of the Junior Chamber International, an organisation of young leaders and entrepreneurs, explained.
"Mentalities have to change in Romania about biking. Lots of people do not imagine you can go to work on a bike," said Maxim.
Impeccably tailored men and women pedalled to work hoping the "business on a bike" scheme will change the image of cycling. In 2008 the Romanian documentary Apocalypse on Wheels evoked the city's endless traffic jams and erratic car drivers. (AFP)
Americans more loyal to brands
Americans are more loyal to their favourite soft drink, TV show or car brand than they are to their employer, according to a joint Reuters/Ipsos poll.
But they are most committed to their country, followed by their family and their doctor.
"The most surprising thing was that country, which is more abstract, was No. 1, ahead of your family or spouse," said Timothy Keininghan, the author of the poll.
Companies did not fare well when it comes to allegiance. Most Americans said they are more committed to their favourite soft drink than the company they work for. The majority of Americans do not believe that companies are doing a good job rewarding loyal employees or customers. i
Sparkling donation
A 2.6-carat diamond and platinum ring worth £14,000 was among the anonymous donations to a charity in Pennsylvania.
It was discovered last week by a jeweller who sorts gifts, most of which is costume jewellery.
The ring has a two-carat diamond, surrounded by 14 smaller diamonds. (PA)