A Taiwanese man out of luck in earthly love has married a goddess after she ordered him to do so in a dream, a report said yesterday.
The man, identified by his family name Lin, claimed the Lotus Fairy, a Taoist deity, started coming to him in his sleep after he went to her temple to seek her blessing following a series of failed relationships, said CTS TV.
The goddess soon instructed Lin to marry her, and to comply the 40-year-old held a “wedding ceremony” in which a young woman holding a statue of the goddess stood in for the bride, the report said.
Lin signed a wedding certificate and presented a ring to the goddess in the ceremony at her temple, according to the report. Since the wedding, Lin has moved the statue to his home in central Taiwan to worship her and claimed that his “wife” has protected him from both illnesses and accidents. (AFP)
Trading in the name of love... and debt
Czechs say they may trade North Korea’s debt for aphrodisiac. The Czech Republic is pondering forgiving part of cash-strapped North Korea’s debt in exchange for ginseng, known as a health tonic and male aphrodisiac, the finance ministry said yesterday.
“At a working meeting we asked them for some goods, and one of the options was ginseng imports – though it was not an official offer from their side,” Czech deputy finance minister Tomas Zidek said.
The Czech daily Dnes recently wrote that North Korea had proposed to ship the exotic root to pay five per cent of the 186 million koruna (€7.5 million) debt from past supplies of Czech trams and machines.
But it said the sum corresponded to about 20 tonnes of ginseng, while Czechs annually consume just 1.4 tonnes of ginseng believed to combat lethargy, arthritis, impotence and senility among other conditions. (AFP)
Polygamist politician escapes jail term
A Malaysian politician escaped going to jail for entering a polygamous marriage without official consent.
Lawyer Amli Embong said an Islamic High Court ruled jailing Parliamentarian Bung Mokhtar Radin was too harsh. Instead, the court outside Kuala Lumpur allowed him to pay the maximum fine of 1,000 ringgit (€232.500).
Bung Mokhtar, a politician of the ruling coalition, was sentenced in May to a month in jail for marrying a second wife without court permission. The court imposed the jail sentence to set an example and warn people to respect Islamic law and take marriage seriously.
Muslim men can marry up to four wives in Malaysia, where two-thirds of the population follows Islam. But polygamy is not widespread and needs Islamic court permission. (AP)
Jellyfish swarm sting hundreds
A vast swarm of jellyfish has stung hundreds of swimmers on Mediterranean beaches.
Around 700 people were attacked over three days starting on Sunday at three beaches where normally just a handful get stung daily, said an official in the town hall of Elche on Spain’s Costa Blanca.
He said the invasion involved a small, almost transparent species that most swimmers probably could not even detect as it floated in a large but dispersed group.
Spanish marine biologists say that in general they are seeing fewer jellyfish this summer. (AP)
‘Luzifer’ car number plate
Sweden’s transport authority yesterday balked at the idea of the devil riding the Nordic country’s roads as it rejected a citizen’s request for “Luzifer” as her personalised car number plate.
“The combination of letters that you have asked for could be interpreted as offensive,” the Swedish transport authority said, throwing “Luzifer” in the same bin as other rejected words such as “Badazz”, “Sexyboy” and “Vodka“.
However, 40-year-old Annsofie Tedfors told the daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter she did not have the devil in mind and “just wanted to pick a memorable name”. (AFP)
Drove for 51 years without licence
German police stopped a 79-year-old man for veering into the wrong lane in his car only to learn he had his driving licence withdrawn half a century ago, authorities said yesterday.
Officers in the western city of Oberhausen asked to see his licence after the man steered into the oncoming lane while pulling into a grocery store car park.
The pensioner handed over his identity card and car registration but said he had lost the driving licence.
“A preliminary investigation revealed that the 79-year-old had his licence withdrawn,” police said in a statement. “Computer records from the Federal Motor Transport Authority showed that he was banned from driving until June 2031. That is one day before his 100th birthday.” (AFP)
No plans to retire for 101-year-old
A 101-year-old woman who works for the Nebraska Legislature was chosen as America’s Outstanding Oldest Worker for 2010.
Sally Gordon has been an assistant sergeant-at-arms for the Nebraska Legislature for 26 years, helping with its day-to-day operations when it is in session. Before that, she worked as a secretary for three Nebraska governors and as a model.
Ms Gordon accepted the award from Experience Works, the nation’s largest non-profit training centre for older workers, at the Nebraska Capitol in Lincoln. It had not even been built when she was born in 1909.
“I used to be a model,” Ms Gordon said. “Now I feel like a model T.” (AP)