A Belgian maker of French fries, has set a new world record for non-stop chip-making after frying mountains of potato strips for 83 consecutive hours.
The record by 53-year-old Chris Verschueren, owner of a French fries business, beat by 11 hours a previous record of 72 hours set in 1987 by a Briton chip chef.
“My fingers are burnt, my feet are sore and my wrist is painful,” he said. “But it doesn’t matter, I’m going to party now.”
From the time he turned on the heat on Friday morning in his village of Kastel till he ran out of steam on Monday night, Mr Verschueren cooked up 1,500 kilos of chips, taking a 100-minute break after 20 hours for a shower and a stretch. (AFP)
90-year-old jailed for murdering wife
A 90-year-old was jailed for 17 years yesterday for battering his wife of 67 years to death with a hammer in the US.
John Bunz, a retired chemist, stumbled on his way into court in Buffalo and was helped to his chair by deputies. He pleaded guilty in July to first-degree manslaughter.
Mr Bunz had faced a more serious second-degree murder charge, but prosecutors agreed to the plea because of his age.
He admitted hitting 89-year-old Virginia Bunz about 30 times with a hammer after the couple argued in March at the retirement village apartment they shared in the suburb of Amherst. (AFP)
Too many advertisements
A Chinese woman is suing a cinema and the distributors of domestic box-office hit Aftershock for wasting her time by showing 20 minutes of commercials before the movie.
Chen Xiaomei claims the Polybona International Cinema in Xian and film distributors Huayi Brothers Media Corporation should have told her how long the pre-movie advertisements lasted, Xinhua news agency said.
Mr Chen, who is a lawyer, has accused Polybona and Huayi Brothers of wasting her time and violating her freedom of choice. She is demanding the companies refund her 35-yuan ticket ($5.20), pay her 35 yuan in compensation and one yuan for emotional damages and write her an apology, the report said. (AFP)
Go west!
Lenin and Stalin must have been turning in their graves yesterday as statues of the fathers of communism in the heart of the former East Berlin were moved to new positions, facing west.
The statues of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels were shifted some 80 metres to allow the extension of the Berlin underground, the city’s transport organisation (BVG) said.
The new direction of the two statues has no political meaning, the BVG insisted. (AFP)
Wasp stings may give away thieves
Police are hoping to hunt down gang thieves through stings the offenders suffered when they disturbed a wasps’ nest on an allotment.
The crooks are thought to have got more than they bargained for while stealing property from sheds in Bucknall, Stoke-on-Trent, last weekend. It is believed the thieves fled from the allotments on Fellbrook Lane, abandoning some of their haul, after uncovering the nest in a plastic bunker.
Inspector Matt Bennion, commander of Bucknall Neighbourhood Policing Unit, said: “... these offenders were forced to flee the scene of the crime by a swarm of wasps. It is highly likely the offenders would have been left nursing wasp stings and we are keen to trace those people.” (PA)
Shoplifter told to use contraceptives
A Cape Town magistrate yesterday urged a jobless 23-year-old man with four children to use condoms to avoid fathering more children when sentencing him for stealing cheese and hot dog sausages.
“You are only 23, and already have four small children, and it is evident that you have no contact with them if you do not even know their ages,” magistrate Grant Engel said.
“You can’t even provide for yourself, let alone for your children.”
Magistrate Engel urged Mzawanele Japhta to go to a clinic for free condoms “before you end up with 30 children”.
The man pleaded guilty to stealing four packs of Vienna sausages and cheddar cheese worth 299 rands (€32) from a supermarket. (AFP)
Interview blunders
Jobseekers are ruining their chances of getting work by acting strangely during interviews, ranging from falling asleep, asking for a cigarette – or keeping a crash helmet on.
A survey of 100 business leaders by jobs website CareerBuilder.co.uk found a long list of bizarre behaviour such as candidates who talked about their love life, scratched the top of their legs or answered mobile phone calls midway through being questioned about a job. (PA)