Two dogs were dragged to their deaths behind a 4x4 after their owner drove off unaware that they had been tied to the back of the vehicle.
The owner’s wife had reportedly temporarily secured the Rottweilers to the rear of the silver vehicle before he travelled more than a mile in it.
One dog was found dead in the road and the other later had to be destroyed because of its injuries, Sussex Police said. (PA)
Bad habit
A monk tried to smuggle the remains of a woman he believed was a saint in hand luggage on a flight from Greece to Cyprus.
He and two accomplices were arrested at Athens airport after authorities discovered the remains during a security check.
Police said they dug up the remains from an Athens cemetery. (PA)
‘Bird strike’
Britain’s Andy Murray confirmed his brother Jamie killed a bird while practising for the Australian Open.
The world number five said Jamie Murray, who is playing in the doubles, hit the bird while serving.
News of the death swept microblogging site Twitter, where Jamie Murray expressed regret over the incident but was pleased his serve was “accurate”.
“Yes I killed a bird with my serve, yes I was shocked... yes I hope it never happens again... but I hope my serve keeps being so accurate,” Jamie Murray tweeted.
Unfortunately it is not the first bird strike at the Australian Open. In 2002, Michael Llodra’s powerful forehand downed a small bird during the men’s doubles semi-final.
“That doesn’t happen that often,” said Andy Murray. (AFP)
Rusty statue
Four former officials in northern Vietnam have been sentenced to more than three years in prison for embezzling money allocated to build a war statue that has since rusted and cracked.
The bronze statue became rusty and its foundation cracked after it was unveiled in 2004 to mark the 50th anniversary of Vietnam’s defeat of French colonialists at Dien Bien Phu.
The four were convicted for falsifying consulting fees worth 242 million dong (£7,200) during construction of the monument. (PA)
Dog halts Royal Mail
Royal Mail has suspended deliveries to a whole street where its staff have been “repeatedly attacked by a dog”.
Post has not been delivered to homes in Dorset Gardens, Northampton, since December following the incidents, thought to involve a terrier.
Royal Mail said the move was a “last resort” and apologised for the inconvenience. (PA)
Malaysians risk lives in rush for spilled coins
Malaysian motorists risked their lives to scoop up thousands of coins spilled on a highway after the vehicle carrying the currency overturned.
Dozens of people abandoned their cars along the side of the North-South Expressway, one of the country’s main transport arteries, and frantically filled their pockets, helmets and plastic bags with the coins.
The melee caused a traffic jam on either side of the overturned four-wheel drive vehicle, which left 70,000 ringgit (nearly $23,000) in coins strewn across the road on Tuesday.
“Fortunately, both of us escaped with minor injuries,” said 28-year-old driver Zairulhisham Mansor, who along with a friend had been transporting the coins to shops in Malacca.
The New Straits Times said that the coin-hunters ignored police demands to clear the road. (AFP)
Amoeba ‘smallest farmer’
A soil-dwelling amoeba which grazes on bacteria could be the world’s smallest farmer.
Scientists have learned that some of the single-celled organisms display a primitive form of agriculture.
Instead of consuming all the bacteria at a particular site, they save some to “seed” at other locations where food is scarce, said researchers writing in the journal Nature. (PA)
Appetising Chihuahua
An owl tried to snatch a tiny Chihuahua dog as it was taken for a walk by its owner.
Chico was in the Chicago suburb of Crystal Lake when a great horned owl swooped down and tried to fly away with him.
Owner George Kalomiris said he kept a firm grip on Chico’s lead as the bird dragged the dog across the pavement, and he managed to scare the owl away. (PA)
‘Toylet’ games make a splash
Japanese toilets are famed for functions such as shower jets and perfume bursts, but entertainment company Sega has gone a step further by installing urine-controlled games in Tokyo urinals.
Now Toylets games are available to be played during a test period ending this month at four male bathrooms in pubs and game arcades, in a project aimed at drawing attention to digital adverts.
Each urinal is fitted with a pressure sensor, and a small digital display is placed at eye level. In a game called Graffiti Eraser a user tries to aim at the pressure sensor in the urinal to erase virtual graffiti on the display. Meanwhile Splashing Battle! pits the user against the previous urinal user in terms of stream strength.
Foreign visitors to Japan are often baffled by the complexity of Japanese high-tech toilets, which feature computerised control panels, usually with Japanese language instructions. (AFP)