h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cambridgeshire/6420741.stm

I've heard of having a tiger in your tank, but a snake in your dashboard?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/northamptonshire/6406307.stm

Jail office moves for 'diversity'

Prison service leaders are being criticised amid claims they are relocating an office from Corby because the town is too white.
One of the factors behind the centre moving from Corby to Leicester, with the loss of 90 jobs, is because the city boasts a "diverse workforce".

Elvis is alive and well and living in Papua New Guinea.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200703/s1864487.htm

An earthquake has struck the Indonesian island of Sumatra, and was also felt in Singapore and Malaysia.

The center of the earthquake was near the town of Padang and had a magnitude of 6.3.

The earthquake struck at 1049 local time (0349 GMT), causing panic. Many buildings have collapsed and eleven people are reported to have been killed but there are fears the number of deaths may rise.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6425333.stm

You really couldn't make it up.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/03/06/milosevic_staked/

"Serbian vampire hunters have acted to prevent the very remote possibility that former dictator Slobodan Milosevic might stage a come-back - by driving a three-foot stake through his heart."

hmmmm.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6425927.stm

An ethical code to prevent humans abusing robots, and vice versa, is being drawn up by South Korea.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6428127.stm

"Chancellor Gordon Brown has allowed a dentist to drill through to deep nerve tissue beneath his teeth without using an anaesthetic.
Mr Brown made the apparently painful decision because he did not want his mouth to freeze up just hours before he was due to deliver a speech"

Speaking of politicians, it seems Australia has one more species of poisonous reptile than was previously thought.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200703/s1868149.htm

Ivan,

If we could elect a taipan or 12 to parliament we might do the country a favour

A US woman who has been in a coma-like state for over six years has astonished doctors by waking up for a period of three days.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6435949.stm

And by coincidence I've been just reading Rip Van Winkle to my son these last few days..

A swedish truck driver was doing a trip from Netherlands to Sweden, and had picked up a hitchhiker. When at a rest stop, the hitchhiker attacked the man in his sleep biting off his ear, and trying to bite off his nose and eye. The cannibalistic hitchhiker is now locked up, hopefully with a muzzle over his face like Hannibal.

In my Sunday rag there's the hardy annual about the giant asteroid on its way to wipe us out - in 2029 or thereabouts. But it 'may' miss!

Always the sign of a slow news day, like "Progress made Toward Peace in Middle East"

The Belgian minister of defense, André Flahaut, used a helicopter of the Belgian Armed Forces to go watch the Al Gore-movie. He had to fly 90 kilometers. The Agusta A-109 helicopter used for this trip emits 250 kg of CO2 per kilometer.




To bad I can't vote for him

Finnish MP seeks votes in Klingon
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/3989457a4560.html

A buddhist temple that I think I´ve been to has been invaded by fireants. It really hurts when they bite you, but due to their buddhist beliefs the monks can´t get rid of them. Or can they? Notice the last line of the article:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6441631.stm

A professional killer says acts of love are immoral.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6446815.stm

Back to the fire ants: I sat on a colony of them by mistake once and can heartily condone the Lama's thoughts. I'll go nuke them for him!