Happy Click for bigger. Irish police stop some young people helping a man home How much fun can a kitten have with a small piece of cardboard? Argentine dog saves abandoned baby An eight-year-old dog has touched the hearts of Argentines by saving the life of an abandoned baby, placing him safely alongside her own new puppies. The country's media are calling him "the miracle baby". He was born prematurely to a 14-year-old girl in a shanty town outside the capital, Buenos Aires. She is said to have panicked and abandoned the boy in a field, surrounded by wooden boxes and rubbish. Then along came La China, reports say, the dog which somehow picked up the baby and carried her 50m to place him alongside her own puppies. The dog's owner reported hearing the child crying and finding him covered with a rag. The baby, weighing 4kg (8lb 13oz), had some slight injuries, but no bite marks. The owner called the police and the child is now being looked after by the authorities, while a decision is taken about his future. Many thanks Annemarie! Crocodile eats Bangladesh man who sought its blessing A crocodile killed and devoured a 25-year-old man in Bangladesh who waded into a pond next to a shrine hoping to be blessed by the animal, police said Thursday.Inspector Humayun Kabir told AFP that Rubel Sheikh and his mother travelled 50 kilometres (30 miles) from their home to visit the Muslim Khan Jahan Ali shrine, where the attack happened.Kabir said hundreds of people visit the shrine every day to offer hens and goats to the five crocodiles living in the pond. Part of the ritual also involves bathing in the water."He went into the pond hoping to be blessed when a crocodile attacked him and dragged him into the deep part of the pond," Kabir said."This is a very unusual incident. Normally, the crocodiles are very friendly and do not harm people."Kabir said about 25 people dived into the pond following the attack on Wednesday, but could not find the man's body. It washed ashore on Thursday and had been largely eaten, he said. South African man keeps his car safe by placing two pythons on his dashboard Forget immobilizers, trackers and alarms – this is car security South African style.A car owner in Durban has found a way of combating spiralling vehicle crime: leave two deadly pythons on the dashboard.The giant reptiles slither round inside his Audi TT while their faith healer owner, Dr Mbuso Makhathini, visits customers.Named Tiny and Naughty, the male snakes have become something of a tourist attraction in the coastal city with onlookers keeping a cautious distance. Both are African Rock Pythons with four-and-a-half-year-old Tiny measuring an impressive 12ft and Naughty, three, not far behind at 10ft.Dr Makhathini, 37, who runs a traditional African healing clinic, says the snakes are pets as well as guards. 'I take them around with me but no one has dared break into my car. They come up and look but don’t get too close. They can sense if someone is unfriendly and they hiss and start coiling.' Pigeon in custody for smuggling drugs to Bosnian prisoners Bosnian police have impounded a pigeon after discovering prisoners used it to smuggle drugs into one of the country's highest security jails."The guards suspected the animal might be involved in drug smuggling once they noticed four prisoners visibly intoxicated shortly after the pigeon landed on a prison window," Zenica prison official Josip Pojavnik said.All four inmates had tested positive for heroin, said Pojavnik, adding disciplinary proceedings had been launched against the inmates.The drugs, he added, had probably been stuffed into tiny bags attached to the legs of the carrier pigeon, which one of the prisoners had previously been allowed to keep as a pet in his cell."We suspect that the pigeon carried the drugs from Tuzla," a town around 70 kilometres (more than 40 miles) northeast of Zenica in central Bosnia, he added.The pigeon has been taken into custody by police, who have launched an investigation aimed at identifying those who had loaded it up with the drugs. "We do not know what to do with the pigeon, but for the time being it will remain behind bars," Pojavnik said. 50 years of CND's peace symbol The symbol, created in 1958 by British artist Gerald Holtom, was born as a symbol of despair. Holtom wrote, " ... I drew myself: the representative of an individual in despair, with hands palm outstretched outwards and downwards in the manner of Goya's peasant before the firing squad. I formalised the drawing into a line and put a circle round it." Photo gallery. Abandoned baby whale put down amid protests - Update Everyone wanted a happy ending, but it was not to be. A starving humpback whale calf that had lost its mother and was trying to suckle from yachts in waters off Sydney was put down yesterday, as authorities decided that it would not have survived on its own. The decision was taken by veterinarians and members of various government agencies after the condition of the female calf, believed to be one or two months' old, deteriorated rapidly. Angry local people, who had hoped to save the whale by feeding it artificially, shouted "Shame!" as veterinarians administered a sedative in shallow waters. The 14ft mammal could be seen thrashing about before it quietened. Workers were able to hoist it on to a tarpaulin and drag it towards a closed tent on the beach where a final lethal injection was administered.The plight of the young mammal had attracted a huge outpouring of sympathy as it roamed between yachts moored in an inlet off Sydney's northern shores for the past week, with efforts to save it ranging from the practical to the fanciful. Attempts to lure the calf out to sea in the hope that it would have been adopted by a passing pod of whales were unsuccessful, as it turned back and continued its fruitless roaming between the moored vessels searching for its mother. Hopes that it could be fed artificially were dismissed by experts such as Curt Jenner, the managing director of western Australia's non-profit Centre for Whale Research, as a logistical impossibility.Hundreds of spectators turned up to see the lonely calf, and several Australians brought improvised feeding devices, insisting that the young mammal could be saved. The Aboriginal "whale whisperer" Bunna Lawrie, who appears in the upcoming film Whaledreamers, sang to the distressed mammal and stroked it. An organisation called the Divine Marine Group took out a legal injunction to delay the euthanisation, but was not able to serve it in time.There are some photos of the whale being removed here. Pet dogs may increase snoring risk Keeping a pet dog increases a baby's chances of growing into a snoring adult, say scientists.The problem occurs because of infectious bacteria spread by dogs, researchers believe.The bugs and their toxins are thought to simulate the lymphatic systems of newborn infants, leading to enlargement of the tonsils. This in turn creates a tendency to snore in later life, according to the theory.Other snoring risk factors identified by the Swedish-led scientists included being hospitalised for a chest infection before the age of two, recurrent childhood ear infections, and growing up in a large family.The team led by Dr Karl Franklin, from Umea University Hospital, questioned more than 15,500 randomly selected people from Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Denmark and Estonia about their childhood and snoring habits.Only dogs appeared to pose a snoring risk. A similar association was not seen for cats or "other pets". Would-be burglar left dangling by his shoelace More photos here. Burial cancelled after funeral directors forget to dig grave Shocked mourners who attended a funeral at a village church discovered just before the service started that there was no final resting place for the deceased as a grave had not been dug.The funeral of 83-year old Marjorie Howells was arranged through the Co-op Funeral service in Hatfield Road, St Albans. But when her family and friends arrived at St Leonard's Church in Sandridge for the interment no grave could be found.The distraught family and had to leave the cemetery and those who could were told to return the next day when the grave would be dug.Church warden Roland King said: "I've never known anything like this to happen before in my 50 years as a warden.He said he had been puzzled on the Friday preceding the funeral to see no grave had been dug but had assumed it would be done on Saturday or early Monday morning. It was his understanding that the person responsible for organising the funeral had thought the grave-digging would be done by the church.A spokesperson for The Co-operative Funeralcare apologised for being unable to carry out Mrs Howells' funeral as arranged and extended the firm's sympathy to her family and friends. He said: "We are currently reviewing the circumstances of what happened and will ensure necessary lessons are learnt to prevent such an unfortunate situation occurring in the future. We recognise that Mrs Howells' funeral did not meet our usual high standards." Families spend 34 minutes a day shouting at each other Members of the average British household spend 34 minutes a day shouting at each other, a poll of couples with children showed last night. It found that just over half the families argue at least once a day. The shouting persists for an hour or more in 35% of homes, rising to 50% in households with more than one child.The YouGov poll of 1,000 parents and 500 teenagers also found 23% of mothers and 19% of fathers confessed to loving the family pet as much as their own offspring.Parents said the phrase they used most often to their children was: "Why? Because I said so." This was the favourite retort of 19% of parents, followed by "money doesn't grow on trees" (14%) and "you should have thought of that before" (11%).The poll also found that, despite the everyday frictions, families retained strong ties of love and affection. Among teenagers 98% said they loved their parents and 69% said their families were the most important people in their lives. Nine out of 10 families sit down to dinner as a unit and 80% of parents say "I love you" to at least one member of the household daily. Man banned from using wheelbarrow for recycling The chairman of a parish council has been banned from taking his recyclables to his local tip by wheelbarrow - because bosses say it is dangerous.Andre Wheeler, head of Barwell Parish Council, has been using a barrow to take his bottles, papers, cans and other materials to Barwell tip for the past eight years.Now he has been told that wheeling the barrow on to the site is a health and safety risk, and must stop.Mr Wheeler, 61, said: "Technically they have slapped an ASBO on my wheelbarrow." Jeans mugger facing prison term A reveller who mugged a stranger for his smart jeans after being turned away from a nightclub has been told he faces a jail sentence. Phillip Northmore, 25, pushed his victim into bushes and then ordered him to take off his trousers. After taking the jeans he handed back £60 and a mobile phone to victim Matthew Oakley, 18. Northmore pleaded guilty at Plymouth Crown Court to robbery. Sentence has been deferred for six months. Judge Paul Darlow also ordered Northmore to pay his victim £1,000 for the shame and humiliation he caused his victim in the attack. "This case has an added element of humiliation with the young victim being left without his trousers and having to put on somebody else's filthy old ones," the judge told him. Northmore told police he had drunk 15 pints of beer and rated his level of drunkenness as between six and eight out of ten. Blanket Click for bigger. Bull jumping Furby Gurdy Police Taser Plop-Plop the unruly emu Bay County Sheriff's deputies were forced to use a Taser to subdue an escaped emu named Plop-Plop. The large female bird escaped from a farm last weekend and on Monday, she holed up with some horses and goats in a pen.When deputies arrived, the emu "went kind of crazy", said Sheriff's deputy Randolph Grob.The deputies didn't want the bird to hurt itself or them, so the used the Taser stun gun to immobilize Plop-Plop.The emu was brought to the Bay County Animal Control Center, where she has made a full recovery. The bird's owner is expected to take her home soon. Cat survives high-speed ambulance ride Meet Chloe the high-speed Australian car surfing cat.The two-year-old's morning nap on an ambulance ended in a hair-raising 13km trip from Port Douglas to Oak Beach at 100km/h, with lights flashing and siren blaring all the way. Chloe's owner and paramedic Myles White got a huge shock when an extremely distressed meow alerted him to a "goggle-eyed" cat sitting on the roof."We did the job and we were loading the patient in the back of the ambulance when we heard a cat let out a big meow," he said."Someone said there was a cat on the roof and I looked up and was very surprised to see it was my cat, Chloe.I cannot believe that she managed to stay on and survive."When I took her down, she was all fluffed up and her eyes were a bit blown out and she did a big 'Help, get me off' meow." Indian woman, 55, has quadruplets in Italy A 55-year-old Indian woman has given birth to quadruplets in the northern Italian city of Mantua.The woman, who has lived in nearby Suzzara for 15 years, had gone home to India to be artificially inseminated after trying unsuccessfully in Italy."We have been waiting for this moment for 15 years," the babies' 38-year-old father Pabla Maghar Singh said. "We are really very happy."The four boys, born a week ago, were named Manav, Manmeet, Roshan and Radveer.They were born two months premature, weighing between 750 and 980 grammes (one pound, 10 ounces and two pounds, two ounces), and are in incubators at the hospital, but are doing well. Nepal supreme court orders virgin Goddesses to school A centuries-old custom in Nepal of worshipping a virgin girl-child residing in a palace as a "living goddess" has been scrapped after it was branded outdated by the supreme court, which ruled that the "deity" must go to school.Religious authorities are searching for a new Kumari - chosen from a handful of three-year-olds - after it was revealed the current living goddess would retire later this year. Such a process looks likely to be scrapped, however, after the country's highest court accepted arguments that keeping a girl locked up in a medieval palace in the capital, Kathmandu, breached her fundamental rights."There should be no bar on the Kumaris from going to school ... as there are no historical and religious documents restricting Kumaris from enjoying child rights," the supreme court said. Analysts said the ruling was in response to a new atmosphere in the Himalayan nation under former rebels, now ruling Maoists, who are determined to end feudal practices.Kumaris, which are revered until they menstruate, preside over key Hindu festivals in Nepal. The tradition was started in the 16th century by the Nepali monarchy, which believed the girl would protect them. Attributes are said to include a voice "as soft and clear as a duck's, the body of a Banyan tree and the chest of a lion". Nigerian civil servant charged with spending millions on black magic The head of a Nigerian government agency has been charged with stealing money to hire a witchdoctor or "juju" sorcerer to bring him success. Sam Edem, chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission, is accused of taking $6.8m (£3.4m) of state money. He has been charged with theft and criminal conspiracy by a court who heard he spent millions on black magic. Police allege in one ritual he burned millions of naira and rubbed the ash on his body. Mr Edem denies the charges. Owl is adopted by greyhound A greyhound and an owl have formed a bizarre friendship at an animal centre. Six-month-old pup Torque adopted tiny baby owl Shrek when she was taken from her mother for her own protection aged just three days. Keepers feared Shrek’s mum would eat her first offspring if she became stressed. Adoptive dad Torque is now guarding the rare long-eared owl at the home of head falconer John Picton. Shrek is free to roam the lounge as she strengthens her legs and often snuggles up to Torque on the sofa. John said: “Their relationship is so unusual but also rather sweet." There's a video here. Reheated spaghetti bolognese 'prevents cancer' Eating reheated spaghetti bolognese could reduce your risk of cancer. Scientists have discovered that multiple rounds of heating - plus a little extra oil - enhance the health benefits of processed tomatoes. The technique alters the structure of the tomato molecule lycopene so that it is more easily transported into the bloodstream. Lycopene, a powerful antioxidant, has been shown to prevent cancers and may also combat heart disease and diabetes. Previous studies indicated that processing raw tomatoes into purees or sauces increased the benefits. Now researchers have discovered a way to enhance this further, with a technique that is already used by families in making and reheating their spag bol. Sting is top of the misheard pop charts Sting and The Police have come top of the charts again, for writing the most misheard pop lyrics of all time.Message in a Bottle, the band's 1979 hit has the line: "A year has passed since I wrote my note", but fans regularly mishear it as "A year has passed since I broke my nose."The lyrics from his 1980 song "When The World Is Running Down" came top of the list."You make the best of what's still around" is a line regularly misheard as "You make the best homemade stew around."Graphic from here. Click for bigger.The chart reads:1) The Police – When The World Is Running DownMisheard: "You make the best homemade stew around."Actual: "You make the best of what's still around."2) Bee Gees – Stayin' AliveMisheard: "It's alright. It's okay. You make love the other way."Actual: "It's alright. It's okay. You may look the other way."3) The Beatles – Lucy in the Sky With DiamondsMisheard: "The girl with colitis goes by."Actual: "The girl with kaleidoscope eyes."4) U2 – Mysterious WaysMisheard: Shamu the mysterious whaleReal Lyric She moves in mysterious ways5) The Beatles – MichelleMisheard: "Michelle ma belle, some say monkeys play piano well, play piano well.Actual: Michelle ma belle, sont des mots qui vont tres bien ensemble, tres bien ensemble.6) Queen – Bohemian RhapsodyMisheard "Scallaboosh, Scallaboosh, will you do the banned tango"Actual: "Scaramouche, scaramouche, will you do the Fandango"7) The Police – Message In A BottleMisheard: "A year has passed since I broke my nose."Actual: "A year has passed since I wrote my note."8) David Bowie – ChangesMisheard: "Strange vaccinations are killing me."Actual: "Strange fascination fascinating me."9) Oasis – WonderwallMisheard: "You're gonna be the one at Sainsbury's"Original Lyrics: "You're gonna be the one that saves me"10) Kate Bush – Wuthering HeightsMisheard: Healthcliff! "It's me; I'm a tree, I'm a wombat. Oh, so cold at the end of your winter"Actual: "Heathcliff! It's me, Cathy and I've come home oh, so cold, let me in-a your window" Message in a bottle travels less than 300 miles in 23 years A man who threw a message in a bottle into the sea when he was a child has been reunited with it 23 years on. Donald Wylie, then aged 11, tossed the bottle into the water at Sandside beach, Deerness, on Orkney in 1985. It was found during a summer beach clean-up on West Sands, St Andrews, Fife, and a search was launched to try to track down the sender. He was eventually traced back to Orkney and was invited to St Andrews to see where the bottle ended up.Roddy Yarr, from University of St Andrews said: "The message in a bottle was really quite a find and surprised us all and we're delighted to be able to reunite the owner with this piece of history. "It really is quite remarkable that the bottle should be found after all this time - who knows where it has travelled to in the last quarter of a century." Breaking wind lands boy in hospital A 12-year-old has been taken to hospital with burns after blowing up a petrol can while breaking wind. The boy was attempting to set fire to his farts as part of a competition against his cousin in the garden of a house in Tipton when the accident occurred. Fire fighters were called to the address but the small blaze had already burned itself out when the crew arrived. Officers administered first aid until an ambulance arrived. The victim was taken to Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley suffering from 18 per cent burns to the backs of his legs and his thumb. Watch commander Paul Harpin, from Tipton station, said it was the first time he had been called out to deal with such an incident. “The boy had been pranking around in the garden having a competition with his cousin, when they were breaking wind and lighting it. Right behind him was a petrol can and that just flashed. “I think he must have won the competition but he will have some nasty burns now. It is a warning not to mess around with fire.” Bear steals hubcap from car - then gives it back A black bear surprised visitors to a safari park by stealing a hubcap from a car and then offering it to a woman driver. Azra Noonari, 39, was shocked to encounter pilfering behaviour from the wildlife at Woburn Safari Park, having had her own hubcaps stolen at home in Luton, Beds, just weeks beforehand. She was with her six-year-old daughter and two-year-old son on a day trip to the Bedfordshire park in July, when the bizarre incident took place. "I was driving us to the bear and wolf area when I saw a car stopped right in front of me," she said. "There was a bear in front of it, so I stopped too and started taking pictures. I saw it take a hubcap off the car then start walking towards us. I locked all the doors quickly, we didn't know what it would do. "It put the hubcap down and then banged on the window, as if it was trying to get my attention. It was almost like it wanted to give me the wheel cap." Mrs Noonari said the strange situation came only weeks after all four of her own hubcaps were taken. She added: "Maybe the bear thought I needed the hubcap." Twirly trees join city landscape Three rotating trees installed next to a major city road junction are the latest addition to Liverpool's artistic landscape. Arbores Laetae - or Joyful Trees - has transformed a former brownfield site as part of the Biennial arts festival. Designed by New York architects Diller, Scofidio and Renfro, festival bosses say the work gives people a chance to "view nature at its most unnatural". The slowly rotating trees, intended to be a playful reinvention of the public park, were largely welcomed by members of the public in their unveiling on Wednesday. The trees can found at the heart of 17 hornbeam trees planted in a grid pattern at the corner of Great George Street and Parliament Street, but are not immediately obvious to passing pedestrians or traffic.Some people find their unfamiliar shading patterns tranquil and others, unsettling, which was the aim, according to designer, Rick Scofidio. With news video.