The famous Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg has advertised its fourth “I Want Home” action to give away part of the cats guarding the imperial Winter Palace. Cats have been there since the reign of Empress Elizaveta Petrovna. Currently living in the Hermitage are about 50 cats, each having a passport with a photograph. They... →
A mall in Louisiana has come under fire for selling black Barbie dolls for half the price of their white counterparts. Someone uploaded a photo of the black Barbies priced at $3.00 next to the white ones at $5.93. "The implication of the lowering of the price is that's devaluing the black doll," said Thelma Dye, the executive... →
British millionaire Jon Pedley sells everything to help the poor in Uganda. After waking up from a long coma after an accident, the millionaire reviewed his life. Pedley is selling his telecommunications company and his 1,5 mln - dollar mansion to raise money to support Ugandan orphans. He also plans to move to Uganda and live in a clay... →
Prisoners in Brazil’s Sao Goncalo prison are guarded by geese which are said to be hard-working and incorruptible. They react to a slight noise with a loud cackle, thus the prison has had not a single escape attempt. The head of the prison did not know the story of how geese saved Rome. His relatives kept geese as guards on his farm. →
A domestic Ukrainian flight from Simferopol to Kiev had to be cancelled Tuesday because of shocking blood alcohol levels in the cockpit crew. Available estimates are compatible with about a bottle of vodka per member. One of the 86 passengers on the flight was Deputy General Prosecutor Tatyana Korniakova. She says she is pressing criminal... →
Brown snow has fallen on two districts of the Krasnodar Region in the North Caucasus, which may be caused by ventilation emissions of some factories, according to Interfax. Meanwhile, the neighboring Stavropol Region could observe pink snow, reported to be resulting from industrial discharges to the atmosphere. Rospotrebnadzor, the trade and... →
After 50 years of smoking, Brazil’s President Inácio Lula da Silva has finally given it up. He made this decision after a sudden hypertensic crisis that prevented him from going to the Davos world economic forum this January. “The average life in Brazil is 75 years,” says Mr. da Silva. “I am 64, thus I have... →
According to the BBC, the Cocker Spaniel dog of Kate Middleton has swallowed up expensive pearl ear-rings presented to her on her 28th birthday in January by Prince William. He is reported to have advised his female companion to be on her guard for the appearance of the precious jewelry piece from the other end. The Prince... →
Peru boasts the world’s only alpaca that can practice surfing. The animal was taught riding the waves by a 44-year old surfer Domingo Pianezzi. He says that he decided to teach his pet, called Pisco, to ride the surf following his travel to Australia, where local surfers ride the waves together with their kangaroos and koala bears. →
The famous Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg has advertised its fourth “I Want Home” action to give away part of the cats guarding the imperial Winter Palace. Cats have been there since the reign of Empress Elizaveta Petrovna. Currently living in the Hermitage are about 50 cats, each having a passport with a photograph. →
A mall in Louisiana has come under fire for selling black Barbie dolls for half the price of their white counterparts. Someone uploaded a photo of the black Barbies priced at $3.00 next to the white ones at $5.93. →
British millionaire Jon Pedley sells everything to help the poor in Uganda. After waking up from a long coma after an accident, the millionaire reviewed his life. Pedley is selling his telecommunications company and his 1,5 mln - dollar mansion to raise money to support Ugandan orphans. →
Prisoners in Brazil’s Sao Goncalo prison are guarded by geese which are said to be hard-working and incorruptible. They react to a slight noise with a loud cackle, thus the prison has had not a single escape attempt. The head of the prison did not know the story of how geese saved Rome. →
A domestic Ukrainian flight from Simferopol to Kiev had to be cancelled Tuesday because of shocking blood alcohol levels in the cockpit crew. Available estimates are compatible with about a bottle of vodka per member. One of the 86 passengers on the flight was Deputy General Prosecutor Tatyana Korniakova. →
Brown snow has fallen on two districts of the Krasnodar Region in the North Caucasus, which may be caused by ventilation emissions of some factories, according to Interfax. Meanwhile, the neighboring Stavropol Region could observe pink snow, reported to be resulting from industrial discharges to the atmosphere. →
After 50 years of smoking, Brazil’s President Inácio Lula da Silva has finally given it up. He made this decision after a sudden hypertensic crisis that prevented him from going to the Davos world economic forum this January. “The average life in Brazil is 75 years,” says Mr. da Silva. →
According to the BBC, the Cocker Spaniel dog of Kate Middleton has swallowed up expensive pearl ear-rings presented to her on her 28 th birthday in January by Prince William. He is reported to have advised his female companion to be on her guard for the appearance of the precious jewelry piece from the other end. →
Swiss citizens voted against a plan to appoint special lawyers for animals that are abused by humans, rejecting the initiative of animal rights activists, RIA-Novosti news agency reported. In 2008 a law on animal rights protection came into force in Switzerland, which is one of the strictest in the world. →
A nationwide referendum is taking place in Switzerland on a proposal to give animals the constitutional right to be represented in court, media reports said on Sunday. Animal rights groups say that appointing state-funded animal lawyers would ensure animal welfare laws are upheld in the country’s 26 cantons, and help prevent cases of cruelty. →
A lock of Napoleon Bonaparte’s hair has been found during restoration work in the city hall of Sydney, built 130 years ago. A letter, found together with the hair, indicates it belonged to the Emperor and explains the origins of the rarity. →
A 10-year-old child has been controlling the air traffic at the JFK international airport in New York. The son of a flight control officer was permitting takeoff and landing of planes for almost an hour. →
A natural history museum in the Arctic Siberian city of Salekhard has graced an ice age megafauna display in Chicago with a frozen baby mammoth. Thousands of enthralled spectators have already streamed past. Nicknamed Lyuba, the woolly babe was discovered in 2007 by a local reindeer herder crossing a patch of thawing permafrost. →
A box from a Devonshire estate once owned by the British crime writer Agatha Christie has been found to contain heirloom in the form of a diamond broach and 50 gold coins. The discoverer is a Christie admirer named Jennifer Grant, who acquired the box for a hundred pounds at a 2006 memorabilia auction. →
Fish rain has fallen onto Australia’s Top End town. Small live white fish fell from the sky. Weather bureau senior forecaster Ashley Patterson said "The geological conditions were perfect for a tornado in the region which is close to the coast and Lake Argyle, but there were no reports of one". →
A passenger who was travelling from Poland to Britain on board of a Ryanair plane won 10,000 euro in a lottery and after that ate his lottery ticket. The man bought a scratchcard onboard but after he was told that he could not get his money on his flight he ate his winning ticket. →
Russia's Novolazarevskaya station on the Antarctic continent now has a real Russian bathhouse, ITAR-TASS reported Monday citing Viktor Boyarsky, head of the Museum of the Arctic and Antarctic. According to Boyarsky, the bathhouse is the only wooden house on the sixth continent so it can be included into the Guinness book of records. →
Scientists at University College London have developed technology to mass - produce shopping bags made of a biodegradable polymer based on common sugar. Current shopping bags of polyethylene or polypropylene survive in the environment for decades, creating a serious pollution problem. →
The Natural History Museum of Yekaterinburg has displayed a stuffed crocodile, which died in 1995 after 59 years in the city’s zoo. Records suggest the croc first turned up in Yekaterinburg in 1913 with a visiting menagerie from St Petersburg. The reptile is an over 3-metre male named Kolya. →
