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News
Hundreds of travellers left stranded following the collapse of low-fare airline Zoom are facing up to the fact they will have to make their own way home.
The UK and Canada-based firm grounded all flights on Thursday night as it prepared to go into administration.
SANTIAGO (AFP) - When it comes to attracting tourists to a remote region in central Chile, the town of San Clemente is aiming high -- playing up its reputed connection to visitors from outer space.
A one euro coin has turned up in Spain bearing the face of cartoon couch potato Homer Simpson instead of that of the country's king.
This stunning Vortex Fountain designed by William Pye is located in Seaham Hall, Sunderland (United Kingdom). Its a large acrylic polymer cylinder which allows an air-core vortex to form as water is pumped in a circular motion. Amazing design!
Russia's north-western region of Nizhny Novgorod has decided to eliminate the tiny village of California due to the lack of inhabitants, Itar-Tass news agency reported on Thursday.
The village was set up in the 19th century by a Russian landowner as a snub to the government for selling Alaska to the United States in 1867, Tass said.
Passengers tell of mid-air drama
Passengers tell of mid-air dramaShaken but relieved airline passengers were continuing their journeys after surviving a terrifying ordeal in which a gaping hole appeared in their jumbo jet 30,000ft up.
Flooring gave way, part of the ceiling collapsed and debris flew into the first class cabin on the Qantas Boeing 747 which was flying from London to Melbourne.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Dozens of partygoers at an outdoor rave near Moscow last week have lost partial vision after a laser light show burned their retinas, Russian health officials said on Monday.
Moscow city health department officials confirmed 12 cases of laser-blindness at the Central Ophthalmological Clinic, and daily newspaper Kommersant said another 17 were registered at City Hospital 32 in the centre of the capital.
HONG KONG (AFP) - China will give five more of its rare sturgeons to Hong Kong, the head of an aquatic park said Monday, despite a diplomatic embarrassment when a previous gift was killed by a barracuda.
A Finnish club set the world record Friday for the longest karaoke session of 216 hours, with the participants vowing to keep going and set a new watershed mark of several weeks.
A row has broken out between rival restaurateurs who claim to have created the world's hottest curry.
Chefs at London's Cinnamon Club created the Bollywood Burner - a dish so spicy diners are required to sign a disclaimer before eating it.
A shark was found in a swimming pool at one of Sydney's most popular beaches Friday, apparently swept into the baths by a freak wave.
The one-metre (3.3 foot) shark turned up in a rock pool situated next to the open ocean at Cronulla beach.
The number of fake euro banknotes is on the rise, the European Central Bank (ECB) said on Thursday, with the 50 euro note the preferred choice of counterfeiters.
The ECB said the number of fake euro notes seized by authorities had jumped more than 15 percent in the first six months of the year.
It pays to use a toilet in southern India, as residents are earning close to a dollar a month by using public urinals, a scheme launched by authorities to promote hygiene and research in rural areas.
Dozens of people are queuing up to use toilets in Musiri, a remote town in Tamil Nadu state, where authorities have succeeded in keeping street corners clean with the new scheme, The Times of India newspaper said on Sunday.
A Swiss court has ordered that a chicken be locked up in a soundproof box every night so its neighbours can get a good night's sleep, the ATS news agency reported Friday.
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - A drunken 78-year-old Swede stole a dinghy after a night out in the Danish town of Helsingor and tried to row back to Sweden, but fell asleep halfway, Danish police said on Monday.
Airport operator BAA will not be taking fingerprints of passengers using Heathrow's £4.3 billion Terminal 5 (T5) following doubts over the legality of such a move.
BAA had hoped to fingerprint T5 domestic-flight passengers and international passengers transferring on to domestic flights at the west London airport from the start of business at the new terminal on Thursday.
But the Information Commissioner's Office was concerned the fingerprinting could breach the Data Protection Act.
BARNAUL, Russia (Reuters) - A shepherd is suing Russia's space agency for compensation after he said a 3-metre-long chunk of metal from a space rocket fell into his yard, just missing his outdoor toilet.
Boris Urmatov, who is asking for 1 million roubles (21,000 pounds) from the Roskosmos agency, lives in a small village that lies underneath the flight path of rockets taking off from the Baikonur launchpad Russia leases in nearby Kazakhstan.
Airport operator BAA has delayed plans to introduce fingerprinting for passengers at Heathrow's new Terminal 5, on the eve of its public opening.
Domestic passengers and international passengers transferring onto domestic flights at Heathrow were to be fingerprinted from the start of business on Thursday.
But the plan has been temporarily suspended amid doubts over the legality of such a move.
The Information Commissioner's Office was concerned the fingerprinting could breach the Data Protection Act.
Haters of mobile phones could soon be able to add "I'm on the plane" to "I'm on the train" as their least-favourite overheard phrase.
Ofcom said plans were now in place to allow passengers on UK-registered aircraft to use their own mobiles while in flight in European airspace.
For some time, some airlines have offered passengers in-flight telephone services via the airline's own network.
By Cameron French Reuters - 29th February 2008
YELLOWKNIFE, Northwest Territories (Reuters)
In the subarctic woods of Canada's Northwest Territories, a quiet crowd searches the moonlit sky, a wave of concern creeping into hushed voices. Time is running out.
