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29 March 2024

Best of Web: Angry Hurley dumps Warne...

Published
By Agencies & Staff

Angry Liz Hurley dumps Shane Warne


(AFP)

Now a new text scandal about to emerge in the UK press has brought an end to cricketer Shane Warne's relationship with actress Liz Hurley, claims Herald Sun.

An angry Hurley, 45, dumped Warne, 41, after learning he had sent sexual text messages to a married Australian woman and has cancelled plans to visit him Down Under, reported The Daily Telegraph.

Warne, who had hoped to marry Hurley, is devastated and has been unable to sleep worrying about the new scandal, according to reports in the media.

The Sunday Telegraph has learned British tabloids News Of The World and The Sunday Mirror have paid money to publish the story of an Australian man who claims his wife had an affair with Warne.

Warne, now in Perth commentating on the Third Ashes Test for Channel Nine, hit social networking site Twitter to lament the latest saga.

"The journey of life is about riding the ups/downs," he wrote. "We all are childish, immature at times. It's about how you bounce back when things are tough."

On Friday night he tweeted: "4.45am here in Perth. Not really a wink of sleep. Tossed and turned all night, feeling extremely grumpy."

Hurley also wrote on Twitter yesterday to shut down reports she would spend time with Warne in Australia in the coming weeks.

And, in a further blow to Warne, she said she had no plans to divorce her estranged husband, Indian textile heir Arun Nayar any time soon.

"Bored now of silly speculations: no one is divorcing anyone yet, no one is fighting over money & I have no plans to go to Australia. Enough!" she wrote.

Warne, 41, is said to have told friends he wanted to marry Hurley, reports Herald Sun.

The couple's relationship was made public just one week ago in the UK when News Of The World published photos of Warne and Hurley kissing in a hotel lift.

A frozen lighthouse

On the shores of Ohio, near Lake Erie, there stands a lighthouse that is literally frozen. Waves crashed onto the Harbor West Pierhead Lighthouse and the subzero air temperature quickly turned the lighthouse, covered in water, into an ice castle.

The unusual and oddly beautiful sight caused a huge bump in Web searches for "frozen lighthouse" and "lighthouse frozen solid." During the week, lookups for both terms surged over 1,000%. You can check out some video of the lighthouse here. If anyone deserves a Hawaiian vacation it's that lighthouse keeper...

Online flirting: it's all about lip service


(SUPPLIED)

"Shall I compare thee to a Summer's day?," asked Shakespeare. Now, women of the world have replied: "No, just tell me I have beautiful lips."

A new survey of online flirting by dating website Badoo.com has found that the best Internet chat-up line for men to use is: "You have beautiful lips."

"We have found the Holy Grail of flirting," said Badoo Director of Marketing Lloyd Price.

The site, which boasts 87 million registered users worldwide, analysed the success rates of opening lines from nearly 200,000 online flirtations in 11 languages over the course of one month to come up with a "Compliment Success Index."

Site users were invited to use one of 12 different chat-up lines. Each complimented an aspect of a woman's body or appearance. Researchers measured the success rate of each line in two ways: first, their success at prompting any response at all; second, their success at launching a longer conversation -- one going back and forth at least four times.

Complimenting a woman's lips was the most successful overall, but other lines worked best in particular countries.

American, French, Italian or Brazilian women were more responsive to "You dress beautifully." Brits preferred praise for their legs, Spaniards responded to compliments about their hair, while Germans and Canadians preferred skin praise. Dutch and Portuguese women liked: "You have beautiful ears."

Jo Hemmings, a British behavioural psychologist said women responded best to compliments about their lips because it's a bold approach that seems more personal.

"What many women want is for men to take the initiative and not be wishy-washy," Hemmings said in a statement accompanying the survey. "A lot of men on dating sites send a sort of generic message and women recognize something that hasn't been customised for them."

David Givens, American author of the book, "Love Signals: A Practical Field Guide to the Body Language of Courtship" said the results made sense because women focus a lot of attention on their lips.

"From adolescence onwards, they cosmetically adorn their lips, applying lipstick and colours. They have been doing so since ancient Egypt."

Fireman admits causing farmer's death with siren


(SUPPLIED)

A fireman has admitted causing the death of a farmer who was crushed to death by a herd of cows after they were startled by fire engine sirens.

Julian Lawford pleaded guilty at Exeter Crown Court to a charge of causing the death of Harold Lee by careless driving, the Press Association reported on Tuesday.

Lee, 75, was trampled to death by his cows as he walked them along a country road near his home in Burtle, Somerset.

Lawford, 49, of Glastonbury, Somerset, was due to stand trial accused of manslaughter by gross negligence but admitted the lesser charge, which was accepted by the prosecution.

Richard Smith, defending, told the court: "Such a plea reflects that he drove his fire engine forward with its lights flashing with the herd in front of him, which caused them to act as they did, causing the death."

The incident happened on a minor road in August last year when the farmer was moving a herd of 100 dairy cows from a field toward their milking parlour.

He was airlifted to hospital with serious head and chest injuries and died six days later.

Teacher claims $95.3 million lottery jackpot


(SUPPLIED)

Ending nearly two weeks of suspense, a 64-year-old substitute teacher and single parent from Arizona claimed a $95.3 million Powerball jackpot.

Sheila Verke, a Fort Mohave resident, presented the single-winning ticket to lottery officials in Phoenix on Monday. She opted to take a lump sum payment of $49.9 million, saying she plans to buy a recreational vehicle and travel the country.

"It's going to change my life and the life of my children and my grandchildren and my friends," said Verke, who was joined by friends and financial advisers at a press conference.

A single parent with two children and five grandchildren, Verke said she used a well-worn strategy to win the December 1 top prize -- picking a set of numbers and staying with them each week for years.

Her winning combination of 5-10-11-12-20, with a Powerball number of 2, is a combination of her birthday and that of her two children, she said.

"I picked these numbers at least 6-and-a-half years ago and stuck with them. Even if I had to gather quarters, nickels and dimes, I bought them," she told reporters.

Verke bought the winning ticket at a Safeway supermarket in Fort Mohave, which is about 200 miles northwest of Phoenix.

She is Arizona's third-largest winner of Powerball, a game played by residents in 42 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Ghosts of the Cold War haunt hotel


(SUPPLIED)

The Berlin Wall came tumbling down two decades ago, but you can still revel in the rural holiday splendor enjoyed by the man whose iron rule of East Germany crumbled with the collapse of communist power.

Just an hour's drive north of Berlin deep in the woods of eastern Germany, visitors will find a unique blend of communist and feudal spirits alive at the holiday retreat formerly reserved for German Democratic Republic leader Erich Honecker.

Built more than 160 years ago, the Jagdschloss Hubertusstock hotel's (www.hubertusstock.de) premises were once a deer-hunting preserve for German emperors during the 19th century and were later owned by the Nazi government during the Third Reich.

Guests today can still enjoy the atmosphere of a secluded luxury getaway surrounded by an enduring 1960s decor in which Honecker played host to Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and haggled with his West German counterparts.

"Back in the day, there was no way you could come even close to the premises, particularly when Erich (Honecker) was here," said Monika Hilbig, 52, a local who works at the hotel, adding that the area used to be guarded by military.

The large main building, decorated with deer heads on the outside and surrounded by broad leafy trees, suggests the flair of baronial hunting culture, but the inside gives a much different impression, featuring the 1960s-style interior.

Honecker used the site for his Christmas and New Year break, but also received notable international guests, including former German chancellor Helmut Schmidt.

"You can still walk through the rooms where he used to sleep and we're offering breakfast in his former living premises."

Honecker's bedroom is virtually untouched, featuring thick swamp-green carpets, Bauhaus-like furniture and green-patterned glazed ornamental tiles on the bathroom walls.