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Crazy World: Djoker does the 'grass' act...

Published Monday, July 04, 2011

By Staff and Agencies

Djokovic tastes 'grass' at Wimbledon

Serbian player Novak Djokovic eats the grass after beating Spanish player Rafael in the men's single final at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships at the All England Tennis Club, in southwest London on July 3, 2011. Djokovic won 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3. (AFP)

Novak Djokovic admitted he was overcome with an urge to taste the hallowed Centre Court grass after defeating Rafael Nadal to win his first Wimbledon crown.

Djokovic opted for an unusual way of celebrating his 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 victory over the defending champion at the All England Club.

"This is the best day of my life. I always dreamt of winning Wimbledon," he told the BBC. After completing his two-and-a-half-hour victory, the Serb knelt down and picked out some grass from the famous court before popping it into his mouth for a taste.

"I felt like an animal. I wanted to see how it tastes," Djokovic said. "It just came to me. It came spontaneously really. I didn't plan to do it. You know, I didn't know what to do for my excitement and joy. "Winning this match was the best feeling I had ever on the tennis court. To win Wimbledon and then look at my box to see the closest people in my life there supporting me, getting to share that moment and that experience with them was incredible."

After spending much of his career expressing a dislike for playing on grass, Djokovic has clearly developed a taste for the surface in more ways than one judging by his thoughts on how the Centre Court turf tasted. "The grass tasted quite well, really. It was well kept. It tasted good," he said.

Prisoner sues jail for calling him 'inmate'

(AFP)

NEW YORK: Convicted killer Gerard Domond sues New York prison for $50 million for calling him an 'inmate'.

The label "implies that our brother is locked up for the purpose of mating with other men," Marie Domond claimed in a lawsuit against New York State Correctional Services Department, reported news website news.com.au.

At Brooklyn federal court the Domond family filed demands that officials immediately stop calling Gerard Domond "an inmate", along with a $50 million claim for damages for "mental anguish."

Acting as her own lawyer, Marie insists: "The suggestive nature of the word is disgraceful. This cruel psychological programming has weighed heavily on our emotional and psychological well-being."

Drunk sailor sparks alert for forgotten wife

(REUTERS)

SWEDEN: A DRUNK Swedish sailor sparked a major sea rescue alert after reporting that his wife fell overboard, only for police to discover that he forgot to take her on the trip, Sweden's English-language news website The Local reported today.

The man sounded the alarm as he sailed near Kalmar, off the southern coast of Sweden, believing that his wife had fallen overboard and drowned.

But when rescuers arrived, they found him drifting with a broken tiller, and no sign of his wife.

After a brief search, they discovered that the woman was never on the boat during the trip and was safe on shore throughout the whole ordeal.

When Rahul becomes Rob at work

(AFP)

UK: It's a well known fact that almost all call centre employees in India are asked to take on "English" names while interacting with callers. However, now a Leicester-based telesales company is in deep trouble for forcing Indian-origin employees to adopt English names.

In a case of alleged racial descrimination, an employee, Rahul Jain, 28, was made to change his name to Rob Matthews, by the Teachares 2 Parents company. His colleagues with anglicised names were allowed to retain their original names at work.

The company founded in 2007 is incidentally owned by Indian-origin entrepreneurs, Suresh Patel and Uresh Naik. Rahul Jain complained against the forced change of name, and now an employment tribunal has found the employer guilty of racial discrimination, the 'Daily Mail' reported.

The tribunal was told that the company "had a number of staff of Indian ethnic origin who adopted anglicised names at work". They included Aarti (Anna), Mehul (Max), Sarbjit (Sally), Meera (Marie), Neeraj (Neil), Prakhash (Terry), Jaspal (Jay), Jayna (Jane) and Faizal (Fred).

The employers reportedly claimed that English names were easier for customers to spell in emails, and that customers had struggled with Indian names.

Pupil’s fake lashes cut off by teacher

(AP)

BRITAIN: A teacher cut off a schoolgirl's false eyelashes with a pair of scissors because they broke uniform rules.

Georgie Hill, 14, was ordered to remove them but when she couldn't, a teacher cut them off with round-ended scissors, reports The Sun. The student told the paper that she could not remove them herself because they were "individually glued on".

The pupil was escorted to a toilet after her lashes were deemed to be "excessive".

The mother said she wasn't aware that the false eyelashes were against the uniform policy, "otherwise I wouldn't have allowed her to have them", she told the daily.

The principal of the school was quoted by the paper as saying: "We have a policy to keep students in school, which is why she wasn't allowed to remove the eyelashes at home."

Princess 'tried to flee three times'

(Venturelli/WireImage)

MONACO: Police confiscated Princess Charlene's passport after she tried to escape her marriage to Prince Albert II of Monaco, not once but three times.

South African-born Charlene Wittstock, who is two decades younger than her husband, even “took refuge” in her country’s embassy before she was persuaded to walk down the aisle, reports news website news.com.au.

Palace officials said only that there had been a "hiccup" in the wedding preparations when Charlene learned that Albert may face demands for a paternity test after a claim by a former lover.

Monaco officials privately admitted there is "truth" in a rumour that Albert faces a paternity test following a claim by a pregnant former lover.

The couple's glamorous and staggeringly expensive wedding attracted thousands of well-wishers to Monaco at the weekend. The guest list included dozens of royals, heads of state, fashion and sports stars and even James Bond, said the website.

The princess tried to flee in May after she got cold feet during a trip to Paris to try on her Armani wedding dress. She tried again not long after during the Monaco Grand Prix.

Last week police told Le Figaro newspaper they confiscated her passport while she was en-route to Nice airport.

Illegitimate offsprings

Le Journal du Dimanche said Monaco "policy advisers" had discussed "two illegitimate children – one already born, the other to come". A senior palace official said Prince Albert was likely to undergo a paternity test in relation to one of the children.

Albert, at 53, is two decades older than his blonde bride and has two children from previous relationships. Jazmin Grimaldi, 19, whose mother is Tamara Rotola, an American estate agent, and Alexandre Coste, six, whose mother is Nicole Coste, a former Togolese air hostess.

A source told the London Telegraph: "Even if a third or even a fourth child is confirmed Albert will not have an official heir until Princess Charlene bears him one”.

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The page was last updated on: 25 January 2016 18:36