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28 March 2024

Crazy World: Girls brave giant waves for fun...

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By Staff & Agencies

Girls brave giant waves for fun


(AGENCY)

NORTHERN IRELAND: Thrill-seeking Girls cling to each other for dear life as huge wave crashes around them on edge of pier.

The dramatic scene took place on Easter Monday at Castlerock in Northern Ireland as the pair stood perilously close to the edge of the pier.

A photographer captured the moment from the beach as the two hugged each other tight around a lamp post to stop themselves being knocked into the ocean.

Luckily, the girls were not swept into the sea and escaped drenched but otherwise happy.

The photographer from Belfast, told the daily: 'I was shooting surfing photos at the time and every so often a rogue wave would strike the pier and break with the impact.

Octopus picks Real to beat Barca


(AFP)

An octopus named Iker, which correctly predicted the result of the last two "classicos" between Real Madrid and Barcelona, has foreseen Real will reach the final of the Champions League.

Iker predicted Real would reach the final at London's Wembley arena on May 28 by choosing to eat a sardine from a glass cylinder decorated with the club's badge instead of one from a cylinder with Barcelona's badge on Tuesday at the Sea Life Aquarium in the southern city of Benalmadena.

The 16-kilo (35-pound) octupus, named after Real keeper Iker Casillas, has already predicted Real's 1-1 draw against Barcelona in La Liga on April 16 and the club's 1-0 win over the Catalan club in the King's Cup final four days later.

The two sides will face each other in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final at Real's Bernabeu stadium on Wednesday. The second leg will take place at Barcelona's Camp Nou stadium on May 3.

Whichever Spanish team makes it to the final will face either Manchester United or Schalke 04.

During the World Cup in South Africa last year, Paul, an octopus in the German town of Oberhausen, became world famous after correctly predicting all the results involving the German team, as well as that of the final, won by Spain.

Paul died on October 26, 2010.

5ft-long corn snake found in the bathroom


(AGENCY)

HAMPSHIRE: A 10-year-old girl has told of the terrifying moment she went to the bathroom and was confronted by a 5ft-long corn snake.

Roberta Vaituke noticed the red spotted snake flattened against a wall when she popped in to use the toilet.

In a scene that would be more familiar to nightmares or horror movies, the creature had slithered up through the loo and found its way into the bathroom in Portsmouth, Hampshire, reports Daily Mail.

Roberta was frozen to the spot for a minute before running to the living room to alert her parents and brother, the Daily was told.

They plugged up the sink to stop the hissing snake from escaping and waited for the RSPCA to remove it from their house.

The snake is believed to be a pet called Sammy which escaped from a tank in a neighbour's home six months ago.

The only explanation the family can come up with for their visitor's unwelcome appearance is that it slithered through sewage pipes and up through their toilet.

Bus drivers sought, no men need apply


(AFP)

BUENOS AIRES: A town near Buenos Aires, leery of the screeching stops and careening turns it says typifies male drivers, has hired exclusively women to shuttle its passengers around.

"With women driving, the bus line is more family oriented, more friendly," said Rafaela Nuyl, 34, one of 28 newly hired drivers for the new bus service in Vicente Lopez.

The bus line in the town 270,000, which has been operating since the beginning of the month, makes frequent stops at local primary schools, elder day care centers and a maternity hospital, said officials in Vicente Lopez.

They underscored the importance that drivers need to use kid-glove care when chauffeuring sometimes frail or very young passengers around the town.

"As a bus line that transports children and elderly people, we wanted to have drivers who drive in a gentle manner," said Luis Fusco, the town's top transportation official.

Officials in Vicente Lopez said there is no fare to ride the bus, which was conceived as "a public service" for residents.

It is relatively rare in Argentina to see any female bus drivers, let alone a town where women exclusively drive a city's buses, but Nuyl said her customers don't appear to have any objections.

"So far, I have not been on the receiving end of any macho behavior," she told AFP.

Fasting Mexican denied entry for royal wedding


(AFP)

A 19-year-old Mexican woman whose hunger strike earned her a ticket to Britain for Prince William's royal wedding was denied entry by immigration authorities, her sponsor said Tuesday.

Estibalis Chavez was to be flown to London for the April 29 nuptials by benefactor Octavio Fitch after camping out at the British embassy in February and refusing to eat for 16 days, eventually losing 17 pounds (eight kilos).

"When she arrived in England, the immigration authorities would not let her enter because she was not able to demonstrate secure accommodation in London," Fitch told Mexican media.

Fitch said Chavez was told she could only enter the country if someone met her at the airport. "This is what I am looking for," he added.

The British Home Office said it was looking into the matter.

During her fasting Chavez painted a portrait of Prince William and his fiance Kate Middleton, which the embassy refused to deliver.

"I've been a fan of Lady Di since I was little and my mother's a fan as well," said Chavez. "And I promised myself I would go to a royal wedding," she told AFP during her fast.

Amazing ant survival life-raft

US: When you are trying to keep your head above water, the last thing you want is someone grabbing hold of you.

Unless you're an ant, that is, when it turns out the best way to stay afloat is to stick together, reports Daily Mail.

Scientists have revealed how the insects avoid mass drownings in the rainforests by clinging to one another to form huge rafts from their bodies.

The remarkable survival strategy belongs to South American fire ants, whose rainforest homes are subject to regular flooding.

As soon as water starts trickling into their nest, the ants spring into action, evacuating their home and drifting along en masse, looking for higher ground.