Topic: NEWS english - on August 26, 2004 at 11:33:00 AM CEST
Phone call saves Ohio woman from truck accident
A woman says her life was likely saved when she answered a hang-up phone call. Mary Dhume of Ohio was watching television Monday night when the phone in the next room rang. She got up to answer it, but there was no one at the other end of the line.
Then she heard breaking glass and saw her living room wall collapse onto the chair where she'd been sitting.
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Topic: NEWS english - on August 25, 2004 at 8:52:00 PM CEST
Hangovers cost UK £2.8bn annually
Hangovers are costing the UK economy £2.8bn ($3.5bn) a year, research by employment agency Reed has found.
Workers spend an average of 2.5 days hungover on the job, with people living in the south and north-east of England the most likely to turn up 'half cut'.
For some, the office is a no-go area and nationally an average 2.3 days are taken off sick due to boozing. One-in-three people admit taking 5 days off.
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Topic: NEWS english - on August 25, 2004 at 2:07:00 PM CEST
Lederhosen for dogs
Demand for traditional German clothing such as lederhosen for dogs is said to be increasing in the run up to Oktoberfest. As well as the traditional leather shorts for male dogs, there are mini 'dirndl' dresses with frilly lace collars and matching hats for female dogs.
Designer Hildegard Bergbauer, who owns a shop selling traditional German clothing for humans, came up with the idea.
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Topic: NEWS english - on August 24, 2004 at 4:45:00 PM CEST
One-hundred beers-a-day waiter wins sacking case
A German waiter who was sacked for drinking up to 100 bottles of beer every day, has won a case for unfair dismissal.
The 50-year-old admitted that his bosses had repeatedly warned him not to drink at work.
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Topic: NEWS english - on August 24, 2004 at 1:27:00 PM CEST
Parachutist survives 3,500 metre plunge
A South African skydiver has survived a 3,500 metre (11,500 ft) plunge after her parachute failed to open and lines broke on her reserve chute, a local skydiving club says.
Christy McKenzie was hurtling towards the ground at more than 200 kms (120 miles) per hour on Sunday when her parachute failed to deploy, Johan Mulder, the chief instructor at the Johannesburg Skydiving Club, told Reuters on Monday.
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Topic: NEWS english - on August 24, 2004 at 1:03:00 PM CEST
Couple Has Twins for Second Time in Year
Allyssa and Grant Kuseske joke that they've won the baby lottery. The winning numbers must have been 2-2. On Thursday, Allyssa Kuseske gave birth to their second set of twins in a year.
"We are kind of on the accelerated plan," Allyssa laughed as she cradled her new son Caleb on Saturday.
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Topic: NEWS english - on August 23, 2004 at 9:08:00 AM CEST
Get set to celebrate National Punctuation Day!
A California businessman driven crazy by misplaced commas, ellipses and quotation marks is putting an exclamation point on his annoyance by creating a new holiday. Today is National Punctuation Day, which has been officially recognized by Chase's Calendar of Events.
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Topic: NEWS english - on August 22, 2004 at 8:47:00 AM CEST
Nine-year-old claims world push-ups record
A nine-year-old Russian boy is claiming a new world record for the most push-ups in six and a half hours.
Pasha Guseinov from Moscow managed 9,263 push-ups in the allotted time, according to daily newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets. After every hour Guseinov was allowed a five-minute break to have a drink and go to the toilet.
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Topic: NEWS english - on August 22, 2004 at 8:45:00 AM CEST
Woman Eats 38 Lobsters in Eating Contest
105-Pound Woman Eats 38 Lobsters in 12 Minutes to Win Eating Contest in Maine. America's top speed-eater wolfed down 38 lobsters in 12 minutes Saturday to win the World Lobster Eating Contest.
Sonya Thomas, of Alexandria, Va., won $500 and a trophy belt for her efforts, consuming 9.76 pounds of lobster meat.
Each contestant had a partner cracking the shells and pulling out the meat. Eleven competitors ate as many lobsters as they could in a 12-minute period, devouring a total of 300 pounds.
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Topic: NEWS english - on August 22, 2004 at 8:44:00 AM CEST
Graphic Designer Fired After Heckling Bush
A man who heckled President Bush at a political rally was fired from his job at an advertising and design company. The graphic designer said he was told he'd embarrassed and offended a client who provided tickets to the event.
"I was told that my actions reflected badly on the company and that a client was upset," Glen Hiller of Berkeley Springs said.
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Topic: NEWS english - on August 22, 2004 at 8:40:00 AM CEST
Malaysian woman moves in with scorpions
Scorpions will be the bedfellows of a 24-year-old Malaysian woman for more than a month, as she tries to set a new world record for living with the venomous animals.
Nur Malena Hassan moved into a glass box with 6,000 scorpions at a shopping mall in Kuantan, about 250 km (about 160 miles) east of Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, Malaysia's New Sunday Times reported.
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Topic: NEWS english - on August 21, 2004 at 1:39:00 PM CEST
Sex sleaze threat on Seuss characters
A MAN has tried to extort the widow of legendary US children's author known as "Dr Seuss" by threatening to circulate a painting of his famous characters engaged in sexual acts. In a bizarre case, Charles Augustus Steen, 33, was sentenced to three years probation and ordered to undergo anger management classes after pleading guilty to attempting to extort US$2.5 million ($3.45 million) from Theodor Geisel's widow, according to court records.
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