KEY POINTS:
Tony Soljan of Soljans Estate Winery in Kumeu has a message for the people who did a runner without paying for their meals: "To the three ladies and two men who dined at Soljans on Sunday, December 28, and walked out without paying their account of $246. I trust you all enjoyed the meal and wine and that not paying was an oversight because we have some great photos of you from our security cameras and the lady in the hot pink outfit came out exceptionally well. We think they would look good on Crimewatch or printed in the newspaper. However, you may decide that payment by fast post a better option than the possible embarrassment."
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Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum ordered the cancellation of all forms of celebrations to mark the New Year in Dubai. Sheikh Mohammed wanted his emirate to mark the New Year, which starts there at 9 this morning (NZT), with a "sombre tone" as a token of solidarity with the Palestinian people in general and Gaza Strip in particular which is under a barrage of Israeli military fire. It was unclear last night what impact the ruling was likely to have on Dubai's hotels, which had dozens of parties planned, including one at the Atlantis, where footballer David Beckham and movie star Tom Cruise were rumoured to be on the guest list.
(Source: ArabianBusiness.com)
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A British teacher has been fired because he refused to follow a ban on wearing trainers. The school's local education authority has backed the sacking - saying teachers should not wear clothing children are not allowed to wear. The sacked man taught physical education.
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The story about the guy and his unfortunate key drop reminded Belinda of a recent incident in France. "Getting off the Metro too early, and realising we still had one stop to go, I quickly hopped back on the train - the horn hadn't blasted telling you the doors were shutting, so I figured we had enough time to get on," she explains. "Unfortunately, it turned out this train didn't have the warning horn, and my mum didn't quite make it back on, and subsequently got slammed in the door. Pulling and shoving, she pushed her way through, but her bag - with all our money, passports and tickets - was still sticking out. Eventually we were able to pull it through. Turns out there was a button above the door to open it, yet all through our ordeal about 100 people on the train watched us with amusement. Not one person let us know about the button."
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