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LOOKALIKES: A reader reckons he's spotted an "uncanny resemblance" between Team New Zealand pitman Tony Rae and Prime Minister Helen Clark. "Same hairdresser too," he says.
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SADLY it looks as if the anti-smacking bill hasn't reached its target. At about 9am on Thursday - just hours after the much-debated and publicised bill was passed - a Herald reporter was strolling through the Botany Town Centre New World.
In front of him a boy of about three threw an item out of the shopping trolley in which he was perched. The mother's reaction was a swift, open-handed roundhouse clout to the boy's head.
The boy seemed to get the message. His mother clearly hasn't.
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CATS in the Swedish town of Söderköping are facing a crackdown, after the council issued a ban on free sex and on pooping in the flowerbeds. A local newspaper reports that environmental and planning officers in the town, 180km south of Stockholm, have demanded that cat owners place litter trays outdoors. They have also said cats not being used in breeding programmes should be castrated. The crackdown comes after cats have been blamed for destroying plants, polluting sandpits, damaging cars and tearing cushions on outdoor furniture.
The new rules also insist that cats usually kept indoors should be kept on a leash or under constant supervision when allowed outdoors.
The main problem, the officials claim, is "cat owners and the myth that cats can manage on their own".
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A US school principal has received a surprise delivery of 5.5kg of marijuana from a mysterious sender whose address was traced to a vacant lot in California. The package was addressed to Joan "Pinserton", a misspelling of the principal's name, Pinkerton. It was delivered to the Kent Primary School in New York by Federal Express. Pinkerton was immediately suspicious because of a strong odour from the box.
The return label contained a woman's name and a Gardena, California, address, but police there said the address turned out to be a vacant lot, and the woman did not exist.
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AFTER robbing a bank in Orlando, Florida, James Taylor decided to celebrate with a beer. But his choice of bar across the road from the bank made it very easy for cops to track him down. Sheriff Jeff Stonebreaker said police found him sitting outside the bar. He said Taylor was "just as cool as can be" when caught.
