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A seasonal worker from Australia who threw a snowball faces trial by jury on third-degree assault and harassment charges in the US. Andrew Thistleton threw the snowball that allegedly hit a co-worker in the back. The victim claimed the pain from the flying icy sphere aggravated an old car-accident injury. Thistleton turned down a plea bargain to avoid jail time and pleaded not guilty, preferring trial by jury. As one Denver Post writer noted: "Imagine the testimony. Forensic experts testifying about girth, packing and velocity of the snowball in question." (Source: Denver Post)
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Rose Mason writes: "Further to this article warning of the dangers whilst pumping fuel into our vehicles ... When will the fuel companies in NZ follow the footsteps of other countries that have vapour control pumps to avoid the harmful volatile hydrocarbons entering the environment and causing detrimental effects on the human holding the trigger?"
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China's worst fuel crunch in years has led a crematorium to dump half-burned corpses to save on diesel costs. Villagers in Hengyang county, in the southern province of Hunan, discovered the practice when an "unbearable stench" started coming from the site, and tried to block a road to stop funeral vehicles from delivering more bodies. (Source: South China Morning Post)
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At a recent citizenship ceremony in the town hall, Steve from Auckland was amused to see a new Kiwi friend of his proudly singing the Maori version of the national anthem word for word, while the council dignitaries were struggling, even with the lyrics in front of them.
Today's Webpick: Yes it's a viral video, but it's clever. 'Drambuie Research' is out on the streets trying to convince young Australian men that Drambuie is the drink for them&but they're not having much luck. Watch it here.
These are the very best online videos from Ana's online magazine Spare Room.
