Sideswipe: I wouldn't want to work here...

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Clowns join in-flight entertainers

In clown news: Russian budget airline Avianova plans to hire clowns, actors and musicians to entertain passengers during flights. It installed stages on the planes when it was forced to reduce the number of seats from 180 to 159 because of a change in Russian customs policy (Source: UPI.com). A clown who won a seat in Brazil's Congress has bungled his first vote. Francisco Everardo Oliveira Silva had pledged to back the Government's austerity proposal for a new national minimum wage. When the time came, he pressed the wrong button and accidentally voted for an Opposition proposal for a much bigger increase, Brazilian media reported. (Source: Yahoo.com)

Hungering for a royal glimpse

A Mexican woman is in the ninth day of a hunger strike to demand an invitation to Prince William's wedding. Estibalis Chavez, 19, has set up a tent outside the British embassy in Mexico City. "I have been a fan of Lady Di since I was a little girl," she said. "I promised myself I would go to the next royal wedding."

Hands-full cyclist

Joanna spotted a man cycling down the busiest road in Rotorua. "He had his left hand on the handle bar and his right clutching the handle of a wheelie suitcase he was dragging behind. What would he do if he needed to signal a right turn and what control would he have in an emergency?"

Vivid pen for incisions

In response to Rob Langton's bill for a vivid pen, an orthopaedic theatre nurse working in a public hospital replies: "The vivid pen is a single-use item only and is always discarded. The patient's limb is prepped, draped and then marked immediately before the incision is made."