Rachel Christie, niece of former British Olympic gold medal sprinter Linford Christie, was arrested earlier this week after allegedly getting into a fight with Miss Manchester, Sara Jones, at a club in the northern English city, newspapers reported.Christie, who had become the first black winner of the title in July, was accused of punching Jones in a row over her boyfriend who appears on the TV show Gladiators, the papers said. “Due to the media attention following the allegations against her, Rachel Christie has now decided to withdraw from the Miss World competition and relinquish her Miss England crown,” the pageant organisers said in a statement on the Miss England website. — Reuters.
HITLER ‘FOOTY COACH’ONE in 20 British schoolchildren thinks Adolf Hitler was a German football manager, according to a new survey. One in six youngsters believed Auschwitz was a theme park — and one in 12 thought the Blitz was a European clean-up operation following World War II. The embarrassing findings are contained in a poll for the veterans’ charity Erskine, which asked 2 000 kids aged nine to 11 about the two world wars. One in four said they did not think about soldiers who died then, and 40% had no idea when Remembrance Day is. — Ananova.com.
WALKING DEADA Brazilian man surprised his friends and family — by turning up at his own funeral. Relatives of Ademir Jorge Goncalves, 59, a bricklayer, had identified him as the victim of a car crash in Parana state.Police told O Globo newspaper that relatives had trouble identifying the body because it was badly disfigured. It emerged that Goncalves had spent the night drinking a rum-like liquor called ‘pinga’ with his friends.He did not get word of his funeral until it was already happening, according to his niece Rosa Sampaio.A police spokesman welcomed the happy ending: “Before long, the walking dead appeared at the funeral. It was a relief,” he said. — Ananova.com.
GIVING PEES A CHANCE A UNIVERSITY student who was photographed urinating over a war memorial was warned last week that he could be jailed for the “disgusting act.” Philip Laing, 19, was charged by police after the picture, which showed him urinating on a poppy wreath following a drinking session in the centre of Sheffield, appeared on a national newspaper’s website. “The image of you urinating over the poppy wreath on the war memorial in this city will make most turn away in disgust, shock and sadness,” said District Judge Anthony Browne.“It has undoubtedly distressed and upset many. The war memorial is a sacred and a special place.”Laing, who appeared in the dock wearing a poppy, pleaded guilty to outraging public decency when he appeared at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court. — Reuters.
HUMAN BILLBOARDA T-shirt a day has kept unemployment at bay for an American man who is making about US$85 000 a year by selling advertising space on his torso. Jason Sadler, 26, a former marketing professional from Florida, founded his own company, www.iwearyourshirt.com, in 2008 with the idea to wear a T-shirt supplied by any company and then use social media tools to promote the firm.For his human billboard service, Sadler charges the “face value” of the day, so January 1 costs US$1 while December 31 costs US$365. — Reuters.
