“WAKE ME UP WHEN
YOU’VE FINISHED, LOVE”
SWEET DREAMS
ARE MADE OF THIS
Canada According to
experiments conducted in
a Canadian sleep laboratory, feeling
frisky – either alone or with a partner
– while sleeping is more prevalent
than previously imagined. While
investigating insomnia, narcolepsy,
sleep apnea and parasomnia (the
occurrence of odd behaviours such
as walking, talking or eating during
sleep) scientists at University Health
Network’s Toronto Western Hospital
discovered that one in 12 patients
suffer from sexomnia; engaging in
unconscious sexual activity ranging
from masturbation to intercourse.
UHN scientist Dr Sharon Chung
remarked that, “As long as you don’t
get into legal problems and your
partner doesn’t mind, it’s not a
problem. Although it can leave you
tired the next day.”
GETTING DIRTY
MAKES YOU SMART
USA Good news for
festival-goers: recent research
reveals that a bacterium in soil makes
you clever. Studies conducted at the
Sage Colleges in New York, reveal that
exposure to environmental bacteria –
specifically mycobacterium vaccae, a
natural soil bacterium which people
breathe in when they spend time in
nature – could increase learning
behaviour by stimulating certain
neurons in the brain. It has previously
been shown that dirt can strengthen
the immune system and kick-start the
production of seratonin (the happy
hormone) but this study plus the news
that Einstein had his own allotment
means it’s time to get digging.
YES: THESE PEOPLE
ARE SMARTER THAN
YOU. HONESTLY
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ELSEW HER E
THE BURKA BAN
SPREADS TO SPAIN
Spain It’s not just France and
Belgium that want to outlaw
burkas. Now Barcelona is set to
become the first major Spanish
hub to ban the wearing of full
Islamic face-veils in some public
spaces. City officials announced that
after the summer, Barcelona will forbid
the use of the burka, niqab and any
other item which hinders personal
identification within the city’s public
areas, including libraries and markets.
Barcelona’s mayor Jordi Hereu said
the measure was not meant to target
religious beliefs but aimed purely at
ensuring people could be identified.
The list of prohibited items also
includes balaclavas, motorbike
helmets and ski masks. The council
said the ban would be largely symbolic,
since it was uncommon to see women
wearing the full veil in the Spanish city.
A�WORLD�NEWS�
BRIEFING�IN�ONE�
COMPACT�PAGE
IN 2009, FATIMA HSSINI
REFUSED TO TAKE OFF
HER BURKA IN A
SPANISH COURT
NO ONE’S GOING
ON A SUMMER
HOLIDAY
Croatia News that will get
Cleggy ’n’ Cameron quaking
in their boots: Croatia’s Prime
Minister Jadranka Kosor has taken
a drastic step and banned her entire
cabinet from using their summer
holiday allowance because of their
country’s dire financial straits. The
country’s national debt has doubled
in just 10 years and rose by 17% in
2009 alone. Kosor, who took the top
job in July last year is the country’s
first female PM and inherited
Croatia’s vast economic problems,
was quoted in local media as saying,
“The Th ministers can [spend the
CROATIA’S PM,
JADRANKA KOSOR:
STRICT WITH
THE PENNIES
time working] on economic
measures, as the situation in
the country is difficult.”
Croatia’s financial crisis
includes �45 billion of debt,
the equivalent of their annual
GDP [gross domestic
product]. The
country’s
press has already
dubbed Kosor
as ‘the Croatian
Maggie Thatcher’,
after she recently
announced
deep cuts
in all areas
of social
spending.
A VERY
PROFITABLE
GOOD DEED
Vietnam Next time you leave
your handbag in the back of
a taxi, pray that the driver is from the
same school of ethics as Doan Thanh
Xuan. The Vietnamese cabbie found
a forgotten bag in his back seat and
returned it, unopened, when he heard
the radio call that a passenger
had lost it. It turned out to be
the property of Cuu
Long Petro Gas Service
Transportation JSC in
Ho Chi Minh City and
contained £17,733 cash
in three different
currencies.
The company’s
human resources
officer Nguyen
Thi Thuy Lien
was, naturally,
rather grateful
for the returned
case and rewarded Doan
Thanh Xuan with £67, a particularly
welcome sum when you consider that
the average monthly income in
Vietnam is just £53.
AH, THE WARM GLOW
THAT COLD HARD
CASH CAN BRING
SYDNEY HARBOUR’S
THE GAP, WHERE DON
RITCHIE, 84, SAVES LIVES
PENSIONER ON
SUICIDE WATCH
Australia A Sydney
pensioner has spent the last
50 years on suicide watch at one of
Australia’s most notorious jumping-off
spots. Don Ritchie, 84, lives opposite
The Gap, a treacherous Sydney
Harbour cliff with just a 3ft fence
separating it from the edge, and rushes
outside whenever he sees someone
about to jump to offer them in for tea
and sympathy. His kind words and
smiles have stopped at least 160
people from ending their lives – and
if he fails invites the rescue crew in for
tea instead. Depressed Australians
have been visiting The Gap since the
1800s and officials put the number of
suicides taking place there at about
one per week, a number which Mr
Ritchie – widely regarded as a guardian
angel – is still trying to diminish.
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