News Round Up
by Patrick O’Connor
WHO’S been a naughty boy then?
The British media has had a field day over American teen pop star Justin Bieber who has been booed by his own fans.
The Daily Star reports that Bieber turned up two hours late on stage for a concert at the O2 Arena in London which didn’t go down too well with the thousands who had turned up to see him – and more importantly, their parents waiting outside.
Many of the fans were of school age but Bieber failed to start his performance until nearly 10.30pm and according to the Daily Star, some of them were said to be falling asleep or in tears waiting for him to appear.
Some parents were furious when they turned up at 10.30pm to pick their children up – to find that the event hadn’t even started!
The pro-Labour Party Daily Mirror has blasted university students who organised a “Hagueathon” in which they aim to drink 14 pints of beer.
Young Tories at York University organised the booze binge in honour of Foreign Secretary William Hague who claimed to have done the same as a teenager.
Labour MP Grahame Morris said: “I suspect William Hague’s capacity for 14 pints of Yorkshire bitter was a figment of his imagination.
“In the current climate when the Government is supposed to be doing something about the alcohol crisis, this sets a bad example.”
According to The Sun, police hung up woollen pom-poms in trees in a crime-busting initiative!
Apparently the knitted balls were meant to make Bede Park in Leicester look prettier — so families would feel safer. But the balls vanished after two days!
A motorist called police because he was too scared to drive through the Dartford Crossing in Kent, says the Daily Express.
The man took a wrong turn and when his sat-nav directed him to take the river crossing he phoned the police.
It emerged that he suffers from gephyrophobia, a fear of crossing bridges. Eventually a patrol car found him and drove his car through he tunnel with him as a passenger before sending him on his way. Aren’t our police wonderful!
What will they think of next?
There have been many excuses put forward over the years for late running trains but the Independent tells us that thousands of commuters suffered disruption to their journey home after a woman gave birth on a packed rush hour train travelling from central London to Kent.
The baby girl was delivered at West Malling on board the 18:18 London Victoria to Maidstone East service.
Passengers took to Twitter to offer their congratulations. One user, thumper-1111, said: “Baby girl just been born on 18:18 Victoria to ashford at west malling. marvelous grats to parents hope all well.”
Another commuter said: “That’s the first good excuse Southeastern have come up with for a delayed train.”
Paper power!
According to the Daily Mirror, a football fan was banned from a ground because his newspaper was branded as a weapon.
Security officials at Premier League club Stoke City ordered West Ham supporter Chris Barmby to bin the newspaper, claiming he might set it on fire and start a riot.
Chris, of Claines, Worcs, and ironically an ex-fireman, said: “It was ridiculous. They were letting in fans with programmes. What is stopping someone setting light to a club programme? The worst thing was I hadn’t even read it.
“I’ve been following football for years and years and I have never heard anything so ridiculous.”
Cats are renowned for their ability to sleep anywhere but seven year Persian Bisou got a big surprise when she woke up from a nap.
A story in the Daily Mirror reveals that Mervat Ciuti intended to leave Bisou with relatives in Cairo while she visited her sister in Nottingham.
But the cat nodded off in her owner’s suitcase in Egypt and ended up in the hold of a plane to Heathrow along with hundreds of other bags.
Mervat was in a taxi heading up the M1 motorway to Nottingham when she received a call from her family saying Bisou was missing. When the cab driver stopped the car and searched the luggage they found the cat alive and well.
References:
The Express(www.express.co.uk)
The Independent (www.independent.co.uk)
Daily Mirror ((www.mirror.co.uk)
Daily Star (www.daily star.co.uk)
The Sun (www.thesun.co.uk)