Queen Elizabeth went nuts over nibbles
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth was so incensed with royal police officers eating nuts from bowls left out in the corridors of Buckingham Palace that she drew lines on the sides in a bid to catch them out. In emails submitted to the phone hacking trial of journalists at Rupert Murdoch’s now defunct News of the World tabloid, its royal reporter said he had learnt that a memo had been issued to all officers telling them to “keep their sticky fingers out”. To laughter in the court, judge John Saunders told the jury that these were “unfounded allegations”.
“Queen furious about police stealing bowls of nuts and nibbles left out for her in the BP (Buckingham Palace) Queen’s corridors,” an email from royal reporter Clive Goodman to then editor Andy Coulson said. It said staff had put out a selection of nuts including cashews, almonds and Bombay mix around the palace for the 87-year-old queen. “Problem is that police on patrol eat the lot. Queen so narked (annoyed) she has started marking the bowls to see where the levels dipped,” it said. (Reuters)
NY cockroach can survive frigid winters
Aspecies of cockroach native to Asia that has been seen crawling around an outdoor tourist destination in New York City can survive the city’s brutal winters, according to a study.
Researchers at Rutgers University in New Jersey have identified the resilient pest as Periplaneta japonica, which is native to Japan. Until an exterminator saw the bug last year crawling around the High line, an elevated, outdoor park in lower Manhattan, it had not been confirmed in the United States. While it was too soon to predict the implications for nearby residents and businesses, the bug’s appearance could be good news, researchers said. How the bugs got to New York was unclear, but researchers speculated they were in the soil of one of the plants festooning the park. Researchers noted the new roach cannot breed a hybrid super-roach by mating with the more common local variety due to mismatching genitalia. (Reuters)
Alligator allowed to greet restaurant patrons
A 4-ft long alligator named Wally will be allowed to greet patrons of a Michigan restaurant. The City Council voted 4-2 to allow American alligators to do so in its central business district.
Wally will greet guests at Cajun Gator. The restaurant is expected to open within the next week. Developer larry Jones says there were “a lot more excited people than there are people in question” when the idea was floated.
Councilwoman Anita Ashford cast one of the votes against the proposal. She says she’s uncomfortable with the idea of a live alligator in an eatery. (Huffington Post)
newlyweds wanted to murder someone together
Recently, a newlywed couple in Pennsylvania killed a man whom the wife had lured to a rendezvous though an online dating advertisement, strangling him and stabbing him repeatedly, police said.
The pair, named as Elytte and Miranda Barbour, “just wanted to murder someone together,” Sunbury Police Corporal Brad Hare said. Elytte Barbour, 22, hid under a blanket in the back of their car as his 18-year-old wife Miranda drove to pick up a man she met through Craigslist on November 11, the Sunbury Police Department said in a report. On Miranda’s signal, Elytte strangled the man, 42-year-old Troy laFerrara, with a cord while she stabbed him about 20 times, the report said. They dumped his body in an alley in Sunbury, where police found him the next day. (Reuters)
No sex before gamesIJ players test controls
The Brazilian tradition of the concentracao — sequestering teams before matches and shielding them from temptations such as sex and alcohol — is under threat as players take a stand against the late payment of wages. So far this year players at Botafogo, Portuguesa and Vasco da Gama have refused to attend the concentracao because their salaries were not paid on time.
Although only Botafogo’s players have maintained the boycott, their action has led to a reappraisal of the ritual and raised questions over the integrity of Brazilian players. “Football is all about results, and if Vasco and Botafogo can show that they perform better without the concentracao then other teams will adhere,” said lucio Surubin, the director of football at recently relegated Nautico. “But it is hard. If I had responsible and conscientious professionals I wouldn’t have any qualms about ending the concentracao. But I don’t.”
The concentracao is a long-standing institution used to control players. Teams gather in hotels or at the club training ground for one or two nights before matches so staff can monitor the players, prepare them for games and keep them away from outside influences. Botafogo’s players rebelled at the start of the year. The club had not paid their salaries for several weeks and the players abandoned the concentracao in protest. The experiment proved successful and continued even after their salaries were paid. The Rio de Janeiro side won the Rio state championship in May and finished fourth in Series A, guaranteeing a place in next year’s Copa libertadores for the first time since 1996. (Reuters)