French ‘Spiderman’ scales 75-storey building in Dubai
A French climber has scaled one of Dubai’s tallest skyscrapers, relying on just chalk and sticky tape on his fingertips to help him up the 75-storey high Cayan Tower. Alain Robert, 52, climbed the 307-m-high structure in just 70 minutes last Sunday. He had no harness and little space for his feet on the ledges of the tower, which twists as it ascends. Robert, who is often described as the ‘French Spiderman’, is no stranger to scaling tall buildings. In 2011, he climbed the world’s tallest tower. Using a rope and harness to comply with organisers’ requirements, it took him just over six hours to scale the 828-m-tall Burj Khalifa.
(AP)
Itty, bitty (fake) nations to unfurl flags, royal doodads
The largest gathering of world leaders this side of the United Nations is convening at a decidedly less glamorous edifice: the Anaheim Central library down the street from Disneyland. No one will be representing the US, UK or China, but you may catch a glimpse of the president of Molossia, decked out in a beribboned, full-dress uniform that would be the envy of any Third World dictator. There he’ll be hobnobbing with kings, queens, dukes and barons from places like Slabovia, Westarctica, Vikesland and Broslavia.
The occasion is MicroCon 2015, what organisers say is the first North American gathering of micronations, those itty bitty countries that pretty much nobody but the people who rule them believe really exist. “It’s almost like a diplomatic version of a model railroad for nerds,” says Steven F Scharff, who has been studying the micronation movement for decades.
Most of these faux countries print their own stamps and mint their own money. Some even produce sashes, swords, pendants and other royal doodads that Scharff says rival anything coming out of England’s royal House of Windsor. Much of it will be on display, along with the flags of some two dozen countries.
(AP)
Tourism ambassador for tokyo district is Godzilla
Godzilla, the movie monster famous for attacking Tokyo, now has a permanent home on one of the city’s skyscrapers and was named a district tourism ambassador. A 40-foot-tall sculpture of the giant lizard’s head was installed on the commercial complex in the Shinjuku shopping and entertainment district, and district Mayor Kenichi Yoshizumi named Godzilla as Shinjuku’s official tourism ambassador in a ceremony celebrating the construction’s completion.
The complex that became Godzilla’s new home was formerly a theater owned by Toho, the company that owns Godzilla’s rights, and a Toho executive was on hand to accept the residency certificate from Yoshizumi. “Until now Godzilla has been simply destroying, but we hope it will now contribute to the prosperity of Kabukicho and Shinjuku,” said Minami Ichikawa, head of Toho’s movie division.
The complex, which features the Godzilla head on the eighth floor, officially opened on April 17. The height of the head was designed to coincide with the height of the monster from the first Godzilla film in 1954. The building contains a hotel that offers a room with a Godzilla hand jutting through the wall.
The sculpture is designed to broadcast Godzilla’s iconic call at an unspecified time each night along with a sound and light show to mimic his radioactive fire breath. Yoshizumi said he hopes Godzilla completely destroys Shinjuku during his next cinematic appearance to bring luck to the district in the real world.
(UPI)
Hunt on for ‘Mrs Doubtfire’ bank robber in California
Police have released surveillance images of a wanted man dubbed the ‘Mrs Doubtfire’ bandit because he was disguised as a woman during a bank robbery in California. The Santa Cruz Sentinel newspaper reports the suspect was seen acting suspiciously inside a US Bank branch in Santa Cruz. He wore a wavy blond wig, thick-framed glasses and navy blue hospital scrubs, and carried a purse. About an hour later, the same man in the same outfit handed a teller a note that demanded money at a second US Bank branch in Santa Cruz. The suspect got away with an unknown amount of money. Investigators say no weapon was seen, and nobody was hurt. Police dubbed the man ‘Mrs Doubtfire’ after the 1993 movie in which Robin Williams pretended to be a woman.
(Yahoo)
Surprise! Minnesota sheep has lamb octuplets
The owners of a Minnesota ranch said their sheep gave birth to octuplets — possibly the largest litter of lambs in North America. Travis and Jeanine Fowler, owners of the JTF Ranch in Truman, said most polypay sheep give birth to one to three lambs at a time, but a sheep at her ranch gave birth to a litter of eight lambs last week. “It’s pretty exciting. I never dreamt that we, or you could have that many lambs. So to say that she’s a prolific ewe would probably be an understatement,” Travis Fowler told KEYC-TV. The Fowlers said the two male lambs will eventually be sold, but the six females will have a permanent home at the ranch.
(UPI)