Egyptian man declared dead but wakes up before funeral

By METRO WEB REPORTER – 12th May, 2012

What should have been a solemn occasion to mark the Egyptian man’s passing rapidly turned into a celebration once everyone got over the shock of him still being alive.

The 28-year-old suffered a heart attack while at work and physicians at a local hospital concluded he had died.

His family took the body back to his home village of Naga al-Simman in the province of Luxor and intended to bury him on Friday evening.

They washed and prepared him for the funeral, but when a local physician arrived to sign the death certificate, she found something strange – the body was still warm. read more…

Rugby player Dan Martin puts on four stone to swim the Atlantic

The “extreme adventurer” has previously cycled more than 34,000 miles in two trips to Cape Town, once from London and once from South Korea. He put on 4st 7lb in less than four years to provide some protection from the Atlantic’s cold temperatures, by eating four regular meals a day topped up with 3,500 calories in energy drinks.

Mr Martin, who is raising money for poor children, will swim for eight hours each day and will have to consume 9,000 daily calories, more than three times a man’s normal recommended daily intake. read more…

Are donkeys really stubborn, asks university conference

The School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London held speaks by experts in their field on ‘donkey, mule and hinny cultures worldwide’ over two days last week.

The lectures included a speak by Ben Hart, of the Donkey Sanctuary, entitled ‘Stubborn donkey or smart ass?’.

In the lecture he said that the ‘evolutionary histories of donkeys and mules’ has led to behaviour which has been ‘misunderstood’ and which ‘contributed to the reputation for being stubborn’. read more…

Cafe full of cats opens in Vienna

The Cafe Neko (“Neko” meaning “cat” in Japanese) opened earlier this month in Vienna city centre.

Customers can stroke and interact with the cafe’s five feline hosts, named Sonja, Thomas, Moritz, Luca and Momo, who all came from an animal shelter and now freely roam about the cafe and take naps.

The cafe was opened by Vienna resident Takako Ishimitsu, a 47-year-old woman originally from Nagoya, Japan, who moved to Vienna some 20 years ago. She had to spend three years negotiating with city officials over hygiene issues for the cafe to be granted to open. read more…

Swimmers’ urine blamed for 500 fish deaths

Swimmers have been blamed for the mass death of fish because they are urinating in a lake. Picture: ThinkStock Source: news.com.au

Mass fish deaths in the past two weeks Fishermen believe it is from swimmers urinating in the lake Swimmers have been banned from lake

SWIMMERS have killed about 500 fish in a northern Germany lake, with their urine causing algae that poisons marine life. read more…

Proof that bears comprehend the internet

A black bear stakes his claim to a tree in Stockade, New York State. Scroll down to see what happens next. Picture: AP Source: AP

HUMANS have planking, bears have falling out of trees.

A month after a picture of a black bear falling out of a tree had the web laughing, along comes an imitator.

A runaway black bear had to be shot out of a tree and rescued after it wandered into a neighbourhood. read more…

Take a tour through Hollywood’s celebrity ‘Pooch Hotel’

Hollywood's Pooch Hotel

It’s the ultimate pampering experience, but it’s not for humans – it’s for dogs / FOX

GETTING sent to the "dog house" now has a whole new meaning.

This swanky pet hotel and day-spa is hoping to attract Hollywood’s most pampered pets, with amenities that most people would, well, beg for.

Pooch Hotel features a heated indoor pool built specifically for dogs, an indoor spa, a treadmill, a turn down service, a tummy rub and special one on one time for each precious pup. read more…

Father abandons wheel of moving automobile to save child

Footage from a traffic camera broadcast on Chinese say tv shows the child slipping out of the front door of the automobile and onto the road, narrowly missing the back wheel of the car.

The child falls into the path of a taxi following behind which manages to pull up just in time.

The panicked dad is seen leaping out of his car, which careers off the road and into a nearby tree.

A police officer who witnessed the incident said: “I heard the taxi braked suddenly. Then I saw a child fell out on the ground.”

“A second later, I saw a automobile without driver inside hit the tree. read more…

‘Spiderman’ climbs France’s tallest building

A self-styled French ‘Spiderman’ who has made a name for himself by climbing some of the world’s tallest buildings without permission made something of a career first on Thursday by ascending the tallest skyscraper in France with the permission of its owners.

Instead of being arrested and carted off at the top of First tower, Alain Robert was greeted by well-wishers and supporters.

He reached the top of the 231-metre-high tower after just over one hour of ascent using nothing but his bare hands and some talcum powder.

“I knew for sure that I was going to do it … I know that nothing’s going to stop me. Sometimes I may be even afraid about me, because I know no matter (what), I will be doing the ascent and I did it,” stated Mr Robert.

Crossword writer accused of coded message to kill Chavez’s brother

The pugnacious Mr Pirela, who uses an early evening TV show to lay into Chavez opponents, stated a group of mathematicians, psychologists and others had studied the Spanish-language crossword and concluded it was a coded assassination plot.

Answers to clues included “Adan”, “asesinen” (meaning “kill”) and “rafaga” (which can mean either a burst of gunfire, or a gust of wind).

“It’s a message … I’m talking in the name of truth,” Mr Pirela added, noting how French leader Charles de Gaulle used to broadcast coded messages from London to Resistance fighters in France during World War Two. read more…