Cat grows wings

A Chinese woman claims her cat has grown wings.

Granny Feng's tom cat has sprouted two hairy 4ins long wings, reports the Huashang News.

"At first, they were just two bumps, but they started to grow quickly, and after a month there were two wings," she said.

Feng, of Xianyang city, Shaanxi province, says the wings, which contain bones, make her pet look like a 'cat angel'.
Her explanation is that the cat sprouted the wings after being sexually harassed.

"A month ago, many female cats in heat came to harass him, and then the wings started to grow," she said.

However, experts say the phenomenon is more likely down to a gene mutation, and say it shouldn't prevent the cat living a normal life.

Blind Pilot Flies From London to Sydney

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - A blind British adventurer touched down in Sydney Monday to end an epic 13,500-mile flight by microlight aircraft from London.

Miles Hilton-Barber braved snowstorms, freezing temperatures and torrential downpours during his 59-day journey under the supervision of sighted co-pilot Richard Meredith-Hardy.

"It's the fulfillment of an amazing dream," Hilton-Barber, 58, told reporters at Sydney's Bankstown airport. "I've wanted to be a pilot since I was a kid. Now I'm totally blind and I've had the privilege of flying more than halfway around the world."

Hilton-Barber, who lost his eyesight to a hereditary condition about 20 years ago, is hoping the trip will raise $2 million for the charity Seeing is Believing, which works for the prevention of blindness in developing countries.


He took to the skies from Biggin Hill air base in south London on March 7 in a microlight aircraft, which looks like a cross between a tricycle and a motorized hang-glider, with the aid of an audio device that reads out navigational information such as air speed and altitude.

Hilton-Barber also has conquered Mount Kilimanjaro and Mont Blanc, run marathons in the Sahara and Gobi deserts, and even attempted to reach the South Pole, hauling a sledge over 250 miles of Antarctic ice.

Underage man tries to buy beer with prison ID

A 20-year-old Gardnerville man who unsuccessfully tried to buy beer with a prison identification card is set for a hearing June 6 on charges he resisted arrest.

Ross Perusse, who appeared in court Wednesday in a sling, was arrested April 14 in Johnson Lane after he reportedly tried to purchase alcohol with an identification card from his recent incarceration in Nevada State Prison.

According to court documents, deputies were called to the store in Johnson Lane early April 14 on a report of people loitering in the parking lot.

A store clerk said a 20-year-old, identified as Perusse, was trying to buy alcohol.

She said she refused to sell it because he was underage and didn't have enough money.

As deputies arrived, the crowd dispersed and officers followed a vehicle on Downs Drive with a broken headlight.

The car stopped, but Perusse reportedly fled on foot, ignoring officers' commands to stop.

The officer said he drew his weapon when he saw Perusse reportedly pull a silver object from his pants pocket which turned out to be a cell phone.

The officer holstered his weapon.

He chased Perusse and said the suspect turned and lunged at him so the deputy struck him on the left arm using a "forward spinning strike" with his baton.

Perusse then reportedly tried to grab the baton, so the officer struck him on the left hand, fracturing the suspect's left middle finger.

Perusse was sentenced in August to three years in Nevada State Prison after he was kicked out of a regimental discipline program for fighting with another inmate.

He was arrested in 2005 for stealing a truck. While awaiting sentencing, Perusse was convicted last year of beating up a Douglas High School student whom he accused of being anti-Semitic.

Perusse reportedly told the deputy who arrested him April 14 that he ran because he just got out of prison and was on parole.

He is being held in Douglas County Jail on $25,500 bail.

-- East Fork Justice Jim EnEarl agreed Wednesday to defer sentencing for one year for an 18-year-old Minden man who has been accepted by Western Nevada Regional Drug Court.

If he is successful, Frederick Dudley will be allowed to withdraw a guilty plea on misdemeanor possession of stolen property.

He was arrested after a passport, car titles and wills were found in his bedroom.

Dudley claimed he was asked to hold the items for a friend and didn't know they were stolen.

-- A deputy investigating a report of an ex-felon in possession of firearms discovered he'd sold one of the weapons to suspect under a different name.

Steven Gingerich, 47, is set for a hearing on May 9.

He was arrested at a residence in Round Hill where he was living without the owner's permission.

Gingerich had been hired to work on the house and was allowed to live there briefly. The owner, who lives in Foster City, Calif., said he ordered Gingerich off the property, but discovered he was still at the residence.

Gingerich had convicted of robbery in California and forbidden to own firearms.

Acting on a tip, members of the Douglas County Sheriff's Office Street Enforcement Team found five weapons at the residence including an assault rifle, two shotguns and two handguns.

The investigating deputy discovered that he'd sold one of the handguns to Gingerich in 2004, but the suspect used the name "Gingreich."

Judge: 'What's a website?'

A judge trying an internet terror case stunned a court by reportedly admitting he didn't know what a website was.

Judge Peter Openshaw brought a halt to the trial as a witness was being quizzed about an extremist web forum.

He told prosecutors at Woolwich Crown Court: "The trouble is I don't understand the language. I don't really understand what a website is."

Later he said he hoped a computer expert would give "simple" evidence when called to the stand.

Judge Openshaw said: "Will you ask him to keep it simple? We've got to start from basics."

But the Judicial Communications Office later released a statement insisting Judge Openshaw was "entirely computer literate".

It said the judge's comments, in the fifth week of a trial largely based on computer generated evidence, had been taken out of context.

He had been simply clarifying the evidence presented, in an easily understandable form, for all those in court.

"Mr Justice Openshaw is entirely computer literate and indeed has taken notes on his own computer in court for many years," the statement said.

How astronauts deal with "natural functions" in space?

tour of a space facility in the US apparently prompted Prince Philip to ask how astronauts deal with "natural functions" in space. So how exactly do they go to the toilet?

It's all to do with air flow. On earth, in the West at least, your standard toilet is a water-flush affair, that takes waste and washes it down a pipe.

Space toilets use air flow as water flushes have drawbacks in zero gravity.

Adult nappies are used on space walks and during take-off and landing .

The lack of gravity on the shuttle and the space station mean a water-flush system is not an option. You don't need a particularly vivid imagination to see the potential problems.

Instead, on the shuttle, urine and faeces are carried away by rapid flow of air.

The unisex toilet resembles a conventional loo, but with straps over the feet and bars over the thighs to make sure that the astronauts don't drift off mid-go. The seat is designed so the astronaut's bottom can be perfectly flush to make a good seal.

The good news for fans of convenience is that, on the shuttle at least, urinating standing up is possible. A funnel-on-a-hose contraption is included so that astronauts - both male and female - can urinate standing up. Or sitting down if they prefer. They just attach it to the toilet using a pivoting bracket.

The system separates solid and liquid waste. Solids are compressed and remain on-board to be unloaded after landing. Liquids are released into space. Nasa hopes one day to recycle waste productively.

Researchers at the University of Guelph in Canada have said such recycling will be key to tackling any future mission to Mars in order to feed the astronauts.

The air used in the space shuttle's toilet system has to be filtered to get rid of the smell and bacteria before it is returned to the living area.

On the International Space Station, the fundamental principle is similar. The fan-powered air-flow toilet system stores waste. Urine is sucked up and stored in 20 litre containers which are dumped into the Progress resupply craft. The ship is later ejected into the atmosphere, where it burns up , BBC reports.

For solid waste, a plastic bag covered in holes is placed inside the toilet. Air is sucked through the holes so everything ends up in the bag. The elasticised top closes and the bag is pushed into a metal container. A new bag is popped in for the next visitor. Again the waste heads off to Progress.

Geese steal cell phone from student

Sam Rozati, 23, was attacked by four geese as he walked past their nest.

They pecked so hard he dropped his phone.

Then one bird grabbed the mobile and disappeared into the undergrowth in Colchester, Essex.

Final-year law student Sam said: “They flew over and started biting my hand until I dropped the phone. I had to move away for my safety.”

His attempts to find his phone have failed — as it is set on silent, the Sun reports.

He said: “I’d never been mugged by anyone before, but now I’ve been mugged by geese.

“I go the long way round to go home now.”

Shoplifters ordered to wear sign ‘I am a thief’

ATTALLA, Ala. - Shoppers entering the Wal-Mart Supercenter here got a reminder not to try anything funny: Two shoplifters stood outside with signs reading “I am a thief, I stole from Wal-Mart.”

Attalla City Judge Kenneth Robertson Jr. ordered the two people to wear the signs for four hours each during two successive Saturdays.

“The only comments we’ve heard so far have been positive,” said store manager Neil Hawkins. “Most of them thought it was a good thing.”