Tightrope walker breaks record

A circus tightrope walker set a new world record by completing a walk on a cable car wire - nearly two miles above the ground.

Freddy Nock, 46, did not use a harness or safety nets for the stunt near the Swiss mountain resort of St Moritz.

Using only a balancing stick, he walked down the cable of a funicular on Mount Corvatsch - which is 9,908 feet above sea level.

He shuffled along the cable for some 5,249 feet, starting from the mountain station - at an altitude of 10,836 feet - to the middle station, which is 8,865 feet above sea level.

Nock, who starting learning acrobatic skills at the age of four, successfully completed the walk on his second attempt, after bad weather forced him to stop earlier in the day.

He previously performed similar stunts Germany, staging a climb over the slopes of the country's highest mountain, and walking 900-metres over Lake Zurich.

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Woman arrested for mooning cops

A US woman has been arrested - for mooning the police officers who arrested her brother.

Rita Zambrano, 45, of Hamblen County, Tennessee, saw police arresting her brother for driving offences.

She allegedly turned around, dropped her drawers and showed the officers her naked backside, reports Knox News.

Ironically, she is still behind bars, charged with indecent exposure, while her brother Ronnie Waddell, 44, has been released on bail.

Police officer David Gulley said Waddell was arrested after officers saw him driving a car outside of his sister's apartment.

As he and another officer cuffed Waddell, Gulley said that Zambrano stood in her doorway and harassed the officers.

"She was standing at her door and mooned me through the window on her front door," Gulley said.

Gulley said he was too busy to deal with Zambrano at the time, so he took Waddell to jail, then later issued a warrant for her arrest.

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Woman tried to post live puppy

A US woman has been charged with animal cruelty after she parcelled up a live puppy and tried to post it more than 1,100 miles.

Police say Stacey Champion, 39, tried to air-mail the dog from Minneapolis to Atlanta, Georgia, for a child's birthday.

She was stopped from posting the parcel when a stunned postal worker saw it move and then heard it panting, reports the Star Tribune newspaper.

Within minutes, postal workers had unwrapped the tightly sealed box and rescued a four-month-old puppy, called Guess.

Police Sgt Angela Dodge said it would have taken at least two days for the box, which had airholes - unfortunately covered up with tape, to arrive at its destination.

"It's just crazy," she said. "It was supposed to be a birthday gift for a family member. It would have been kind of traumatising to get a dead puppy.

"If you don't identify it so that it can be handled properly, it goes into the cargo hold of an airplane. And there was no food or water. Puppies can't go for long periods without food or water."

Thompson Ojoyeyi, supervisor at the post office, said the woman cautioned postal workers to "be careful, be careful" as they handled the box because "it was so delicate".

On the outside of the package she had written: "This is for your 11th birthday. It's what you wanted." She told the clerk not to worry if she heard sounds from the package as it contained a toy robot.

Guess has been taken in at the city's animal control facility and will be put up for adoption if Champion is convicted of animal cruelty.

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Lorry driver hits pylon 'while texting'

A lorry driver sparked a 100 square mile blackout in China when he ploughed into a massive electricity pylon.

The 200ft pylon was left teetering at 45 degrees after Sing Lu, 35, smashed his truck into it in Tianjin, northern China.

He later admitted to police officers that he had been trying to send a text message on his mobile phone at the time of the accident.

"He said afterwards he had been texting on his mobile phone and hadn't been paying attention. Even so, it would be hard not to see something that size," said a police spokesman.

The damage to the pylon created a massive electrical surge which knocked out the local power station, plunging thousands of local homes and businesses into darkness, say officials.

Rescue workers spent five days clearing the debris from the road and electrical engineers took almost a week to restore power.

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Girl, 5, survives 100ft fall from window

A five-year-old girl had an amazing escape after she fell from the window of a 10th floor flat, hit a ground floor awning and survived.

Ye Zixu suffered only scratches and bruises in the 100ft fall from her family's flat in the Chinese city of Chongqing.

Yan, a street vendor who saw what he initially thought was a red doll falling, said she made a loud bang when she hit the awning.

"I only realised it was actually a kid when somebody shouted that a child had fallen from a high window," he said.

"We thought she couldn't possibly have survived - and then we heard crying from the top of the awning."

A young man grabbed a ladder to check on the girl and was amazed to see that she was already sitting up.

Ye Zixu crawled to the edge of the awning to be helped down - but slipped and fell.

Luckily, she was caught by another witness, dentist Jiang Yuansheng, who ran with the girl to a nearby hospital.

She was later transferred to the city's South West Hospital where doctors pronounced her fit and well, but for a slight myocardical contusion.

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Cheeky owl steals show at wedding

A cheeky owl almost stole the show on a couple's wedding day.

The injured bird popped up into the front of an official wedding photo, and was picked out by the camera's autofocus, leaving happy couple Libby Higgins and Jim Pearn blurred.

But luckily the newlyweds didn't get in a flap when 'Sam Adams' made his appearance - and the snap has become a favourite in their wedding album..

They were all smiles to see the resident of the John J Audubon Centre bird sanctuary in Pennsylvania.

Libby, 26, said: "He was hit by a car right near the Audubon Society and the bones under his eye were severed so badly that his tear ducts no longer work.

"They need to give him artificial tears. Poor little guy. We loved the little fellow and were only too happy to have our picture taken with him - even if he turned out to be the star."

Sam Adams was being shown around accompanied by a handler after the wedding ceremony when the photo was taken.

Libby added: "You better believe that the owl tried to steal the show!"

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An Indonesian Dead in Egypt's Political Turmoil

Imanda Amalia's picture is posted by "Science Of Universe" on Facebook. Imanda Amalia, an Indonesian working as a United Nations staff, was reported dead in a riot of political turmoil in Egypt

An Indonesian was reported dead in a riot in Egypt. As informed by "Science of universe" on facebook, Imanda, working for United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), was an Indonesian found dead in a riot of political turmoil in Egypt.

On BlackBerry Messenger, she left a message telling she got trapped in shootings. Her latest message sent on Wednesday night local time was posted by a facebooker, Pummy Kusuma.

"Pray for...manda, We got trapped in shootings. The ambulance got shot and thrown by stones. No possibilities for evacuation as the mass is going wild," stated by Imanda in her message.

No further details on how she died and her whereabouts in Egypt.

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Porsche's Black Beauties

The new Boxster S and 911 Black Editions have both been revealed ahead of their public debuts at Marchs Geneva motor show.

Porsche won't be sponsoring the New Zealand rugby team at this year's World Cup as far as we know, but that hasn't stopped the German car maker from unveiling two all-black sports cars.

The new Boxster S and 911 Black Editions have both been revealed ahead of their public debuts at March's Geneva motor show, though it's the roadster that brings more colour with extra power and speed.

The new Boxster S Black Edition gains extra power over the regular S, managing an extra 7kW of power and 10Nm of torque from the same 3.4-litre six-cylinder to increase outputs to 235kW and 370Nm respectively.

The Black Edition is available with either a six-speed manual transmission or Porsche's seven-speed dual-clutch PDK 'box with sports shifters ($5300 extra), and is limited to just 987 models worldwide.

The Black Edition's extra power/torque output cuts the 0-100km/h sprint time by a tenth of a second over the regular Boxster S manual model to 5.2 seconds, while the PDK also shaves off another tenth to achieve 5.1 seconds.

Styling additions include the fitment of sporty silver-rimmed, black 19-inch wheels borrowed from the Boxster Spyder, as well as blackened twin tailpipes, side air intakes and black rollover bars.

The retractable soft-top roof is also black, and there's no prize for guessing the colour of the only exterior paint available.

Darkened interior additions include the gear selector, dashboard trim elements and part-leather seats, as well as limited edition interior badging (with build number) and unique scuff plates. It also gets a sportier-looking steering wheel, black instrument dials and touch-screen infotainment system with sat-nav.

Potential buyers aren't likely to be in a black mood when they find out the price - the Boxster S Black Edition wears the same price tag as the regular Boxster S, starting at $132,400 (plus costs) for the manual and $137,700 for the PDK version.

Porsche's 911 Black Edition gets similar treatment, with loads of dark add-ons inside and out, though the power output from the 3.6-litre 'boxer' engine remains unchanged at 254kW.

Just 1911 Black Edition 911s will be sold worldwide, with local pricing positioned at the same point as the base-model Carrera - $223,000 for the Coupe and $245,300 for the Cabriolet.

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