China hands out palm-reading ban
China has banned kindergartens in a northern province from offering palm-reading tests that the schools had claimed could predict toddlers' intelligence level and potential.
Although many parents in Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi province, eagerly brought their children to be tested, some later complained about the high cost and testing method.
Just the ticket for city parking fines
German authorities are giving parking violators in one city an unexpected break.
Tickets put on carelessly parked cars in Potsdam include a fine of €0 and the cheerful message "Glueck gehabt!!!" (Lucky you!!!). The new approach is designed to admonish motorists without hitting them in the wallet.
Retire in style for free in Ecuador
An international magazine is looking for volunteers to spend an all-expense-paid month in Cuenca, Ecuador, to test its potential as a retirement destination.
Applicants must be near retirement age, from the US or Canada and be willing to relax, explore, shop, try local restaurants, maybe take a Spanish class, and report on their experience.
Store sticks boot into rent record
Italian luxury shoemaker Salvatore Ferragamo is close to agreeing a deal to pay a record UK rent at its Bond Street store that will hit the £1,000 (€1,200) per square foot mark for the first time.
The deal would break the previous record of £965 (€1,160) per square foot set by jeweller Piaget on the same central London street in 2009.
Police in hiding from drug cartel
Every police officer in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez has been ordered to leave home and stay in a hotel after the killing of five officers by a drug cartel.
The cartel has threatened to kill one policeman a day unless police chief Julian Leyzaola resigned. The mayor of Juarez says the attacks are a response to police action against drug cartels.
550 abuse claims in US archdiocese
About 550 people have filed claims over alleged sexual abuse by clergy in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee -- the highest number in eight US dioceses that have sought bankruptcy protection.
The Milwaukee Archdiocese filed for bankruptcy protection last year, saying the lawsuits could leave it with unaffordable debts.
Irish Independent
