A salute to the brave dogs in blue:
Madonna Takes ‘Sticky & Sweet’ To Israel
The Material Girl has opened a visit to the Holy Land with a spiritual touch.
Madonna headed to Jerusalem’s Old City late Sunday where she toured an ancient tunnel near the Western Wall – the holiest site where Jews can pray.
The 50-year-old pop star arrived in a black Mercedes van and was escorted into the tunnel by police. She made no comment to reporters and was whisked away about a half hour later.
Madonna isn’t Jewish (yet), but she’s a follower of Jewish mysticism and has even taken the Hebrew name Esther.
She arrived in the country for a pair of concerts in Tel Aviv that will close out her Sticky & Sweet Tour. It will be her first performance in Israel since 1993, though she came on private pilgrimages in 2004 and 2007.
Madonna is also set to meet oppositon leader Tzipi Livni and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during her visit.
Those joining Madonna on her trip include actress Demi Moore and her husband actor Ashton Kutcher as well as singer Justin Timberlake.
Geri Halliwell Shocked By Naked Sunbather
Geri Halliwell gasps in shock then bursts into embarrassed giggles as a porkie sunbather shows her something she doesn’t really, really wanna see.
The man proudly let it all hang out as he stood unconcerned on a crowded beach while the former Ginger Spice and a group of pals strolled past.
An onlooker said: “Geri got a real shock – she was just walking along when she saw this stark naked man.”
Geri, 37, flaunted her own much more toned figure on the trip to Monaco with boyfriend Henry Beckwith, 30, and daughter Bluebell, three. But she’s unlikely to forget her rather too spicy encounter.
A Really Bad First Date
Police in Michigan say a first date went from bad to worse when a Detroit man skipped out on the restaurant bill, then stole his date’s car.
Police say 23-year-old Terrance Dejuan McCoy had dinner with a woman April 24 at Buffalo Wild Wings in the Detroit suburb of Ferndale. The woman says the two met a week earlier at a Detroit casino and she knew McCoy only as “Chris.”
The woman told police that McCoy said he left his wallet in her car and asked for keys. He then sped away in the 2000 Chevrolet Impala.
The Daily Tribune of Royal Oak reports that police identified McCoy by a photo he’d sent to the woman’s cell phone, and his phone number.
McCoy is charged with unlawfully taking the car, a five-year felony. He waived a preliminary exam and was bound over for trial.
Jackson Fans Go For ‘Thriller’ Record
They say they beat it.
Thousands of Mexicans claimed they broke the record for most people dancing to “Thriller” simultaneously in one place on what would have been Michael Jackson’s 51st birthday.
“We did it!” organizer Javier Hildago shouted to thousands of people wearing black fedoras, white gloves, aviator shades and ghoulish face paint, breathless after trying to recreate the groundbreaking 1983 video.
Did they? The Guinness Book of World Records will decide in a week.
The current record was set in May by a group of 242 College of William & Mary students who performed the routine in Williamsburg, Virginia, according to Guinness.
Hildago claimed 12,937 people danced August 29th in front of Mexico City‘s Monument of the Revolution, led by a Michael Jackson impersonator wearing a red-and-gold sequined jacket.
But Guinness must certify whether all those people really performed the entire, intricate routine. The impersonator, who goes by the name Hector Jackson, and most of those in front of a huge crowd of onlookers certainly looked pretty good.
“More people responded than we even imagined!” Hector Jackson said. “Mexico gave the best tribute in the world to Michael Jackson.”
Mariachis Set World Record In Guadalajara
Ay, ay, ay, ay! Guadalajara finally boasts the world’s biggest mariachi band.
A total of 549 musicians got together to win the record for the birthplace of mariachi, playing several songs in just over 10 minutes, closing with favorites ” Cielito Lindo” and “Guadalajara.”
A representative of the Guinness Book of World Records, Stuart Claxton, made it official at the International Mariachi Festival.
The old record belonged to 520 mariachis who performed in San Antonio, Texas, in 2007, said Francisco Beckman, an organizer of the record-breaking attempt.
Record-breaking is all the rage in Mexico.
Earlier in the week, thousands in Mexico City claimed they put on the largest “Thriller” dance by people performing simultaneously in one place. The Guinness official at that event said a decision on whether they did will be made in a week.
Mexico also boasted the world’s biggest cheesecake and group kiss earlier this year.
British Cows Are On The Attack!
The deaths of no fewer than four people after being trampled by cows in the past two months has prompted Britain’s main farming union to issue a warning about the dangers of provoking the normally docile animals.
Cows can become aggressive and charge, especially when calves are present and walkers are accompanied by dogs, said the National Farmers Union (NFU).
The union and the Ramblers’ Association both advise that walkers release dogs from their leads when passing through a field of cows.
“The cattle are interested in the dog, not the walker,” said Robert Sheasby, Rural Surveyor at the NFU.
“As the cattle try to get the dog, there’s a high chance they will get the walker too.”
Britain has 7.5 million cows but in the past eight years there have only been 18 deaths involving cattle, including bulls whose dangers are well-known.
The current spate of attacks by cows began on the Pennine Hills on June 21, when Liz Crowsley, a veterinary surgeon from Warrington, was crushed against a wall and then trampled underfoot while out walking with her two dogs.
On July 15, another attack took place in Derbyshire, when Barry Pilgrim, a 65-year old from the area, was trampled to death by a cow as his wife looked on.
Three days later, Anita Hinchey, a 63-year-old, was walking her dog near Cardiff when a cow attacked her and trampled her to death.
The fourth fatal attack claimed the life of Harold Lee, a 75-year-old farmer from Burtle in the West Country. He was killed by his own herd, which may have been made nervous by the siren of a passing ambulance.
Japanese Police Fight Shoplifting Wave By Seniors
Tokyo police will try to rein in a wave of shoplifting by lonely elderly people by involving them in community service, a police spokesman.
One out of four elderly shoplifters in the capital blamed their crime on loneliness, Japanese media quoted a police survey as saying. Another 8 percent said it was because they had “no reason to live.”
More than half the elderly shoplifters said they had no friends and 40 percent of them lived alone, media said.
“Making shoplifters do volunteer work in the community is effective,” the Tokyo Shimbun quoted J.F. Oberlin University professor Akihiro Sakai, head of a police research panel set up to tackle shoplifting, as saying.
“Instead of increased punishment, I hope we can rehabilitate shoplifters with special care.”
A police spokesman declined to confirm the details of the survey but said it would be released to the public soon.
Elderly shoplifting cases in Tokyo reached all-time highs last year, nearly catching up with the number of cases involving young offenders.
People 65 years or older accounted for 23 percent of the 17,800 known shoplifting cases in 2008, more than doubling in the past five years, media said.
An example cited in the Ministry of Justice’s annual report on crime describes a 76-year-old woman who turned to shoplifting several years ago as a way to battle loneliness after her parents died.
Over 20 percent of Japan’s population is aged 65 or over, with that figure set to double by 2050.
