10 Daily Things

This is something you will only get on video once in a life time! A slow motion strike of a snake without body!

It’s not everyday that you see a wild elephant standing next to you at the reception of a hotel.

But in the Mfuwe Lodge in the South Luangwa National Park in Zambia, the sight of one or even ten elephants strolling around the lobby is a regular occurrence.

Unwittingly built on the elephant’s traditional path in 1998, the Mfuwe Lodge stands directly en-route to this elephant herd’s favourite food - wild mangoes.

Andy Hogg, 44, Director at the Bushcamp Company that runs the Mfuwe Lodge, has lived in the South Luangwa national park since 1982.

But in his 26 years of dealing with wild animals in the Zambian national park, Andy has never seen such intimate interaction between man and beast.

“This is the only place in the world where elephants freely get so close to humans,” says the 44-year-old.

“The elephants start coming through base camp in late November of each year to eat the mangoes from our trees.

“When they are ripe they come through and they stand about for four to six weeks coming back each day or second day to eat the mangoes.”

Living in the 9, 500 square kilometre national park, the ten strong elephant herd are led to the lodge each day by the matriarchal of the herd, Wonky Tusk.

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These X-ray images show how a 16-year-old boy narrowly escaped death when a 5in knife was plunged into his head during an attempted street robbery.

The teenager and two other young men were injured when they tried to stop a friend being robbed at a bus stop in Walworth, southeast London, in November last year.

The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was taken to hospital with the knife still in his head. After a delicate operation he has made a good recovery and has started college, although he still needs hospital checks. His attacker, a 17-year-old, who also cannot be named, was convicted of attempted murder and grievous bodily harm by Inner London Crown Court last week.

The attacker, who was in a gang of three, will be sentenced this month. After the intended victim’s other friends stepped in to help, one was stabbed in the chest and the other suffered minor injuries to his shoulder. Both have recovered. The defendant was seen running away, but dropped his hat and mobile telephone.

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A Russian woman and a Lebanese man were put on trial in Dubai for … drinking orange juice!

In accordance with the Federal Penal Code of the United Arab Emirates, a public intake of food and beverages during daytime hours of the month of Ramadan is forbidden by Article 313. The article stipulates the punishment in the form of either a monetary penalty - up to 2,000 dirhems ($555) - or even a term of up to one month in prison.

The young people told the court that they were not Muslims and were thus unaware of the fact that their actions could be punishable.

The court took the mitigating circumstances into consideration, but found the defendants guilty, since ignorance did not exclude responsibility. The court ruled that the young people must pay the fine of 1,000 dirhems ($278) each.

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Whether behind the wheel or just walking down the street, Japan’s growing elderly population now has a cushion in case the road gets rough - airbags.

Japan’s Prop has designed airbags, located behind the head and hips, which inflate in fractions of a second when a fall is detected, providing a real silver lining.