Police comandeer golf buggies to catch burglar on course

Police officers commandeered golf buggies in vain attempt to catch a burglar who fled onto a course.

The assailant fled onto the West Lancs golf course to make his escape as officers and the force helicopter converged on the scene 

An elderly woman was attacked by the man, who had forced his way into her house in Hightown, Merseyside.

The would-be thief fled empty-handed after a 62-year-old neighbour, who was also hurt, rang 999 and bravely intervened.

The assailant fled down Blundell Road on to sand dunes and then the West Lancs golf club to make his escape as officers and the force helicopter converged on the scene.

And to the surprise of golfers on the links course, which straddles the Sefton coast, police took command of electric golf buggies as they tried in vain to apprehend their suspect.

Detective inspector Jon Smith said: "This was a cowardly and callous attack on two vulnerable elderly women, which has left them very shaken and traumatised.

"We are absolutely determined to find this man, but we need the community's help to bring him to justice. I would like to reassure residents that incidents like this are thankfully very rare."
It is understood both victims were taken to hospital for treatment following the assault on Tuesday lunchtime.
Both were later released. Police said the raider was of slim-to-medium build, with a bald head and wearing a grey fleece jacket.
The suspect is said to be aged between 20 and 40.

Guinness World Records Day: 300,000 people take part

From the wacky to the impressive, thousands of people around the world sought their place in the Guinness World Records.

This was no bog standard race but the world's fastest toilet against the world's quickest mobility scooter and the world's smallest roadworthy car.  

Among the attempts to set new global records were 57 people in Canary Wharf, London, who piled into a large pair of bright pink underpants to break the record for the most people in a pair of pants.

Essex played host to the largest Cream Tea Party, attracting 334 people while Dubliners managed to return the record for the most people dressed as leprechauns to Ireland from the US when 262 donned costumes.

Canary Wharf also held a world record race between the fastest toilet, the smallest roadworthy car and the fastest mobility scooter.

In the Netherlands, 1,541 took part in a mass Macarena dance while in Florida, 91 year-old Bernice Mary Bates was named the oldest yoga teacher.

Craig Glenday, Guinness World Records editor, said: "This year, it seems to be about bringing records back home to the people who are most passionate about enjoying their culture and national identity."

China school run most dangerous in the world

Pupils in a remote village in China are forced to scramble down sheer cliffs and cross freezing rivers just to reach their school.

Every term, village officials and teachers come to Pili village in north western China to collect the 80 school children that live there.

The pupils are escorted on a perilous 125-mile journey through the mountains of the remote Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, where some paths along sheer rock faces are only inches wide.

To reach the school, the children must also wade through four freezing rivers, cross a 650ft chain bridge and four single-plank bridges.

It takes the children two days to complete the journey.

Zimbabwean man claims prostitute turned to donkey

A Zimbabwean man has told a court that he hired a prostitute who during the night transformed into a donkey, and that he is now "seriously in love" with the animal, according to state media.

Moyo has been charged with bestiality. The court has ordered him to undergo a mental examination.

"I think I am also a donkey. I do not know what happened when I left the bar, but I am seriously in love with (the) donkey," Sunday Moyo told the court, according to The Herald newspaper.

Moyo, 28, was arrested in the town of Zvishavane, about 185 miles south of the capital Harare on Sunday.

He said he had paid $25 for a prostitute, and was surprised Sunday morning when he heard people accusing him of having sex with a donkey.

Moyo has been charged with bestiality and remanded in custody. The court has ordered him to undergo a mental examination, The Herald said.

Mystery condition makes woman age 50 years in just a few days

Doctors have been left baffled by a strange condition which saw a woman of 23 age 50 years in a matter of days.

(L-R) Nguyen Thi Phuong, aged 21 and how she looks now, aged 26, after having suffered an allergic reaction to seafood 

Vietnamese woman Nguyen Thi Phuong now looks like a septugenarian after the rapid aging affliction took hold following an allergic reaction to seafood.

Her sad story began in 2008, when her youthful beauty began to fade over the course of just a few days, leaving her with sagging, wrinkled skin all over her face and body.

Until now she has been forced to wear a mask in public to hide her appearance from prying eyes, but now doctors are attempting to establish what caused her sudden and horrifying aging.

Her husband, carpenter Nguyen Thanh Tuyen says his love for his once beautiful wife has not faded while Phuong, now 26, says her condition has only worsened since she was first struck with the condition.

The couple, from the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre, in Vietnam, have agreed to talk to the media for the first time in order to ask for help.

Some have argued that the condition is lipodystrophy - a rare syndrome that causes a layer of fatty tissue beneath the surface of the skin to disintegrate while the skin itself continues to grow at a startling pace.
The syndrome with no cure leaves its victims with loose folds of skin all over their bodies, wrinkled faces and the gaunt features of people decades their senior.
The condition is extremely rare and out of around seven billion people on the planet, only 2,000 are thought to have lipodystrophy.
Displaying photos of a beautiful 21-year-old woman on her wedding day in 2006, Phuong said: "Five years ago, I was rather pretty and not so ugly like this, right?"
Phuong explained she has long been allergic to seafood and that she had suffered a particularly bad reaction in 2008.
She said: "I was really itchy all over my body. I had to scratch even while sleeping."
Phuong said she took some medicine bought at a local pharmacy instead of going to the hospital because her and her husband Tuyen, now 33, were too poor to afford it.
She said: "After one month of taking the drugs, I became less itchy but hives remained on my skin.
"Then I switched to traditional medicine and all the hives disappeared, together with my itching. However, my skin began to sag and fold."
Phuong then took another kind of traditional medicine to treat her rapid-aging skin problem - but to no avail.
The couple do not remember what the medicine was or which pharmacy they got it from.
Phuong said: "We considered that it was our destiny and I quit treatment in 2009. Now I always wear a face mask whenever I go out.
"The skin on my face, chest and belly have folds like an old woman who has given birth several times although I have never had a child.
"But the rapid-aging syndrome hasn't affected my menstrual cycle, hair, teeth, eyes and mind."
In 2010, the couple migrated to the southern province of Binh Phuoc's Bu Dop District where they rent a small wooden house.
Tuyen continued to work as a carpenter while Phuong got a job at a cashew-nut processing factory.
Both earn a total of VND3 million - less than £92 a month - which means they cannot afford an examination at a major hospital in Ho Chi Minh City.
Tuyen said his wife's disease has not affected his love for her or their relationship.
He said: "I married Phuong when she was a beautiful woman. I have followed her through her disease and have never been shocked at all.
"It's not easy to talk about one's own marital affairs. Just simply understand that I still love her very much."
Phuong said her husband's love is the reason she is able to persevere in the face of adversity.
She said: "He still loves me like before despite the fact that I look old and ugly. With him, I feel more confident to live and work."
On October 2, doctors from Nguyen Dinh Chieu Hospital in Ben Tre Province said they would examine Phuong for free and send her to the HCMC Dermatology Hospital if they failed to diagnose her condition.
Meanwhile, stories about Phuong in the local media have prompted a variety of diagnoses from local doctors. Many of them do not believe that Phuong has lipodystrophy, saying instead that Phuong may be suffering the side effects of too much steroid medication.

California woman cuts off husband's penis

Catherine Kieu Becker allegedly laced her husband's dinner with a drug

A US woman drugged her estranged husband, tied him to a bed and cut off his penis, police in California say.

The woman then threw the penis into the waste disposal and told police who attended the incident in Garden Grove, near Los Angeles: "He deserved it."
Catherine Kieu Becker, 48, has been charged with poisoning and assault with a deadly weapon.
The 51-year-old victim, who has not been named, is in a serious condition following surgery.
Lt Jeff Nightengale, of Garden Grove police, said the two are going through a divorce.
He said the woman had drugged the man's dinner on Monday night.
"He believed something was wrong with his food," he said.
"The victim went to lie down and he woke up tied to the bed with his wife tugging his clothes off.
"The female cut off his penis with a knife... tossed the penis in the garbage disposal and turned the disposal to the 'on' position.
"The suspect called 911 and told responding officers that he 'deserved it'."
He added: "Officers arrived and located a male victim tied to the bed and bleeding from his groin area."
Ms Becker was arrested on suspicion of aggravated mayhem, false imprisonment, assault with a deadly weapon, administering a drug with intent to commit a felony, poisoning and spousal abuse.

World Conker Championships cancelled because of high winds

Conkers ready for use at a past World Conker Championships, which have been held since 1965. 

This year's World Conker Championships have been cancelled because setting up the event would "simply be too dangerous", organisers said.
The annual competition was due to go ahead on Sunday but will not take place this year because recent high winds have made it impossible to set up the conker playing area and marquees.
A statement on the Ashton Conker Club's website said: "It's with great sadness that we have therefore decided to cancel this year's event. It would simply be too dangerous to try to proceed.
"Please accept our sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused. We will be in touch with all competitors to discuss the 2012 World Conker Championships."
The event usually takes place on the second Sunday in October every year at New Lodge Fields in the market town of Oundle, Northamptonshire, and has been running since 1965.
Competitors play on eight white podiums in the playing arena and go through rounds until the winner emerges and is led to the Conker Throne and crowned with conkers.