Two train carriages have plunged into a river in south western China after floods washed away part of a bridge. Heavy rains caused support columns to collapse leaving part of the train suspended above the fast-flowing water. The carriages held together just long enough for everyone to escape.

A young woman emerged unscathed when two cars swerved onto the pavement she was walking along. A mini-van driving full-speed hit a Lada on a crossroads. After colliding, both cars turned around and smashed into the nearby building. The woman heard the sound of collision and rushed back just in time to avoid the horrific blow: she literally jumped from under the wheels.

A bull has injured 40 people after leaping into the packed grandstands of a Spanish bullring in the northern town of Tafalla. The animal was brought under control after several minutes and later killed. Aljazeera.net

A pilot, who survived after his plane’s wings came off, says he’ll continue flying. Spectators at an air show in Argentina saw a small plane crash into the ground during a manoeuver. The pilot was strapped into his seat when he pulled his parachute, and the plane was lowered to the ground leaving him with little more than a burnt foot.

A BBC weatherman has been caught making lewd hand gestures to his colleagues by flipping them the middle finger on live TV.

metro.co.uk

Tomasz Schafernaker will be getting a hard word from the BBC after making the offensive sign at presenters Simon McCoy and Fiona Armstrong.

His gaffe came after news anchor McCoy made fun of the weatherman by saying: ‘Now we will have the weather forecast in a minute and of course it will be 100 per cent accurate and provide all the detail you can possibly want.

‘I’ve just seen Tom Schafernaker preparing for it.’

Little did the weatherman know that at that point the camera was going to shoot over to him live and he was left red-faced with embarrassment.

He quickly tried to recover by pretending to scratch his face but the 31-year-old could disguise it completely.

A BBC spokesman said: ‘Tomasz was not aware that he was on air, and whilst the gesture was only shown for a second, it was not acceptable.

‘The News Channel presenter live in the studio acknowledged a mistake had been made, and we apologise for any offence caused.’

Source

A former Israeli soldier has posted photos on the internet of herself posing beside bound and blindfolded Palestinian prisoners. She entitled the facebook page as, “the best days of my life”. The Israeli military condemned the behaviour as shameful and pledged an investigation. The Palestinian Authority said the incident was proof the four-decade-long occupation of Palestine has led to Israelis being proud of humiliating Palestinians.

An off-road truck has ploughed into spectators at a night rally in southern California, killing eight people. Twelve others were injured – with some airlifted to hospital. The driver had to flee the crash site when the crowd turned against him. It’s thought he lost control of the vehicle after mistiming a jump at the start of the race. The annual California 200 event attracts thousands to watch dune buggy-style cars leap different obstacles. (News quoted via RT.com)

Indonesia’s top religious body has declared a premium coffee made from civet cat droppings fit for Muslims to drink.

The proclamation has brought relief to farmers who can now continue exporting Kopi Luwak, the world’s most expensive coffee.

A giant clock on a skyscraper in Islam’s holiest city Mecca began ticking on Wednesday at the start of the fasting month of Ramadan, amid hopes by Saudi Arabia it will become the Muslim world’s official timekeeper.

Facts :

The Mecca Clock, which Riyadh says is the world’s largest, has four faces measuring 43 metres in diameter.

The clock will dwarf London’s Big Ben, once the largest four-faced clock in the world, with dials more than five times greater in area.

The around 130 foot (40 meter) diameter Saudi clock dials are also bigger than the current world champion at the Cevahir Mall clock in Istanbul, which has a 36 meter face set in the transparent roof of the shopping complex.

Over 90 million pieces of coloured glass mosaic embellish the sides of the clock, which has four faces each bearing a large inscription of the name “Allah”. It is visible from all corners of the city, the state news agency said.

Each face will be inscribed with “God is greatest” in Arabic and fitted with thousands of colored lights. The clock will be visible from more than 16 miles (25 kilometers).

A huge golden crescent moon, 75 feet (23 meters) in diameter, will eventually rise above the clock on a 200 foot (61 meter) spire, from which some 15 beams will shoot up into the sky. The entire clock, from the base up to the crescent, itself will be 820 feet (251 meters) high.

At 151 feet in diameter, the four clock faces on the Mecca Royal Clock Hotel Tower is just about as wide as an American 160-foot-wide football field, and absolutely dwarfs the world’s most famous tower clock faces, Big Ben’s 23-footers. It also takes advantage of modern technology, as its four faces will light up the sky with two million LEDs.

German and Swiss engineers designed the clock and according to the Ministry of Religious Endowments, the entire project will cost $800 million.

The seven tower complex is being built by developer Saudi Binladen Group, the press agency reported.

Quoted from below sources :

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/594707-worlds-biggest-clock-starts-functioning-in-mecca

http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=184413

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20100811/tsc-oukoe-uk-saudi-mecca-clock-011ccfa.html

http://www.constructionweekonline.com/pics-9202-in-pictures-world-largest-clock-in-makkah/0

Iraqi police have employed a new canine security force in their fight against bomb attacks.

Up to 100 dogs will be deployed at various checkpoints across the country with the aim of sniffing out explosives from vehicles passing by.

Al Jazeera’s Rawya Rageh reports from Baghdad on why the animals are proving more successful than modern technology to detect bombs.