Starbucks ousted from Forbidden City
To replace a controversial Starbucks café, a local coffee shop has been opened in the heart of the Forbidden City, formerly the Chinese imperial palace. The Starbucks’ opening in 2000 prompted such a severe media backlash that authorities considered revoking the café’s lease after only a few months.
Earlier this year, a TV anchorman’s complaint about the presence of a U.S. chain in the symbolic heart of the Chinese nation prompted a campaign for the café’s closure.
The company finally closed the branch in July. The Forbidden City Café was opened to replace the coffee shop. It sells coffee as well as traditional Chinese teas. The café is run by the Palace Museum, which manages the former palace grounds.
Car heist made easy
Three Mexican minors detained in California for suspicion of smuggling drugs stole a U.S. Border Patrol car and drove themselves back to Mexico. The minors managed this feat while wearing handcuffs.
A Border Patrol agent picked up the boys when he found them driving a pick-up truck on a remote stretch of California highway. He was suspicious that they were carrying marijuana
so he handcuffed them, put them in his patrol car and searched the truck.
The agent made the unfortunate mistake of leaving his keys in the ignition and the car running, so it wasn’t hard for the boys to take control of the vehicle and make their way back to Mexico. Mexican police located the patrol car in a remote agricultural area near the border.
Drinking prank goes too far
An Australian barmaid who served a client a shot of disinfectant as a joke appeared in court on four charges of intentionally causing injury. At 6 in the morning, the 23-year-old nightclub bar worker served a patron on a drinking binge a 30-milliliter shot glass of disinfectant Pine-O-Cleen as a prank. The man then became violently ill. The woman’s lawyer claimed the incident was a “misguided joke at an ungodly hour.”
The shot of cleaner came after the woman had spent some time serving the patron plain water. In addition to making him sick, the cleaner also caused the man to develop ulcers on his skin. This is apparently not the first time this prankster has struck. She once covered a bar in sticky tape. The woman lost her job and her case was adjourned until February.
Rude man’s penis reattached
Doctors in Malaysia have managed to reattach a man’s nearly severed penis. The man’s first wife, enraged by his comparison of her sex skills with those of his younger second wife, decided to chop off his penis with a kitchen knife.
The 43-year-old man was in bed with his first wife, 48, discussing his brand-new second wife, who is in her 30s.
Despite incredible pain, the man managed to put on pants and ride his motorcycle to the hospital. It took doctors 17 stitches to reattach the organ. After the man complained to the police, his first wife was arrested. Police plan to charge her with voluntarily causing grievous hurt with a dangerous weapon, which carries the penalty of a fine and up to three years in jail.