(Image via Xinhuanet)

Zimbabwe is suffering from an inflation crisis. The annual inflation in the African country has rocketed past the 100,000% barrier in Feb 2008, by far the highest in the world (2nd placed Iraq has an estimated inflation of 60%).

Zimbabwe’s currency has tumbled to a record low of 25 million Zimbabwe dollars to one US dollar. 100 US dollars could exchange for nearly 20kg of local currency.

Frankly, it’s hard to imagine how a country would manage to get themselves into the troubled situation. My countrymen would be crying like babies if our annual inflation rates reached 10%… 100,000% inflation? That’s unthinkable.

Cecchini released half a million of coloured plastic balls from the top of the Spanish Steps in Rome on Wednesday (Jan 16)… a prank similar to the famous Sony Bravia commercial.

Cecchini said that he had done the stunt to raise the profile of Burma and the Karen people. He and his three other ‘compatriots’ are later arrested.

The Karen is a minority who have fought for an independent state since 1949, and accuse the military junta of ethnic cleansing. [BBC]

Weird mask and costumes at Festival of Masquerade Games in Simitli (Image courtesy of Xinhuanet)

Masquerade games are popular in Bulgaria and the Balkan region, with people celebrating (and competing) the events in ancient Thracians (and other cultural) costumes. The largest event of its kind is The International Festival of Masquerade Games, which is held in the town of Pernik every even year in January.

Simitli is a small village at the south of Pernik; their masquerade games is relatively new and smaller than Pernik but gaining popularity for its more funky and bizarre masks and costumes.

They were sacked on the grounds that they would ‘interfere with corporate peace’, after they requested a smoke-free environment.

Thomas Jensen, the manager of the 10-person IT company in Buesum, told the Hamburger Morgenpost newspaper he had fired the trio because their non-smoking was causing disruptions.

Germany introduced non-smoking rules in pubs and restaurants on Jan. 1, but Germans working in small offices are still allowed to smoke.

“I can’t be bothered with trouble-makers,” Thomas was quoted saying.

“We’re on the phone all the time and it’s just easier to work while smoking. Everyone picks on smokers these days. It’s time for revenge. I’m only going to hire smokers from now on.”

The government is to hold an emergency meeting to find a solution to the rubbish crisis. Naples dustmen stopped collecting rubbish two weeks ago. With nowhere to put it local people are forced to burn it. The fire brigade has been struggling to put out the fires.

Rubbish crisis in Naples (Image courtesy of Xinhuanet)

Rubbish collection is a perennial problem which has plagued Naples and its politicians for some 15 years. The government is conscious it is under severe pressure to find a solution – but this means tackling the mob.

The Camorra, the Neapolitan version of the Mafia, has turned this into a hugely profitable business. They have sabotaged every effort to build hi-tech incinerators, so that Naples must rely on landfill sites, where they can hide the domestic and industrial waste, which they chuck in from all around the country.

Millions of tonnes of it have been dumped illegally in the sea or in the countryside, untreated and highly toxic. Doctors say cancer rates in Naples are much higher than the national average. [BBC]

I won’t be surprise if this kind of rubbish and health crisis is happening in a 3rd world country; it’s unthinkable that it is happening in Italy… the story is good enough to make into a movie.

Chocolate strawberry

One of their latest products is a strawberry infused with white chocolate. On the outside it’s an everyday garden-variety dried strawberry, but break the surface and it looks like the fruit contains white chocolate in its fibers.

The trick is to first freeze-dry the strawberry to remove the water, and then infuse the white chocolate into the spaces left behind. It gave it that extra taste without spoiling the strawberry’s original texture.

The company has hopes to take the technology further than creating hybrid food; their concept is that people can take supplements easily and deliciously. For example rice infused with various nutrients could be produced for seniors who can’t eat very much.

The company spokesman also added that the concept and technology could be adapted for fields like cosmetics and medicine. [Japantimes]

I want a chicken that taste like beef… I wonder how it would taste like.

The six members of the Prague-based Ztohoven group were charged last month with spreading false information and face up to three years in jail if convicted, said Dusan Ondracek, the state prosecutor in the northern town of Trutnov, who is in charge of the case.

On June 17, viewers of a Czech television channel watching a Web cam program monitoring weather in various Czech mountain resorts could see a nuclear explosion taking place in the Krkonose or Giant Mountains in the northern Czech Republic. [CNN]

Heat sensitive toilet seat… orange = cool… yellow = hot [Hat tip to CDR and Boingboing]

“Being able to identify a public toilet seat that has just been sat upon (and is thus still warm) is of particular concern to a significant number of the population. Without warning, one can easily sit upon a seat and be instantly repulsed by the trace evidence of a previous user. Conversely, if one is looking for intimate contact with an anonymous stranger without the associated awkwardness of verbal discourse, one could seek out the warm toilet seat. The decision to sit or not to sit is facilitated by the colour change of the seat: orange=cool, yellow=hot. The object retains the heat memory of a previous user and displays it as a visual marker for the next user to assess. [Plusminus]

I thought Japanese are the only people coming out with abnormal toilet stuff… I was wrong.

Snail eggs becoming special delicacy in France (Image courtesy of Xinhuanet)

Snail farmers in France occasionally produce some snail eggs… but the caviar are not really tasty. Dominique and Sylvie Pierru, a couple of snail farmers from Soissons in the Picardie region northeast of Paris, has found a way to make the snail caviar into tasty stuff.

Their snail caviar, called “De Jaeger”, hit the shelves in October 2007 and retails for 80 euros (USD115) per 50 grams. Despite the high pricing, the snail caviar is in high demand during the Christmas season as food lovers in France are always eager to explore new gourmet experience.

Thanks to a special bacteria in their stomachs, kangaroos do not emit harmful methane gas when they let off a stinker. Australian scientists are now planning to transfer that bacteria into cows and sheep to make their flatulence eco-friendly.

It will take researchers about three years to isolate the bacteria before they can think of a way to transfer it to other animals. [Metro]

Methane is the principal component of natural gas, and also a potent greenhouse gas that could trap 25 times as much heat of carbon dioxide of the same mass.

With billions of cows and sheeps worldwide… the methane released from their fart could have serious impact on global warming.

The winning bid on Saturday night (Dec 1) came from Macau casino mogul Stanley Ho, bidding by phone via his partner Angela Leong, who was on stage with the auctioneer.

Ho beat British artist Damien Hirst and Sheik Mansoor Bin Zayed al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi for the prized fungus. Truffles can vary considerably in size and are prized in Italian cooking for their flavour and aroma.

Proceeds from the auction were donated to charities including the Caritas in China, Consortium for Street Children in the UK, and the Telethon in Italy. [Reuters]

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Btw, I think I saw Celine Dion.

The project arose from a chance encounter.

“Storefront director Joseph Grima was travelling in Asia on business and saw a model of the dome in my office,” recalls project architect Minsuk Cho, a founding member of Mass Studies.

Grima wanted a dome three times larger than the one in Cho’s design, but for roughly the same cost, so Cho used hula hoops and zip ties, and it was assembled by volunteers. [Iconeye, via Neatorama]

Hula hoops dome (Image courtesy of Alan R Tansey)

The dome reminds me of the Louvre Pyramid in Paris at first glance.

Scandinavian feminists were outraged when two women were asked to cover up their breasts by a lifeguard at a public pool near Stockholm.

A spokeswoman for the group said: ‘We want our breasts to be as normal and desexualised as men’s, so that we too can pull off our shirts at football matches.’

So far, the campaign’s strategy has been devastatingly effective. Members of Just Breasts have been jumping into swimming pools across the country wearing nothing more than bikini bottoms. [Metro]

I bet Swedish men are happily supporting the cause as well.

The 33-year-old man married the sari-draped dog at a temple in the southern state of Tamil Nadu on Sunday after an astrologer said it was the only way to cure himself of a disability, the Hindustan Times newspaper reported.

P. Selvakumar told the paper that he had been suffering since he stoned two dogs to death and strung them up in a tree 15 years ago. [Smh]

I hope the man still has enough sanity to not make love with his ‘bride’.

A one-kilometer (half-mile) stretch of beach on Terschelling island, 115 kilometers (70 miles) north of Amsterdam, was littered with bunches of unripe fruit from Cuba. Bananas also washed up on neighboring Ameland island.

Lots of bananas… (Image courtesy of Metro)