The News at Net from NIT

Severe fear of flying

A cricket fan cycled from England to Australia in time for the first Ashes Test to raise money for charity. Oli Broom, 29, arrived in the Gabba ground in Brisbane on the day the first test opened after nearly 14 months of pedalling.

England captain Andrew Strauss presented the cyclist with a signed shirt as a reward for his effort. All that way and all he gets is an England shirt? He left Lords cricket ground on the 10th of October last year with 17 friends, they gave up when they reached the South Coast, obviously he was the only one with the Godly gift of cycling on water. I never get that when people say they ran round the world, no you didn't. It's like a round the world yachts person taking a plane, or a boat, well a bigger one. The thrashing of England starts today.

Vee are not amused
German home-owners who have opted out of Google's Street View appear to have been targeted by vandals. Properties in Essen which have chosen to be blurred on the service have been pelted with eggs, flour and milk, the houses also had notices reading "Google's cool" pinned to their door, one resident said "They have taken a right battering" (Don't be silly, it's in Germany.)

Street View is only now being used across Germany after the German government insisted citizens have the option to opt out. Almost 250,000 Germans requested that Google blur pictures of their homes, before the service went live.

Google said the company respected people's right to privacy and described the vandalism as a one-off incident. Was that a 250,000 off incident? "We respect people's right to remove their house from Street View and by no means consider this to be acceptable behaviour," the spokesperson added.

Since going live in Germany, the service has captured a series of bizarre events, including a naked man climbing into the boot of his car on the driveway of a house in Mannheim, south-west Germany. Another camera appeared to capture the birth of a baby on a street in a Berlin suburb. I guess that will end up on youfallopiantube.

No sex but plenty of rock and roll

Pranksters tricked a motel guest into smashing up his room in a search for hidden cameras and a trapped dwarf. The 73-year-old man wrecked the television, mirrors, the toilet and a wall before realising he had been duped.

Joseph Jones was staying at a Motel 6 in Spartanburg, South Carolina, when he received a late night telephone call from someone claiming to be the motel manager and asked Mr Jones to help him get rid of highly sophisticated cameras installed by the previous guest.

He told the pensioner to unplug the television and use the toilet seat to smash it open. When the TV didn't break he was told to throw it out of the window. The caller then said more cameras were hidden behind the mirrors and ordered Mr Jones to smash them with a spanner he found in his room.

They then claimed a 4ft 3ins midget was barricaded in the next room and asked him to try to break through the internal wall to help police free him. Paul Daniels? He managed to break through to the next room before his rampage of destruction was ended following complaints from other motel guests.

Police said the incident was similar to a number of similar pranks played on hotel and motel guests throughout the US. A Motel spokesman said: "We are grateful that, although the room and its contents suffered damage, none of our guests or team members were injured as a result of this incident."

No charges were filed against the old man but he has been offered a roadies job on a forthcoming Rolling Stones tour.

And finally......

An Essex pensioner has lost his life savings of £80,000 after leaving it on the roof of his car and driving off. I know how he feels, I did that with a mobile phone a few years ago. No I didn't get it back, it was a right off, as was the car behind it hit.

The 68 year old who never trusted banks has spent his entire working life saving £2,000 a year requested to remain anonymous. Check out The Sun newspaper tomorrow for name, address and all information on past girlfriends.