30 November 2007: Teachers can be criticised

A German court has ruled that students have the right to criticise their teachers and publish their opinions on the Internet, as long as the words used are not defamatory.

The court in Cologne rejected a complaint by a teacher against the operators of a website (http://www.spickmich.de) on which students can class their teachers in categories such as "cool and funny", "sexy" and "gives fair marks".

The teacher had been given a very low rating on the website.

The website says it has more than 150,000 contributing students.

29 November 2007: Brief Encounter

It's cold in Denmark at this time of year, so an amorous couple who couldn't wait until they got home, decided to consummate their relationship in the waiting room of the station.

This annoyed the other travellers, who were forced to go out onto the freezing platforms to avoid embarrassment. They called in the police to derail the couple's activities.

A police spokesman remarked that, despite what they were doing, the pair were still dressed when the officers arrived. "That's why we didn't charge them with indecency," he said.

27 November 2007: Guard your valuables, at all times

A German father had a heart-stopping moment when he popped into the bank to get some money, leaving his car outside, with his 18-month-old baby asleep in the back. When he came out he found the car had vanished.

Fearing an abduction Police scrambled a team of 50 officers as well as a helicopter to track down the missing vehicle and child.

However the car was found nearby a short while later, with the baby boy still fast asleep inside. The baby seemed to have slept through the whole thing.

Police believe the car had been stolen by a thief who, having discovered the baby in the back, thought better of his crime and returned the vehicle.

What the baby's mother said to her negligent husband was not recorded.

26 November 2007: Massive Government Waste

According to figures compiled by its national Audit Office the German government wasted nearly one-and-a half billion pounds last year.

Examples cited in the Federal Audit Office's 2007 annual review of government spending, which found a lack of oversight in 85 percent of the cases it investigated, included:

• Renting computers for three years which could have been bought for about 85% of the cost;
  
• About 135 million pounds spent on a piece of railway track that was never built;
  
• Maintenance of an underground air surveillance bunker that serves no military purpose;
  
• The development of new seats for vehicles to carry elderly people, where the vehicles are now deemed so unsafe they can't be used on public roads.

"These are very troubling findings," the auditors said in a statement.

23 November 2007: Topless Calendar Surprise

A woman has caused surprise by posing for a topless calendar. That itself is not unusual; what caused the surprise is that Nora Hardwick is 101 years old.

Ms Hardwick will be Miss November in the calendar, which will raise money for a children's football team in her village in Lincolnshire.

Speaking to a local newspaper she said "I am always game for anything, especially if it's for charity, and I did enjoy it, though I don't suppose I will do it again."

The initiative echoes the calendar put together by the Rylstone and District Women's Institute in North Yorkshire, the story of which was told in the 2003 film "Calendar Girls".