Cinematic Compensation

A Chinese woman is suing a cinema and a film's distributors for wasting her time by showing 20 minutes of adverts before it started, according to state media.

Chen Xiaomei claims the Polybona International Cinema in the northern city of Xian and film distributors Huayi Brothers Media Corporation should have told her how long the advertisements for the film Aftershock lasted, Xinhua news agency said.

Ms Chen, who is a lawyer, has accused Polybona and Huayi Brothers of wasting her time and violating her freedom of choice.
The case has been accepted by the People's Court in Xian, the capital of Shaanxi province, Xinhua said, citing a statement from the court.
Ms Chen is demanding the companies refund her 35-yuan ticket (£3.30), pay her 35 yuan in compensation and one yuan (10p) for emotional damages and write her an apology, the report said.
She has also advised the cinema to publish the advertisement times on its website, in the lobby or on its customer hotline and asked Huayi Brothers to cut the length of commercials to less than five minutes.

Candid Bomb

An Iraqi prank television show has taken the 'candid camera' format to a new level after planting fake bombs under celebrities' cars.The programme, “Put Him In Bucca”, also threatens high-profile contests with jail in a maximum-security prison despite their protests of innocence.
The show, broadcast on the Al-Baghdadia Network , targets famous Iraqi singers, comedians and artists. 
It is named after the US military’s Camp Bucca high security prison that held thousands of Iraqi detainees before being closed in 2009.
Participants are invited to the station’s studios for an interview but as they arrive are subjected to a checkpoint complete actors posing as police and security personnel.
As they wait outside the building a fake improvised explosive device (IED) is then planted in the car before they are accused of being suicide bombers and threatened with prison.
But the programme has attracted criticism as being in bad taste, in a country where suicide bombings remain frequent.
The show has continued to be broadcast throughout the fasting month of Ramadan despite numerous protests being held objecting to its making fun of a serious issue.
Despite celebrities later giving permission for the show to air, some appeared to be have been shocked by the experience.
"I expected it to be a candid camera show but didn't expect all the army facilities and this level of acting," said actress Asia Kamal, who was targeted by the pranksters.

Sandwich Misslies

Lawyers, reporters and visitors have been banned from taking sandwiches into a court building to prevent them being used as missiles.Bottles of water and crisps are also prohibited at High Wycombe Magistrates' Court, in England, because they pose a "health and safety hazard." 

Visitors to all courts around the country are searched by security staff for knives and weapons as they enter. 
But staff at the court in High Wycombe have also been told to seize packed lunches.
Grieving families attending inquests into the deaths of loved ones were even told they could not bring in bottled water.
An official at the court said: "The concern is that people are going to use their food as a missile and fling it down the stairs at people.
"Apparently there have been incidents of lunches being thrown around in the past - so we have had to introduce these rules for everyone regardless of who they are or why they are here."

Ghostly Reality

A man searching for a legendary “ghost train” was killed when a real locomotive came down the tracks and hit him.Christopher Kaiser, 29, had gathered with around 12 others on the anniversary of a crash that happened near Statesville, North Carolina at 3am on Aug 27, 1891.
The crash 119 years ago saw seven carriages fall off a rail bridge into a ravine and 30 people died. 

According to local legend the sounds of the accident, including the whistle of the train and the screams of passengers, can be heard again on the anniversary and each year people go to listen. On the centenary of the crash in 1991 more than 150 people turned up.
Mr Kaiser was waiting on a trestle at 2.45am when the real train, which consisted of three locomotives, came round a bend.
The ghost hunters began running back along the trestle and most of them made it the 150ft to safety.
According to witnesses Mr Kaiser pushed a woman with him to safety.
She fell at least 30ft from the trestle and was being treated for injuries. Another person was also injured.
A police spokesman said: “During the investigation, witnesses told deputies they were at the site in hopes of seeing a 'ghost train.’ “Twelve people, who were amateur ghost hunters, were caught on the trestle when the train rounded the bend. All indications at this point are this is an accident.”

Dangerous Spider

A man suffered flash burns after he accidentally blew himself up trying to kill a spider.

The 28 year-old suffered severe burns after attacking the arachnid with an aerosol can at his home in Clacton in Essex.

The man was summoned by his wife to deal with a spider she had seen scuttling behind the lavatory on Monday. Not being able to reach it, the man decided to kill it by spraying it with the can. 
However he was unable to see whether it was dead because the bulb in the bathroom light had blown. At this point he turned to a cigarette lighter to illuminate the room, but in the process ignited the gas fumes and caused an explosion.
The blast was so strong it blew the man off his feet and lifted the loft door off its hinges.
He suffered flash burns to his head, legs and torso and was rushed by ambulance to hospital after dousing himself in cold water.