Horse robber

Brazilian police have arrested a teenager who rode a horse into a busy district of Rio de janeiro and, brandishing a toy gun, forced a man to handover his cell phone. Police recently said that a 15 year old had confessed he borrowed the horse from a neighbour in Rio slum where he lives and committed the crme after being promised $20 for a phone with a camera by members of a local crminal gang. He rode the horse into the courtyard of a hospital in Rio's Meire neighbourhood and snatched the phone from a man waiting in line there. When police caught up with him a few blocks away, he was on foot and the horse was nowhere to be seen.

Getting Knotty

Nearly 200 Bolivian couples aged from 18 to 77 got hitched in a mass wedding in a aports stadium, taking advantage of the free ceremony, organisers said on Sunday. Some of the couples opeted for white bridal gowns and tuxedos at the civil ceremony in the Capital La paz while others said "I do" wearing traditional dress. Catalina Paz, who has lived with her patner Florencio Gonzales for 37 years, said that they finally decided to get married because their children them to. "Our grand children will definately be watching us from the stands," she was quoted as saying. "But above all, it was about romance, especially when they said, "I do" and kissed"

Penny- wise ???

A Canadian Credit Card holder is putting a new twist on an old trick practised by disgruntled debtors -- repaying his bills in pennies to miximise the collector's inconvenience.

Unhappy when his Canadian bank began outsourcing some of its credit card processing to the United States, the man lodged his protest via the bank's online payment system, jamming its computers by making dozens of tiny payments a day.

Don Rogers said he was worried that anti-terrorism laws in the United States could allow the U.S. Government to access his data without his consent. "i dont want CIA or Gearge Bush to know how many cases of Viagra I bought last week, or what church or charities I donate to," he said.

Off the hook

Swedish police caught a burglar after he answered a phone he had just stolen and did not hang up, letting them eavesdrop on his get away ride in a taxi. The man broke into a house in Overtornea in the far north of Sweden, stealing a mobile phone and other possesions. The police rang up the stolen phone and heard him swearing about the late arrival of a taxi which he had ordered to take him to neighbouring Kalix, 37 miles away. "The thief anwsered the phone but then just put it away without turning it off," said Overtornea police man Kurt Paavola the police tracked down the taxi and arrested the man late Monday.