Ireland

Seven Days

A glance at the week that was

Sat Feb 19 2011 - 00:00

A glance at the week that was

Twig this

An Englishman lost for five days in the wilds was rescued after he spelt out the word help with tree branches. James Esbester of Waterlooville, Hants, had hiked to the summit of Mt Luna (5,347ft) in Kahurangi National Park in New Zealand, but he got disoriented on the descent and walked the wrong way.

Hungry, tired and unable to see more than two feet in front of him because his contact lenses had become too uncomfortable, he eventually found a clearing where he could be seen from the air, and collected enough branches to build a makeshift hut and spell out his SOS.

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“I did not want to die up there,” he said after he was spotted by a search and rescue helicopter.

What a bozo

You may think our politicians are a bunch of clowns, but Brazil can boast a real life clown in government.

Francisco Everardo Oliveira Silva, who goes by the professional name of Tiririca (not quite as catchy as Bozo), has won a seat in Brazil’s congress by a landslide.

He ran for congress last October using the campaign slogan “It can’t get any worse” and promised to monitor other politicians on behalf of voters.

In typical clownish fashion, however, when casting his first vote to back the government’s austerity proposal, Tririca accidentally pressed the wrong button on a computerised voting machine, and voted for the opposition instead.

We now know

The New York City health department has put out an app that allows people to locate the nearest place handing out free condoms.

Young men who go bald in their 20s are twice as likely to develop prostate canceras men who lose their hair in later life.

Canada is the chosen destination for Prince Williamand Kate Middleton's first overseas trip as a married couple.

The numbers

€3.8m

The pension pot of former Anglo chief David Drumm. The bank wants to seize it before he can start drawing from it in 2022.

€28m

The estimated cost of Tourism Ireland's biggest-ever spring promotional drive.

€31m

The drop in value of Dublin Airport's Clarion Hotel,valued at €43m in 2008 but now worth just €12m.

51%

Republicans in the US who are “birthers”, ie they believe Barack Obama was born outside the US.

8

The number of children sired by Rod Stewart (66) whose wife, Penny Lancaster, right, has just given birth to a baby boy.

€1m

The budget for Ireland’s mysterious “secret service”, up from €581,000 last year, according to figures released by the Department of Finance.