The Magpie:A HAWAIIAN hospital has reviewed its rules on pets after a man took a horse up in a lift to cheer up a sick relative.
Man and beast were stopped by security guards only after reaching the third floor, after apparently passing through the lobby unchallenged. The patient was allowed to see them - but after all that it turned out to be the wrong horse.
A hospital spokeswoman said there was a visitation policy for dogs and cats, but not for horses. "We just hope people understand this is not a place for a horse," said Lani Yukimura at Wilcox Memorial Hospital.
Security managed to remove the visitor and the horse with "just a few scuff marks", she added.
***
An airline pilot took his passengers on a 1,200-mile detour after refusing to land at a new airport in India because he had never heard of it.
With 233 passengers on board, the KLM Royal Dutch Airlines pilot first diverted the flight to Hyderabad from Amsterdam northwards to New Delhi. But after he was denied permission to land in New Delhi, he flew on to Mumbai and finally landed two hours later.
The pilot reportedly claimed he knew nothing about Hyderabad's new Rajiv Gandhi International Airport. Airport officials insisted all airlines had been notified of it opening on March 14th.
But a report in the Times of India revealed a number of pilots had complained their flight computers did not recognise the airport. The computers believed the aircraft were descending at an unknown place and issued verbal warnings, saying: "Terrain, terrain, pull up. Too low."
***
Singapore is offering students lessons in seduction in an attempt to boost the city state's declining birth rate.
Students at two polytechnics can earn credits towards their final degree by choosing the love course. Activities include watching romantic films, holding hands and "love song analysis", the Daily Telegraph reported.
Besides "love and sexuality", the curriculum also deals with the importance of family life. The trainers are provided by the Social Development Unit, a government match-making agency that has married off 33,000 people since it was established in 1984.
Mechanical engineering student Isabel Seet (18) said: "My teacher said if a guy looks into my eyes for more than five seconds, it could mean that he is attracted to me and I stand a chance."
***
A shepherd is suing Russia's space agency for compensation after he said a 10ft-long chunk of metal from a space rocket fell into his yard, just missing his outdoor toilet.
Boris Urmatov, who is asking for one million roubles (€27,000) from the Roskosmos agency, lives in a village that lies underneath the flight path of rockets taking off from the Baikonur launchpad Russia leases in nearby Kazakhstan.
"Something woke him up in the night, like something exploded. Since he's visually handicapped he didn't notice the fallen rocket parts," Urmatov's sister Marina said in Kyrlyk village, in Russia's Altai region, 3,500km east of Moscow. "But in the morning in front of the shepherd hut he saw this enormous metal casing, as smooth as an egg. It nearly crushed the outhouse."
Residents in the neighbouring village of Ust-Kan said rocket pieces regularly rain down on their area. "Sometimes it's smooth metal casings, sometimes it's bolts. I remember something like an engine fell once," said Anatoly Kazakov.
***
Police rescued two teenage Bulgarian sisters from a circus in southern Italy which forced one of them to swim with flesh-eating piranhas to amuse guests, police said.
While the 19-year-old sister swam in a transparent tank, the 16-year-old was forced into a container where the circus staff tossed snakes at her. She was injured by one of the snakes, police said.