[I bet they don't have a camp for this:]
Boy built backyard rollercoaster
A 14-year-old German boy has been ordered to pull down a 300ft long roller coaster which he built in his backyard.
The boy, unnamed due to German privacy laws, from Offenburg built the 16-foot-high wooden construction over the summer holidays.
He even designed his own carriage which can reach speeds of up to 30 mph.
But local town planning officials say he must pull it down again because he did not ask for planning permission.
They say the construction is too large and not built to rollercoaster safety standards. The boy has until mid-September to tear it down if he wants to avoid a fine.
[Considering what they do to there soccer players, the cow got off lucky.]
Cow jailed in Colombia
A cow has been put in prison after it was blamed for a road accident in Colombia.
The cow was wandering along a road in Giron when was hit by a woman on a motorcycle.
The woman was not badly hurt but police decided the cow was a danger and 'arrested' it.
Officers were unable to find out who owns the cow and are keeping it in the town's prison.
A police spokesman said: "If it was a person who caused the accident, he or she would be behind bars, so why not a cow?"
[The cow was really lucky.]
Woman, 93, grabbed robber where it hurts
A 93-year-old woman with a "grip like iron" fought back against a robber by grabbing him by the testicles.
The Lithuanian woman, who says her strong grip is down to years of milking goats, held on to the man until police arrived.
Soja Popova, from Klaipeda, was shoved to the ground when she opened the door to two young men.
But she fought back by grabbing the nearest by the testicles and squeezing "with all my force as hard as I could".
She told police: "He started screaming like an animal and his friend was trying to pull him free, but I have a grip like iron."
The man's screams of agony and his friend's shouts for the woman to let go alerted neighbors, who called police.
The pair were caught after escaping through a bedroom window and into the street where a police car was waiting to take the injured man to hospital and his friend to a jail cell.
A police spokesman said: "They would not have got far, one of them could hardly walk and seemed pleased when he saw the police car. He demanded that he be taken to hospital because he was in so much pain."
Bored student proposes mid-exam
A law student was so bored with his final year paper that he stood up in the middle of the exam and asked his girlfriend to marry him.
Student Edin Smailovic, 29, requested permission to address the rest of the students during an economic law exam at Bijelo Polje University in Montenegro.
Examiners gave their permission believing he had a query regarding the paper that was also of importance to the rest of the group.
But after approaching the front of the room he got down on one knee and asked his 26-year-old girlfriend, Edita Bikic, who was also sitting the exam, to marry him.
"I had planned to take Edita on holiday to Egypt after our exams were over and propose there, but I was so bored with the paper and so excited about the prospect of getting married that I decided I had to ask her there and then," said Smailovic.
Edita said "yes" and the couple are to marry later this month, local daily Glas Javnosti reported.
Monk sets 20th travel record
An Anglican monk has become the first person to travel around all 25 EU countries by public transport.
Brother Michael Bartlett, 64, covered 10,000 miles with a Eurolines coach pass.
He now holds 20 different bizarre travel records including the most flights in 24 hours at 42.
"I am now looking for a 21st record to set and I will keep on travelling. It is wonderful to meet new people and go to new places," he said.
Brother Michael, from Sandy, in Bedfordshire, began his marathon journey in Malta and finished in Dublin to establish the record.
He added: "It was something I just thought would be fun to do and great experience. I have been fascinated with travel since I was a young boy and used to play truant to go on train journeys.
"My fellow travellers through the entire trip were great though they did think I was mad to even attempt the record."
[Public service announcements]
Birth as art
A woman has given birth as part of an exhibition in a German art gallery in front of dozens of spectators.
Ramune Gele, 27, gave birth to her first child, a healthy baby girl named Audra, in the DNA art gallery in the capital Berlin.
The father, 29-year-old musician Winfried Witt, who said before the birth "it's a gift to humanity, a once in a lifetime thing", called the experience "an existential work of art".
Johann Novak, manager of the gallery, said the couple wanted to challenge conventional norms.
"It's a bit of test to see if society can cope," he said.
Some 30 members of the public were contacted when Gele went into labour.
But the "live art exhibition" was heavily criticised by some including doctors and religious leaders.
"A birth is an intimate act, and should remain that way," said Stefan Foerner, 40, spokesman for the Church in Berlin.
Yodelling goes online
Yodelling courses are being offered online after scientists claimed it was healthier than yoga or jogging.
The study, carried out by scientists at Graz University, found that yodelling eased tension and stress by releasing endorphins, as well as giving lungs a healthy workout.
Austrian tourism officials started offering yodelling courses and were astounded by the massive demand with places booked up weeks in advance.
The biggest course in Graz is oversubscribed with almost four applications for every place, so an online yodelling course has now opened up for those who cannot get a place.
Hermann Haertel, a professional yodeller who runs a course in Graz, believes that the time is long overdue for a revival.
He said: "Yodelling is alive again in the Alps - it is the music of the mountains. To yodel one needs to use all one's energy.
"It is a powerful cry that comes from the soul, and once you start it becomes addictive."
Website
http://www.yodelcourse.com offers ten yodelling lessons in six languages that end with a diploma (Certificate of Yodelology) for those who complete the course.