News of the World: What you missed this week internationally
AUSTRALIA
Don’t worry, they’ve got them covered. Sydney beachgoers have been banned from boarding a community bus while shirtless or in bikinis.
The Hop, Skip and Jump bus, which travels through the northern suburbs of the capital city, erected a sign that states, “Please dress appropriately. Clothing must be worn over swimwear,” after getting complaints from older riders uncomfortable seeing skin.
MALTA
This is one sweet feat. A Maltese chocolatier earned a Guinness World Records title by crafting the world’s longest chocolate sculpture.
Andrew Farrugia’s over 181-foot chocolate train, which was made with over 6,600 pounds of Belgian chocolate, is longer than an Olympic-sized swimming pool.
MEXICO
It’s a golden opportunity. Mexico will unveil its first-ever 25-peso coin made of pure gold to celebrate this summer’s World Cup.
The country, which is hosting in three cities — Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey — will also be releasing a pure silver 10-peso coin and a bimetallic 20-peso one.
Mexico is the first country to host the World Cup for the third time, as it played host to the soccer tournament in both 1970 and 1986.
CHINA
“Harry Potter” villain Draco Malfoy has become an unlikely mascot for the Lunar New Year. The face of Tom Felton, who portrayed the character in the movie series, has been slapped on merch for the Year of the Horse.
The reason behind his sudden surge is popularity is due to the fact that the Chinese translation of Malfoy, is “Ma-er-fu,” which includes the words for horse and fortune.
NEW ZEALAND
A serial thief who has been pilfering towels, shoes and underwear from a Whakatāne school turned out to be a light-pawed feline. After close to a year of stealing from students at Apanui School, the brazen black cat was finally caught in the act on a security camera.
The school shared the video, which shows the animal dragging a towel across the playground, on its Facebook page.
“When a pair of togs [swimming trunks] and a towel went missing, my office lady checked the cameras for our wee offender and he was witnessed, and a large stash was found at the back of the PE shed,” Principal Marama Stewart told Stuff.co.nz.
With Wires
