Bumpy road ahead: Mexican coastal highway cracks up and slides 300ft down mountainside into sea after earthquake

A cement truck driver is lucky to be alive after the coastal highway he was driving on in Mexico cracked and sunk some 300 feet down a mountainside into the sea near the U.S. border.

The driver was rescued by heavy machinery before his truck, along with a 300-yard section of the road, which leads to port city Ensenada on the Baja California peninsula, slid into the Pacific Ocean.

While it remains unclear what caused the landslide, fractures in the Tijuana-Ensenada toll road were seen after several small earthquakes ranging from 1.3 to 4.3 in magnitude shook the area on December 19, according to some media reports. By Saturday morning huge cracks appeared in the cliff-side, exacerbated by heavy rain, before it slid into the sea.

The landslide caused gaping holes, one more than 40 feet deep and 200 feet long.

The collapse occurred about 58 miles south of the American border, closing the scenic road near the San Miguel toll booth.

Some media reports suggest that the road may remain closed for up to a year with vehicles advised to use a smaller, alternate freeway.

Gilberto Hirata, the mayor of Ensenada, has blamed the national road authority CAPUFE for not closing the road sooner after pictures and reports of fractures were posted on social media according to SanDiego6.com.

He also said that discussions were underway to build a replacement highway after years of recurring damage on the route.

The day before the landslide, the road authority and the Ministry of Communications and Transport announced that work to strengthen the asphalt had begun on sections of the troublesome highway in sloped areas according to El Mexicano.

The road closure could prove devastating for Ensenada which is home to the third busiest cruise ship terminal in Mexico and the major access point to Baja by sea.

Father, son die in Christmas Day diving accident

A FATHER and his 15-year-old son died while they were testing new diving equipment they received as Christmas presents.

The bodies of Darrin Spivey, 35, and his son Dillon Sanchez were found on Christmas night in an underwater cave they were exploring in Hernando County, Florida, according to the Tampa Tribune.

The newspaper said the pair arrived at the Chassahowitzka Wildlife Refuge around 11am on Wednesday to dive into the 300-foot (91-metre) Eagles Nest Sink – a deceivingly complex cave system which was not recommended for novices.

Spivey’s fiancé Holly King first became concerned that afternoon, when the two had failed to return and she couldn’t reach Spivey on his mobile phone.

Ms King drove herself to the dive site and found their empty car. She alerted the authorities around 7pm.

Recovery divers began searching the waters an hour later and found both bodies by midnight. Sanchez’s body was discovered just inside the cave at 67 feet and his father’s further at 127 feet.

"It was very unfortunate," Assistant Hernando County Fire Chief Kevin Carroll told the Tribune. "Our hearts and prayers go out to the family and friends."

Kiki Lin stuffed cat in jar, posted picture on Facebook and now faces animal abuse charges

A UNIVERSITY student has been charged with animal abuse after punishing her cat by stuffing her in a jar and then posting it on Facebook.

Kiki Lin from Taiwan, posted the image of her cat, which is also named Kiki, saying she did it because it was a "punishment for misbehaving".

In one of the worst cases of animal cruelty, the cat is pictured with its face pushed against the sides of the jar and in distress. It is not known whether the cat could be heard crying for help from inside the jar.

Those who saw the image on Facebook slammed Miss Lin as an animal abuser. But she defended her actions saying they all had "too much time on their hands".

Miss Lin, who attends Taichung's Providence University, told The China Post that she has put her pet in the jar to experiment with different ways of taking it out with her. She claimed that she had only tried it once, but it didn't work because the trapped feline would not fit into a bag.

She told The China Post that her cat weighs in at 4kg, which was too heavy for her to put the cat in her handbag. She claimed that her experiment in using the large jar was reasonable and legitimate.

But when asked by the paper what she would say to her Facebook critics, she said: "I only have three words for them, ha ha ha."

After an investigation, the Taichung City Animal Protection and Health Inspection Office charged Miss Lin with animal protection law violations. If found guilty she could face a fine, and a year in jail.

The case has been referred for further investigation to the Taichung District Prosecutor's office. Lin, currently a Junior university student currently majoring in English, claims to love her cat more than her life. VIA

Flush with love: Wife returns to husband after he promises divorce court that he will build her a toilet

A wife has agreed not to divorce her husband after he promised a court he would get a proper toilet for their home. Savita Malviya, 27, is set to be reunited with her husband in the village of Mundlaana in India, along with her two children.

She and her husband Devkaran, 30, had been married for seven years, but a divorce court heard that Mrs Malviya had moved out to go back to live with her parents.

Mrs Malviya blamed the breakdown of the relationship on the lack of lack of toilet facilities, which she said gave her a 'deep sense of shame'.

Without a fully functioning toilet, the court heard that the family had been forced to answer the call of nature in the open, and that this became unbearable for Mrs Malviya. She filed a case with a local court seeking monthly maintenance for her children, and said that she would not go back to the house unless a toilet was installed.

Mr Malviya assured the court that he would provide a proper toilet in time for the next hearing on January 10. His wife agreed to return home as long as her conditions were met. The couple will now live together again, despite being separated for three years. Via

California Father pumps up the Boobs of both of his Daughters

Daddy's girls Charm and Brittani Niccole have both been given boob jobs - by their plastic surgeon father.

Brittani, 25, first had breast surgery for her 18th birthday and three years later her proud father gave her a new nose for her 21st.

Shockingly, Charm first went under her dad's knife at the tender age of ten when she had her protruding belly button reshaped.

And last month the marketing manager, also 25, had her first boob job taking her from a B to a full C.

The girls from fashionable Orange County on the outskirts of Los Angeles, California, are walking advertisements for their famous father, Dr Michael Niccole.

Smarty Ring Sends Smartphone Updates to Your Finger

One ring to rule them all — or at least manage all of your incoming smartphone alerts. That's the idea behind Smarty Ring, a Bluetooth-enabled wearable gadget that allows users to check smartphone alerts and manage incoming calls right from their finger.

Users can manage the settings for their Smarty Ring from a mobile app, and can even use the device as a watch, timer or phone finder. If a user walks more than 30 feet from his phone (sadly, a rare occurrence these days), the ring will beep to alert him that he's left something behind.

The stainless-steel ring has a 24-hour battery life. Android and iOS devices are all compatible, as long as they have Bluetooth 4.0 capabilities, according to Smarty Ring's Indiegogo page.

Users can manage the settings for their Smarty Ring from a mobile app, and can even use the device as a watch, timer or phone finder. If a user walks more than 30 feet from his phone (sadly, a rare occurrence these days), the ring will beep to alert him that he's left something behind.

The stainless-steel ring has a 24-hour battery life. Android and iOS devices are all compatible, as long as they have Bluetooth 4.0 capabilities, according to Smarty Ring's Indiegogo page.

A beautiful mind: Being attractive can give you better grades and more success at high school

Not being attractive as a teenager may have consequences far more reaching than a bruised ego and scribing the occasional bad poem.

A new study suggests that a pretty face can be a source of lifelong advantage - beginning at secondary school - according to a report prepared for the Council on Contemporary Families.

The report, 'In School, Good Looks Help and Good Looks Hurt (But They Mostly Help)' says that from high school onwards, people rate better-looking people higher in intelligence, personality, and potential for success — and this often creates a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The sociologists behind the study, Rachel Gordon (University of Illinois at Chicago) and Robert Crosnoe (University of Texas at Austin) also say women gain an eight per cent wage bonus for above-average looks and pay a four per cent wage penalty for below-average looks.

For men, the bonus is only four per cent. But the penalty for below-average looks is even higher than for women – a full 13 per cent.

Gordon and Crosnoe argue that 'lookism' creates inequalities comparable to those created by racism, sexism, and family background.

They wrote: '(In high school) youth rated as better looking get higher grades and are more likely to attain a college degree than their peers, setting the stage for better economic outcomes through adulthood.

In fact, the difference in GPA (grade point average) and college graduation rates between youth rated by others as attractive versus average in looks is similar to the differences in academic achievement between youth raised in two-parent versus single-parent families.'

Gordon and Crosnoe’s research suggests that there is a cumulative advantage to being considered attractive that continues to operate long after people’s high school cliques have dissolved.

They find that even when people are listening to phone calls, they tend to 'hear' more warmth and sociability from individuals they have been primed to think are attractive than from individuals who have been portrayed as unattractive.

However, the authors acknowledge that there are some disadvantages to the popularity that comes with being seen as attractive. For instance, they note: 'Youth rated as more physically attractive are more likely to date, have sexual partners, and drink heavily.

'These factors, in turn, have negative consequences for immediate grades and later college completion.'

They concede that a few studies have identified a beauty penalty for women in certain male-dominated occupations.

All in all, they maintain, above-average looks provide people with long-term advantages, while being unattractive is a source of disadvantage.

They suggest that parents and schools should pay more attention to countering the effects of lookism.

However, while sociologist Barbara Risman (University of Illinois/Chicago) applauded the quality of the research, she objected to any equation of lookism with racism.

She said: 'Although looks are in part inherited, babies who are eventually labeled unattractive children do not begin life with the same cumulative disadvantages of, say, African-Americans, who are disproportionately likely to grow up in impoverished communities with inferior schools.'

Ms Risman also reminds us that for men in particular, the disadvantages of being unattractive are often outweighed by other achievements as they age, while even the most attractive women face unfavorable comments on their looks as they age.

Justin Timberlake helps man propose at Louisville concert

Justin Timberlake helped a man propose to his girlfriend during his concert in Louisville last night (December 15). The 'Mirrors' singer invited Josh and Kim to join him on stage after he performed 20/20 Experience track 'That Girl' at the city's KFC Yum! Center.

"Josh called me earlier, he's got something he wants to tell you," Timberlake said, before Josh got down on one knee to propose to Kim.

She accepted his proposal, to the delight of the 22,000-strong crowd. Timberlake is currently taking his '20/20 Experience World Tour' around North America, before heading to the UK and Europe in 2014.

Jessica Biel recently said that she and Timberlake would like to have children "at some point".

Deep fried fish fingers? Chef plunges his hands into a vat of 200C boiling oil

When Prem Singh was asked to lend a helping hand frying fish at his family restaurant he took it rather too literally. The chef, 65, has become famed in the backstreets of Old Delhi for his unique ability to plunge his bare hands into searing cooking oil.

He regularly dips his fingers into a bubbling vat of oil, which is heated up to 200C, to pluck out the fried fish. But incredibly, the veteran fryer says he has never suffered any burns, blisters or ill affects.

Prem Singh said: 'I have been doing this for 25 years. It is just about experience. 'I put my hand into hot oil once. Later I did it again. I soon realized that the hot oil did not do me any harm.'

Each evening Singh's Ganesh eatery has as many onlookers as it does customers.  Singh said: 'Everyone wants me to dip my hand into hot oil. They want to see how I do it.' Singh's father started the small shop called Ganesh in Old Delhi in 1960.

They sold just fried fish, but over the years, Singh has moved to cooking other Indian delicacies too. Singhsays he sells over a hundred kilograms of fried fish each day, thanks to the demand to see him hand fry them.

He also serves other popular Indian delicacies such as tandoori chicken, mutton tikkas and kebabs. Over the years, Singh's appetising fried fish has earned him a fan following, with visitors travelling from across the region to sample it.

Frequent customer, Dipesh, said: 'This is the first thing I do when I land in Delhi for business - I come straight here to eat the fish. It is something I look forward to. 'I am always amazed with the way he pulls the fish out of the pan - you have to see it to believe it. And I must tell you that there is something good about the taste too.'

With the business thriving, Singh's two sons are now chipping in and taking care of the business. Singh's eldest son, Deepak, said: 'We have been here for almost 60 years. Our father ran the business with our grandfather. Now, we are taking it forward.

'We are hoping to expand now, and take the rich history further.' And Singh now hopes his sons will keep up the eateries tradition of the hand fryer. He added: 'They can do it too. It is just about practice. If they keep trying and experimenting, they will get there.'

Mega Millions could break $656M record jackpot after no winners in Friday drawing

Some lucky American is likely to have a very green Christmas this year after the Mega Millions jackpot climbed to $585million when no one matched the winning numbers in Friday's drawing.

Lottery officials say Tuesday's drawing could break 2012's $656million record to become the largest jackpot in world history.

No ticket matched the six numbers needed to win Friday's $425 million prize. The jackpot was raised Saturday to $585 million for Tuesday's drawing - the fourth largest in U.S. history.

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Paula Otto, executive director of the Virginia Lottery and Mega Millions' lead director, told the Associated Press that sales were up by as much as 20 percent in states that reported their weekend numbers.

Sales were expected to spike on Tuesday, the day of the drawing.

'I think we'll be very close to the record, and maybe even surpass it,' Otto said.

'The challenging part in predicting is that so many of the sales happening on the day of the drawing.

But lotto players are procrastinators. They tend to buy on the day of the draw.'

As of Friday, players had bought enough tickets to cover roughly half of the 259 million possible number combinations, Otto said.

The March 30, 2012 Mega Millions jackpot was the largest lottery payout in world history - $656million. Three winners split $474million cash.

In May, grandmother Gloria McKenzie became the biggest single lottery winner ever when she alone won a $590.5million Powerball jackpot in Zephyrhills, Florida.

She took home an estimated $266million lump sum after taxes.

The next Mega Millions drawing will be 11pm EST on Tuesday.

Players must buy tickets by 10.45pm EST Tuesday to be eligible for the drawing.

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