As the world economy faces a catastrophic meltdown, Burberry is reporting a 20 percent increase in revenue - up to £539 million - in the six months to September 30.  Wholesale revenue rose 23 percent, and retail rose 3 percent.  All regions apart from Spain showed growth, with Korea, Singapore, and Australia leading the charge.

Cambridge University, consistently ranked in the world’s top 5 universities, doesn’t have the brightest people working for its parking department.  There was an obvious error of the word “college” in the parking sign outside of a parking lot on campus, leaving us wondering if the folks at Cantab are as smart as they say they are.

Cambridge resident Filippo Schiannini, 37, took a photograph of the sign.  “The sign made me chuckle,” said Schiannini, who is an IT consultant.  “Cambridge prides itself on its literary past so its very funny to see such a simple error emblazoned on such a famous college.”

Thanks Telegraph!

Mr. Shah, avoided a £250 parking fine by refusing to leave his car when the car was already on the bed of a tow truck.  Wardens had loaded his BMW 5 Series on to the truck, but lowered it back down after Mr. Shah claimed he was sleeping in the back seat and would not get out (images below).

He later admitted that he snuck into the car when they guys weren’t looking.  Slick, Mr. Shah, very slick. He said that, “It feels like victory. It would have cost me £250 if they had taken it to the pound.”

“I refused to get out and just sat there reading the paper and listening to music for a couple of hours. I even ordered a sandwich from the café over the road.” This went on for about two hours until the tow truck owner got frustrated and let him go. Way to stick it to the man.

Images after the jump

Bloke avoids being towed:

Source:  dailymail

In Finland, a gunman went on a shooting spree at a school killing atleast nine people.  The local 22-year-old, named Maati Saari, was also questioned on Monday because of videos he had posted on YouTube.  Video footage of a man who posted under the name Wumpscut86 and who last visited the YouTube site an hour before the shooting has now been removed.

The school, which calls itself the “Kauhajoki School of Hospitality”, had 150 students and 40 teachers as of 2005, according to the official website. It teaches catering, tourism studies and home economics.

A fire also broke out at the school, but it’s been put out.  There is word that Maati possibly had explosives on him. The shooting started in a classroom where about 20 kids were about to take an exam.

The gunman was shot in the head, but is still alive at this point. He’s been taken to a hospital about two-hours away.

Source: dailymail

David Mwanaka is one of only two black farmers in all of Britain, and it seems odd to him as much as it does to local police. In five days, he was questioned by police three times who accused him of stealing crops. In fact, he recalls one time where four patrol cars turned up at the farm where he rents land to grow maize, pumpkins, sweet potatoes and sweetcorn.

Apparently, people not used to seeing a black farmer reported him and so the police got suspicious. He said he was questioned for half an hour and searched. Officers also checked his van.

He had to call the white farmer from whom he rents his field in before police were finally satisfied that he wasn’t stealing food. “They asked me what I was doing and I told them I was cropping my maize,” he said. “They said they couldn’t believe me so they asked me for my ID and they did some checks on my vehicle.”

The same type of situation happened two more times by different cops. Apparently in the UK, the police’s communication systems are from the 1800s.  Either that or just some random racist prick was calling in reports of a black man stealing crop. The cops came in three or four cars each time, making the situation bigger than it really was.

Source:  telegraph

This is about as absurd as it gets. Zippo’s Circus is one of the UK’s biggest traveling circuses, and they were hit with a heavy blow by council officials today. Birmingham council officials banned the use of musical instruments because it breaches licensing laws.  As part of a six-minute act, the clowns play trumpets and saxophones, but now the act’s turned into silent comedy.

Circus owner Martin Burton claimed the clowns were being picked on as other acts can use instruments and a live keyboard throughout was deemed legitimate.

Apparently, the Licensing Act 2003 in the UK forbids the playing of any live music without a licence. Councils have to think about the four “licensing objectives” when exercising the powers of the Act, which was designed to provide regulated entertainment. They are the prevention of crime and disorder, public safety, prevention of public nuisance, and the protection of children from harm.

“We had to take the music out. The clowns are from Spain, I explained the situation to them and now they thing the English are mad.”  The circus is allowed to apply for licenses but it takes alot of time and consuming more taxpayer dollars.

But Mr Burton said: “Applying for licenses takes an incredible amount of time and resources, ours and the taxpayer’s money.

Source: telegraph

This isn’t the first time, but some of the earliest plates ever registered are always a big ticket item among motoring enthusiasts.  This one in particular, registration mark “S1″ was estimated to take in anywhere from £200,000 and £250,000, but it ended taking a heck of alot more than that.  At £397,500, it set a world record.

It was registered originally in 1903 and was never on the market since.  There were people bidding over the phone and one person was in the auction room.  They were all going at it until the person in the room finally took the round of applause.

In 2005, the auction house which handled tonight’s auction sold registration “1F” for £144,500 and in 2006, it sold “M1″ for a previous world record auction price of £331,500.

The mystery bidder from the company Bold Registrations, who declined to be named, said of the sale: “I believe that number plates in general are a good investment even at this price. The registration number will remain in the UK and will be going on an old red Skoda which will be seen around the Midlands.”

The original owner of the registration number was Sir John HA MacDonald, the Lord Justice Clerk of Scotland from 1888 to 1919. He was also a founding member of the Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland, which later became the RAC, and he was the first president of the Scottish Automobile Club.

Included in the sought after Lot 197 was a DVLA v778 retention certificate, which gives the buyer the right to have S1 as the registration number for their car.

Source:  Telegraph

The Transport for London (TfL) has announced that it will be taking 500 black cabs off the streets until they are given thorough safety checks.  This came just hours after an eighth cab bursted into flames in the past 3 months on Wednesday night.

Drivers of TX4-type cabs with a 56 registration will be contacted on Thursday morning in order to ensure the safety of taxi drivers and their passengers.

“Licences only will be reinstated once LTI have certified that individual vehicles have received a safety check.

Source:  BBC News