20070303

Rules force man to urinate in bottle in exam

Exam supervisors at a German university stuck to rules so rigidly that a man with a bladder dysfunction had to urinate in a bottle in front of 120 fellow students because they would not let him go to the toilet.

Overseers at the University of Freiburg in southwestern Germany told the 27-year-old, whose bladder control was impaired in an accident that left him on crutches, that he would be failed if he left the room during the exam.

None of the three supervisors would accompany the man to the toilet despite other students' protests.

Eventually one female student emptied her water bottle so the man could go to a corner of the room and relieve himself.

In a letter written on Wednesday and seen by Reuters, university deputy head Karl-Reinhard Volz apologized to the student, saying the supervisors' behavior was completely unjustified and "lacking in any normal human sensitivity".

20070107

WW2 bomb find forces evacuation at Hanover Zoo

Around 500 people and more than 2,000 animals were evacuated on Friday after a 500-pound (227 kilograms) World War Two bomb was unearthed in the camel enclosure at Hanover Zoo.

"The bomb was located during construction work because the cage is being remodelled," zoo spokeswoman Simone Hagenmeier told Reuters, adding that the device was about two metres (6.6 feet) under the ground.

The camels were not in residence, having already been moved to other zoos last month, she said.

The bomb was made safe by disposal experts, according to Jessica Aderholdt, a spokeswoman for Hanover police.