Animals living in BMW car engine

A car-owner in the South African capital Johannesburg was driven to desperation when she found a family of Cape Hyrax, small animals that resemble guinea pigs, living in the engine of her BMW, AFP reports from Johannesburg.

Hoping to shake off the short-eared, short-tailed creatures known locally as dassies she drove at high speed to a dealership on the other side of town, but failing to do so dumped the vehicle there without giving an explanation.
Astonished staff at the dealership called zoo officials,  who rescued the animals.

Strong quake rocks Sumatra

A strong offshore earthquake registering 6.3 on the Richter scale hit the east coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Friday causing people to flee from their homes, AFP reports from Jakarta.

The earthquake hit was centred 75 kilometres southwest of Mukomuko town in Bengkulu province under the floor of the Indian Ocean, the Indonesian Meteorological agency said in a statement. Officials, however, said it was not powerful enough to generate a tsunami.

Less sleep leads to obesity in kids

‘Early to bed and Early to rise’ is the simplest way to keep your kids healthy and active as children who get less than nine hours of sleep a night are more likely to be overweight or obese, according to a new study, UNI reports from Sydney.

Researchers at the University of Auckland in New Zealand found sleep-deprived kids have more than a 3 per cent increase in body fat on average compared with youngsters who sleep for more than nine hours nightly.

Portman wants to quit acting

Actress Natalie Portman wants to quit acting and start a family because she says "it is the greatest thing" she can aspire to, IANS reports from London.

Dating fashion designer Nathan Bogle, she is not keen in getting married, though her parents have a long strong marriage.