Infozone Breaking World News

A man has survived after his car plunged 200ft off the south rim of the world famous Grand Canyon in the US state of Arizona. The driver, a 21 year old unnamed man told park rangers that he managed to free himself from the wreckage after the accidental crash on Monday afternoon, and climbed to the top of the cliff to seek help.

The man eventually flagged down a passing tourist and was treated for non-life threatening injuries. Park officials were notified and later found the car lodged against a tree 200ft below the Canyons rim.

Park officials are investigating the incident and said that they have no plans to remove the stricken car. It was a luck escape for the 21 year old driver, as a National Park spokeswoman said that around 10ft after the tree that had stopped the car there was another precipice.

New York taxi driver Mohammed Alam got more than he bargained for when he picked up investment banker John Belitsky and his friend Dan Wuebben. Instead of a cross town fare, the two decided to do something ‘magical’ and asked Mr Alam how much it would be to take them to Los Angeles, a 2448 mile trip.

The $5,000 (around £3,000) drive took six days to complete with a stop off in Las Vegas where the two friends won $2,000. To document the trip, Mr Belitsky used the popular social networking site Twitter, but has not said how they plan to get back to New York.

A local New York news blog has calculated that if the taxi meter was running for the whole trip it would of cost nearly $17,000 (around £10,000).

Eleven puzzle solvers have entered the Guiness Book of World Records by creating a replica of one of Michelangelo’s greatest paintings, the Hand of God. The tem used over 12,000 Rubik’s cubes and 400 hours to build the masterpiece, with every single cube adjusted by hand to create the exact colours of the original piece which adorns the Sistine Chapel Ceiling in Vatican City.

The team of record breakers came from the Cube Works Studio and creative director Josh Chalom said that the Hand of God was only the beginning of the project, which is set to mimic the whole of the Sistine Chapel Ceiling. The completed project is set to be hung from a roof and is estimated to weigh around 50 tonnes and use over 250,000 Rubik’s cubes.

Scottish micro-brewery Brewdog is releasing a commemorative beer to mark the royal wedding that contains Viagra, chocolate and horny goat weed. The 7.5% ABV beer, called Royal Virility Performance is available to pre-order from the Brewdog website and will be shipped on the 28th April, in time for the Royal Wedding on the 29th April.

Only 1,000 limited edition bottles will be produced and all proceeds will go to Centrepoint, a charity that it supported by Prince William.

The brewery’s co-founder James Watt said, “The Royal Virility performance is the perfect antidote to all the hype. A beer should be brewed with a purpose, not just because some toffs are getting married, so we created something at our brewery that will undermine those special edition beers and other assorted seaside tat, while at the same time gives the happy couple something extra on their big day.”

A bottle of the beer has already been sent to Prince William, I wonder if he’ll drink it on his wedding night?

Wine drinkers rejoice! It turns out that a bottle of wine costing less than £5 can taste like one that is up to six times more expensive, a blind taste test has revealed. The test, which was conducted at the Edinburgh Science Festival, found that only 50% of the 578 people tested could tell the difference between cheap and expensive wine.

The taste test consisted of a range of red and white wines, as well as two types of champagne. Researchers from the University of Hertfordshire, who conducted the test, said that their findings indicated that people may be paying for the label when purchasing wine and champagne.

Lead researcher for the taste test, Richard Wiseman said, “These are remarkable results. People were unable to tell expensive from inexpensive wines, and so in these times of financial hardship the message is clear – the inexpensive wines we tested tasted the same as their expensive counterparts.”

Angry Birds, Amazon and Spotify were amongst the winners at the Appy Awards on Monday night in London. 50 favourite apps were nominated across 10 categories, but it was Angry Birds that came out on top winning app of the year and best game app. Other winners included Spotify which won best music app and Amazon which won best lifestyle app.

Mobile phone applications are now big business since the introduction of the iPhone and the Google Android OS, with more than 10 billion apps being downloaded from the Apple App Store in the last year and a half.

Organisers of the Appy Awards, Carphone Warehouse said that it planned to makes the ceremony an annual event.

The Canadian Mint has unveiled two commemorative coins to mark the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. The first coin is a $20 CAD silver coin and has a sapphire coloured Swarovski element embedded into it to symbolise the engagement ring; it will cost $105 CAD (around £67).

The second coin is a 25 cent coin which has a colour portrait of the couple on one side; it will cost $26 CAD (about £16.50). Both coins will be produced in limited numbers and be sold in Mint shops throughout Canada.

Ian Bennett, Chief executive of the Royal Canadian Mint said that the wedding will be, “a priceless opportunity to celebrate Canada’s pride in royal tradition”.

Adding that the coins, “will give Canadians, royal watchers and collectors everywhere exceptional keepsakes by which to remember this historic event.”

The Royal Wedding will take place on the 29th April 2011 and will have worldwide coverage as the happy couple take their vows.

A pensioner in Georgia is facing up to three years in prison after causing a disruption to internet services in Armenia. The 75 year old woman has admitted damaging fibre-optic cables that link Georgia to Armenia while she was scavenging for copper.

A spokesman told the AFP news agency, “Taking into account her advancing years, she has been released pending the end of the investigation and subsequent trial.”

The internet was down for several hours on the 28th March and was eventually restored in the early hours of the 29th.

Sky Sports and the Football League have signed a new deal worth £65 million per year for three seasons. This is a 26% drop from the previous deal signed between the two parties, which is due to run out at the end of next season.

Sky Sports will exclusively broadcast 75 Npower League matches a year as well as play-off games. The new deal also permits exclusive coverage of the Carling Cup and will show 15 matches including all of the semi-final games and the Final at Wembley.

Football League chairman Greg Clake released a statement which read, “Sky Sports is a highly valued partner of The Football League and we are delighted to extend our relationship for a further three seasons. They are a class act and our clubs will welcome their continued support.

“This has been a challenging climate in which to negotiate television rights, given the state of the economy and the lack of competitive tension in the sports broadcasting market.

“I am confident that our clubs will take heart from seeing such a significant ongoing investment in their competitions, despite a reduced level of broadcasting income, as it provides financial certainty in uncertain times.”

The Football League highlights show, which is currently owned by ITV is still up for grabs.