Infozone Breaking World News

Toyota has unveiled a new in-car social networking service for its motorists called Toyota Friend. In collaboration with Salesforce.com, the software allows owners to receive Twitter-styled messages from their car about maintenance issues and low batteries in their electric and hybrid vehicles.

Motorists can also communicate with Toyota dealerships and customer services through cloud-computing software and keep in touch with friends and family through Facebook and Twitter.

The software will be released with all new electric and hybrid cars next year in Japan, but the service is expected to be available to other markets such as the UK shortly after if it proves successful.

President of the Toyota Motor Corporation Akio Toyoda said, “Social networking services are transforming human interaction and modes of communication. The automobile needs to evolve in step with that transformation. I am always calling for Toyota to make ever-better cars. The alliance that we announce today is an important step forward in achieving that goal.”

This news comes just over a week since Toyota announced that it was partnering with Microsoft to install internet connectivity to its vehicles.

A Venezuelan bus driver has become the first person in the country to be banned from driving for speeding. The 41-year-old man was caught speeding in his bus that was overcrowded and missing one of its rear wheels.

The law authorising officials to ban drivers and suspend licences was first introduced in 2008, but until now has not been enforced. Police chief Luis Fernandez told the press, “It is important to emphasise that this is a totally new act; for the first time in Venezuela we are suspending a driving license, for 12 consecutive months.”

Venezuela is notorious for its lackadaisical driving laws and high volume of traffic; this is attributed to the low price of petrol with the average price to fill a tank around 70p.

A cigar box humidor that was once owned by the Titanic’s Captain Edward John Smith has sold at a Liverpool auction for £25,000. The walnut humidor is inlayed with the emblem of the White Star Line shipping company and features the initials EJS.

The cigar box was found by an auctioneer after he was invited to value some antiques in the Merseyside home of Hilary Mee. Auctioneer John Crane said that a shiver went down his spine as he realised that the cigar box humidor belonged to the Titanic’s captain.

Ms Mee said that she had no clue that the cigar box was linked to the Titanic, which sank after hitting an iceberg on its maiden voyage in 1912, but did say that it had been in her family for several generations.

The cigar box humidor is lined with camphorwood, famed for its ability to ward of moths and other medicinal properties and can hold up to 40 of the finest hand-rolled Havana cigars.

A bull that escaped from a transport truck after a traffic accident ended up in a clothes shop in the town of Sao Jose do Rio Preto in Brazil. Shoppers in the town were shocked when they saw the animal standing in the shops window.

Videos of the incident were captured by passers-by showing that local residents assembled outside of the store in a bid to capture the beast. The bull broke through the shops door before being brought under control by some daring men with lassos and loaded onto a transportation truck destined for a local farm.

Shop assistant David Nunes, hide in the bathroom of the shop as the bull was outside, he said, “I’m still scared, that sort of thing never happens.”

At least it wasn’t in china shop!

The government has announced new plans giving police the power to impose fines for careless driving as part of a strategy to make roads safer. Motorists would face a fine of £80 and three points on their licence for careless driving, with offences including tail-gating, undertaking and cutting other motorists up.

Currently offenders are prosecuted through the courts, taking up a lot of money and resources, but the new plan isn’t without its critics. They say that the new plan is too simplistic.

The Department for Transport also said that it would crackdown on drink-driving and drug-driving and close loopholes that allow people to escape charges. Drivers who have been disqualified will need to be retrained and in some cases made to retake the driving test before they get their licences back.

The courts would also be encouraged to use their powers to confiscate vehicles for more serious offences.

The new rules are set to be introduced in 2012 and cover the whole of England, Scotland and Wales.

On Sunday, Yves Rossy became the first person to fly over the Grand Canyon using a winged jet pack. Yves, aka ‘JetMan’, 51, a former Swiss fighter pilot was dropped from a helicopter at an altitude of 8,000ft above the world famous Canyon. He travelled at speeds up to 190mph and completed a series of barrel rolls and twists before parachuting down to the canyon floor.

Yves shot to fame in 2008 when he became the first person to successfully cross the English Channel using his jet pack, reaching a speed of 186mph during the 21 mile flight. In November last year, Yves performed a similar stunt over the Swiss canyon of Vaud.

His Grand Canyon stunt was due to take place on May the 6th, but was postponed after the FAA failed to clear his winged jet pack for flight.

Red-faced New York police officers revealed that a man who escaped their custody after being handcuffed to a chair had been caught. The 58 year old man escaped the police station through a back door while still being handcuffed to a chair before being questioned about a theft from a restaurant.

Mr Caesar was re-apprehended a short time later while riding a bike with the handcuffs still attached. An investigation has been launched into the escape with police spokesman Mike DeGorge stating, “There was a mistake made and the department isn’t gonna run from the fact, or hide from the fact that a mistake was made”.

Mr Caesar was being held with the suspicion that he had stole money from the Anchor Bar restaurant, famous for being the home of Buffalo chicken wings.