A sensor dispenser for holy water, and more

A sensor dispenser for holy water

To combat swine flu, an Italian inventor has devised a touch-free holy water dispenser. The dispenser works like an automatic soap dispenser, squirting out a stream of holy water when one of the faithful waves his or her hand under a sensor. “People initially were a bit shocked,” said Father Pierangelo Motta, but “have gotten used to it.” With fears of contracting the H1N1 virus rising, inventor Luciano Marabese says people are afraid to dip their hands in communal fonts. “I have received orders from all over the world,” he said.

Nicole Kidman's new look

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Tongues were wagging when actress Nicole Kidman showed up at last week’s Country Music Awards busting out of her dress and with surprisingly plump lips. “She looked freakish,” a witness told the New York Post. Kidman, 42, who was at the awards with her husband, country singer Keith Urban, has consistently denied rumors that she’s been enhanced by Botox and plastic surgery. She said her full lips were completely “natural,” and credited pregnancy and breast-feeding for changing her “androgynous” figure. “My boobs just became normal size,” she says.

Fire department takes five hours to free pet duck

A British fire department has been criticized for spending five hours rescuing a pet duck. The duck, named Brownie, became trapped in a pipe, and the Gloucestershire fire department freed it by digging a deep trench. The Taxpayers’ Alliance objected, saying firefighters are paid to rescue people. “Whilst no one likes to see a duck suffering,” a spokesman for the anti-tax group said, “animal rescue is not the central job of the fire service.”