Did you know some bears like beer?

A black bear went on a binge at a campsite in the US state of Washington - 80 miles (129km) northeast of Seattle - guzzling down some 36 cans of beer.

Campground workers were stunned to come across the bear sleeping off the effects in their grounds, surrounded by dozens of empty beer cans.

He had apparently tried out and rejected the mass-market Busch beer in favour of local brand Rainier.
The bear appeared to have got into campers' cool boxes and used his teeth and claws to puncture the cans.

Fish and wildlife enforcement Sgt Bill Heinck said the bear tried one can of Busch and ignored the rest - then got stuck into three dozen cans of Rainier.

"We noticed a bear sleeping on the common lawn and wondered what was going on until we discovered that there were a lot of beer cans lying around," camp worker Lisa Broxson was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying.

She said the bear was chased away by wildlife agents, but returned the next day.
The agents decided to trap the bear with doughnuts, honey and, of course, two cans of Rainier beer. It did the trick and he was captured.
"This is a new one on me," Sgt Heinck said in an Associated Press report. "I've known them to get into cans, but nothing like this. And it definitely had a preference."


Read the whole BBC story here.

The Festival in the Desert

The BBC offers you a wonderful audio slideshow about the Festival in the Desert: music, voice and great photos.

The Festival in the Desert, in Essakane, northern Mali, has become an increasingly prestigious event.

Thousands of international visitors travel for days to join local tribes people and artists among the dunes of the Sahara, in celebration of the music and culture of Mali and beyond.

Hear and see it here. Superb!
Why are we destroying this wonderful planet?

PARALLEL LIVES

The BBC has published three very interesting texts about migrants in the UK.

Read them here.

The children of migrants in three of Britain's long established ethnic communities recount the experiences of their parents and describe the difficulties of growing up in a closed society.

Read their stories and then use the form at the bottom of the page to send your comments.

Chinese in Belfast: Wai Kuen Mo
Most of the Chinese in the UK who are over 60 years old don't speak English, like my mother
Somali in Cardiff: Hussain Noor
In order to avoid verbal abuse and hassle in the streets, my mother wouldn't leave the house, unless she really had to
Turkish in London: Mehmet Dikenli
The Turkish community in London is full of hard-working people but they have suffered from not really integrating