Alligator takes late-night stroll through town

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Alligator+takes+late+night+stroll+through+German+town/3236987/story.html

BERLIN - An alligator was found roaming the streets of a small German town in the middle of the night, authorities said on Friday.

Police in Gross-Rohrheim got a 2 a.m. phone call on Thursday from a bystander who said he had just seen an alligator walking in front of a motorcycle shop in the centre of town.

"At first they just broke out laughing..," said police spokesman Ferdinand Derigs. "But here in the state of Hesse we’re ready for anything that comes our way."

Two officers dispatched to investigate were able to capture the 3.3-foot long alligator with equipment ordinarily used to capture dogs.

"The alligator was taken into custody," police said in a statement. Authorities soon found it had escaped from a small circus being staged at a nearby school. The alligator was later handed over to school officials.

Absent Russia will win World Cup, 8 percent of nation say

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup-2010/7865389/One-in-10-Russians-believe-they-will-win-World-Cup-despite-not-qualifying.html

Russian pride was shattered when its team was denied a place at the world's most-watched sporting event, currently under way in South Africa, when they were defeated by Slovenia in the qualifying stage.

The poll, conducted by Russia's Levada Centre between the 18th and the 22nd of June, surveyed 1,600 Russian adults across 130 cities.

Brazil - currently pegged a favourite by several bookmakers - came top of the poll, with 33 per cent of Russians believing the football powerhouse would take home the trophy.

Two per cent of those polled said Turkey, a prime Russian tourist spot but also absent from the Cup, would win.

Despite the Russian team's absence, Moscow's bars have been filled with excited fans watching the matches. The Kremlin is also eagerly awaiting December's decision on whether or not its bid to host the World Cup in 2018 or 2022 has been successful.

The Russian team has previously enjoyed a mixed record in international football, securing a historic semi-final place at the European Championship in 2008. However, it failed to qualify for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

FIFA, which runs the World Cup, considers the Russian team the direct successor to the Soviet squad, whose pinnacle of sporting achievement was victory in the inaugural European Championships in Paris in 1960. It beat fellow Communists Yugoslavia.