British Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha have flown to Spain on a budget airline for a two-day break to celebrate her 40th birthday, a government source said yesterday.

The couple travelled to Spain on a “low-cost airline”, the source said, although he denied Spanish press reports that it was an EasyJet flight.

Spain’s El Pais daily said they arrived in southern Spain late Wednesday and then went on by car to the historic city of Granada, the site of the sprawling Alhambra fortress-palace, built by Spain’s medieval Moorish rulers. The couple were staying in a “mid-market” hotel, the report said

It was their first foreign holiday since Cameron took office in May last year. (AFP)

Zero-gravity beer

The first space tourist flights may be several years away but a group of thirsty Australian scientists are at work on the critical question – what makes a top zero-gravity beer?

Researchers at the Queensland University of Technology have been working since November, testing various recipes in their microgravity “drop tower”, which simulates space conditions, in search of the perfect brew.

Flavour and fizz are key factors – the tongue swells in space, affecting the tastebuds, while lower carbonation is needed.

Lead researcher Martin Castillo said the 21-metre anti-friction chute allowed beer droplets to achieve about two seconds of low gravity. The team examined how fizzy each of the recipes were at high acceleration, and the ideal properties for keeping it cool, as well as the “drinkability factor” and ever-elusive perfect head of foam. (AFP)

Ungodly crimes

Armed with a Bible and masquerading as a minister, a Mexican conman won over unsuspecting victims who invited him into their homes which he faithfully robbed, authorities said on Wednesday.

The thief pulled it off 12 times before being arrested, prosecutors in the northwestern city of Tecate said.

The man, 30, was arrested in a van where police found items he had stolen “as well as a handgun he had hidden inside a carved-out Bible.” (AFP)

Long-lived pest

Lice may have been feeding off the blood of Tyrannosaurus rex’s feathered relatives more than 65 million years ago, scientists believe.

New evidence suggests early forms of the insects had evolved before the extinction of the dinosaurs. If so, they might well have plagued dinosaur species which sported primitive feathers.

The US research is published in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters. (PA)

Teaser charged

A US man was charged for barking at a police dog.

An Ohio police report said 25-year-old Ryan James Stephens was charged with teasing a police dog in Cincinnati.

Officer Bradley Walker wrote that he heard the dog barking uncontrollably inside his patrol car while he was investigating a car crash at a pub early on Sunday morning. Mr Stephens was making barking noises and hissing at the animal, he said. (PA)

High task

A team of mountaineers led by a veteran Sherpa guide has flown to Mount Everest to begin an expedition to clear away tons of rubbish left on the world’s highest peak.

The expedition team plans to bring down nearly five tons of waste from the slopes of Everest during the spring climbing season. The team’s leader, Apa, has climbed Everest a record 20 times.

Apa’s team hopes to bring down four tons of rubbish from the lower slopes, and almost another ton from nearer the 29,035ft summit. (PA)

Protests banned

Swaziland has banned protests planned for next week, Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini said yesterday, warning the public not to join anti-government rallies in Africa’s last absolute monarchy.

He said organisers of protests – against the 25-year reign of King Mswati III – planned to start on Tuesday did not have permission to march.

King Mswati, 42, is accused of bankrupting the state coffers with his lavish lifestyle and 13 wives, who take private jets on posh overseas shopping trips.

Efforts to slash salaries of civil servants sparked the biggest protests seen in years on March 18.

Student and union leaders vowed to go ahead with the protests. (AFP)

Tiny tantrum

Police in suburban Denver are defending their use of pepper spray on an eight-year-old boy they claimed was throwing a violent tantrum at school.

A Denver TV station reported that the boy had been spitting and cursing at teachers at his elementary school in Lakewood. He was also allegedly trying to stab them with wooden trimming he had broken from the walls.

Police say they pepper-sprayed the boy twice after he refused to drop the wood, then handcuffed him. (PA)