4. A mayor in a small Spanish town has become a hero after helping steal food from supermarkets to give to the poor. The modern-day Robin Hood is Juan Manuel Sanchez Gordillo, 59, the elected leader of the southern town of Marinaleda in Andalusia. Mayor Goridllo has immunity from prosecution under Andalusian law and so can break the law without being arrested. He has so far orchestrated several raids on supermarkets to hand out the stolen food to poor families. Unfortunately, those helping him are not immune from prosecution and seven have been arrested for theft. Gordillo has been mayor for 30 years and his recent exploits have seen his popularity skyrocket, with crowds gathering to see his food grabs. Many Spaniards are facing severe economic conditions. A quarter of Spain’s workforce is jobless and many now live in poverty. Things are even worse in Andalusia where unemployment is over 30 percent. Mr. Gordillo defended his role in stealing for the less well-off.

5. Scientists have announced that the layer of ice covering the Arctic Ocean has shrunk to all-time low record. What’s more, they say the ice can disappear altogether in future summers. The area of ice recorded on August 26 covered just over four million square kilometers, which is 70,000 square kilometers less than the previous low in 2007. Experts said that record was a one-off and would not be repeated. However, conditions have changed quickly. The USA’s National Snow and Ice Data Center said: “The ice over is now just so thin and weak in the springtime that large parts of it can’t survive the melt season.

6. I arrived over an hour late at the office and everyone was working. Actually, they had worked for over two hours on the new project and I felt really guilty.

7. Don’t you hate it when people say things like «Let’s be careful, shall we? It always seems to me as if two of us are going to do something together, but in fact the other person won’t do anything. I would prefer it if they just said,» You should be careful’, because that’s what they really mean.