Female lawyers in Italy have banded together to sue beer brewer Peroni over an advertisement that depicts a woman struggling to park.

Giving a 19th and 21st century comparison, the ad shows a woman failing to park her horse and buggy while two beer-swilling men make fun of her. The same woman can later be seen leaving her modern day car skewed in a parking spot, sticking out into the street. The voiceover tells us that “fortunately, some things don’t change”.

Laura Vasselli and others are suing Peroni for what Vasselli described as “the most sexist and discriminatory thing I have ever seen and, this being Italy, there is quite a lot around”.

Vasselli said the suit was unprecedented.

“This is the first time anyone has taken such action against a company in the Italian courts. Peroni obviously think the whole thing is a joke, but we shall see who is left laughing when the judge decides,” she said.

English judges in Brazilian love triangle

Two judges in the UK are currently embroiled in a scandalous case of cocaine, sex and blackmail, with a Brazilian cleaner at the centre of the controversy.

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The cleaner, Roselane Driza, worked for one of the unnamed judges, Miss J when she cleaned her house between 1999 and 2004. Miss J had previously had an affair with the second judge, Mohammed Ilyas Khan, but the relationship had long since ended and the two were still on good terms.

But when Khan was introduced to Driza through Miss J, and consequently hired her for ‘services’ around the home, everything came unstuck.

Some time after Driza began a relationship with Khan, she was sacked by Miss J. It was then alleged Driza threatened to tell Miss J’s employer, Lord Falconer that she had been working without a permit, if Miss J didn’t pay her £20,000 ($50,360).

It was also suggested that Driza threatened to release videos from Khan’s private collection — which showed him having sex, including one that allegedly featured Miss J and an amount of cocaine — if he didn’t allow her to continue to live in his house rent free. The particular video in question was allegedly destroyed by Driza, who felt, upon her arrest, that Khan and Miss J should be spared the embarrassment of it becoming public fodder. Apparently, at the trial, she had a change of mind.

Driza was arrested in October 2005. Both of the judges have denied knowing Driza worked without a permit, while Miss J has also denied using cocaine or referring to Driza as a “Brazilian bitch” and “whore”. The case continues.

Man attacks bikie gang, only to drive over himself

A drunken kamikaze driver in the US, who attempted to run down a group of bikers while brandishing a pool cue from his car window, has ended up running over himself.

Despite the offensive and aggressive conduct of Richard Brooks, 50, of Concord, California, the bikers ended up coming to his rescue after Brooks left his vehicle and was flattened by it.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, California highway patrol officer Scott Yox said Brooks was offended by the skeletons on the bikers’ leather jackets.

“It was his impression that they thought they were better than him,” Yox said. “They were irritating to him and he felt he needed to do something about it.”

That ‘something’ saw Brooks, pool cue in one hand, wheel in the other, swerve wildly on Highway 4 toward the group of bikers, aiming for two of them who had pulled to the side of the road. But when he leapt from his car it was stuck in reverse, and it struck him down.

Brooks was thrown into the highway, his car finishing up in a nearby reservation. He relied on his victims to come to his rescue.

“Instead of mocking him for going after them, they perhaps set their own safety aside to reach over and rescue him from a position of danger,” Yox said.

Brooks was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and driving under the influence, with bail set at US$30,000 ($39,750).

And the cow jumped over the moon

A happy herd of Romanian cows became the subject of a police investigation when it was discovered their owners were feeding them cannabis.

Five Romanian farmers, aged between 57 and 82, from Romanesti in Botosani County, are being questioned by police. They have claimed in their defence that they had no idea they were committing a crime by growing marijuana in their field.

“We grew it because the cows seemed to like it, and happy cows give more milk,” farmer Ion Astarastoaie said.

The practice is also utilised in other parts of the world. In the tiny kingdom of Bhutan, which was only opened to foreign visitors in 1974, cannabis is more abundant than common grass, and the locals feed it to their pigs. Folklaw has also heard of turkeys in Kazakhstan that enjoy smoking reefers.

Robber bites off more than he can chew

A thief in Argentina was arrested after he left his false teeth behind during a raid on a house.

The victim, Juan Navarro, from Cordoba, saw a set of dentures fall from one of the masked men who ransacked his house, according to Terra Noticias Populares.

Having been relieved of jewellery and money, Navarro took the dentures to the police in an effort to unmask the thieves.

Then, two days after the crime took place, Navarro was surprised to find that his nephew was suddenly missing his teeth.

“Navarro came straight to us and we had the denture analysed. It turns out it belongs to his nephew,” a police spokesman said.

“What a funny thing to happen — caught by a denture. Unbelievable.”

Hooker line and sinker

An undercover operation became confusing in New York when a plain clothes police officer picked up a hooker pretending to be a police officer.

The cop was cruising an area known for its smut-pedalling and was soon approached by the prostitute. He took her to an adjacent car park where they began to negotiate a price, according to police spokesman Sgt Tom Connellan.

The prostitute, Lisa Green, first checked to see if he was a cop, to which he replied “no”.

“That’s OK, because I am,” Greene said, flashing a pair of handcuffs and a two-way radio, switching it on and yelling “move in”.

Nearby police officers who were conducting surveillance for their colleague came to assist with Greene’s arrest, also managing to find her ‘back up’ hiding in an alley around the corner.

“We believe these people were going to rob people or extort money,” Connellan said.

Police charged Greene with first-degree criminal impersonation, prostitution and fifth-degree conspiracy. Elena Irwin, 20, was charged with fifth-degree conspiracy and possession of a hypodermic needle.