Thousands of Belgian parents have camped in cold, wet weather to enrol their children in French-speaking schools under a new first-come, first-served registration system.

Families set up impromptu camp sites outside school gates, with police in attendance to keep the peace ahead of the start of registration for next year's school term.

"I am doing this for my daughter," said Thierry Colin, a navy officer drinking soup at the end of a queue of tents and improvised shacks in front of the prestigious St. Michel secondary school in Brussels.

The new system is designed to promote transparency and social diversity but has angered many parents. Previously, schools could decide which children to take based on criteria such as academic achievement.

Colin started queuing on Thursday morning and did not know whether his night in the cold would pay off.

Four women near the head of the queue had been there since Wednesday and were more upbeat on their chances of success, although they were unhappy with the new system.

"Some students are offering to spend the night here for 500 euros ($NZ955)," said Sandrine Konen, a mother trying to register her 11 year-old child.

"In the end, there are only people here who have the means not to work or who can take days off, or pay someone. The social diversity target has not been not reached."

The Socialist-led government of Belgium's French-speaking community said the new system gave all children an equal chance to go to the best schools.

"I would rather – and I'm not saying I'm happy about it – have queues for everyone than a system which is not transparent at all," Marie Arena, president of the French-speaking community, told Belgian radio.

Here's a couple with a high I.Q.

Husband drink drives to collect wife from police station

9:30AM Monday December 31, 2007

A couple are trying to work out how to get their two cars and kids home from a holiday in Alexandra after both being booked for drunk driving.

Constable Paul Kennedy told the Otago Daily Times the woman was the first to be picked up - as she drove her teenage children just 300m from a hotel to their accommodation.

She was seen driving erratically and allegedly recorded a breath-alcohol level almost 2-1/2 times the legal limit of 400mcg.

Her enraged husband then drove to the police station to collect her - not knowing she had already left - and was breath tested after a complaint from the public. He was twice the limit.

"This serves to illustrate that the public cannot afford to let their attitude to drink-driving relax while they are on holiday," Mr Kennedy said.

Police would not say where the couple were from.

- NZPA

Lock's locks to drop

Jason  Eaton  has finally got a date.

After 10 months of unbridled growth the Hurricane lock's locks will come off on February 20, his beard shaved and his mop lopped for charity.

After announcing his rendezvous with the clippers yesterday, Eaton said he had mixed feelings about losing his mane. "It's weird. I get heaps of blokes saying, `It's awesome, you have to keep it', but then on the other side the females aren't so happy.

"At first the girls thought it was okay, it was a bit of a novelty, but after that ..."

No one will be as glad to see Eaton's hair go as cancer charity CanTeen.

The Hurricanes have set up an e-mail address, shaveeaton@hurricanes.co.nz, to collect donations.

Every pledge will go in a draw, with the winner gaining the privilege of shaving Eaton's beard, while the largest donation will win the right to shave his head.

The 26-year-old's hairy vigil began in the days after he suffered a serious knee injury playing for the Hurricanes last April during the Super 14.

"It doesn't feel that bad. Once you get past the itchy stage it's okay. You notice it a bit, but it's quite natural after a while."

Exactly why someone would undertake 10 months of unbridled growth has been the subject of much speculation.

But Eaton put to bed widespread speculation that he was trying to win a wager.

"It started when one of the boys said he got injured once and didn't shave till he got back on the field.

"There was no bet, it was just a challenge. I thought I'd do it for a couple of weeks and then one thing led to another. I haven't had a haircut since [last] March and a shave since the injury."

Eaton finally returned to the field last Saturday in a pre-season match against the Chiefs in Taupo, but is sticking to his pledge not to engage scissors or blades till he has played a full competition game. Barring injury, that will happen when the Hurricanes season proper starts in Sydney against the Waratahs on February 16. Picture: KENT BLECHYNDEN

I put this as today's Latest News, but this is the full bbc version, unbelievable!

TRIPLETS BORN TO TEENAGER - AGAIN!

The girl, named only as Pamela, had her first set of female triplets aged 15, having first given birth to a son when she was just 14.

All seven children were born prematurely but without any kind of fertility treatment.

While doctors say the three newborns and their mother are well, the case has sparked debate across Argentina.

In bars and cafes, as well as the letters pages of newspapers, there has been widespread criticism of Pamela's alleged promiscuity.

Seeking more

Pamela's family already receives help from the provincial authorities, which donated land and built them a house when the first set of triplets was born.

Pamela's mother, who cleans houses to support her daughter and rapidly increasing number of grandchildren, says they will now seek more assistance from the government for the new additions to the family.

Some Argentines are arguing that perhaps what Pamela needs is more advice on contraception.

The teenager, who will be 17 on Monday, comes from the remote town of Leones in the central Argentine province of Cordoba.

Woman sat on toilet for 'two years'

US authorities are considering charges in the case of a woman who sat on her boyfriend's toilet for two years and was stuck to the seat when the boyfriend finally called police.

Sheriff Bryan Whipple, in Ness City, Texas, said it appeared the 35-year-old woman's skin had grown around the seat.

She initially refused emergency medical services but was finally convinced by police, medical officers and her boyfriend that she needed to be checked out at a hospital.

"We pried the toilet seat off (the toilet) with a pry bar and the seat went with her to the hospital," Whipple said. "The hospital removed it."

Whipple said investigators planned to present their report to the county attorney in Ness City, Texas, who will determine whether any charges should be filed against the woman's 36-year-old boyfriend.

"She was not glued. She was not tied. She was just physically stuck by her body," Whipple said.

"It is hard to imagine. ... I still have a hard time imagining it myself."

The boyfriend told investigators he brought his girlfriend food and water, and asked her every day to come out of the bathroom.

"And her reply would be, 'Maybe tomorrow'," Whipple said. "According to him, she did not want to leave the bathroom."

The boyfriend called police on February 27 to report that "there was something wrong with his girlfriend", Whipple said, adding that he never explained why it took him two years to call.

Police found the clothed woman sitting on the toilet, her sweat pants down to her mid-thigh. She was "somewhat disoriented," and her legs looked like they had atrophied, Whipple said.

"She said that she didn't need any help, that she was OK and did not want to leave," he said.

She was reported to be in fair condition at a hospital in Wichita, about 240km south-east of Ness City.

Whipple said she refused to cooperate with medical providers or law enforcement investigators.

Authorities said they did not know if she was mentally or physically disabled.

Police declined to release the couple's names, but the house where authorities say the incident happened is listed in public records as the residence of Kory McFarren. No one answered his home phone number.

The case has been the buzz of Ness City, said James Ellis, a neighbour.

"I don't think anybody can make any sense out of it," he said.

Ellis said he had known the woman since she was a child but that he had not seen her for at least six years.

He said she had a tough childhood after her mother died at a young age and apparently was usually kept inside the house as she grew up.

At one time the woman worked for a long-term care facility, he said, but he did not know what kind of work she did there.

"It really doesn't surprise me," Ellis said.

"What surprises me is somebody wasn't called in a bit earlier."