A) Slave Driver

Four school kids from Oklahoma are dragging the entire state's education system throu g h the courts after they were forced to take part in what their school called a "creative history lesson". It seems that their teacher wanted them to get a taste of life on a slave ship and to this end had the children tied up with masking tape and beaten by their fellow pupils. Most teachers would have drawn the line at the beating, but this particular teacher was clearly a bit of an adventurous soul because he then ordered that they be "imprisoned" together in a shower stall and smeared with the contents of dirty nappies in order that they get a flavour of what life was really like on the journey from Africa to the New World.

Б) Smart but Smelly

A student of astrophysics at the University of Oslo has had his appeal against expulsion from the university rejected. For the 22-year-old astronomer this was just one of many defeats he has faced in his battle to be readmitted to the university on his own terms. While the university authorities would be more than happy to have him back if their decision could be based purely on his academic record (astrophysics tend to be very clever) the authorities will not allow him into the building until he agrees to wash on a regular basis. The student claims that a lack of soap and water enables him to get a better grip on cosmology and is to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in a further attempt to gain readmission.

B) A Wonderful Son

This should serve as a warning to all those parents who insist on teaching their children "the value of money". A woman in York has begun legal proceedings against her son after he refused to share the proceeds from a winning lottery ticket with her. For the last two years, mother and son have each been putting in £20 per month to buy lottery tickets, which the son would pay for and pick up every Saturday before going to work. One particular Saturday evening he rang his mother to say that they had won two million pounds on one of their tickets. The mother was thrilled to hear this and spent the evening deciding on what she was going to do with her share. Imagine her disappointment when, the following morning, her son called to say that he had made a mistake and that the winning ticket had in fact not been one of theirs, but one that he had bought on his own.