Popular Elsewhere
14:57 UK time, Thursday, 30 June 2011
A look at the stories ranking highly on various news sites.
When an article starts with a polar bear trainer saying "Don't worry, it just means he loves me" the mind boggles as to what exactly the bear is doing. How can you not click on that? Daily Mail readers certainly haven't been able to resist. The picture in question shows around the neck. It goes on to suggest the polar bear can communicate even more complicated rules than "If I put my gnashers around your neck I promise I won't actually bite". As Mark explains "Agee has rules and we are always working inside those".
Here's a claim and a half as the Guardian's most read story says is has found possibly the ". The picture shows Chinese government official inspecting a new road. Unfortunately the manipulation of the photo was done so badly they looked like they were levitating above it. Cue an onslaught of parodies showing the three men landing on the moon, (presumably to inspect its drivability). Curiously, it turned out the inspectors did visit the road but the photos taken were not to the liking of the person who made the doctored picture.
Times readers are getting their fill of . Having taken a mere £121 on its opening weekend, it takes a box office analyst (no less) to guess that would mean there were just 20 paying audience members. The Times is particularly creative in the insulting metaphor stakes saying it features "exchanges so painful to watch that you would be better off rubbing Scotch bonnet peppers in your eyes".
Prince Harry seems to be taking over China - in the hits stakes, that is. Hardly a day goes by without a "China is growing, like, really fast" story getting on the most read lists. But now it seems nothing gets the cursor drifting over Telegraph readers' page like the promise of an update on Harry's love life. They are promised a treat with the headline "" but then closely followed by "(eight times removed)". Here's the breakdown: Harry's rumoured new beau Florence Brudenell-Bruce is related to Sir Robert Walpole who was Britain's first prime minister. His granddaughter married into the royal family.
"One in six new marriages is the result of meetings on internet dating sites" claims the New Yorker's most read story. The incredibly in-depth explanation of the says that it's normal for people in their twenties to rely on the algorithm of sites like Match.com, which takes into account 1500 variables, instead of happenstance. Just like in the days of classified ads GSOH is still at a premium. But an analysis of what is meant by good sense of humour led one dating site entrepreneur to buy both Hemakesmelaugh.com and shelaughsatmyjokes.com.
