Starr-y tantrums

London, Oct. 13: Ringo Starr, regarded as the most down-to-earth member of The Beatles, has warned fans that he will no longer sign memorabilia for them.

a 40-second rant posted on his website, the drummer says he will bin all fan mail addressed to him after October 20 because he no longer has time to cope with it. Starr, 68, said: “This is a serious message to everybody watching my update.... I want to tell you after the 20th of October please do not send fan mail to any address you have. Nothing will be signed after the 20th of October.... I’m warning you with peace and love I have too much to do..... Thank you, thank you. And no objects to be signed. Nothing.”

Wedding faux pas

Beijing (Reuters): Some 170 wedding banquet guests were rushed to hospital in north China when powdered rust remover was added to the pot instead of salt after they all decided it needed added flavour. The bride’s proud father invited 170 friends and relatives to the wedding banquet at a village in northern Hebei province recently, the night before the nuptials, the Beijing News daily said. “All food was stewed in a big pot but after dinner started, all of them felt the taste was too bland,” the newspaper said. An hour later, the guests were being rushed to hospital. “When I arrived at the hospital, the observation room was packed with people vomiting, with stomach pains and diarrhoea,” a doctor was quoted as saying. All the victims were released by the next day.