■ Sidelines
Should you kick it?
Police believe they have solved the mystery of Berlin's concrete soccer balls. Two young men suffered slight foot injuries in recent days after kicking concrete-filled balls chained to lamp posts and trees in the capital. The words "Can u kick it" were sprayed in pink paint close to each of the balls, at least six of which were left in the streets. Police said they arrested two men, ages 26 and 29, who apparently had set up a workshop to produce the offending balls. Officers found three new concrete-filled balls, spray cans and chains.
■ China
Pensioners run amok
An elderly Chinese man went on a rampage in Nanjing after Brazil's defeat to France in the World Cup quarter-finals last weekend. The man ran amok in a city square hitting people with a stick and shouting, "The Brazilians lost! There is nothing worth watching! I don't want to watch any more games!" The man was arrested by police, but not until after he had grabbed a bystander and bit him "fiercely," the Nanjing Morning Post reported. Another pensioner in China's former capital was similarly distraught and was arrested for running around the streets naked carrying a banner reading "Brazil Must Win." Xinhua reported that a truck carrying construction materials rammed into a trailer on the Shanghai-Ningbo highway on Wednesday, writing off the vehicle. "I didn't sleep well because I was watching the World Cup," the driver, surnamed Zhang, told the police. "I had been driving for six hours to get back in time for the [France-Portugal] semi-final before the crash," he said.
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