RULES, LAWS AND MORE RULES.

Human rights campaigners have complained after council workers in Isesaki, Japan, were banned from growing beards in a bid to cut air conditioning bills. Staff had already been told to leave jackets and ties at home.


A law has been passed in Moscow making it illegal to walk your dog when you're drunk if the pooch weighs more than 16kg (35lb).




In Amsterdam, Holland major Job Cohen wants to stop a crime wave by confiscating the trainers of convicted muggers. "We take Porsches and yachts from drug dealers, why not take the running shoes from muggers if that's the most expensive thing they own?" he said.


In a bid to cut back its carbon footprint, the Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers hotel, Denmark, has hooked up two exercise bikes to its generators. Any guest who produce 10 watts of electricity for the hotel qualify for a free meal - worth about £28.50.





The government of South Korea has had a bright idea to tackle the country's falling birth rate. It's switching off the lights in civil service offices early one day a month to encourage workers to go home early and make babies.


Authorities in Vienna, Austria, have asked swimmers to stop swallowing water in a bid to save money. A survey found that it cost £20 per day to replace the chlorine from the 5,000 litres of water that goes missing from the city's 18 public pools each day.