News you can lose: Charges pending over $4m car pile-up

Police have announced that they want to prosecute 10 drivers more than a year after what has been called "the world's most expensive car crash".

Up to nine Ferraris were either written off or badly damaged in a chain-reaction accident in Japan when the leading driver in a convoy of supercars lost control of his vehicle.

Estimates put the cost of the crash, in December 2011, at around US$4 million (Dh14.6 million).

An investigation has concluded that the accident was largely the result of drivers going too fast and tailgating.

Police have referred the drivers to prosecutors. Inspector Shinji Tanaka from Yamaguchi in western Japan said: "Some of the drivers told us they didn't really know the specifications of their cars or just how powerful their acceleration was."

Muggers reject mobile

Muggers who attacked a man in a Sydney park refused to take his mobile phone because it wasn't a smartphone.

Australian police say the 31-year-old victim was punched in the face by one of two teenagers, who then grabbed his phone.

After realising the phone was low-tech, the attackers rejected it.

Korean polka-dot trend

Polka-dot dresses have emerged as the hottest consumer item in North Korea.

The dresses have become popular after Ri Sol-Ju, the wife of leader Kim Jong-un, was seen wearing them at state occasions on television.

Polka-dot fashions topped a list of the top ten consumer items, monitored by a research institute in South Korea.

Also popular were manual threshing machines and condoms.

Marmite crisis over

"Marmageddon", a crisis in New Zealand caused by a shortage of the popular spread Marmite, has been declared over.

The brand had been all but unobtainable after an earthquake in January 2011 badly damaged the country's only Marmite factory near Christchurch.

Stocks had dwindled to such an extent that shoppers were limited to two jars each, prompting complaints from many angry Kiwis, including the prime minister, John Key.

Local Marmite is produced to a slightly different recipe than the original English brand.

The company that makes the spread said it was now back in full production and thanked customers for "not freaking out".

Spot the Aussie spooks

Spies in Australia must now wear high-visibility safety vests while on assignment.

The bright yellow vests are required under the country's Work, Health and Safety Act that covers the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation and the Australian Defence Force.

Officials have since admitted wearing the vests could compromise the security of agents in the field.

They are now pushing through emergency legislation to exclude spies from the law.