Monday August 24, 2015
Just in case you missed some of the oddest yarns doing the rounds, here's a recap of some weird and wonderful stories from around the world this week.
Monday August 24, 2015
As far as in-flight break-ups go, at least it wasn't the fuselage.
Tuesday August 18, 2015
Just in case you missed some of the oddest yarns doing the rounds, here's a recap of some weird and wonderful stories from around the world this week.
Friday July 24, 2015
Out with the old: London’s National History Museum is looking to re-house Dippy, its 21-metre-long, five-metre tall diplodocus dinosaur. Curators are searching for Jurassic Park fans with monster-size rooms to play temporary host to the replica North American vegetarian on a UK tour. Dippy is being replaced by a ‘‘more modern’’ blue whale skeleton.
Friday April 3, 2015
A 62-year-old man, who told doctors that for 20 years he had a frequent urge to urinate, was found to have a giant lump in his stomach that resembled a large boiled egg.
Tuesday January 20, 2015
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop might be keeping an ear to the ground running the affairs of state but has lost a pearl earring in the process. Ms Bishop took to Twitter to try to find the earring she lost in Sydney’s Martin Place. ‘‘Hi Twitter, I lost earring in Martin Place today – if found grateful contact me 02 6277 7500,’’ she tweeted.
Friday January 16, 2015
An artist is trying to make the city that never sleeps yawn. Sebastian Errazuriz has created a video, A Pause in the City That Never Sleeps, consisting of a continuous yawn on loop that is running in Times Square from 11.57pm to midnight each night in January. He hopes masses of viewers will inadvertently feel inclined to yawn.
Thursday January 15, 2015
Thousands of Queenslanders were woken an hour early on Wednesday morning after their mobile phones wrongly switched to daylight saving time. The fault affected Optus customers, some of whom were woken up by alarms as early as 4.30am. Optus says the problem was fixed in good time.
Wednesday January 14, 2015
If you think the trains in Melbourne run behind schedule, spare a thought for commuters from Brighton to London. The popular 7.29am to London did not run on time once in 240 attempts. The season ticket fare is £5000 ($9250). South Rail chief David Scorey apologised and said work was under way on improvements.
Tuesday January 13, 2015
Robert Fowler, who lost a gold high school class ring while surfing near San Francisco 35 years ago, has had it returned by treasure hunter Larry Fuerzeig. Fuerzeig traced Fowler through engraving on the ring and the Marin County high school records. Fowler bought Feurzeig a bottle of champagne for his trouble.
Monday January 12, 2015
Three nine-year-old New York students conspired to kill their teacher with hand sanitiser. One of the girls told youth officers who interviewed her the teacher "yells at us" and that "the class has problems with her". The teacher was severely allergic to the sanitiser but the plot was never carried out and no charges were laid.
Saturday January 10, 2015
A civil servant in India has finally been sacked, 25 years after he stopped turning up for work. A. K. Verma, an executive engineer, went on leave from the Central Public Works Department in December 1990 and never returned, but continued to apply for time off . It took an inquiry and ministerial intervention to officially remove him from his job. It is not known whether he was paid during his absence.
Friday January 9, 2015
Republican Marsha Farney has proposed a bill that would see the cowboy hat become the official headwear of Texas. Filed in the state legislature on Monday, the bill says the cowboy hat would symbolise Texans’ "uniqueness". The state already has an official state bird, dog, dinosaur and cooking implement.
Thursday January 8, 2015
A US basketball fan is suing Madison Square Garden after his heckling at a New York Knicks game cost him his job. Anthony Rotondi yelled "Carmelo (Anthony), you stink", was ejected from the Garden and was reported to ING, which fired him. He cited the Garden for defamation, false imprisonment and infliction of emotional distress.
Wednesday January 7, 2015
Drugs suspect Jason Duval has convinced a US judge to take his Nike sneakers instead of cash for his bail. Judge Douglas Stoddart wanted him jailed for failing to pay $US450 court costs but liked the sneakers-for-bail idea suggested by Duval. He will get his shoes back if he pays $100 over four weeks.
Tuesday January 6, 2015
A British man has saved his £3 office goldfish from a sticky end by paying £300 ($570) to relieve its constipation. A Norfolk vet took 50 minutes to operate on the goldfish, which was anaesthetised and on a heart-rate monitor. ‘‘There was nothing special about the fish ... but that was an expensive little goldfish,’’ the vet said.
Monday January 5, 2015
A pair of trespassers spent two days cowering in a caretaker’s storeroom because they believed the door was locked. John Arwood and Amber Campbell finally wanted out and called Daytona Beach police, who found the door at a local science centre to be unlocked. Arwood and Campbell were each charged with trespass.
Saturday January 3, 2015
Middle Eastern company Al Shibla has launched a dashing new lycra-style bodysuit for racing camels that is designed to make them travel better and recover more quickly from training. "The full bodysuit can help racing camels run faster, while the cream of the species entered into camel beauty contests will have the ability to stand taller after using the suit," the firm says.
Friday January 2, 2015
Health authorities in Seoul are investigating the Jewelry Plastic Surgery Centre after a nurse assistant posted photos on Instagram of what appeared to be a midoperation birthday party. The online photos featured a person blowing out candles on a cake in an operating theatre while a patient lay unconscious on the table.
Thursday January 1, 2015
ACT police have been left red-faced after their Twitter account re-tweeted risque photos. The account followed up messages on New Year celebrations with the promotion of a tweet by ‘‘Katie Sanders’’. The message included three photos of a naked woman in a pair of black boots. Police later deleted the photos and apologised.
Wednesday December 31, 2014
Chimps at a Swansea ape sanctuary were wrapped in blankets and given hot tea to stay warm after their boiler broke in freezing weather. "When it’s cold we also feed them jacket potatoes," keepers at the zoo said. "They like a hot cup of tea. They’re like just like humans really."
Tuesday December 30, 2014
An Ohio man who accidentally shot his wife in the neck may have saved her life. Boyd Ross, 77, told police a shotgun went off when he checked to see if it was loaded. It fired birdshot through a wall and into the chair where his wife was sitting. At hospital, doctors found she was suffering from undiagnosed arrhythmia, or irregular heartbeat.
Monday December 29, 2014
Manchester police, trying to teach the public responsible use of calling 999, have released details of a man scared by a hedgehog in his garden. The man was assured the hedgehog was good for the garden because it ate slugs. "Yeah, but we don’t want our slugs to get killed. We’re a bit scared," the caller said.
Saturday December 27, 2014
Onlookers at a train station in Kanpur, in northern India, have watched in awe as a monkey brought back to life a fellow primate that had fallen onto the tracks unconscious after an electric shock. The monkey was seen lifting the body, shaking it, dipping it into a mud puddle and biting its head and skin - until it came to after few minutes, opened its eyes and began moving again.
Friday December 26, 2014
An Italian circus may face criminal charges for fooling audiences that two chow chowdogs were pandas. Police accused staff of Orfei Circus of painting the dogs to look like pandas. Sceptical customers were told the dogs, a male and a female, were actually half-panda, half-dog hybrids and came from Hungary.
Wednesday December 24, 2014
British researchers have found families around the world have embraced the Christmas spirit in the naming of their children. They have found names such as Miss L Toe, Mrs Belle Ringer, A Goodyear, SnowflakeWilliams, Tim Sell and Rudolph Deer. "There are some real treats," says Miriam Silverman, of ancestry.co.uk.
Tuesday December 23, 2014
The Malaysian Prime Minister believes his country’s circumcision technology is a cut above the rest and is urging local companies into the export market. "Children using this method of circumcision are said to be able to carry out their routine daily activities such as bathing and praying," he said before the start of a mass circumcision ceremony.
Monday December 22, 2014
’Tis the time to be eating Christmas puddings, but 15 a day takes the cake. That’s what chef David Sanderson does at work as he samples his wares for the Matthew Walker factory in Derby. His work on next year’s recipes begins on January 2 and he reckons he will taste some 1500 puddings before Christmas 2015.
Saturday December 20, 2014
The annual World Pie Eating Championships has ended in controversy — because the pies were too big. Results were declared null and void after a work experience chef sent the wrong pies to the competition venue in Wigan, organisers said, while the correct pies went to a divorce party up the road.
Friday December 19, 2014
A 150-kilogram Spaniard has been charged with animal abuse after a five-month-old donkey died because he sat on it at a nativity scene. "Our Platero was literally squashed by a man," animal rights groups said. Police in Lucena, southern Spain, detained a 38-year-old man who had posed sitting on the donkey for photographs.
