Strange stories from around the world, some of which might be true...
- Road traffic across Christmas Island, an Australian territory 220m (350km) south of Java, has been disprupted by the annual migration of an estimated 50m red crabs from forest to coast, to breed. ● 'Wally'
the arctic Walrus hit the headlines earlier this year for his journey down the west coast of mainland Britain. Now another walrus has been spotted off Northumerland, on the east coast. It is thought to be the first
walrus seen off the county in recorded history. ● A cow that escaped from a Brazilian abattoir made its way to a nearby water park where it was photographed carefully walking down a waterslide flume, having climbed
the stairs to the top. The flume was designed for considerably less weight than the cow, but did not break, and she then enjoyed a swim before leaving the park to head off on fresh adventures. She ended up at a ranch
where the owner has adopted her as a family pet, renaming her Tobogã (Portuguese for 'slide'). ● A Dunedin, New Zealand, woman called police recently, telling them that she was being held hostage by a possum
which "kept charging at me" every time she tried to leave her house. A police officer managed to stun it with torchlight, put it into a box with some food and released it at a nearby location. Neither humans
nor possum were injured. ● A wild bear in Florida was tranquillised recently so a large plastic container could be removed from its head. It had first been seen a month ago but disappeared until caught on a home
security camera. It is thought that the container was part of an automatic pet feeder, with a hole large enough to allow the bear to breathe, drink and eat. ● A roadrunner hitched a lift from Las Vegas to
Westbrook, Maine, some 2,800 miles (4,500km) away after jumping into the back of a van. She was taken to a bird rescue centre to recover before being returned to Nevada [That is one way to avoid the coyote... -Ed]
● A blue and pink lobster has been caught off Maine. Just one in 100 million are thought to have the colouration. 'Haddie', named after the granddaughter of the lobsterman who caught her, will live out her life
at a New Hamshire coastal science centre. ● A man who bought a bag of bananas in a Sainsbury's supermarket found that it also contained what he believes is a Brazilian wandering spider, one of the deadliest
arachnids in the world. ● Another deadly spider, a funnel-web, was anonymously donated to an Australian antivenom program and an appeal has been launched to locate the person who found it. The spider is about
3" (8cm) from foot to foot with fangs 0.8" (2cm) long, enough to pierce human nails. It is the largest example of a funnel-web yet seen by the Australian Reptile Park. ● A kitten born with four ears (the smaller
ears stick out from the front of her normal ears and do not affect her hearing) thanks to a genetic abnormality has become an Instagram star. ● While Britain in visited by arctic walruses New Zealand is host to
a wandering Adélie penguin, nicknamed Pingu, some 1,864 miles (3,000km) north of its antarctic habitat. ● A squirrel which squeezed its way into a "squirrel-proof" bird feeder in a Surrey garden
then ate so many nuts that he could not get out again. An RSPCA officer had to cut the outer cage of the feeder open to free him.
- Astronomers at the University of Arizona have determined that 469219 Kamo'oalewa, a 135' (41m) diameter asteroid that is currently the most stable quasi-satellite of the Earth, is probably a fragment of the moon
ejecting by an impact event in the distant past. ● Russia has been condemned by the US and other countries after a missile test to blow up one of its old satellites. The test "has so far generated over
1,500 pieces of trackable orbital debris and hundreds of thousands of pieces of smaller orbital debris that now threaten the interests of all nations", according the US state department. After sixty-four years of
satellite launches worldwide there are now around a million small objects up to 4" (10cm) across in orbit, which can damage satellites and spacecraft (the ISS had to be locked down and the astronauts took shelter during the
Russian test). In the worst-case scenario, a Kessler effect, a collision with debris could cause a cascade of further collisions. ● NASA's Artemis I mission, an unmanned dry run around the moon in preparation for man's
return to our satellite, will have three unusual passengers - two Lego figurines, included as part of an educational series, and a plush Snoopy wearing a NASA-designed space suit. NASA has a history of including soft
toys on space missions as they start floating about, giving an indication of when the spacecraft is in zero gravity, and they are soft so they do not press buttons or damage anything.
- The Greek government and Microsoft are to collaborate on an augmented reality recreation of Olympia, the site of the original Olympic Games to allow visitors to see it as it originally was - using Microsoft's
HoloLens of course, and not
FacebookMeta's Oculus; Microsoft is one of several companies challenging FacebookMeta for development domination of the 'metaverse', seen as the future of
Internet collaboration and exploration. ● French President Emmanuel Macron has reverted the national flag to its pre-1976 colours, changing the lighter blue back to navy blue. It had been changed to better
compliment the EU flag which it often flies alongside. The French government denies the reversion is being done as an anti-EU gesture, but Macron is up for reelection next year and the EU has become increasingly
unpopular across France. ● Biblical literalists are seizing on the discovery of a sea fossil 8,300' (2,530m) up a mountain as evidence of the Biblical flood, apparently ignorant of how mountains form (the land
rises)... ● A re-evaulation of fossils that had been mixed up with others has revealed the longest dinosaur known to have existed. If confirmed, the 'Supersaurus' measured more than 131' (40m) from snout to tail,
about the length of five buses. ● Frida Kahlo's painting "Diego y Yo" has sold at auction for £25m ($34.9m), a record for a Latin American artwork. ● Also at auction an "exceptionally
rare" Ottoman atlas, one of only 50 produced and dated to 1804, has sold for £86,250 ($116,174), four times its estimate.
- Graffiti of cartoon character Bart Simpson mooning policemen has appeared in a Kidderminster subway, near to where terminally ill 55-year-old Darrell Meekcom recently mooned a speed camera van as part of his bucket list of
things to do before he dies. Six police officers had turned up at his home to arrest him shortly after. It is thought, but unconfirmed, that the work is by Banksy. ● A 27-year-old Maine resident who posted a
video online of a Twix bar he said his child had been given during Halloween trick-or-treating, with a staple stuck into it has admitted making up the incident, and putting the staple in the chocolate himself for the
photo. He has been charged with making a false public claim or report and could face up to 364 days in prison. ● The Archdiocese of New Orleans, which filed for bankruptcy last year in the face of a growing
number of claims of sexual abuse, has agreed to repay the US government more than $1m (£1.35m) to settle allegations of false claims to FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) for disaster relief money
after Hurricane Katrina struck the area in 2005.
- Research over the last 40 years has shown than many species of non-migratory Amazonian birds have become smaller, in response to climate change. Thirty-six of the species studied lost up to 2% of their mass per
decade as regional temperatures rose and rainfall declined. ● The Royal Air Force has made the first successful flight using only a synthetic fuel. The Ikarus C42 microlight aircraft was powered by Zero
Petroleum's UL91 fuel, made using hydrogen extracted from water and carbon extracted from air, combined using locally-generated wind and wave power. The engine of the plane was unmodified.
- When house prices go up it is not uncommon for estate agents to mail flyers to local residents asking if they would consider selling. Spike Abbott, 59, who lives in London, received one such letter
recently, from Foxtons, telling him that they were "valuing property in your area" and offering a "professional opinion of the sales or rental value in the current market" with "no strings
attached." Abott's home is, indeed, somewhat valuable, in a unique location, and probably worth quite a lot. A former RAF serviceman, he is a Yeoman Warder - or 'Beefeater' - living in a flat in the Tower of
London. He tweeted a picture of Foxton's flyer along with the comment "Thanks for the very kind offer @foxtons to sell or rent out the 12th century property that HM Tower of London provide me with, however, I
think it might raise a few eyebrows when your sign appears outside my house." The tweet caused widespread amusement, with one person replying that "they need to see the block (and the axe that goes with
it)".
- Cardiff Record Exchange, a vinyl records shop, are trying to find the man who brought in a stack of old records, telling them that there was "nothing of value" among them. He was given a discount on
a few albums he bought in exchange, but owner Ed Daw, then looked through the albums and found a 50-year-old highly-collectible obscure one among them. A copy of the self-titled psychedelic folk album by singer
and guitarist Ernie Graham sold in Armerica recently for $400 (£298), so Daw would like to either return it or offer a reasonable price. The resurgence of vinyl in recent years has resulting in the price of
rarities shooting up; a first-pressing of Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon can sell for at least £1,000 ($1,347).
- This Friday sees the annual BBC Children in Need telethon, but some fund-raising events have already been held. Earlier this week BBC North West Tonight weather presenter Owain Wyn Evans, whose drum solo of the BBC
News theme went viral during the first lockdown, did a 24-hour drumathon, a highlight of which was a 50-drummer rendition of the theme, simulcast live on local news around the country. By the end of the 24 hours he had
raised more than £2m ($2.69m); by the next day the total was over £3m (4.04m), breaking the charity's record for a fundraising event. Pop singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor, meanwhile, completed a 24-hour
"kitchen disco" danceathon. By the time she stopped dancing, on the morning that this issue is being written, she had raised over £1m ($1.35m).
- For anyone who was online or listening to pop music in 2005, there are two words which are guaranteed to send a chill down the spine. Brace yourselves... "Crazy Frog". The CGI frog on an invisible
motorbike beat Coldplay to the UK singles' chart #1 spot with its rendition of "Axel F", the Beverley Hills Cop theme, the video for which now has 3.1bn views on YouTube. He is coming back. On
December 10th a mash-up of classic hits will be released. On the plus side, it appears that he is being targeted mainly at TikTok, so anyone over the age of 24 will probably avoid the worst, but do not say
we did not warn you...
- When Wyoming residents Ben and Addie Pascal adopted their daughter Naomi from an Ethiopian orphanage the first present they gave her, before the adoption was finalised, was a teddy bear. 'Teddy' subsequently went on family
trips to Ethiopia, Rwanda, Greece and Croatia, and he went along when Naomi, then 6, went with her parents to the Glacier National Park in Montana last year. While Ben and a friend went hiking family friend Terri Hayden
watched the children. It was not until they had all nearly reached Hayden's home that evening that they realised Teddy was missing. Overnight snow closed the park and prevented a return to search for him, but a report
was filed with park authorities in the hope that someone might find him and hand him in to lost property. Park ranger Tom Mazzarisi found Teddy, in melting snow, a couple of days later and, unaware that he had been
reported missing, took him back to his cabin as he could not bear to throw him in the rubbish. Teddy spent the winter hibernating in the cabin then, when Mazzarisi returned to work in April, Teddy became a mascot on the
dashboard of Mazzarisi's patrol truck. In later September Hayden went back to the park to hike with her niece and, turned back from a trail that was closed due to bear activity, saw a bear on a patrol truck dashboard.
She sent a picture to Addie Pascal, who confirmed that it was Teddy. The truck was locked and nobody was about, so she left a note on the windscreen and went in search of rangers. "I run up to these rangers,"
she told reporters, "and I'm hyperventilating, and I'm going 'There's a truck down at the trailhead and there's a bear sitting on the dashboard.'" It was Mazzarisi's day off but the rangers knew the story of
how he had found the bear and soon returned Teddy to Hayden, along with a ranger hat and junior park ranger badge. Naomi was thrilled to get Teddy back, and as a thank you to Mazzarisi Hayden bought him another bear. He
has named it 'Clover' after a grizzly bear he saw in Yellowstone National Park that liked lying in a clover patch.
IN BRIEF: This Country creator/star Daisy May Cooper and her publisher are conducting a dispute over payments for Cooper's autobiography by sending each other Cameo videos recorded by Tiger King
star Carole Baskin. ● Last September Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, found himself briefly locked out of his own account after a scammer used the service's "memorialise" service to flag him as deceased.
● A library book has been returned to Dunfermline's Central Library in Scotland 73 years after it was taken out. It was discovered by the daughter of the man who borrowed it, when she was going through his belonging
following his death. Fife libraries have an amnesty on overdue fees in place due to the pandemic, but librarian Donna Dewar, calculated - for fun - that it had accrued £2,847 ($3,835) in late fees. ● A 3.1
magnitude earthquake hit Scotland earlier this week. Centred 11 miles (17.7km) northwest of the Argyll town of Lochgilphead, the 'quake hit just before 2am and was felt as far away as Edinburgh and Ballycastle in Northern
Ireland. ● French balloonist Rémi Ouvrard, 28, has broken the world record for standing on a hot air balloon at altitude but standing atop one at 11,932' (3,637m) over Chatellerault.
CORONAVIRUS ROUND-UP: The first documented case of COVID-19 in a dog has been confirmed. It is thought that the dog caught the virus from its owner, and is now recovering at home. There is no evidence of
humans catching the virus from their pets, but the UK Health Security Agency is advising pet owners to follow basic hygience measures and keep washing their hands.
UPDATES: The petition to keep James Corden out of the film version of Wicked is nearing 93,000 signatures, and there are now pleas to keep him away from the planned Harry Potter and the Philosopher's
Stone film's 20th anniversary reunion show as well, to stop it being "like the Friends reunion where James Corden is there for no apparent reason", according to one Twitter user. ●
'Wilson', the volleyball prop from Cast Away was auctioned for $308,000 (£230,000).
Little Jennifer's aunt had come to tea. Little Jennifer sat quietly as the adults talked, said "thank you" when her aunt passed her the biscuits, only took one biscuit and
nibbled politely. Before she left, her aunt said to her "I must say, Little Jennifer, I'm very impressed with how well you've behaved this afternoon."
Little Jennifer looked up and her aunt and smiled as only she could. "Thank you, Auntie," she said, "Mummy gave me £1 to keep quiet and not mention your big red nose!"
