Weird News

Mother, daughter compete for crown

Cressida Grant’s main competition in the Miss Great Britain pageant is her mother, Philippa. Forty-year-old Philippa and 17-year-old Cressida are the first mother and daughter to compete against each other for the crown. The two say, however, that they won’t allow the competition to pit them against each other. Once the daughter saw that there was no age limit for competitors, she encouraged her mother to enter. The two plan to root each other on during the competition.

Wrong place, wrong time

A pair of Romanian drug dealers were apprehended after accepting a ride from a drug enforcement officer who happened to pass them by. The pair, with backpacks filled with over 1.5 pounds of home-grown marijuana, were hitchhiking during a rainstorm when the off-duty officer recognized the smell on them. The officer said he felt sorry for the two when he saw them standing on the side of the road, but after smelling the pot on them he drove them directly to the police station. The duo now faces up to five years in jail on growing and distributing charges.

Man chooses kidnapping before marriage

A Guatemalan groom with cold feet faces charges of wasting police time after faking his own kidnapping to skip his wedding. The 25-year-old man disappeared on his wedding day and reappeared a few hours later making the false claim that someone had kidnapped him.

Library offers new perspective

A library in Holland has a new plan to change stereotypes about certain groups of people. The library is now lending out people to discuss their lives and change perspectives on what it is like to be them. Library patrons can borrow gay people, Muslims and even gypsies in an attempt to understand what their lives are like. The library hopes that this service will allow people the chance to ask the questions they most want to know but were afraid to ask. The library offers 10 different people to be checked out.

Pilot flies without one wing

A pilot of a Boeing 767 flew his plane for two hours before realizing he had lost half of a wing. The wing was split in two when it hit a tree on takeoff in Ireland. The pilot also said he heard a bang a short time later, but thought he had hit a bird. He realized the problem when he saw that his back-up fuel tank, which was ripped off with the wing, was on empty. He then landed and saw the full extent of the damage and was amazed the plane had flown as long as it did.

Man caught smuggling tortoises

A Croatian man was arrested in Frankfurt, Germany, for attempting to smuggle 375 endangered tortoises in his luggage. A police dog found the tortoises, which the man planned on selling to a dealer for roughly $54,000. The tortoises were tied together with rubber bands and wrapped in cloth. Thirty of the reptiles had not survived the trip and the rest were in bad shape. Airport staff gave them lettuce and water before transporting them to a zoo. The smuggler was charged with cruelty to animals and violating international species protection laws.

Naked scanners

Airport security scanners at Mexico City’s international airport show passengers as being naked. Human rights workers object to these scanners, which consist of a cabin where x-ray images of passengers are taken from different angles and sent to a monitor. The scanner is designed to help police detect guns, drugs and other hidden items. Although complaints to have the scanner removed have been filed, airport communications secretary Pedro Cerisola said that if people want to travel through the airport, this is one of the conditions they will have to accept.