November 2001

Devon to get dung-power
Monday, November 19, 2001
Britain's first dung-fired power station should be in action by January 2002. Read the full story...

Purple-necked Wallaby exists say Aussie experts
Monday, November 19, 2001
Scientists in Australia say a mysterious purple kangaroo, thought to be a legend, does actually exist. Read the full story...

Man shared apartment with dead body
Monday, November 19, 2001
A Russian man has lived with his dead flatmate's body sat at a table, with a fork in its hand, for a week. Read the full story...

Husband locked wife in pig sty for flirting
Monday, November 19, 2001
A jealous husband stripped his wife naked and locked her in his pig sty after a row. Read the full story...

Kamikaze dolphin retires
Monday, November 19, 2001
A dolphin trained by the Russian military to carry out kamikaze-style attacks has been given a new life. Read the full story...

Police clerk pawns evidence to pay off stock market debts
Friday, November 16, 2001
A Hong Kong police station clerk stole court exhibits to pay off his stock market debts. Read the full story...

Caretaker used sticky tape on ruler to steal temple donations
Friday, November 16, 2001
A caretaker at a Chinese temple in Singapore used a ruler and double-sided tape to steal cash from a donation box. Read the full story...

Manure sculpture provides place for meditation
Friday, November 16, 2001
A sculpture made of manure has been erected in Bulgaria to provide a place for people to meditate. Read the full story...

Drink-drive woman flags down unmarked police car
Friday, November 16, 2001
A New Zealand drink-driver stopped an unmarked police car because she was worried that officers may be in the area. Read the full story...

Shoppers storm store in their underwear
Friday, November 16, 2001
More than a hundred German shoppers besieged a shop wearing nothing but underwear. Read the full story...

Radio chat shows used to scare reindeer from rail lines
Friday, November 16, 2001
Loudspeakers are being installed alongside railway lines in Sweden, to scare reindeer off the tracks. Read the full story...

Prisoner escapes through police station ceiling
Thursday, November 15, 2001
A prisoner has escaped from a police station in Sunderland after removing the ceiling tiles. Read the full story...

Romanian council starts to tax witches who sell their spells
Thursday, November 15, 2001
A Romanian council is starting to tax witches who sell their spells. Read the full story...

89-year-old reverses into neighbour's living room
Thursday, November 15, 2001
An elderly New Zealand woman reversed into her neighbour's living room as she tried to park her car. Read the full story...

Priest uses text messages to communicate his sermons
Thursday, November 15, 2001
A northern Italian priest has started sending his sermons via text message.
Read the full story...

Referee scores goal after feeling sorry for losing team
Thursday, November 15, 2001
An Essex referee scored a goal for a football team who were losing 18-1, because he felt sorry for them. Read the full story...

Priest 'took crosses from graveyard to make toilet'
Thursday, November 15, 2001
Parishioners of a Romanian church say their former priest used crosses from a graveyard to make a toilet. Read the full story...

Man ties himself to sheep
Wednesday, November 14, 2001
An Argentinian man has tied himself to his sheep in protest at being refused accommodation by 20 landlords. Read the full story...

Confused shopper drives off in someone else's car
Wednesday, November 14, 2001
A woman who went shopping in her Ford Fiesta mistakenly drove home in someone else's Nissan Micra. Read the full story...

Man burns 'possessed' teddy bear
Wednesday, November 14, 2001
A man from Connecticut has been arrested for burning a teddy bear because he believed it was possessed. Read the full story...

Van Gogh's £25m Sunflowers 'is a copy'
Wednesday, November 14, 2001
An Italian art journal is claiming Van Gogh's Sunflowers which was auctioned for £25 million is a copy. Read the full story...

Church mistakenly sells medieval tombstone to scrapyard
Wednesday, November 14, 2001
Church officials in Dorset are trying to retrieve a medieval tombstone they mistakenly sold to a scrap merchant. Read the full story...

French schools planning Cockney English lessons
Wednesday, November 14, 2001
French schools are planning to teach pupils Cockney English. Read the full story...

Scientist says he can create meat without killing animals
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
A Dutch scientist says he can create artificial meat in laboratories without killing animals. Read the full story...

Rude town name upsets women and splits council
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
Women in South Africa are upset at civic leaders for naming their municipality after the female sexual organ. Read the full story...

Joyriders take tank on four-hour drive
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
Joyriders took a tank on an eight-mile drive after stealing it from an outdoor activity centre. Read the full story...

New buses too big for Mersey tunnel
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
A new fleet of buses in Merseyside is too big to go through the Mersey Tunnel.
Read the full story...

Hostages rescued as suspect snoozes on settee
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
Orlando police say, they rescued four children being held hostage, after the suspect fell asleep on a settee. Read the full story...

One tonne of rubbish removed from man's flat
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
Authorities in Bucharest have removed a tonne of rubbish from a man's flat. Read the full story...

Teeneragers fined for measuring erections in class
Monday, November 12, 2001
Two teenagers have been fined for measuring the size of their penis in class at a Norwegian high school. Read the full story...

Woman arrested for dumping ton of vomit
Monday, November 12, 2001
Police in Japan have arrested a 25-year-old bulimic woman who may have dumped more than a ton of vomit on city streets. Read the full story...

A Swedish fisherman discovered an elk entangled with the fish in his net.
Monday, November 12, 2001
A Swedish fisherman discovered an elk entangled with the fish in his net.
Read the full story...

Drunk man gets boy, 12, to drive instead
Monday, November 12, 2001
A New Zealand man persuaded a 12-year-old boy to drive him home because he was too drunk to drive. Read the full story...

Mayor bans taking snakes for 'walks'
Monday, November 12, 2001
A mayor in northern Italy is issuing orders forbidding people to have snakes on leads in city parks. Read the full story...

Woman opens bank account with forged $1 million note
Monday, November 12, 2001
A Pennsylvanian woman was allowed to open a bank account with a single forged $1 million note. Read the full story...

Village wants waste disposal crocodiles
Friday, November 9, 2001
A fishing village in Iceland may import crocodiles as living waste disposal units. Read the full story...

Gardeners fall foul of cow dung ban
Friday, November 9, 2001
Residents in South African will be fined for spreading cow dung on their gardens. Read the full story...

1935 headstone finally paid for
Friday, November 9, 2001
A stonemason's firm which began work on a headstone in 1935 has finally been paid for the job. Read the full story...

Eating pizza protects skin from sunburn - claim
Friday, November 9, 2001
Research shows sun worshippers can protect their skin by eating pizza.
Read the full story...

Driver crashes after seeing UFOs
Friday, November 9, 2001
A driver who claimed UFOs caused him to crash later admitted he was distracted by beer mats being thrown by children. Read the full story...

Cat lovers erect electric fence to protect pet
Friday, November 9, 2001
A Dutch couple have erected an electric fence round their house to stop their pet cat straying. Read the full story...

Dating and thongs outlawed by muslims in Dubai
Thursday, November 8, 2001
Dating and skimpy bathing costumes have been outlawed under a new Decency Law in Dubai.
Read the full story...

Vibrators, urns and underwear left on buses
Thursday, November 8, 2001
A vibrator, live tropical fish and lingerie are among items lost by absent-minded bus passengers. Read the full story...

Cow urine pushed as health cure in India
Thursday, November 8, 2001
Hindu nationalists in India have launched a marketing exercise to promote cow's urine as a health cure. Read the full story...

City pays $10 million for Y2K Bug protection
Thursday, November 8, 2001
A US city has paid $10 million to protect itself from the Millenium Bug - almost two years after Y2K day. Read the full story...

Man 'attacked' by dead shark
Thursday, November 8, 2001
A chef at a restaurant in Cornwall says his thumb was nearly ripped off by a dead shark. Read the full story...

Bank manager stole £17,000 to help hard-up customers
Thursday, November 8, 2001
A bank worker has been jailed for 15 months after he admitted stealing more than £17,000 to help hard-up customers. Read the full story...

MU registration plates upset Liverpool and Everton fans
Wednesday, November 7, 2001
Football fans buying new cars on Merseyside are upset because their number plates begin with the letters MU. Read the full story...

TV blunder sparks mistaken lottery celebrations
Wednesday, November 7, 2001
An Amsterdam couple celebrated becoming millionaires on the Dutch lottery only for a TV station to admit it got the numbers wrong. Read the full story...

'Funeral director left decomposing bodies in garage'
Wednesday, November 7, 2001
The owner of a Connecticut funeral home has been arrested after five decomposing bodies were found in a garage. Read the full story...

Man staged taxi robbery so he could be jailed
Wednesday, November 7, 2001
A Hong Kong man staged a taxi robbery then asked the driver to take him to a police station so he could go to jail. Read the full story...

Flouride-hit rat-eating men can't find brides
Wednesday, November 7, 2001
Men in a western Indian village are struggling to find brides because of their contaminated water and eating habits. Read the full story...

Cricket pitches may offer future for declining species
Wednesday, November 7, 2001
Conservationists say the future of Chamomile in the country could depend on cricket groundsmen. Read the full story...

Woman 'tapped into man's e-mail to turn down six figure salary job offer'
Tuesday, November 6, 2001
An Iowa student is accused of tapping into a former friend's e-mail to turn down a highly-paid job for him. Read the full story...

Worker sacked over Bermuda shorts loses case
Tuesday, November 6, 2001
A French man sacked for wearing Bermuda shorts at work has lost a case for unfair dismissal.
Read the full story...

Ignored robber complains of poor service from bank staff
Tuesday, November 6, 2001
A would-be bank robber in Germany left empty-handed after going to the only empty cashier's window to demand cash. Read the full story...

Naked pensioner guilty of setting college fire
Tuesday, November 6, 2001
An 81-year-old Canadian woman who appeared in court naked has been found guilty of setting a college on fire. Read the full story...

999 call made over mating hedgehogs
Tuesday, November 6, 2001
A pair of mating hedgehogs caused staff at a South Yorkshire nursing home to call the police.
Read the full story...

'Ghost' robber arrested in Kashmir
Monday, November 5, 2001
Police in Kashmir have arrested a man for allegedly posing as a ghost to rob people of their belongings. Read the full story...

City urged to stop gassing unwanted animals
Monday, November 5, 2001
A Canadian city has been asked to stop killing unwanted cats and dogs by putting them in a gas chamber. Read the full story...

Rubbish piles up 'due to neighbour's dog bark'
Monday, November 5, 2001
A resident claims binmen near Preston won't collect his rubbish because his neighbour's dog barks at them. Read the full story...

Man arrested after cutting boy's hair
Monday, November 5, 2001
An Indiana man has been arrested after cutting a boy's hair outside a school. Read the full story...

Juror arrested on drug charges in lunch break
Monday, November 5, 2001
A Massachusetts woman was arrested during a break from jury duty after police allegedly found a large amount of heroin and cocaine on her. Read the full story...

Doctors find jaw growing in girl's chest
Monday, November 5, 2001
Indian doctors have removed a fully formed jaw from the chest of a six-year-old girl.
Read the full story...

Nun charged over blackboard duster 'assault'
Friday, November 2, 2001
A Filipino nun has been charged with assault after throwing a blackboard duster at one of her pupils. Read the full story...

'Ticking bomb' is new-born baby
Friday, November 2, 2001
Explosives experts sent to defuse a bomb found the suspect package was actually a new-born baby. Read the full story...

Speeding millionaire fined £16,457
Friday, November 2, 2001
A millionaire will have to pay £16,200 for driving at 18 miles per hour over the limit because fines are means tested in Finland. Read the full story...

Lucky lobster too big to cook
Friday, November 2, 2001
A lucky lobster measuring almost a metre has been saved from the pot by a chef who believed size mattered. Read the full story...

Anglers flock to Irish village to catch escaped salmon
Friday, November 2, 2001
A fish farm in County Antrim has accidentally released thousands of salmon into the sea. Read the full story...

Delayed motorists tell suicidal woman to jump
Friday, November 2, 2001
A suicidal woman has thrown herself off a bridge after angry motorists told her to jump. Read the full story...

Family face court after joke kidnapping goes wrong
Thursday, November 1, 2001
More than 50 Belgian police officers were called out to hunt for a woman whose reported kidnapping turned out to be a birthday surprise. Read the full story...

Video rental shops reward speeding drivers
Thursday, November 1, 2001
A chain of video rental shops in Belgium is offering two free videos to customers who can produce a speeding or parking ticket. Read the full story...

Suspected burglar arrested after falling asleep in getaway car
Thursday, November 1, 2001
A suspected burglar has been arrested in San Diego after falling asleep in the alleged getaway car. Read the full story...

Driver charged for forcing mooning teenager into his car
Thursday, November 1, 2001
Police have charged a driver after he allegedly forced a teenager who'd mooned at him into his car. Read the full story...

Diplomat calls firefighters to wash man's urine from his limo
Thursday, November 1, 2001
Firefighters in Uganda answered an emergency to discover the caller wanted them to wash urine from his limo. Read the full story...

Bar raffles funeral for Halloween
Thursday, November 1, 2001
A bar is continuing its Halloween celebrations by raffling a free funeral. Read the full story...

View all news items