Following is a summary of current odd news briefs.
Gaza finally captures “Rock” the fugitive croc
GAZA (Reuters) – A crocodile on the run from a Gaza zoo for
the past 18 months has finally been captured, police said on
Tuesday. The 1.8 meter (6 foot)-long reptile was spotted
several weeks ago in sewage pools in the northern Gaza Strip,
and villagers complained he had been eating their livestock.
Police called in fishermen, who netted the crocodile on Monday.
South Africa school parking spat ends in shooting
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – An argument over a parking space
between parents at a Johannesburg primary school prize-giving
ended in a shooting that left three people injured and one man
facing attempted murder charges, police said. South Africa’s
Times newspaper said two mothers were arguing with another
parent over the same parking spot at Culembeek Primary School
west of Johannesburg before one of them ran off to get help
from a relative.
Whale injures three boatmen off South Africa’s coast
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Three men were injured on Monday
when a whale leaped out of the water and landed on their
inflatable boat off South Africa’s south coast near the harbor
city of Port Elizabeth, the National Sea Rescue Institute
(NSRI) said on Tuesday. The weight of animal, believed to be a
humpback whale, pushed the craft underwater but the boat popped
back to the surface and one of the men was able to raise the
alarm with a cell phone, the NSRI said in a statement.
UK finance minister tops British nightmares: survey
LONDON (Reuters) – Finance minister George Osborne is the
public figure that most often appears in British nightmares, a
recent study has found. Ruling Conservative party member
Osborne, whose official title is Chancellor of the Exchequer,
was booed during a medal ceremony at the Paralympics this
summer in London and has been the focus of public criticism for
austerity measures which have seen cuts to welfare budgets and
a freeze in public sector pay.
Military discipline for “soldiers” on Korea exam’s front
line
GWANGJU (Reuters) – Conversations between men and women are
forbidden at the school on the outskirts of Seoul, where
security cameras watch the students’ every move. There is no
access to television, the Internet, mobile phones or MP3
players. Welcome to the monastic life of a boarding school for
students dedicated to spending nine months preparing to retake
South Korea’s college entrance exams, in the hopes of a place
at the best college and a job for life at a top corporation.
Idaho scientist seeks to launch aerial Bigfoot search with
blimp
SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) – An Idaho scientist shrugging off
skeptical fellow scholars in his quest for evidence of Bigfoot
has turned his sights skyward, with plans to float a blimp over
the U.S. mountain West in search of the mythic, ape-like
creature. Idaho State University has approved the unusual
proposal of faculty member Jeffrey Meldrum, an anatomy and
anthropology professor ridiculed by some peers for past
research of a being whose existence is widely disputed by
mainstream science.
