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A luckless crook surrendered to police after four robberies flopped in the same day. Ralf Lautenbach, 24, fled after trying to hold up two hotels which set security guards on him - and then abandoned a break in at the local tax office in Muelheim an der Ruhr, Germany. Finally the failing would-be crook handed himself in after he was trapped in his getaway car after using it to ram a bank security cash van. "He needs a change of job," said one officer. Source Have any interesting articles you'd like to share? Article Request Thread.
A Scottish brewery, with a history of controversy, claims to have made the world's strongest beer. The drink, named "Tactical Nuclear Penguin" is so strong that it should be served in small measures usually reserved for spirits. Its maker, BrewDog brewers of Fraserburgh described the 32 per cent proof tipple as its "most audacious and ambitious project to date". But its launch comes amid a high profile debate in Scotland about an epidemic of alcoholism in the country. The devolved SNP administration is considering introducing minimum pricing in an attempt to curb problem drinking. BrewDog, which describes itself as making "progressive, craft beers" was previously responsible for an 18.2pc drink called Tokyo which it claimed had been "banned" by the Portman Group, the industry body which runs a voluntary code of conduct. It also made a low alcohol brew which it mockingly name "Nanny State". Only 500 bottles of its latest beer have been produced, with half going on sale for £30 each and remainder offered for £250 with a share in the company also on offer. In a posting on the company's website, James Watt, the managing director said: "This beer is bold, irreverent and uncompromising, a beer with a soul and a purpose, a statement of intent." He added: "Beer has a terrible reputation in Britain, it’s ignorant to assume that a beer can’t be enjoyed responsibly like a nice dram or a glass of fine wine. "A beer like Tactical Nuclear Penguin should be enjoyed in spirit sized measures. "It pairs fantastically with vanilla bean white chocolate it really brings out the complexity of the beer and complements the powerful, smoky and cocoa flavours." A warning on the label advises drinkers to take it in small servings: "and with an air of aristocratic nonchalance. "In exactly the same manner that you would enjoy a fine whisky, a Frank Zappa album or a visit from a friendly yet anxious ghost." Source
It was a pact that only a true friend would keep. Before one of them was sent to fight in Afghanistan for the British Army, they made a deal: If one of them died, the other had to wear a dress to the funeral. So when Barry Delaney turned up to the graveside funeral of best friend Private Kevin Elliott, he did so wearing a tight fluorescent dress, The Times reports. The green dress was matched with equally bright pink leg warmers and black hiking boots. Family and friends of the soldier, who was in the Army's Black Watch battalion, were believed to have been warned in advance of the pact - and Mr Delaney's intention of fulfilling it. Mr Delaney wept on his knees during the Scottish service for Private Elliott, who was killed while on foot patrol last month. He was aged 24. Fellow soldiers wore their regimental uniforms, while others at the funeral donned T-shirts featuring a large picture of Private Elliott in his combat fatigues. The soldier's father, Sandy Elliott, said it was the saddest day of his life when he heard about his death. "Kevin was a grandson, a brother, a nephew, an uncle and a cousin, but more than anything he was our son," he said. "And although some things he did annoyed us, I can’t remember being anything but proud of him. "The saddest day of our lives was hearing he had died - something no parent wants to hear. "But for 24 years Kevin brought joy to our lives." Source
La. Police Say A Homeless Man Broke Into A Woman's Home To Cook A Meal. Alexandria police have arrested a man they said broke into an home to cook a meal. The Alexandria Daily Town Talk reported Wednesday that 29-year-old man, who told police he was homeless, was arrested and charged with burglary. A woman told police she walked into her home around 5:30 p.m. Sunday to find a man inside. She said she asked the man what he was doing, and he told her it was his aunt's home and that she was not to be there. The man told the woman that his aunt told him he could come by anytime he wanted. When police arrived, officers discovered that the oven and a heater were on and that the man had been cooking and eating the woman's food. Source
OLIVE BRANCH, Miss. (AP) -- A 2-year-old in north Mississippi has done something few toddlers can: He helped his mother give birth to his brother. Bobbye Favazza told The Commercial Appeal she went into labor this past Friday and gave birth on the family's living room couch in Olive Branch. She said her toddler, Jeremiha Taylor, got her a towel and caught the baby before firefighters arrived to cut the umbilical cord. Favazza gave birth to a 7-pound, 4-ounce baby boy, Kamron Taylor. She had been scheduled for a cesarian section on Dec. 6. City emergency services supervisor, Greg Mynatt, said the 911 call about Favazza was probably the third this year about a woman in labor, but usually the mother makes it to the hospital before delivery. Source
Zoo-keepers in China say their tigers have grown so tame that they're frightened of the chickens they're supposed to eat. The Chongqing Wild Animal Park has five rare adult white tigers which were originally trained to perform tricks for visitors, reports the Chongqing Morning Post. Keepers have been trying to encourage them to follow their natural instincts by throwing them live chickens - but without success. Feeder Shi Ruqiang said: They're supposed to be wild and scary, but due to their soft lifestyles and human care they have gradually lost their wild nature. "I have been trying to interest them with live chickens but it was quite a funny scene. The tigers were so scared that they wouldn't go near them. "One chicken passed out and the tigers did eventually approach it - but then it woke up again and squawked and they ran for their lives!" Shi says the keepers are now forcing the tigers to stay outside their cages for at least 12 hours a day to toughen them up. And they are planning to introduce a wild tiger to show the domesticated big cats the ropes. "If all else fails, we will simply cut down their rations until they are so hungry that they are forced to hunt for themselves," he added. Source
A Canadian teenager has been rescued after he got trapped on a floating piece of ice - with three polar bears. The 17-year-old had been on a hunting trip with his uncle when he became stuck on the ice pan, reports the Daily Telegraph. He shot one of the bears in self defense and was suffering from hypothermia when he was eventually rescued. It happened after a snowmobile the teen and his 67-year-old uncle were riding broke down on Southampton Island in the northern part of Hudson Bay. As they walked toward the tiny community of Coral Harbour - 11 miles away - to get help, they became separated. A large chunk of ice broke off, setting the teen adrift. While the teenager was lost in the wilderness he encountered three polar bears, an adult and two older cubs, on the same large ice pan. Ed Zebedee, director of the Government of Nunavut's protection services branch, said: "He did have to shoot the polar bear to protect himself. "There were two other bears on the ice pan but they stayed away from him so he didn't shoot at them at all." The uncle was picked up by searchers on snowmobiles and the teenager was spotted by a search plane later that day. It dropped him a container of chocolate bars. The following day, two search-and-rescue technicians parachuted to a larger ice floe a short distance away to mount their successful rescue attempt. Source
A 1500-tonne boulder came within metres of crushing a sleeping family of four after breaking free from a large overhanging rock face on Black Friday. Jenny and Michael Day were asleep in their Wyberba home near Stanthorpe on the Granite Belt in southern Queensland when they were jolted awake by an "almighty crash" about 3am. "We thought a jet had crashed at first. It was just such a loud noise accompanied by a sort of squealing," Mrs Day told the Courier-Mail. They had to wait until daylight to discover the offending object – and could barely believe what they saw. "My husband rushed back inside with his camera and showed me the pictures he took," Mrs Day said. "I said, 'Holy crap'!" The enormous boulder had broken off a large rock face overhanging their property and tumbled about 150m. "About 50m more and we would have been gone. It would have completely crushed the house," Mrs Day said. Neighbour Trevor Cooper said in 32 years of living in Wyberba he had never seen a rock of that size come adrift before. "If it had gone another roll, there would've been nothing to stop it. It would've gained momentum again and wiped out the house," Mr Cooper said. Queensland University of Technology geology expert David Murphy said the boulder was a time bomb. "The fracture along which the boulder broke must have originally started some time ago and has slowly spread from the top left to the bottom right until finally breaking completely," Dr Murphy said. "It was simply a matter of time." He said the Days would be well advised to get a geotechnical engineer to inspect the rest of the rock face. Mrs Day said they would just have to live with the rock, planted firmly next to the water tank. "It's not like we can move it," she laughed. Source
Two lovers have had sex in broad daylight in a clock tower above a busy junction in Sydney. The couple shocked onlookers by getting down to business on the roof of one of the city's landmarks in the middle of the afternoon, reports the Daily Telegraph. Crowds gathered at the foot of the building - a former department store converted into university accommodation - and at least one member of the public captured their passions on camera. "A few other people had noticed as well and when I started taking photos everyone in the area started to look up and point, laugh, grin," a witness told the Australian Daily Telegraph. "From the looks of it, the couple did seem to know they could be seen and seemed completely unfazed." Australian newspapers are now appealing for the couple to come forward. There is speculation that they were students staying in the building who decided to make love on the roof as a prank. The property on which they displayed their affection was constructed for the Grace Bros department store in 1923, and remains one of the most prominent buildings in the city. Source
HOLLAND, Mich., Nov. 9 (UPI) -- Authorities in Michigan said a 79-year-old man suffered cuts, abrasions and burns when he attempted to destroy old fireworks in a backyard fire pit. Ottawa County sheriff's deputies responding to a report of a fire on a roof in the area said they spotted the man near a fire pit late Sunday morning and a huge explosion followed that left the man injured, WWMT-TV, Kalamazoo, Mich., reported Monday. The man told investigators he was trying to destroy fireworks in the pit. Deputies told the Holland (Mich.) Sentinel the Michigan Bomb Squad was called in dispose of the remaining fireworks. Source Have any interesting articles you'd like to share? Article Request Thread.
