Police were called to the home of artist Sam Taylor-Johnson and actor husband Aaron after a passer-by spotted a machine gun on a desk inside the house.
The gun, a deactivated M16 assault rifle, had been given to the film-maker and photographer as part of an art project.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman confirmed officers from the firearms unit were called after the gun was spotted through a window of the north London house. A spokeswoman for the couple confirmed that police were called, adding: “The project, curated by Jake Chapman, consists of new works by some of the most celebrated names in contemporary art, all of whom are transforming fully decommissioned M16 assault rifles.” No arrests have been made.
Anonymous donor brings skull
Police are scratching their heads trying to work out who donated a human skull to a thrift store in Austin, Texas.
Homicide Detective Derek Israel said foul play is not suspected and that he simply wants to know how the adult skull came to be left at the Goodwill store. Staff discovered the skull while sifting through donations on July 16. A spokeswoman said it could have been gifted up to a week prior to its discovery.
Polish PM spurns the ice bucket
Poland’s Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, has spurned the ice bucket challenge but said he has made a donation equivalent to 100 US dollars to a campaign to help people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, an incurable degenerative disease which causes paralysis and death.
Initiated in July for the US ALS Association, the ice bucket challenge has gone global and is generating tens of millions of dollars each week to help patients with ALS.
A person challenged is given 24 hours to donate 100 US dollars or take a cold shower. Challenged this week by soccer goalie Wojciech Szczesny, Tusk tweeted to say he was donating to Poland’s ALS charity, the Dignitas Dolentium Association.
Back-to-school bag of gadgets
More than a quarter of parents plan to spend an average of £329 per family on gadgets for their children before the new school year, a survey has found.
The average school bag now contains £130 worth of gadgets and almost half of children (49 per cent) take at least one to the classroom, according to the poll 1,000 of UK parents with children aged 17 and under for uSwitch.
Some 48 per cent of pupils take a mobile phone to school – 26 per cent own smartphones and 22 phone own feature phones – and eight per cent regularly take tablets. But almost one in 10 have had gadgets stolen at school and 14 per cent have been bullied, with 58 per cent reporting they were subject to taunts about the brand they were using.
Wagtail long-term decline mystery
The three species of wagtail that breed in the UK are suffering long-term declines, a study has revealed.
Yellow wagtail, grey wagtail and pied wagtail populations are all in decline, according to the annual Breeding Bird Survey’s latest report, though conservationists say the reasons for the reductions are not clear.
Sarah Harris, BBS organiser at the British Trust for Ornithology, said: “I find it fascinating that three seemingly similar birds – the yellow, grey and pied wagtail – can lead such different lives and face such a variety of challenges.”
Flight disrupted by ‘unruly’ women
Two Canadian women are facing charges after authorities said they drank their duty-free alcohol in a plane’s toilet, triggered the fire alarm with a cigarette and got into a fight with each other, forcing the Sunwing flight bound for Cuba to return to Toronto under a military escort.
Police said Lilia Ratmanski, 25, and Milana Muzikante, 26, have been charged with smoking on board an aircraft and endangering its safety.
The airline said the flight had left Toronto when it was disrupted by “two unruly female passengers”.