The ancient Thai city of Ayutthaya, which has seen its temple engulfed in the kingdom’s flood crisis, has discovered a new menace lurking in the floodwaters – crocodiles.
Around 100 reptiles are thought to be on the loose after escaping from farms in the area and authorities have issued a 1,000 baht ($33) bounty for each crocodile caught alive, said Public Health Minister Vitthaya Buranasiri.
“The crocodiles need to be captured to keep people safe,” he said.
The creatures have been spotted in several areas of the former Thai capital, a World Heritage site and major tourist attraction.
“We are now coordinating with the fishery department for a hotline about any loose animals in the flood areas, whether it is tigers, snakes or crocodiles,” said an official. (AFP)
Cat rescue
A mechanic was called out to an animal shelter in Ohio after a woman drove in with a cat stuck behind her minivan’s dashboard.
Driver Nehal Dhruve said her van hit the cat and she put it on the seat but it instead hopped down and climbed up under the dashboard.
Mechanic Daryl McKay cut his hands trying to free the cat, so a shelter worker with smaller hands took over and pulled it out after a three-hour rescue operation. Ms Dhruve now wants to adopt the cat. (PA)
Twice lucky
An Austrian paraglider had to be rescued off the same cliff for the second time in two weeks, after he tried to retrieve equipment abandoned the first time around, police said yesterday.
The 27-year-old man had had to leave his €4,000 paraglider behind when he was rescued by helicopter on October 2, after crashing into the cliff near Salzburg, where he was literally left hanging, although uninjured.
Hoping to retrieve the expensive equipment, the young man and a friend got stuck again on Saturday on the same cliff and had to be rescued again... with the equipment this time. (AFP)
Arizona bulls
It may not be the streets of Pamplona, but a few hundred people got a similar thrill by running from bulls in the Arizona desert during the weekend.
Nearly two dozen bulls chased more than 200 people in the first of several runs on a quarter-mile fenced track in the small town of Cave Creek.
Based on the annual running of the bulls in Spain, the weekend event drew dozens of spectators and hundreds of runners – some who paid to do all the runs. Organisers say the Cave Creek version is safer because the bulls are rodeo animals – but participants had to sign a lengthy liability waiver and medical form. (AP)
No kidding
A couple shoplifted a mobile phone and make-up from a store but forgot their two children as they fled.
Police in Louisville, Kentucky, said Michael Kaufman, 20, and Kelsey Grobmeier, 19, fled when confronted, leaving a three-year-old and 18-month-old behind in the Walmart store.
Grobmeier returned about an hour later to retrieve the children. The couple are each charged with theft, criminal trespassing, endangering the welfare of a minor and tampering with physical evidence. (PA)
Licence to cheat
A lorry driver used a device out of a James Bond film to get out of paying the toll on a bridge in New Jersey.
Nelson Vaquiz used a cable in his cab to flip up his front licence plate while going through a gateless E-ZPass lane toward New York. Police said his rear plate was bent up so it could not be read by cameras.
The Port Authority needs a clear picture of licence plates so it can bill people who go through the EZ-Pass lanes without transponders. Mr Vaquiz was charged with theft of service, possession of burglar tools and eluding arrest. He was released on bail. (PA)
Street names
Ex-Soviet Uzbekistan has banned naming towns, villages, streets and parks after historically “insignificant” people under a new law signed by President Islam Karimov.
The state-run newspaper Khalk Suzi published the text of the law, banning the naming of streets, airports, terminals, and other places after political leaders.
However, it said an exception exists for “persons who left a deep mark in Uzbekistan’s history”.
Officials explained that the aim of the law was to halt the widespread habit of some local officials to name places and streets after their own relations.
One regional governor, for example, named a cemetery after his mother. (AFP)