Partick Thistle’s newly-unveiled bright yellow mascot has set social media alight – with some branding it “terrifying” while others labelling it a scary version of cartoon character Lisa Simpson.

The Scottish Premiership side introduced the world to club mascot Kingsley as it announced a new sponsorship deal.

But fans were quick to react to the spiky-haired creation, who comes complete with a thick black monobrow.

‘Jaw-dropping’ petty crime

A police and crime commissioner has described examples of incidents his county’s police are having to record as violent crimes as “jaw-dropping”.

They include a man being hit with a biscuit and a child being brushed with a stinging nettle.

Norfolk Police and Crime Commissioner Stephen Bett recently asked the county’s Chief Constable to explain a 14 per cent rise in crime as he suspected there was more to the figures than the bare statistics.

Silent owls inspire scientists

A new material that could make wind turbines and even aircraft quieter by mimicking the design of owls’ wings that allows them to silently hunt their prey has been developed by scientists.

The Cambridge University-led Anglo-American team studied the feathers of the stealthy nocturnal airborne predators to produce the coating, due to be unveiled at a US conference.

Because of the noise they make, wind turbines are often braked to make them turn more slowly and quietly, but the team behind the new material say that it could enable the machines to turn faster and boost their output without increasing noise as a side effect.

Dog meat festival sparks outrage

Restaurateurs in a southern Chinese town are holding an annual dog meat festival despite international criticism.

Eateries reported brisk business during the event marking the summer solstice. They say eating dog meat is traditional while activists say the festival has no cultural value and was invented to drum up business.

As many as 10,000 dogs, many of them stolen pets, are slaughtered for the occasion held deep in the largely rural and poor Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Celebrities such as comedian Ricky Gervais and Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen have called for an end to the festival.

Rubbish police get their man

Arizona detectives holding a free rubbish collection event got more than just garbage. They also got their man.

Reports said detectives working at the June 6 event in Kingman spotted a familiar vehicle in the queue. Authorities say they saw the same vehicle five days earlier at the home of 20-year-old Trenton Drake White, who is suspected of illegal dumping.

They say White allegedly dumped 600lb of construction and household rubbish in the desert. Detectives approached White. They said he admitted dumping the items.

He was arrested on two unrelated warrants for failure to pay fines and driving on a suspended licence – but he now also faces a charge of illegal dumping.

Amphetamine in ambulances

Four alleged smugglers are accused of using unusual vehicles to carry drugs into Britain – a fleet of ambulances.

A joint British and Dutch investigation put the brakes on the scheme this week when police arrested four Dutch nationals – two of them wearing paramedic uniforms – and seized 595lb of heroin, cocaine and amphetamines hidden in secret compartments in an ambulance in the city of Birmingham.

Dutch detectives said the stash had a street value of €10 million.

Police raids in the Netherlands following the arrests found 10 more ambulances.