A man was caught by Norwegian customs carrying a tarantula in his bag, and a further 14 royal pythons and 10 albino leopard geckos taped to his body, media reported Monday. The 22-year-old Norwegian was stopped in a routine check by Kristiansand customs after arriving on a ferry from Denmark, newspaper Faedrelandsvennen reported.
Drunk clown nabbed after crash
A Vancouver-area man has learned that if driving erratically in a clown suit is not enough to signal intoxication, then crashing into a police car certainly is. A police officer in suburban West Vancouver was searching for suspects involved in a reported fight early on Sunday when he spotted a man, later found to be wearing a brightly colored clown costume, driving at him on the wrong side of the road.
Parents lynch bookseller over abduction fear
A mob of angry Chinese parents lynched a book salesman and badly injured four of his colleagues after rumors spread that the men were part of a human smuggling ring, the official Xinhua agency said. The attack at the Chumen Primary school, in prosperous eastern Zhejiang province, occurred in the early morning as the group handed out leaflets about a lecture to be given nearby, the agency quoted a police official as saying.
Ban on tight trousers for women?
Women may soon be banned from wearing tight trousers in parts of an Indonesian province that practices strict Islamic law, and offenders could see their attire cut up. Aceh is the only province in predominantly Muslim Indonesia to use Islamic sharia for its legal code. The previous provincial government passed a controversial law in September allowing adulterers to be stoned to death.
U.N. to send Iraqi refugees food aid by text message
Iraqi refugees in Syria will this week start receive U.N. text messages they can redeem for fresh food in local shops, the World Food Program said on Tuesday. The "virtual vouchers" worth $22 per family every two months will supplement traditional aid which rarely includes perishable goods, WFP spokeswoman Emilia Casella said, announcing the pilot project supported by the mobile company MTN.
Yours for $3,500 -- the horsehair fountain pen
For those not constrained by these austere times, a German luxury goods company is offering a limited edition fountain pen, adorned with pleated horsehair and starting at $3,500. Faber-Castell, which has been in business since 1761, started its "Pen of the Year" in 2002 and each year has used a different type of rare material, including mammoth ivory, 200-year-old olive tree wood, and Indian satin wood.
Crackdown on smugglers of used clothing
Police in China have broken up a network of workshops and warehouses used to illegally smuggle 140 tons of used, foreign clothing through southern China, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday. Authorities detained 11 people involved in the smuggling ring in Lufeng City, a southern coastal area in Guangdong province, and raided more than 500 workshops and warehouses, according to the report.
Kids as young as 9 to receive career advice
Children in British primary schools as young as nine are to receive advice via internet sites such as YouTube on their future career paths under a new scheme, the government said on Monday. Under the program designed to help children of all socio-economic backgrounds realize their goals, students will be given mentors, have the chance to visit universities, and be given counseling on what subjects to study via social networking sites like Facebook.