"Fred and Wilma Flintstone" were arrested as they approached the European Parliament yesterday to protest about the influence of the auto industry on proposals to curb carbon dioxide emissions from cars.
Six Greenpeace activists dressed as cavemen and travelling in a Flintstones-style vehicle were detained along with three others for public order offences, police said. A stone tablet accusing car lobbyists of driving climate change was confiscated before it could be delivered to lawmakers, a Greenpeace spokesman said.
The European Parliament will this week start debating legislation to force down CO2 emissions from cars, with fines on manufacturers that fail to comply. But lawmakers will consider amendments that weaken the original proposals from the EU's executive European Commission by reducing the level of fines and phasing the laws in more slowly than initially envisaged.
Zombie parade deemed blasphemous
A procession of devils, ghosts and zombies through the historic Spanish city of Toledo has been branded blasphemous by the Catholic Church.
Actors from the Morboria theatre company performed a representation inspired by the mediaeval Dance of Death in Toledo's streets on Saturday, provoking an angry reaction from the cathedral pulpit the following day. "We ask forgiveness for those who yesterday insulted the body of Christ," said Archbishop Antonio Canizares, quoted in newspaper El Pais.
He told worshippers the procession, which also included a Virgin Mary and a Saint Peter, made a mockery of the Catholic celebration of Corpus Christi. "This feast and all it means are much bigger than this belittling and rolling about on the streets," Archbishop Canizares said.
Elmo lighters ignite disgust
Kathleen Flockton couldn't believe her eyes when she saw cigarette lighters decorated with Sesame Street's Elmo and other children's characters by the check-out at her local drug store. "I couldn't really understand why an adult would want a Cookie Monster lighter," said Ms Flockton, a mother of three.
So she bought some to show a firefighter friend who teaches children about the dangers of fire, and told a local TV station, unleashing a firestorm of disgust in a city where fires started by children are a common problem.
"You combine the natural curiosity of children, and you throw that design at them, sitting on a coffee table, you know that it's going to be an attraction, said Sgt Derrick Todoruk of the Winnipeg police department's arson strike force.
"It's like putting a picture of Big Bird on a shotgun," Sgt Todoruk said. "It makes no sense."
Couple forced to divorce
A Saudi couple forced to divorce by an Islamic court have called for more international pressure to reunite them after Saudi authorities failed to fulfil a pledge to a UN body to do so. Fatima Azzaz and Mansour al-Timani were forced to separate in 2006 after her brothers persuaded judges her husband's tribal stock was not prestigious enough.
It is one of a series of cases that have drawn international criticism of human rights in Saudi Arabia, a key US ally and the world's top oil exporter.
Yakin Erturk, the UN's expert on violence against women, said during a visit to Riyadh in February that authorities had promised to allow the couple to reunite.
Car thief held by wild boars
German police pursuing a car thief through a dark forest turned rescuers when the man became cornered by a family of angry wild boar.
Officers had caught the man's passenger after the pair rammed into a squad car on a cross-country chase and leapt from the stolen Opel, police in the eastern city of Schwerin said. But they initially lost track of the 18-year-old driver during the night-time pursuit when he fled deep into the forest.
"Then he ran into the family of boars, and the head of the family squared up to him," a police spokesman said. "So he stood there, put his hands up, and called for help."
Customs lose hidden cannabis
One of the travellers who arrived at Tokyo's Narita airport over the weekend may have picked up an unusual souvenir from customs - a package of cannabis.
A customs official hid the package in a suitcase belonging to a passenger arriving from Hong Kong as a training exercise for sniffer dogs on Sunday, but lost track of both drugs and suitcase during the practice session.
Customs regulations specify that a training suitcase be used for such exercises, but an official said he had used passengers' suitcases for similar purposes in the past. "The dogs have always been able to find it before," he was quoted as saying. "I became overconfident that it would work."
Anyone who finds the package should contact Tokyo customs as soon as possible, the official said.
Sex drugs warning
Canadians should avoid unlicensed drugs that claim to improve sexual performance because they could cause problems such as loss of consciousness, prolonged erections and chest pain, the health ministry said.
Health Canada issued the warning in a release about a product called Desire, which was found to contain the prescription drug phentolamine - something not indicated on the label.