Scores of Mexican riders, some dressed as bandits and toting sabers, trotted across the US border last weekend to commemorate a raid by Francisco "Pancho" Villa that left 18 Americans dead and this dusty US frontier town a smoking ruin.
The riders crossed the border in an annual commemoration of bandit-turned revolutionary Villa's bloody attack on Columbus, New Mexico, during the Mexican Revolution in March 1916.
The re-enactment is organised by historical enthusiasts from both sides of the border, and draws hundreds of tourists and residents who gather to watch and hold picnics.
Pancho Villa raided the town in reprisal for the US government's support for his rival, the nationalist government leader Venustiano Carranza. His gun-toting pistoleros crept into the streets under cover of darkness, attacked the US Army garrison here killing 10 soldiers and eight civilians, and torched adobe and timber-framed homes across Columbus.
"Today we come in peace, we have no guns," said Narciso Martinez, 57, a rancher from the Mexican state of Durango, dressed as Villa in a pith helmet, cravat and spurs, and twirling a saber above his head. (Reuters)
Fisherman uses WWII bomb as anchor
A Malaysian fisherman has been using a deadly World War II bomb as an anchor for his boat according to a report last weekend.
Local police made the shocking discovery during a routine patrol in a fishing village in the southern Johor state. The fisherman had been using the bomb for several months and thought it was safe on account of its age, the Star newspaper reported.
Police alerted the bomb squad who removed the 160mm device to be destroyed.
Officers discovered eight similar bombs in the village after following up on information obtained from the fisherman. Local police chief Abdul Aziz Ahmad urged anyone coming across objects that resemble bombs to inform the police immediately.
"The bombs about the size of a small fire extinguisher were found behind a restaurant in the village," he said, adding, "Unless the bombs are destroyed, they are considered still active and very dangerous". (AFP)
Free land to all
A village in northern Austria, worried by its dwindling population, is offering free land to all who pledge to start a family in a decade, the Kurier newspaper has reported.
Plots of 800 and 900 square metres are up for grabs at Rappottenstein, near the Czech border, to both singles and married couples who pledge to have at least one child in the next 10 years.
Singles also have to get married. Other conditions stipulate that the new owners have to build a house on the plot in three years. If the conditions are not fulfilled, the owners will have to pay €12,000.
The commune where the village is located is home to only 1,760 people. (AFP)
The return of Pooch
A dog was reunited with his owners in Serbia after being found almost 400 kilometres away from home and six months after he went missing.
Zuco, two and a half years old, went missing from its home in the western Serbian town of Sabac, some 370 kilometres east of Zagreb, in June last year. It was found in mid-December wandering in the Croatian capital by Tanja Vukmanic.
Ms Vukmanic and her boyfriend decided to shelter the dog and contacted a local animal protection association SUZA.
As the animal had an identification microchip, SUZA eventually found his owners in Sabac with whom he was eventually reunited in late February. (AFP)
Man fined €1,800 for SMS message
A court in Germany fined a man €1,800 euros for inadvertently passing on an SMS text message which told the recipient they had just killed a Turk by opening it.
Shortly before Germany defeated Turkey in last year's Euro 2008 soccer tournament, the 28-year-old sent a message that in German read "by opening this SMS, you have killed a Turk".
The recipient was also urged to forward the SMS to encourage a "clean" tournament, landing the man in court charged with inciting racial hatred, his lawyer Karl Laible said. About three per cent of Germany's population are of Turkish origin.
However, the court in Lindau dropped the charge - which could have led to a prison sentence - in exchange for the fine due to uncertainty about the accusation and the man's motive.
The man had been forwarded the message and accidentally sent it to the name at the top of his phone's address book last June. (Reuters)