A live shark was found dumped on the doorstep of a newspaper's office in a coastal town in Australia, police said yesterday.
A passer-by alerted police in Warrnambool, Victoria, shortly after midnight that a shark was lying at the front door of the town's Standard newspaper.
"We arrived and poured some water on it just to see if it was still breathing and it kicked around for a little while," said Constable Jarrod Dwyer.
The police took the shark to the town's breakwater in a bucket of water and released it into the sea. The fish, identified as a Port Jackson shark, which is regarded as harmless to humans except for two dorsal spines reputed to be venomous, swam off.
The newspaper "has no ideas of any person that wished them any harm or wished to send them any type of message, so we're a little dumbfounded at this stage," Constable Dwyer said. (AFP)
Super bra deflects bullet
A 57-year-old Detroit woman avoided serious injury when the underwire on her bra deflected a bullet shot at her from next door, police said.
The woman, who lives on the West side of Detroit, saw a group of men breaking into a neighbour's house on Tuesday morning. When the men spotted her, one of them fired a shot at her. However, the bullet struck the underwire on the woman's bra and that saved her from a more serious injury.
"It did slow the bullet down," said Detroit police spokesman Phillip Cook. "She sustained injuries but they're not life threatening."
The woman, who was not identified, was treated at a nearby hospital. The suspects in the shooting drove away. (Reuters)
Parents take children on burglary trip
A mother was accused on Wednesday of driving a getaway minivan with her two young children inside after burglaries at two New York City homes. Prosecutors said Erika Santana, 23, drove the van with her four-year-old and five-month-old children inside after Hugo Lantigua, 22, who is the baby's father, and Pedro Camillo, 19, broke into two houses in the borough of Queens.
Santana, Lantigua and Camillo face charges including burglary, criminal possession of a weapon and endangering the welfare of a child, and face up to 25 years in prison.
"It is unthinkable that a mother and father would put their children in harm's way while allegedly committing these crimes. It is even more unimaginable that they would allegedly do so with a loaded handgun in their vehicle," Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said. (Reuters)
Cop admits 'Jedi' faith
A police officer in Scotland has confessed to following the Jedi faith beloved of Star Wars film fans, respected policing analysis group Jane's reported yesterday.
Pam Fleming, a 45-year-old beat officer in Glasgow for Strathclyde Police, said that she thought all police officers "should be Jedis.
"Being a Jedi is a way of life. I love the Star Wars films and the concept of being a Jedi, that the faith is not divisive," she said. Ms Fleming said she knew of other Jedis in Strathclyde Police - the force apparently has eight in total.
According to Britain's Office for National Statistics, a total of 390,000 people in England and Wales listed their religion as Jedi in the most recent census in 2001. Scotland has a reported 14,000 followers.
Jedi followers are grouped under atheist. (AFP)
Café for the fatigued
Fatigued Finns in Turku can now escape pressures at home or stress at work at a café catering to those who like to catnap. The brainchild of Turku's new 'nap' café is Jeremy Mast, a Frenchman who has been living in Finland since 2006.
"The idea came to me in a restaurant when I felt a bit sleepy after a meal," he said, "I thought it would be so nice to have place (for resting) and I started to think what it could be like."
After finding people liked his idea, Mr Mast opened Naphouse in January after securing funding from the EU's youth culture budget - the cafe also doubles as an art gallery and an activities workshop for young people.
Customers seeking sleep or relaxation are given slippers, a pillow, a blanket and even a teddy bear before entering the blue coloured nap room, which has bean bags and doughnut-shaped mattresses on the floor. (AFP)