A granny in Germany made short work of three suspected robbers who tricked their way into her Berlin apartment yesterday as she celebrated her 90th birthday, police said.
The trio, a woman and two men, rang the doorbell of her flat in Hellersdorf and said they were there to attend the granny’s birthday party.
The pensioner, whose birthday it actually was, became suspicious when the woman asked her for a drink of water and then tried to hold a towel in front of her face.
“She hit the con artist in the face. At the same time she pushed one of the men out the door, at which point the trio fled,” police said in a statement.
“The senior was unharmed.” (AFP)
‘Nuclear’ candy turns out to be toxic
US authorities issued a recall yesterday for a brand of Pakistan-made candy called Toxic Waste Nuclear Sludge Chew Bars because it turns out the sweets actually are toxic.
Tests showed that the cherry flavouring in the chew bars contained extremely high levels of lead – 0.24 parts per million when the US limit is 0.1.
“That potentially could cause health problems, particularly for infants, small children, and pregnant women,” the Food and Drug Administration said.
The recall affects all flavours of the candy and all the bars the company ever made from its inception in 2007 until January this year. (AFP)
Liquid armour
A custard-like liquid that hardens when struck is being used to give soldiers greater protection and ease of movement in combat situations.
The technology, dubbed ‘liquid armour’ by scientists and engineers at defence security company BAE Systems, has been designed to fit between sheets of strong material such as Kevlar.
Unlike ceramic-based armour plates used in current body armour systems to cover large areas of the torso, the technology is not heavy and bulky. Bullet-proof jackets made from the goo could be used within two years. (PA)
Careless burglar
Florida police arrested a man after finding his dropped mobile phone at the scene of a burglary.
The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports that when Edgewater police knocked on Kevin Jaycob Slagter’s door and asked about the phone, the 32-year-old said he had lost it.
When police told him they had found it, Mr Slagter allegedly confessed to breaking into 11 homes. Inside Mr Slagter’s home, they found some $30,000 in stolen goods, including electronics, jewellery, coins and computers. He faces multiple counts of burglary. (PA)
Sampling Shackleton’s Antarctic whisky
Three bottles of whisky abandoned in Antarctica by British explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton more than a century ago will be sent to Scotland for scientific analysis.
The bottles of Mackinlay’s whisky were part of a cache recovered last year from beneath Shackleton’s Antarctic hut, built in 1908 as part of his failed attempt to reach the South Pole.
The whisky would be sent to the Whyte & Mackay distillery in Scotland, which now owns the Mackinlay’s brand, where it would be analysed in an attempt to recreate the original recipe.
The wooden crate containing the whisky, marked British Antarctic Expedition 1907, was frozen solid in the minus 30˚C temperatures but the whisky in the bottles was still liquid.
The whisky is believed to have been bottled in 1896 or 1897, making it among the oldest in the world. (AFP)
Latvian police arrest naked knife attacker
Latvian police said yesterday they had detained a naked man suspected of the fatal stabbing of a passerby in a small town outside the Baltic state’s capital Riga.
Police spokesman Sigita Pildava said the 22-year-old suspect was believed to have jumped naked from the first-floor window of a house in Olaine, brandishing a knife.
He attacked a woman who was returning from a nearby shop, inflicting 20 stab wounds.
Witnesses at the shop called the police.
Authorities said it was not clear if the individual was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or mentally ill. (AFP)
Snakes snatched
Dozens of snakes and lizards worth £45,000 have been stolen from a reptile shop, UK police said.
Bosses at Lost World Reptiles in Teynham, near Sittingbourne, Kent, said they were “heartbroken” at having to start the business from scratch again.
Most of the snakes are Royal Pythons of different colours and range in length from 2.5 feet to 3.5 feet. They can fetch anything from £350 to £2,500 and are not poisonous. (PA)
Dirty rat
A New York judge has allowed a man to proceed with a lawsuit claiming a rodent bit him on the penis while he was being held in jail.
District Judge Arthur Spatt rejected Nassau County’s motion to dismiss Peter Solomon’s lawsuit. It claims officials did not take adequate steps to ensure the safety of inmates at the jail in East Meadow.
Mr Solomon was jailed on a charge of threatening his wife. He claims a rat or “similar rodent” bit him. The county says there was no evidence of rodents, but the judge says Solomon raised enough issues about pest control for the suit to proceed. (PA)