Tall story

Crocodile jumps from 12th-floor window – and survives

A CROCODILE survived a fall from the 12th floor of a block of flats in Russia after trying to escape through a window.
Diving out of the window has become a habit for the crocodile, called Khenar, with concerned neighbours saying it was the third time the animal had used that method to flee.
It lost a tooth in the latest fall but was otherwise unscathed. “It seems the owner was not at home when the crocodile came out of the window,” a spokesman for the emergencies ministry in Nizhny Novgorod said.
The crocodile was put in a local aquarium to recover from its fall. Within a few hours, its concerned owner came to pick it up and the reptile was last seen being driven away, lying on the back seat of its owner’s car.

This article:New Scotsman

Last updated: 09-Aug-07 01:00 BST

Omigod – not!

Approval ruling on ‘living Buddhas’

REINCARNATIONS of “living Buddhas” in Tibet who fail to get approval from the officially atheist Chinese government are illegal and invalid, officials announced, as dozens of ethnic Tibetans were arrested for calling for the return of the exiled Dalai Lama.

This article:New Scotsman

Last updated: 04-Aug-07 01:57 BST

Strange diet

Meal ends thief’s banana ordeal

DOZENS of bananas failed to do the trick but an Indian thief has finally produced a gold necklace he had snatched and then swallowed after police fed him a hearty meal of chicken, rice and bread.
Sheikh Mohsin, 35, grabbed the 45,000-rupee (£549) necklace from a woman in the eastern city of Kolkata on Friday and swallowed it when cornered by police.
Officers fed him 40 bananas over a few hours believing they would act as a purgative.
Mohsin passed an uncomfortable night in jail, but not the piece of jewellery. Yesterday he was then given more substantial fare.
“Now he wants to go free and doesn’t want to even hear about bananas any more,” senior officer Gyanwant Singh said.
Mohsin was, however, staring at three years in jail if convicted, Singh added.

This article: New Scotsman

Last updated: 05-Aug-07 00:58 BST