Ten things which raised an eyebrow this week
Ten things which raised an eyebrow this week
Following the week in which a 90 year old woman was found to have been pregnant for 70 years, Verizon completed the purchase of AOL for US$4.4 Billion and Tesco made one of the greatest faux pas's by celebrating Ramadan with bacon, EP brings you a brief round-up of some other interesting news items which may have skipped your attention
1.Voluntourism, totes, smash-mouth, photobomb, crowdfunding, go-juice, FLOTUS, Twerking, e-toll, shizzle, freegan, presidentiable and mangia-cake are just some of the 500 words & phrases officially added to the Oxford English Dictionary this quarter
2.In a landmark decision, which could have massive ramifications all over the world, a Dutch Court has ordered the government to cut greenhouse emissions by 25% by 2020 after a case was brought by hundreds of citizens concerned about Global Warming
3.The tiny British Overseas territory of the Pitcairn Islands has passed a law recognising same-sex marriage - even though there are apparently "no gays in the village" as every member of the 48-strong population claims to be heterosexual
4.After becoming irrationally frustrated by continually forgetting his travel card, a Russian engineer solved the "problem" by performing a DIY operation and inserting the chip from Moscow's version of an Oyster card into his hand so he'd never be without a ticket again!
5.Aviation authorities are investigating after the wheel of an aeroplane fell from the sky and crashed through the ceiling of an apartment, landing in the kitchen of the penthouse apartment in a building in Montreal
6.While digging in a field 5 years ago, a 60 year old farmer in Chongqing unearthed a sword. Thinking none too much of it, he has used the blade as a kitchen knife ever since only for it recently to have come to light that in fact he was chopping vegetables and slicing bread with a priceless artefact from the Qing Dynasty dating circa 1644
7.Britain's fattest man died at the age of 33 this week, weighing 65 stone! It took a team of ambulance, fire, police and specialists hours to move his body. Alarmingly, records show the number of "Bariatric rescues" (the use of high-powered lifting equipment to move obese people) are on the rise. While some required actual medical assistance, others were considerably more unusual, including the 50 stone woman wedged between 2 bus seats, a 35 stone man who got stuck in a commode and a funeral director who couldn't lift a 40 stone corpse into a coffin
8.Speaking of weight ... From the deep-fried rack of ribs, to a Snickers Chocolate Salad and a Mac'n'Cheese cupcake, there's quite an array of calorific snacks on offer at this year's Minnesota State Fair
9.Good Deed Feed: After learning that a couple she was serving were grieving the recent loss of their 9 week old baby, 21 year old waitress Kayla Lane anonymously paid their dinner bill. A photo of the kind note passed to the couple was posted online, with Kayla's gesture being commended and applauded the world over
10.If you think you're having a bad week, spare a thought for Gene Palmer, the US prison guard who has been released on $25,000 bail after he unwittingly let 2 inmates escape from prison by giving them a frozen hamburger, tools, paint and access to an electrics box
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