Following is a summary of current odd news briefs.
Vicar conducted 360 sham marriages
LONDON (Reuters) – A vicar was found guilty on Thursday, July 29, of conducting hundreds of sham marriages between African nationals and cash-strapped eastern Europeans to allow illegal immigrants to gain residency in Britain. Rev Alex Brown, 61, presided over 360 fake ceremonies over four years, including several cases in which participants canceled one wedding only to marry someone else a month or two later, and another in which a person was registered to marry two people on the same day.
Brewer claims world’s strongest beer
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – A Dutch brewer with a penchant for competition has laid claim to creating the world’s strongest brew: a beer that is some 60 percent alcohol by volume. "You don’t drink it like beer, but like a cocktail — in a nice whisky or cognac glass," brewer Jan Nijboer told Dutch news agency ANP.
Churchill’s dentures fetch nearly $24,000
LONDON (Reuters) – A partial set of British wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s gold-mounted dentures has fetched 15,200 pounds ($23,770) at auction, over three times the estimate. The false teeth, specially designed to disguise Churchill’s lisp, were sold by the son of the technician who was commissioned to make them.
Hamas targets women’s underwear in modesty drive
GAZA (Reuters) – The Islamist rulers of the Gaza Strip have ordered lingerie shops to display more modesty. A week after banning women from smoking water pipes in public places, the Hamas-run police force has told stores selling women’s underwear to remove scantily-clad mannequins and any posters of racy undergarments.
Fur farm foxes trained to combat rat plague
BEIJING (Reuters) – Authorities in China’s far west have bred and trained "an army" of silver foxes bought from a fur farm to fight a plague of rats threatening a huge expanse of grasslands, state media said on Wednesday. The Xinjiang government bought 20 foxes in 2004 and they have since increased to 284 and been released into the wild, the official Xinhua news agency said.
Former top diplomat Rice opts for Mozart concerto
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) – Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice abandoned international affairs for a Mozart piano concerto on Tuesday, teaming up with Soul legend Aretha Franklin to perform at a charity concert. Rice, the Republican former aide to President George W. Bush, performed with the Queen of Soul, a committed Democrat who sang at President Barack Obama’s inauguration, to raise money for underprivileged youth.
Escaped tiger found after massive South Africa search
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Rangers captured an escaped tiger at a South African farm on Wednesday after a two-day helicopter search that had dominated news broadcasts. The tiger was fed raw beef and led away from the farm about 70 km (45 miles) east of the country’s biggest city of Johannesburg, eNews Channel reported from the site.
