Weird World Headlines

After a Somaliland mosque lost power during a sermon by a senior Muslim cleric, thieves hurled a feral cat into the crowd, stealing money and mobile phones under cover of the ensuing stampede. The cleric giving the sermon, Sheikh Moustafa Hagi Ismael Hassan, reported that those injured in the stampede had been sent to a hospital.

Asparagus gatherers on the island of Cyprus are livid after U.N. peacekeepers denied them access to a buffer zone where the vegetable grows. Bunches of asparagus can sell for four euros (roughly $5 U.S.) at local markets, which may partly explain residents anger with the situation.

Police in Dallas, TX, say that a 6-pound chunk of metal that crashed through the roof of a local home came from a tree-mulching machine in use at a nearby disposal facility. In Jersey City, N.J., a warehouse roof was broken by an 8-pound chunk of metal from a mulching machine some 300 yards away. Nobody was hurt in either incident.

The residents of a Romanian village have become subjects of a criminal investigation after they rebuilt a bridge that had been destroyed by floods last July. The villagers started and finished the new bridge on Feb. 6, but did so without a building permit. Those involved may face three years in jail or a fine equivalent to $20,800, unless the investigation concludes that the villages acted out of a “state of necessity,” according to one prosecutor.

On March 28, the film “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” will be screened following the repeal of a 30-year ban on the movie in the town of Aberystwyth, Wales. A committee of church leaders banned the 1979 film for blasphemous content, but, until last year, few residents realized that the ban existed. The screening will be attended by three actors in the film, and proceeds from the 120 tickets will go to the Aberystwyth Arts Centre.

An octopus at Santa Monica Pier Aquarium in California appears to be responsible for 200 gallons of water flooding the aquarium floor. Aquarium staff believe that the small, two-spotted octopus broke a valve in the water recycling system, causing water to spray outside of the tank.