Round-up of odd stories from around the world
AIR MAIL
Police in the Mexican border city of Mexicali have found a powerful improvised cannon used to hurl packets of marijuana across a fence into California.
It was made of a plastic pipe and a crude metal tank that used compressed air from the engine of an old car.
The apparatus fired cylinders packed with drugs that weighed as much as 30lb (13.6kg).
GRAVE ERROR
The grieving family of a 7ft 2in “gentle giant” have been told his coffin is too long to fit into local crematoriums.
Relatives of Graham Mellor, who died aged 72 a fortnight ago, now face a 35-mile trek from north Staffordshire to a larger crematorium near Burton-on-Trent.
Both Stoke-on-Trent City Council and Newcastle Borough Council have offered their condolences to Mr Mellor’s family after informing them that local facilities in Carmountside and Bradwell were not big enough for his 7ft 9in coffin.
NOT ON MY HEAD, SON
Heading the ball may damage the brains of football players, research has shown.
The US study shows evidence of mental impairment caused by repeatedly bouncing a football off the head.
Scientists say the effects suggest “mild traumatic brain injury of the frontal lobes” and point out that more research is needed to determine whether the changes are long-lasting or temporary.
TITANIC EFFORT
An Australian billionaire wants to build a new version of the Titanic which could set sail in 2016.
Clive Palmer unveiled blueprints for the famously-doomed ship’s namesake at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York.
Mr Palmer said 40,000 people have expressed interest in tickets for the maiden voyage from Southampton to New York, expected in 2016. He said construction is scheduled to start soon in China.
GOLDEN MOMENT
The public is to get its first look at a gold fortune that has been hidden away in Nevada for years.
About 135lb (61kg) of Walter Samaszko Jr’s gold coins will be auctioned off to pay government taxes and fees.
The auction will only include about half of the trove left behind when the recluse died in his modest Carson City home last year.
Comments