World News

Japan, a land where ancient and modern traditions and cultures often blend in surprising number of ways. Falling more into the weird, is the case of the alleged scissor bandit, Akiya Yoshida. He may have committed more crimes than just running with scissors. Police began their hunt earlier in the year when since May women around train stations in the city of Nagoya, began to report that their hair or skirts had been cut. The packed conditions of commuters made detection difficult of the serial-snipper and his trimming ways. Avant-garde hairstylist, secret-samurai dressmaker, or simply a prankster jerk? After admitting to police that he cut about 35 centimetres of hair from a 40-year-old woman on Monday on the Meitetsu Nagoya Main Line, the 23-year-old Yoshida was charged with assault. Now he’s being investigated in relation to approximately 30 other scissor cutting incidents in the area over the past several years. ...

New Zealand brings another unique piece of news to the world table with the dastardly thefts of avocados. Using rakes and the cover of nightfall, thieves have been stealing the fruits direct from the avocado trees in unguarded orchards. Given the time of year, the stolen avocados typically aren’t ripe, and probably aren’t that good to eat either. However, the opportunity is there for criminals to on-sell the stolen avocados amidst increasing prices and limited supply. Because New Zealand does not import any avocados, but consumer demand for them has increased significantly. In New Zealand, a single avocado sells for around NZ$4-6. With prices that high, avocados may be likely to remain easy pickings for opportunistic thieves.

Debatably the most New Zealand story ever, sheep have stopped criminals escaping. A car was pulled over by police near Alexandra on Friday morning, but the driver of the Honda attempted to make a getaway. Leading to a 90 minute police chase through both Cromwell and Kawarau Gorges, to Queenstown and into Wakatipu Basin. With police cars in pursuit, and road spikes used to apprehend the vehicle, ultimately a flock of sheep formed the quintessential New Zealand roadblock stopping the car. Adding to the Kiwi factor, the flock of sheep where actually owned by a local police officer as confirmed by Senior Sergeant Paula Enoka. This photo is amongst the finest depictions of life in New Zealand I have ever seen https://t.co/HOALpUL0zq pic.twitter.com/MxEYT7ZBGk — Charlie Mitchell (@comingupcharlie) January 21, 2016 Three men and a woman were subsequently arrested thanks to the police sheep. No sheep were harmed in the police ...

What was detected at 01:30:01 (UTC), 6 January 2015, as a magnitude-5.1 tremor in North Korea, is believed to have been the result of testing a hydrogen bomb. The approximate epicentre was somewhere to the east of Paegam-rodongjagu, in what is believed to be the North Korean government’s Punggye-ri nuclear testing facility. Reports from the state-run North Korean television news have proclaimed that it was the hermit kingdom’s first successful test of a hydrogen bomb, announcing: “With the perfect success of our historic H-bomb, we have joined the rank of advanced nuclear states. “The latest test, completely based on our technology and our manpower, confirmed that our newly-developed technological resources are accurate and scientifically demonstrated the impact of our miniaturised H-bomb.” U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), which maps earthquakes and seismic activity worldwide, places the tremor at surface depth, located at 41.305°N 129.039°E (latitude and longitude). The same location as previous ...

Despite the claims being made that an asteroid will hit Earth somewhere near Puerto Rico in mid-to-late September 2015, the most probable answer is it’s not going to happen. As NASA’s Paul Chodas says: “There is no scientific basis – not one shred of evidence – that an asteroid or any other celestial object will impact Earth on those dates.” Further adding: “If there were any object large enough to do that type of destruction in September, we would have seen something of it by now.” The claims surfacing on the internet suggest that the asteroid will cause mass destruction along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States, Mexico, and Central and South America. But the claims are false and utterly wrong. Rumours which have taken on a life of their own. NASA’s Near Earth Object Program does not expect any asteroids (or comets or meteors) to hit ...

Hamas claims to have caught a Mossad spy dolphin as reported by the Israel Defense Forces Radio. Although the Israel Army Radio station reported it, the source (or sources) remains similarly secretive, much like a spy dolphin. The dolphin was purportedly captured off the coast of Gaza several weeks ago, and was dispatched by Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency to gather video surveillance on the militant Hamas al-Qassam Brigades. It was reportedly caught after they grew suspicious of the dolphin’s movements. The dolphin was apparently equipped with a spy camera. However, others such as the Al-Quds newspaper, have reported that the dolphin was also equipped with a device able to fire arrows. The Times of Israel have noted that the Iranian Fars news agency have also reported that the dolphin was a robot, and that the Iranian news claimed: “The spy dolphin was also equipped with small arrows and bullets to ...

He was the sixth man to walk on the moon as part of the Apollo 14 mission, but with Edgar Mitchell claiming that aliens prevented nuclear war between the USA and Russia during the Cold War, some are wondering whether it’s time to decommission what may be a celestial object with a decaying orbit. Former NASA astronaut, Edgar Mitchell, now 84 years old, said extraterrestrials visited Earth during the Cold War and disabled missiles. Speaking to The Mirror, Edgar Mitchell recounted: “White Sands was a testing ground for atomic weapons – and that’s what the extraterrestrials were interested in. “They wanted to know about our military capabilities. “My own experience talking to people has made it clear the ETs had been attempting to keep us from going to war and help create peace on Earth.” There is, however, no public record of any encounters of the Third Kind (close or ...

The search for the elusive Milwaukee Lion has been on since it was first called in on 20 July. Since then, it has taken on various forms. Including potentially appearing in a grainy video recording (as mysterious creatures tend to do). To apparently outlining its innermost thoughts as the milwaukee_lion on Twitter, along with the #mkelion hashtag. Sightings were thick and fast last week, but now seem to be quieting down. Most seem to agree it’s a large cat-like creature. However, that didn’t spare a dog getting shot in the leg in a case of mistaken identity. Evidence of the Milwaukee Lion seems to be scant, and increasingly becoming worthy of urban legend status. FOX6 News reports that tracks of a large cat with retractable claws have been found and photographed. Because the paw prints had no claw marks, that’s indicative of a cat with retractable claws, unlike like other ...

In what has been described as a hate crime, nine people have been gunned down in the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in Charleston, South Carolina, USA. On Wednesday evening, 17 June, around 9pm local time, a white gunman who had entered the church began opening fire, shooting and killing nine people. Another person was taken to hospital. The suspect is described as a white male, in his twenties, and is clean-shaven with a slender build. Police have said he was wearing a grey sweatshirt, blue jeans and boots. One man fitting the description, with a backpack, was taken into custody by police. However, the police are continuing to look for the shooter, even as a helicopter circles overhead and police patrol the area. The FBI has also been reported as on the scene. The shooter was described as “evil” by Charleston Mayor Joe Riley, in the following statement: ...

Tbilisi, Georgia, has been inundated and flooded by heavy rains which on Sunday caused the Vere River to overflow. Floodwaters in places rose as high as rooftops. Washing away cars, along with roads and buildings. Uprooted trees, mud, and debris line the streets. Today, Monday has been declared a day of national mourning in Georgia. Reports indicate that at least 12 people were killed by the floods, including the deaths of three zoo employees. More than 24 people are believed to be missing, and 37 people hospitalised due to injuries, according to Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri. Deputy Mayor Irakly Lekvinadze said: “Dozens of families remain homeless as their houses were destroyed or damaged in the capital.” Georgia’s Finance Ministry has estimated the cost of damage to the capital as high as 40 million lari, approximately 0.1 percent of Georgia’s GDP. The Georgian Government is currently discussing international aid options. Amidst ...