DESPERATE-MEASURES: The owner of a New York store thwarted a robbery only to take pity on the perpetrator, who claimed he could not feed his family, and gave the man US$40 and a loaf of bread, a video of the incident showed.
The store’s owner, Mohammad Sohail, pulled out a rifle, the masked man dropped to his knees and appeared to beg for forgiveness.
“He said ‘I am sorry, I have no money, no job, my family is hungry,’” Sohail told the TV station. “Then I feel bad for him … I take US$40 for him.” —— Reuters.
BAGGAGE: Police say two suitcases carried by a woman who was about to fly from Chile to Spain were made of cocaine. Detective Leandro Morales at the Santiago airport says the drug “was not hidden in the luggage. This time the suitcases were the drug”. Morales said that the suitcases were made of a substance combining cocaine with resin and glass fiber.
He said a “chemical process” could be used to separate out the drug.The officer says the suitcases were heavier than their contents. —— Sfgate.
RECESSION SQUEEZE: Fewer British couples are filing for divorce as a sharp drop in property prices makes it hard for couples to sell a joint home, and the credit crunch dampens a desire to fund two separate households, a study shows.
The study, published by Grant Thornton accountants, showed that almost half of all surveyed matrimonial lawyers believe the numbers of divorces has slumped —— and will continue to do so —— because of the financial squeeze.
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“Lawyers believe they will see less couples filing for divorce during the credit crunch,” said Robert Kerr, partner at Grant Thornton’s Forensic and Investigation Services.
“There is also an increasing number of people who decide to co-habit but not marry,” Grant Thornton spokeswoman Suvra Datta said, but was unable to comment on whether this was down to people being less able to afford the cost of a wedding. —— Reuters.
GOLDEN-OPPORTUNITY: Hawaii resident Curt Carish boasts a timely fish tale: a 10-inch reef fish he caught by hand in shallow water coughed up a ticking gold watch.
He says he was enjoying a picnic on Port Allen beach when he saw the nenue fish awkwardly swimming close to shore.
He says a friend gave him a bamboo stick and told him to get the fish. So he jumped into the waist-high water and hit it until it went limp.
A friend opened the cooler later to discover a gold watch next to the fish’s mouth. —— Msnbc.
HOP-IDOL: A frog that constantly changes colour is being worshipped as a god in India. Hundreds of followers flock to Reji Kumar’s home every day to pray and ask for miracles, reports the Sun.
Now one of the country’s top zoologists plans to study the rainbow frog.
But Reji (35), who keeps the frog in a glass bottle after finding it while out watering plants, is concerned for its future.
He said: “My one problem is that this frog does not appear to eat. I keep trying to feed it but it doesn’t eat anything.”
The frog was a dazzling white colour when Reji from Kerala, first spotted it. Then it changed to yellow and had gone grey by the time he got it home.
Reji added: “By night the frog was dark yellow, and then it became transparent so you could see its internal organs.
“It seemed like a miracle to me that this frog had so many different coats. So now people come to see him and pray to him.”
Professor Oommen V Oommen from India’s Kerala University, said it was not uncommon for animals to change colour. —— Ananova.
