Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Friday often brings some of the world’s stranger bits of news, from amusing to weird to hard to believe:
- Young people who are not yet of voting age, in Geneva, Switzerland erected the first new and relatively small minaret, defying the 29 November popular vote that bans them: in the Place Neuve, out of cardboard. Institute of Race Relations, UK (Ed. note: here is a design for homemade miniature cardboard minarets, in case they suddenly sell out in Swiss shops)
- Manchester, England: a 29-year-old man was shot dead when he and friends were confronted outside the money exchange where he worked. Police say he was robbed for cash and for his laptop. A 20-year-old is in custody. Guardian, UK
- A heavily drunk man in the Perm Territory, in the Russian Urals, was saved from flames by his cat. He fell asleep with a cigarette in his hand and when the apartment burst into flames his cat leaped onto him, scratching his face until the man came to and phoned the fire department. Ria Novosti, Russia
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A couple in Bristol, UK, whose cat Wilbur was apparently eaten alive by their neighbour’s pet python, are petitioning for stricter laws in Britain that would make the Dangerous Wild Animals Act include constrictor snakes. Wilbur wandered into the neighbour’s garden where the python, whose name is not known, “ambushed” the cat, according to the BBC, which quotes a spokeswoman for the RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) as saying “A spokeswoman said: “The snake was scanned and we can confirm that a microchip was found inside. We can’t know for certain that it was Wilbur, but it is very, very likely.” Justice for Wilbur (website set up by cat’s family)
Mons-sur-Lausanne, Vaud (24 Heures, Fre) – A cat named Google has died after a week of suffering from injuries caused by a firearm and the family that owned the animal has filed charges against the unknown gunman. The bullet was apparently from an older firearm. The owners say they went to the police hoping they might be able to link the shooting to other incidents and find the person who did it.
