I didn’t expect a Hitler-Mussolini. Almost as odd as a competition of the sleep-deprived. “Hey, I have a cough and the flu. I don’t sleep right now. Can I be one of the contestants?”
Europe
Germany
A woman requested her deceased parrot’s veterinary records and subsequently complained about a possible data-protection violation. German authorities explained that animals are not legally considered persons under the country’s data-protection rules.
A mother complained to data-protection authorities after a primary school photographed the contents of children’s lunchboxes. Officials found no privacy violation because the photographs did not show the children.
A funeral director in Freiburg received a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence after stealing dental gold from hundreds of deceased people awaiting cremation. The court estimated the losses at nearly €250,000. 15
Switzerland
A five-year-old kart racer named Emily has been banned from competition after participating in a race in Italy. Swiss motorsport authorities ruled that her training licence did not permit competitive racing.
Finland
A Finnish chef established a Guinness World Record by drinking 16.9 ounces of orange soda in just 3.16 seconds.
France
Cybercriminals remotely manipulated refrigeration equipment in hundreds of French supermarkets, sending temperatures as high as 50°C. Stores lost enormous quantities of food, and some equipment caught fire.
Ireland
A Canadian Coast Guard buoy weighing approximately 3.8 tonnes washed ashore on Achill Island after drifting more than 3,000 miles across the Atlantic. Irish officials are arranging its removal.
Russia
Russian authorities are cracking down on AI-generated bear images and videos as reports of genuine bear encounters spread concern.
Asia
India
A salesman being transported by two alleged kidnappers escaped after their vehicle struck a cow on a road in Gurugram. The crash gave him an opportunity to flee, and police arrested two suspects.
Japan
Police in Tokyo attempted to stop a suspicious vehicle near Ueno. The driver accelerated, crashed into road signs and a fire-extinguisher box, and two men fled barefoot over the wall of a fire station. Police believe the car was stolen.
Sleep-deprived Japanese contestants have been competing to see who can achieve the best rest. The unusual competition measures success by sleep rather than physical exertion.
Japanese authorities are testing drones equipped with thermal cameras and pepper-spray systems to detect and deter bears. Four-legged robots are also being tested for searching difficult terrain.
China
Chinese electric-car manufacturer Zeekr has earned a Guinness World Record for passing through the narrowest gap while drifting a vehicle.
Africa
Nigeria
An 83-year-old Nigerian woman has reportedly been arrested again on drug-trafficking allegations. The latest arrest was reported on October 12.
Australia & Oceania
Australia
A man in Sydney was filmed climbing through a bus window and riding along the outside of the moving vehicle while recording himself.
New Zealand
Faulty Auckland bus-card readers overcharged passengers by more than NZ$400,000. One commuter was charged NZ$433. The transport authority has been issuing refunds.
A senior police officer was found to have repeatedly searched for female social-media influencers using his work device. Investigators classified his behaviour as serious misconduct, although he remains employed by the police.
South America
Peru
Hitler Mussolini Simeón Flores, 45, has been elected mayor of Queropalca, a small Andean municipality. Running for a centre-left party, he won 229 votes and defeated his nearest opponent by 25. He takes office in January.
North America
United States
Customs officers at Miami International Airport discovered ten live songbirds concealed in six plastic tubes sewn into a passenger’s underwear. The man, arriving from Cuba, allegedly told investigators the birds were for personal use.
An Idaho man and his 13-year-old niece set a Guinness World Record by successfully catching 20 paper airplanes in his mouth within one minute.
Police and animal handlers in Texas had to round up two horses and a donkey wandering loose beside a busy highway.
Hundreds of fans wearing Spider-Man costumes assembled at New York Comic Con on October 9 in an attempt to establish a Guinness World Record.
A family of barn owls has taken up residence on a rooftop water tower near Central Park. Conservationists say it is the first documented case of barn owls nesting in central Manhattan in modern times.
People are weird. No matter where they’re from.