Gang of snake-like goblins wearing sunglasses, suits and shoes terrorise frightened family

A Zimbabwean family is being terrorised by a gang of goblins. Three huts and a house were flattened last Sunday, while people are occasionally being pelted with stones by unseen things, believed to be goblins at a Chisumbanje homestead in Chipinge South where mysterious occurrences are haunting the Sithole Family.

Witnesses reported seeing snake-like creatures wearing sunglasses, a suit and a pair of shoes had been seen at the homestead.



The Sithole family have had to make do with stones being thrown at them for the past two months, while soil is intermittently tossed into their pots by invisible assailants as they will be preparing food.

However, things came to a boil early last week when three huts at the homestead as well as a house suddenly went up in smoke and the family now sleeps in the open, while the few belongings they managed to salvage from the raging fire are heaped outside.

Full story here.

Woman attempts to rob 7-11 with potato

A woman tried to rob a store with a potato.

Colorado Springs Police were called to the 7-11 in the 3-hundred block of Mount View Ln. just after noon on Friday to an attempted robbery.



Police say the woman called in appearing to be extremely drunk and pulled out the potato demanding the money in the drawer. The clerk didn't take the robbery seriously.

Police aren't sure if they will even file a case. The potato is in police custody.

Man celebrating opening new business teaching people how to operate parachutes dies in skydiving accident

Former Hoboken resident Robert Ranieri III, 29, died on Tuesday in a skydiving accident over Lake Tahoe in California.

Ranieri was making a skydive to celebrate opening his new business that teaches people how to operate parachutes, according to his grandfather, former Hoboken assemblyman and councilman Robert Ranieri Sr.



Ranieri III’s first chute twisted and an emergency chute didn’t open, his grandfather said. Ranieri III’s body was found 15 feet below the surface in Lake Tahoe. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been holding his body pending an investigation to rule out foul play.

He leaves behind a wife, an 8-month-old child, parents, grandparents and two siblings. After a memorial service near Lake Tahoe, his family plans to have his body brought to Hoboken for his funeral at Lawton-Turso Funeral Home.

Altercation over nail polish stirs public debate over rights of Saudi woman

An altercation between a young Saudi woman and an agent of the country's morality police over her nail polish in a Riyadh mall has stirred a public debate in the Middle Eastern kingdom.

In a video the woman can be heard demanding the agents of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice to leave her alone, as they instruct her to leave the mall at once.


YouTube link.

“Why are you chasing me? The government said no more chasing! Your duty is to advise people… why are you looking at my manicure? I will never leave the mall!” she can be heard saying.

Later in the video, the woman asked mall security to intervene in the incident and to get the morality police to stop harassing her. The security guards refused to do so, instructing her to listen to the agent, who they know to be "a good man."

Man bitten by rabid fox he thought was a cat

People in the small town of Hooversville, Somerset County, are concerned after a rabid fox showed up to their party last weekend and bit someone in the leg. People in the Maple Park section of Hooversville said they were having a bonfire on Saturday night when the unthinkable happened.

"We were just sitting around the fire," said Glenn Wisel. "The next thing we know, we thought it was the neighbours' cat that came up between everybody's legs, and then found out it was a little grey fox." Neighbours said there is a grey cat that's known to wander around, and that's why they said one of the guys tried to shoo it away.



"I guess he went to push it out of the way so it wasn't rubbing against his leg," said Wisel. "The next thing somebody hollered they got bit." After that, Wisel says things got crazy. "Everybody just took off in different directions," said Wisel. "Then a bunch of people went and got guns and went after it and they finally did catch up with it."

"Our officers collected the fox from the people and sent it away for testing," said game commission officer Seth Mesoras who handled the situation. "It did come back as being a positive specimen for rabies." Neighbours said the man who was bitten is seeking treatment and doing well. Mesoras said it's important to stay far away from wild animals if possible.

With news video.

World's fastest backwards runner ready to defend his title

Here's champion you won’t see at the Olympics — the world’s fastest backwards runner. Garret Doherty, 33, can cover a mile in just over seven minutes and has been crowned world champion three years on the trot. Garret got hooked on the bizarre sport three years ago after turning around during a jog to avoid the sun. He found he could run nearly as fast backwards as he could forwards — and claims it has transformed his life. Garret, from Dublin, said: “Backwards running is like a drug — once you start, you’ll never want to run forwards again.



“It’s truly liberating, and there are enormous health benefits. It’s much better for your body than running forwards, as it is lower impact. People usually do a double take when they see me whizzing past. I’m always getting passers-by shouting at me, telling me I’m going the wrong way.” Speaking of how he started running backwards during a jog, he said: “The sun was so bright I had to turn away, but I didn’t want to turn round and go home. I just thought I’d try facing the other direction and running backwards for a while — and it was great.

“My body felt much better after running backwards as well, and I researched backwards running properly. I couldn’t believe how many people around the world were into it — and there were so many competitions to enter.” Last last month, he finished the Wexford half marathon in 1hr 40min. Garret has even given up his job as a bicycle rickshaw operator to tour schools in a bid to convert children to backwards running. And he said the health benefits are great, adding: “You burn three times as many calories running backwards as running forwards, as it uses a lot more muscles.


YouTube link.

“You land on the correct part of your feet, which helps your ligaments and ankle bones. In forwards running, your feet land heel to toe — but when you run backwards it’s the other way round, which is how you’re supposed to run, the same way as you would barefoot. And instead of the muscles in your lower back getting the workout, it’s the muscles in your lower abdomen that are worked the hardest. If it wasn’t for people being too embarrassed to run backwards, it would be a lot better for everyone to do it.” Garret is now getting ready to defend his title at the UK backwards running championships in Manchester later today.

Hot shaggy donkeys get a haircut

A collection of rare hairy donkeys have been trimmed because of the hot, sunny weather. Seven Baudet du Poitou donkeys were recently brought to Norley Farm, near Lymington, Hampshire, from France. Owner Annie Pollock has started to cut up to 17 years of hair growth to stop the animals becoming irritated and overly hot.

She said: "It's not very nice being sweaty when you are this hairy." Ms Pollock has kept Baudet du Poitou donkeys, which can grow up to 1.6m high at her New Forest farm for eight years. There are believed to currently be about 75 of the animals in the UK, and only 950 in the world. She now has a total of 25 and says she is aiming to bring the breed "back from the brink of extinction".



The seven latest additions to the herd arrived from France in April. They had been moved from the Haras Nationale, the French Horse and Riding Institute, after changes to its funding meant they could no longer be kept. While the animals are used to hot summers in France, the French tradition has been not to trim their coats. This allows long knotted dreadlocks to form, which can reach ground level.

For centuries the dreadlocks have been seen as a sign of strength for breeding working mules. Ms Pollock and a team of volunteers are now trimming the retired donkeys by hand. "Personally, I just think they are a bit more comfortable trimmed. They don't tend to stand out in the sun - I don't think they really like the really hot temperatures."