Weird news - Man blows up his own house while trying to make vodka

There is a certain old charm in making your own liquour. There is a large amount of literature on the net that deals with recipes and methods on how to do your own distillation in the house, and people are able to do so successfully. One needs to keep in mind that even though the process has been followed by a large number of people, you are dealing with liquids that are combustible. In addition, when the process is not followed well, there can be a number of fumes created, and any introduction of any sort of flame cam be very destructive. Once in a while, you will hear about people who fail in their efforts and the results can be dangerous. Consider the following article (link) where a person blew up portions of his own house:

Lawrence Toms, 44, from Tynewydd, Wales, was brewing the alcohol when the explosion occurred, which led to four fire engines and a water bowser being called to his home.
South Wales Police think the incident was caused by homemade alcohol - and a spokesman said: "The windows were blown out of the property and it was lucky no one in the street was injured.

Weird news - 17 year old girl gives birth, surprised at this fact

During pregnancy, there are a number of changes that happen in a woman's body. Women who are pregnant can sometimes suffer from serious health problems, suffer changes in their pattern. Their entire pattern can change, and it is hard to believe that a lady can be pregnant and not be aware of it. However, this couple claims that they were surprised when they gave birth to a child; the lady apparently went to the hospital for some sort of treatment regarding stomach ache; further, all the increase in the stomach was supposed to be part of a gain in weight. Refer this article (link to article):

A 17-year-old British student has given birth without even knowing she was pregnant.
Alexandra Staddon just thought she had "put on a bit of weight" and went to hospital complaining of suffering from stomach ache before giving birth to a baby boy, who she called Matthew, weighing 7lb 6oz.
She said: "I didn't have any idea I was pregnant. I didn't have symptoms. I just thought I had put on a bit of weight."

Weird news - How to get scammed into buying a wooden iPad

iPads are some of the most sought after consumer items in the world right now. Ever since Apple released the first version of the iPad, it became a much sought after item, creating a market for tablets where none existed before. And the strength of the appeal of the iPad is such that other manufacturers are unable to compete with Apple, giving the iPad a huge lead over the rest of the market.
When a new iPad is released, consumers are ready to wait for a lot of time to queue for the iPad, and when somebody offers a great deal, one cannot withstand the pressure of temptation. In such cases, people are even willing to throw away any safeguards with regard to buying the iPad. Otherwise, how can you think of the case whereby a lady managed to buy a wooden iPad in the hope of getting a good deal (link to article):

The golden rule is that if you're buying grey market products, always take the device out of the box to check it before you go home. The secondary golden rule is that you don't buy from a dude who has a gold tooth in the middle of a McDonald's parking lot. And that is the story of how one Ashley McDowell of Spartanburg, South Carolina ended up with a wooden iPad.
Ms. McDowell, age 22, met two men at the back of a McDonald's. The two dudes explained to the girl that they had bought iPads in bulk, and wanted to sell them for $300 per device. She didn't have $300—but she did have $180—so they agreed to give her one for the cash she had on her. Do you hear warning bells going off? I THINK SO.

Weird news - Prosecuting and sentencing people for posting on social networking sites

In recent times, social networking sites, derided initially as tools of no consequence, showed their power by their usage in the attempts to overthrow governments of many countries, including the attempts in Egypt, Syria, China, Libya, and many others. Some of these attempts were successful, others were unsuccessful. In some countries, the governments actually tried to shut down internet and mobile services in order to prevent the mobilization that happens with these services. But one thing was true; these social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, were extremely popular in galvanizing and organizing people, and played a major role in the protests by people.
Social networking also was widely used in the recent riots in Britain, thus showing even societies that were supposedly people friendly could face turbulence from the power of social networking. As a result, there is an increasing trend to prosecute people for their opinions expressed online, whether these be through blogs, facebook or through Twitter. Consider the following case where people are sought to be prosecuted and jailed for their twitter feeds (link to article):

A former teacher turned radio commentator and a math tutor who lives with his mother sit in a prison in southern Mexico, facing possible 30-year sentences for terrorism and sabotage in what may be the most serious charges ever brought against anyone using a Twitter social network account.
Prosecutors say the defendants helped cause a chaos of car crashes and panic as parents in the Gulf Coast city of Veracruz rushed to save their children because of false reports that gunmen were attacking schools. Gerardo Buganza, interior secretary for Veracruz state, compared the panic to that caused by Orson Welles' 1938 radio broadcast of "The War of the Worlds." But he said the fear roused by that account of a Martian invasion of New Jersey "was small compared to what happened here."
"Here, there were 26 car accidents, or people left their cars in the middle of the streets to run and pick up their children, because they thought these things were occurring at their kids' schools," Buganza told local reporters. The charges say the messages caused such panic that emergency numbers "totally collapsed because people were terrified," damaging service for real emergencies.

Weird news - the fascinating story of a penguin far away from home

In recent years, there was a movie called "Happy Feet" that chronicled the story of a penguin who got separated from the rest of its family and group, and got moved to a enclosure far away. The movie was fairly popular and increased the awareness of penguins to a large degree (increasing the concept of them being seen as cuddly and fun creatures).
So, it became international headlines when an Emperor Penguin was found on the beach outside the New Zealand capital Wellington, at a distance of 3000 km from the traditional location. Medical observation showed that the penguin was weak, and was eating sand and sticks in order to cool down (which was making the penguin even weaker). The penguin became the center of attention, and was eagerly watched by people all over (link to article):

Fattened up on a diet of "fish milkshakes" and escorted by his own personal veterinary team, the world's most famous penguin, Happy Feet, sets sail on Monday for the icy waters he calls home. The emperor penguin washed up on a beach just outside the New Zealand capital Wellington in mid-June -- weak, emaciated and more than 3,000 kilometres (1,900 miles) from the
Antarctic colony where he hatched about three-and-a-half years ago.
The wayward bird's unexpected appearance stunned wildlife experts, who said he was only the second emperor ever recorded in New Zealand, and captivated the public, which closely followed every turn in his struggle for survival. "The level of interest has been incredible, not
just in Wellington or New Zealand, but around the world," Wellington Zoo's veterinary manager Lisa Argilla said. "Everyone's been really curious to see what happens."

Finally, after some treatment, the penguin was taken in a ship and released back in the water near the penguin colony.

Weird news - Husband fined for not having enough sex with his wife

This is a strange case. Would you ever believe that a person could be fined in a court of law because his ex-wife filed a case against him for not having enough sex in the marriage ? Seems a bit strange, isn't it ? Many societies would be aghast that such an intimate discussion / discord is brought out in the public like this particular case. In this particular case in France, the ex-wife used a particular clause in the law which states that part of the duties of a marriage is a shared communal life, and the judge has used this clause to mean that sexual relations must happen in a marriage, and based on the complaint by the wife, awarded compensation to her. It is interesting however to determine how it an be decided whether the amount of sexual relations is enough or not (link to article):

In a unique ruling, a French court has reportedly ordered a 51-year-old man to pay his ex-wife nearly 8,500 pounds in damages for failing to have enough sex with her during their 21-year marriage.
The man, Jean-Louis B, was fined under Article 215 of France's civil code which states that married couples must agree to a "shared communal life", the 'Daily Express' reported. The judge in the south of France's highest court in Aix-en-Provence ruled that this law clearly implies "sexual relations must form part of a marriage".
"A sexual relationship between husband and wife is the expression of affection they have for each other, and in this case it was absent. By getting married, couples agree to share their life and this clearly implies they will have sex with each other," the judge said.

Weird news - 11 year old tried and prosecuted for participating in the recent London riots

The recent riots in London and other cities shocked the people of Great Britain, causing a greater than normal deployment of police. Once the riots and disturbances ended, it resulted in a huge amount of counter-reaction against the rioters; this included calls to ensure that the rioters were evicted from state provided housing; that rioters received quick and harsh sentences as a deterrence; parents were encouraged to turn in their children if these children took part in the rioting, and so on.
But there have been calls after the first series of judgments that came out against some of the rioters that the sentences have been too harsh, that normal norms of sentencing have been set aside in some kind of harsh vigilante mode. What would you call sentencing an 11 year old boy for stealing a waste bin costing around 50 pounds (link to article):

A 11-year-old boy today became the youngest person to be sentenced for stealing a waste bin worth £50 during the recent London riots.
He was given an 18-month youth rehabilitation order at Havering Magistrates' Court in Essex after admitting burglary.
The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, stole a waste bin from Debenhams in Romford, Essex, on August 8 after the windows of the store were smashed by looters.

Weird news - Lady strips in Bermudas airport after security check

Modern aviation suffers from increasing security issues. Hijacking of planes has happened for many decades now, and as a result, security measures have only increased over the years. As technology has advanced, and the concealment and miniaturization of terrorist technology has increased, the level of security scanning has become more intensive. Further, earlier hijacking still ended up killing at the maximum, only a few of the passengers of the plane, but the 2001 New York attacks showed up a breed of terrorists who were determined, who were not averse to killing all the passengers of the plane, and who were hard to totally exterminate. Then, in 2001 again, there was the shoe bomber who tried to blow up a plane by setting fire to his shoes. And in the recent past, there was the case where explosives were sought to be smuggled onto a plane in the form of printer cartridges.
This has in turn led to a much higher level of security before a plane can take off, and this security is getting more intense, and seemingly much more invasive of the privacy of people. When explosives can be hidden in body cavities, it gets much more difficult; however, this increased security (including devices such as deeper penetrating X-rays that reveal the outline of the body) also puts off a lot of people. This in turn led to a weird reaction from one lady (link to article):

A 36-year-old woman faced with a customs search at Bermuda's LF Wade International Airport rather brilliantly responded by instantly shedding her clothes and telling officers: “If you want to see me naked, you can do it right fucking here.”
Loukai Phillips, a Bermudian native now living abroad, had just flown in from London on 19 August to close her bank account, but had to schedule in an appearance before magistrates on a "indecent exposure in a public place" rap following her protest strip.
Her lawyer, Charles Richardson, explained to the court that because of an unspecified "past association", his client had been strip-searched every time she faced customs operatives.