Police Chief Arrests 48 Relatives

The chief of police in Heizhugou, Sichuan province, China oversaw the arrest of 48 of his relatives, with 25 of them serving various sentences. Laobulaluo has personally arrested his brother and two of his cousins. His activities led to threats against his parents, and violence against their livestock.

“In the first few years, I did not dare head back to my hometown to pass the New Year holiday, but now it’s all right. Everyone understands and supports what I was doing at the time,” the report quoted him as saying.

World’s Longest Beard

A new record has been set by a man in Surrey, British Columbia. 42-year-old Sarwan Singh, a teacher and devout Sikh, has a beard measuring 1.895 meters (6.217 feet) long. His beard was measured in a public ceremony Tuesday night at the Akal Academy and has been accepted by the Guinness Book of World Records. The previous recorder holder was Shamsher Singh in India, who grew a beard to 1.83 meters in 1977.

Otto’s Big Adventure

The staff at the Sea Star Aquarium in Coburg, Germany was baffled by mysterious short circuits in the night, and posted guards overnight to see what was causing the problem. One the third night, they found out it was Otto the octopus causing the problems. A spokesman for the aquarium said,

“We knew that he was bored as the aquarium is closed for winter, and at two feet, seven inches Otto had discovered he was big enough to swing onto the edge of his tank and shoot out the 2000 Watt spot light above him with a carefully directed jet of water.”

Aquarium staff have set the light farther away and will find new toys for Otto to play with.

Around the World on a Penny Farthing

After two and a half years, Joff Summerfield has completed his quest to ride around the world on a penny farthing. He built the old-fashioned bicycle himself. The 40-year-old Summerfield rode from the Greenwich Observatory through Europe and into Turkey, across Australia and New Zealand, then into China and Tibet, visited the Mount Everest base camp, across southeast Asia, the US and Canada. He biked through 23 countries on four continents. His plans now are to write a book about the adventure.

Man’s Coffin Kills Wife

67-year-old Marciana Silva Barcelos was riding in the front seat of the hearse in her husband’s funeral procession Monday in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul when a traffic accident occurred. The coffin carrying Josi Silveira Coimbra pitched forward against the back of her neck and killed Barcelos instantly. Her son and the driver of the hearse were injured in the wreck. The 76-year-old Coimbra had died the day before of a heart attack while dancing.

Plastic Surgery Addict

48-year-old Hang Mioku became so obsessed with plastic surgery that she moved to Japan to avail herself of various procedures. Eventually, doctors refused to treat her, so she moved back to her native Korea. A plastic surgeon there provided her with syringes and silicone so she could do her own facial injections. When her supply of silicone was gone, she injected her face with cooking oil!

Hang’s appearances on Korean TV caused viewers to donate money for surgery to try to reduce the size of her face.

The initial procedure alone saw over a quarter of a kilogram of foreign matter removed from Hang’s face.

After 13 Years, the Cat Came Back

Melinda Merman and Frank Walburg of Santa Rosa, California had last seen their cat George in 1995. Thirteen years later, the manager of a mobile home park captured a stray and took him to an animal shelter. There, an implanted chip was found on the cat traced back to his owners. Walburg and Merman said that George had lost half his weight during his misadventures, but is gaining weight now that he’s home.