And Finally

A police officer who screamed that he had been shot and immediately began returning fire towards a handcuffed suspect, when in reality he was over-reacting to the innocuous sound of a falling acorn, has resigned. Bodycam footage which has gone viral on social media shows US police officer Jesse Hern

A man who started a relationship with the wife of a Chinese soldier has been sentenced to nearly a year in prison. Chinese law provides for penalties of up to three years' imprisonment for knowingly beginning a relationship with the spouse of a serving People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldier.

Police have arrested a Methodist pastor who allegedly sold crystal meth from his church's rectory. Herbert Miller, the pastor of Woodbury United Methodist Church in Connecticut, was arrested in a sting operation following a tip-off, according to local paper the Republican-American.

Armed police officers stormed a hotel after a Harry Potter fan with a wand was mistaken for a knife-wielding lunatic. Police were despatched to the hotel in Enderby, near the English city of Leicester, after a member of the public reported seeing a man carrying "a large knife", The Guardian reports.

A village in France has voted to ban people from using their smartphones in public. Seine-Port, a village of fewer than 2,000 people around an hour's drive from Paris, backed the measure in a local referendum earlier this month, The Guardian reports.

A joint operation by two police forces succeeded in recovering 27 bags of ice stolen from a discount shop. For whatever reason, the 27 bags of ice were stolen from a Family Dollar store in southern Ohio on Sunday, NBC4 WCMH-TV reports.

A man who allegedly distributed business cards and free samples of cocaine outside of a casino has been charged with drugs offences. The cards included contact details for "Alex Lee" and were stapled to small bags of cocaine, according to police in Calgary, Canada.

A police officer who sold his trousers online for a miserly sum has been demoted. Owen Hurley, an inspector with Hertfordshire Police, sold his police-issue trousers on Vinted for £4, the BBC reports.

Florida legislators are considering a bill to tackle home invasions by bears high on crack cocaine — a phenomenon which does not appear to exist. Jason Shoaf, a Republican member of the Florida House of Representatives, has proposed House Bill 87, which would remove penalties for killing a bea

A toddler who crawled into a claw machine and cheerfully lounged on the prize toys inside was seen being removed by police in bodycam footage which has gone viral. The three-year-old became stuck in the Hello Kitty-themed machine in a shopping centre in Queensland, Australia on Sunday, The Guardian

A pigeon wrongfully suspected of spying for China has been released by police after eight months' detention. The bird was caught by police in Mumbai in May 2023 and found to have metal rings around its legs and a "Chinese-like script" on the underside of its wings, The Hindu reports.

A judge has posted a defiant response on Facebook after landing in hot water over her social media posts, including a racy photo in a hot tub with criminal defence lawyers. Judge Erika Ballou, a district judge in Las Vegas, is facing a formal investigation by the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discip

The dying ex-mobster who stole Judy Garland's ruby-red slippers from The Wizard of Oz will not go to prison, a court has ruled. Lawyers for Terry Jon Martin, 76, told a court in Minneapolis that their client had been tempted to make "one last score" before retirement, 6abc reports.

A government minister who took students to court for 'plagiarising' their own work has resigned after it emerged she plagiarised parts of her master's thesis. Sandra Borch, Norway’s minister for research and higher education, left government immediately following the revelations.

A new rule would allow politicians in the Missouri Senate to challenge one another to a duel. Senator Nick Schroer's proposed amendment was posted on X by Missouri Senate Democrats.