QUIRKY WORLD ... Our daily look at some of the world’s stranger stories
A motorist who claimed to have taken so much Viagra he could not leave the house was just one of a number of excuses used by people who failed to tax their car.
According to information released by DVLA (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency), motorists caught for not having a tax disc last year used excuses including: “My mate said that if the cost of the tax is more than what the car’s worth you haven’t got to pay it.”
One motorist claimed to have fallen out of a tree while fruit picking and broke both arms, so was unable to fill in the necessary forms, while another told DVLA: “My accountant told me I’m due a tax rebate so I didn’t think I needed to pay again this year.”
It is the home of secret missions and risky espionage, but even MI5 needs a health and safety manager to keep its staff free from danger.
The UK’s Secret Service is recruiting for the £60,000 (€70,000) role to ensure it carries out its operational activity “as safely as possible”.
To protect national security, applicants will be told nothing about where they will be working, who with, or with what technology. The job description on the MI5 website reveals only that the job is “London based with some UK travel”.
A house in Houston, Texas has become a folk art landmark after its former owners John and Mary Milkovisch covered it in flattened beer cans.
The Beer Can House is open to the public and is being restored by a charity.
Mr Milkovisch began the project in 1968, when he bought a metal canopy and decorated the garden so he and his wife could have a shaded area to enjoy their afternoon beers. Slowly, he worked his way to the front, eventually spending 17 months coating the house in empty beer cans.
A two-headed turtle born last month at San Antonio Zoo has become so popular that she has her own Facebook page.
The Texas turtle, named after famed movie duo Thelma and Louise is doing well.
A spokeswoman said the two heads — named Louise Left and Thelma Right — get along.
Prince Charles has given his new grandson’s name the royal seal of approval, describing George as a “very good name” but adding that he’ll be called “Georgie in no time”.
Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall were congratulated on the new arrival by throngs of well wishers at the Whitstable Oyster Festival in Kent.
The couple were showered with gifts for Prince George including a tiny lemon t-shirt which Charles can pass on to the baby as a souvenir from his trip to the festival.
Murder is the main reason why humans and other primates mate for life, according to scientists. Infanticide was the key driving force that caused us to evolve into a monogamous species, it is claimed. Males of some animals, including lions and brown bears, kill the young of unrelated females to improve mating opportunities.
The practice arises when females nursing slowly developing and vulnerable young are forced to delay further conception.
Monogamy both provides extra protection for the infant and, by sharing the burden of care, shortens the period of infant dependency.
Females are then able to reproduce more quickly, and can afford to have more costly young that mature slowly.
A long childhood appears to be necessary for growing a large brain, making monogamy distinctly advantageous to humans. It could explain why, uniquely among primates, humans have both a very long childhood and mothers who reproduce quickly.
The findings are published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
There was a time when Vladimir Putin’s macho antics inspired pride among Russians, but many are finding it hard to believe the president’s latest stunt — catching a huge pike in Siberia.
Video footage released by the Kremlin last week showed Putin dressed in camouflage fatigues and sunglasses, fishing, driving a motorboat and petting reindeer in a remote region of Siberia with his prime minister and defence minister.
But images of the 60-year- old president hauling in a pike which the Kremlin said weighed 21kg was too much for some Russians to swallow.
Within hours, online satirists were questioning whether the incident was staged and whether the pike was really as big as the Kremlin said.
“Wonder who planted that fish for Putin to catch,” said a caption placed under two online pictures, one of Putin holding the fish and the other showing Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev emerging from a river in a wetsuit with a satisfied look.
Experienced anglers posted photographs of large pike they had caught, questioning the size and weight of the ex-KGB officer’s catch.
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