QUIRKY WORLD ... Our daily look at some of the world’s stranger stories
Three people had to be rescued when a boat selling ice cream capsized.
The Lolly Roger is believed to have overturned when a freezer containing ice cream rolled while on board.
A Mayday call was made to coast guards when a motor cruiser spotted the capsized vessel and three-man crew in water off Hengistbury Head in Dorset.
The motor cruiser, Badgers Retreat, picked up the three people and took them to Mudeford Quay, where they were met by the Southbourne coast guard rescue team. The three casualties, a woman and two men, were not seriously injured.
A family welcomed their 12th child this week — and they are all boys.
Jay and Kateri Schwandt live in Rockford, near Grand Rapids in Michigan. Their new son, Tucker, was born on Sunday, while their oldest, Tyler, is 21.
They are devout Roman Catholics, and Mrs Schwandt, 38, has a sister who has 10 children, who are also all boys.
Brussels sprouts lovers can relax after last year’s warnings of a sprouts shortage right before Christmas, as growers have this year experienced their earliest ever crop of the festive vegetable.
The torrid season last year brought about rumours of a yuletide sprouts drought, but “perfect growing conditions” have this year led to British crops being ready a month earlier than usual.
It is good news for growers who, after enduring the soggy 2012 season, are now optimistic that the yield this year could comparatively be up by as much as 30%.
A police force has warned people to think carefully before dialling 999 after dealing with a number of “inappropriate” calls.
Greater Manchester Police said recent calls to the emergency number included a woman who rang to report maggots in her bin, a man who called for “pregnancy pills” and another man who complained that somebody had stolen his parking space.
Manchester police dealt with an average of 3,571 emergency and non-emergency calls a day during April, May and June. This increased by 19% in July, said the force.
The winner has been named in a sideburns contest in honour of a US Navy commodore known for his impressive facial hair.
Dave Baxter, 56, of Pennsylvania, was top out of 19 contestants who were asked to show their patriotic spirit by growing sideburns most like those of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry.
Mr Baxter says he researched images to try to match the hero who commanded a nine-ship American fleet to victory over the British in the Battle of Lake Erie in 1813.
Historical portraits suggest Perry wore long mutton-chop sideburns that extended toward his lips.
A man driving a truck with police lights on top made a crucial mistake during a bogus police stop.
The two men John Shelton, 26, pulled over for speeding were real state police agents in an unmarked vehicle — and he is now facing charges of impersonating an officer.
New Mexico State Police say Shelton had a pistol and told the agents he was a member of the state Police Search and Rescue and a trained law enforcement officer — something officials later discovered was not true.
The father of a four-year- old who brought a loaded handgun to day care has pleaded not guilty to misdemeanour reckless conduct, claiming the incident was unintentional.
Adam Keene, 31, of Madison, Maine, placed the loaded, semi-automatic pistol in his son’s day care bag when bringing it into his house and then forgot he had done so.
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