QUIRKY WORLD ... A daily look at some of the world’s stranger stories
A Toronto Star reporter dropped his defamation lawsuit against controversial mayor Rob Ford after the latter issued a more expansive apology for insinuating the journalist was a paedophile.
In the second apology, which was accepted, Ford acknowledged everything he said about the reporter was false.
Ford, who admitted last month to smoking crack “in a drunken stupor”, had appeared on a Vision TV interview and accused reporter Daniel Dale of taking pictures of his young children. Ford said he didn’t “want to say that word but you start thinking what this guy is all about”.
The insinuation was related to an instance when Dale was close to Ford’s house in May 2012, investigating a plot of public land adjacent to Ford’s home that the mayor wanted to buy.
Dale said he was writing a story about the plot so he went to take a look at it when the mayor emerged from his home to confront him.
Dale said he was never on Ford’s property, didn’t take any pictures and said the mayor’s two children were nowhere in sight.
Ford had initially apologised but blamed the media for the insinuation, which was not accepted by the journalist.
The Salvation Army has found a real gem in a mystery serial donor whose latest gift is a diamond ring worth more than $3,500 (€2,560).
The ring was dropped in one of the charity’s collection kettles outside the Publix store in Miami-Dade County, South Florida, with a note attached, saying: “Please continue your good work caring for the needy in God’s name.”
Linda Payton, captain of the Salvation Army’s Sunset Corps, says this is the fourth year the group has received a similar donation from what appears to be the same person.
A US man named Noel who climbed a tree decorated with Christmas lights was arrested and charged with breach of the peace.
The electricity for the lights was cut as police and firefighters responded after Noel Delgado climbed the tree in a park in New Haven near Yale University. Police said he had two banners and shouted about various causes.
Things are finally coming up roses for a beagle who survived a dog pound gas chamber.
Daniel will be among eight shelter dogs riding on a float in the Rose Parade on New Year’s Day in Pasadena, California.
In 2011, Daniel emerged unscathed from a container that had been filled with carbon monoxide at an animal control facility. He has been living happily ever since with his adopted family in New Jersey. Daniel will perform tricks with other animal shelter survivors on a parade float sponsored by the Lucy Pet Foundation, which runs a mobile spay and neuter clinic.
Daniel’s story prompted laws in 31 states that protect shelter animals against inhumane forms of euthanasia.
A Bavarian town council voted unanimously to strip Adolf Hitler of honorary citizenship bestowed 80 years ago, after an outcry prompted by an earlier decision not to adopt a resolution denouncing the 1933 decision.
The issue came up after an archivist discovered documents showing both Hitler and the president who appointed him, Paul von Hindenburg, had been given honorary citizenship of Dietramszell. The council deadlocked in an 8-8 vote last week on the resolution, with councillors voting against saying it was not up to them to rewrite history.
But town administrator Thomas Gerg said the full council has now voted 21-0 to adopt the resolution and nullify the honour bestowed on both men after hearing impassioned testimony from a woman who lost family in the Holocaust.
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