Quirky World: Snow joke as cleric’s ruling whips up a storm
A prominent cleric has whipped up controversy by issuing a religious ruling forbidding the building of snowmen, described them as anti-Islamic.
Asked on a religious website if it was permissible for fathers to build snowmen for their children after a snowstorm in the country’s north, Sheikh Mohammed Saleh al-Munajjid replied: “It is not permitted to make a statue out of snow, even by way of play and fun.”
Quoting from Muslim scholars, Sheikh Munajjid argued to build a snowman was to create an image of a human being, an action considered sinful under the kingdom’s strict interpretation of Sunni Islam.
“God has given people space to make whatever they want which does not have a soul, including trees, ships, fruits, buildings and so on,” he wrote in his ruling.
That provoked swift responses from Twitter users writing in Arabic and identifying themselves with Arab names. “They are afraid for their faith of everything ... sick minds,” one Twitter user wrote.
Another posted a photo of a man in formal Arab garb holding the arm of a “snow bride” wearing a bra and lipstick. “The reason for the ban is fear of sedition,” he wrote.
Sheikh Munajjid had some supporters, however. “It [building snowmen] is imitating the infidels, it promotes lustiness and eroticism,” one wrote.
“May God preserve the scholars, for they enjoy sharp vision and recognize matters that even Satan does not think about.”
Snow has covered upland areas of Tabuk province near Saudi Arabia’s border with Jordan for the third consecutive year as cold weather swept across the Middle East.
Outraged chocolate fans have claimed Cadbury’s US owners are ruining Easter with a “cheap chocolate imitation” Creme Egg.
It comes after brand owner Mondelez changed the recipe for the sweet fondant-filled snack so that the shell is made from a “standard, traditional Cadbury milk chocolate” instead of the popular Dairy Milk. They were also unhappy after learning there would be five eggs in a pack instead of six.
In the build-up to Easter, Mondelez has got rid of three and six-packs of Creme Eggs replacing them with a five-pack to sell alongside singles and 12-packs.
A shipment of much-needed groceries and belated Christmas presents has finally arrived at the International Space Station.
The SpaceX company’s supply ship, Dragon, pulled up at the orbiting lab two days after its lift-off.
Station commander Butch Wilmore used a robot arm to grab the capsule and its 2,300kg of precious cargo as the craft soared more than 420km above the Mediterranean.
A hospital has had to start chaining toys to the beds of sick children after a spate of thefts.
Parents have branded the thieves “disgusting”, and said they were shocked to discover toys for seriously ill children had to be securely attached to stop them being swiped.
Dean Beddis, 49, took a photograph of his two-year-old son Soren trying to play with a toy locked to his cot at the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport, South Wales. Mr Beddis, a businessman whose son has bronchitis, said: “These toys are there for seriously ill kids, they’re provided by the hospital and people are stealing them.”
Patricia Arquette is not afraid to take on a challenge, whether it is spending 12 years making the film Boyhood or snatching an errant microphone that was heading straight for her head.
Arquette was in the backstage press room to talk about the Golden Globe for supporting actress in a motion picture that she had just won for Boyhood when a production staffer accidentally bumped her microphone’s long pole, sending it flying towards her face.
But no worries: Arquette reached out and grabbed it with her free hand. “Did you see my ninja skills?” she exclaimed.
New York police officers have captured a coyote in a park in upper Manhattan.
Officers used tranquilliser darts to sedate the animal in Riverside Park after someone spotted it and called police.
The coyote was delivered to Animal Care and Control where she was examined and fed by veterinary staff before being released in an “appropriate wilderness area in the Bronx”, parks officials said.
Park rangers began efforts to track the coyote after numerous sightings were reported by the public in the past two weeks.
Most coyotes pose no danger to people.
Officials say the last capture and release of a coyote in New York City took place in 2013
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