Quirky World ... President makes fruity decree after mango melee

VENEZUELA: A woman who bashed President Nicolas Maduro on the head with a mango has been promised a new house for her troubles in a surreal tropical tale that has gone viral in Venezuela.

Mon, 27 Apr, 2015 - 01:00

The 52-year-old president was driving a bus through a crowd in the central state of Aragua when someone in the crowd tossed the fruit at him.

“It says: ‘If you can, call me’,” the former bus driver said later, as he displayed the fruit with a name and phone number scrawled on it on television.

“Marleny Olivo had a problem with her house. [Officials] called her. She was scared. She couldn’t believe it was true... I’ve approved an apartment for you, Marleny, as part of the ‘Grand Venezuelan Housing Mission’,” he added, vowing to eat the mango.

Swinging it

USA:

A swingers’ club has transformed itself into a church after neighbours blocked it from opening next to a suburban Christian school, and is challenging city authorities to prove it is not a legitimate house of worship.

The president of Goodpasture Christian School in Nashville received an anonymous tip about the club in November, and worked with religious leaders and the council to block it from opening. That’s when the Social Club became the United Fellowship Centre. On the new plans, a room previously labelled “dungeon” is now labelled “choir”.

Larry Roberts, who represents the club-turned-church, says no sex will take place there.

Coyote collared

USA:

A wily coyote is no match for the NYPD.

Police collared the creature near a cafe in downtown Manhattan on Saturday. The coyote was spotted shortly after 7.30am in the Battery Park City neighbourhood. Officers tailed her up and down a marina and a Hudson River park for about an hour before using a tranquiliser dart to subdue her.

Good tidings

ENGLAND:

Ed Miliband was told he is “definitely” going to win the general election next week after he was blessed by a Hindu saint during a visit to north London.

At a ceremony at the Shree Swaminarayan Temple in Willesden, senior saint Swami Santi Priya Das gave Miliband a blessing and wished him luck for May 7. Bipin Gami, a volunteer at the temple, told Miliband: “You are definitely going to win now, you’ve received a blessing from the top.”

Cold comfort

USA:

Deputies in Florida say a thief worked for 15 minutes to drag a cooler full of ice cream past a sleeping clerk at a petrol station near Fort Lauderdale.

CCTV cameras captured a man walking up to the Oakland Park shop at 4.09am on April 2 to find the clerk sleeping. The man opened the ice-cream cooler, peered at the clerk, looked directly into the camera, and flashed a middle finger. After a few minutes, he carefully pulled the $2,500 (€2,300) cooler through the shop’s doors.

Authorities arrested Dennis Norman on grand theft charges on April 22. He was released from jail on $1,000 bond.

A game of cat and mouse

USA:

A man driving to work noticed that his stolen truck was following him, setting off a chain of events that included a pursuit, a crash, and an arrest.

Police in Piedmont, Alabama, said a man called 911 after noticing he was driving in front of the truck that had been stolen from him earlier that morning. Police attempted to stop the stolen vehicle, but the driver did not stop and a pursuit ensued.

The driver crashed the vehicle and was ejected as the truck rolled over, he was then captured after a chase on foot. He has been charged with theft and possession of burglary tools.