QUIRKY WORLD ... Austrian brothel offers free sex in tax protest

We take a look at some of the quirkier stories from around the world.

AUSTRIA: An Austrian brothel is offering a summer special that competitors will find hard to match — free sex. Its owner says it’s his way of protesting a tax squeeze.

“Effective immediately: Free Entrance! Free Drinks! Free Sex!” the Pascha bordello writes on its website.

The Oesterreich daily quotes owner Hermann Mueller as saying he will pay the women working for him to make up for the money they would normally get from clients. A woman answering the telephone at the establishment confirmed the offer Sunday. She refused to identify herself.

Prostitution in Austria is legal and regulated. Mueller, who runs other brothels in Germany and Austria, says he is pushing back against what he says is unfair taxation of nearly €4 million in the past decade.

Left stunned

USA: An Arizona Coyotes fan got to take out her frustration on the mayor behind the decision to send the hockey team packing.

KPNX-TV reports that disgruntled fan Ronda Pearson used a stun gun on Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers on Saturday as part of a charity pledge. Weiers volunteered to be stunned with a Taser at the mall event if a $10,000 (€8,800) donation was made to an Arizona charity that supports first-responders.

Firefighters determined Weiers was not injured.

Organisers say Pearson and another Coyotes fan showed up with a $10,000 money order.

Weiers and the Glendale City Council voted last Wednesday to end an arena lease agreement with the Coyotes. A judge on Friday temporarily halted its termination.

Pearson gained attention on social media for a public rant directed at Weiers.

Mind the slug

USA: A giant purple blob from the sea — a slug — is invading East Bay beaches and waterways this summer, and some experts say it may be caused by warmer temperatures near coastal waters.

These California sea hares are harmless plant eaters. But their size and unusual abundance this year is turning heads at the shorelines in the cities of Crab Cove in Alameda and Miller Knox Regional Park in Richmond, as well as Lake Merritt in Oakland and Tomales Bay in Marin County, the Contra Costa Times reported.

“We are getting calls from the public asking what the heck is this big weird purple blob,” said Carolyn Jones, a spokeswoman for the East Bay Regional Park District. “It’s native to our area. It’s not endangered, but they are rarely seen, other than an occasional one here or there.”

Officials have no precise count, but dozens have been seen on some beaches at the same time, and two dozen were spotted last month in an inlet to Lake Merritt in Oakland.

The first ones were spotted last autumn. But more have been seen in May and June — including ones that captured the crowd’s attention last weekend at an annual sandcastle-building contest at Crown Beach in Alameda.

The slugs can reach 15lbs or more and 30 inches in length, although the ones in the East Bay are smaller — about the size of a large fist. They are called sea hares because their thick antennae resemble rabbit ears.

Room at the Inn

USA: A Virgin Islands couple will be trading the Caribbean breezes of St John for the rigors of Maine’s four seasons after winning a “Win an Inn” essay contest.

Prince and Rose Adams, both 45 and originally from New York City, entered the contest organised by Janice Sage. The retiring owner of the Center Lovell Inn had won the restaurant and hostelry in a similar writing contest 22 years ago.

The Boston Globe reports that the Adamses were notified last week that they had been picked by a local panel of judges assembled by Sage.

They’re closing their restaurant in St John and expect to be open for business in Center Lovell by July 10.

Creating a buzz

USA: A man is lucky to be alive after having been stung between 500 and 1,000 times by tens of thousands of swarming bees near Kingman in north-western Arizona, authorities said.

The unidentified man was in a stable condition at Kingman Regional Medical Center following the attack after he apparently disturbed a large hive in the backyard of a home, said Mohave County sheriff’s spokeswoman Leslie DeSantis.

“The number of bees in the shed was unbelievable,” DeSantis said. “The deputy who arrived said it was it was like something you’d see in the movies. It was just amazing.”

Authorities said the man was working on the property when he was stung and ran to his vehicle, getting help from two passersby who were also stung. They did not need to be hospitalised.

A beekeeper called to the scene was also stung 23 times. He told authorities it may take several days to fully contain the bees.

Authorities are warning residents of the area to keep pets indoors, avoid walking nearby, and drive through with car windows closed.