The weekly weird

Published September 9, 2017
Sources: www.metro.co.uk; www.upi.com
Sources: www.metro.co.uk; www.upi.com

World’s largest samosa

The humanitarian charity Muslim Aid created the world’s largest samosa to feed the homeless in England.

A total of 12 volunteers spent about 15 hours crafting the Guinness World Record-breaking 337-pound samosa at a mosque in London and then cut it into pieces that were distributed to local homeless people.

“We wanted to make a larger-than-ever version of this popular food to demonstrate visually how people of the Muslim faith work tirelessly throughout the year, and particularly during Eid, doing charitable acts to support the unfortunate in the community around them and further afield,” Muslim Aid spokesman Zac Hussain said.

The final product was made using 220 pounds of potatoes, 55 pounds of onion, 33 pounds of peas,

plus 97 pounds of flour and traditional Indian spices that were ultimately placed in a custom-made deep fat fryer.


Sources: www.metro.co.uk; www.upi.com
Sources: www.metro.co.uk; www.upi.com

Cats inherit $300,000 trust fund

A pair of New York cats are living in the lap of luxury as real-life ‘Aristocats’ after their affluent owner left them $300,000 in her will.

Ellen Frey-Wouter, who died at the age of 88 with no children to inherit her $3 million estate, stipulated that $300,000 of her estate go to a trust fund for her cats, Troy and Tiger.

The felines, which are now cared for by two of Frey-Wouter’s former health care aides, have all of their food, grooming, veterinary care and other expenses covered by the trust fund.

A Tennessee man named Leon Sheppard Sr. made similar headlines in 2013 when he died and left his $250,000 fortune and his 4,270 square foot home in a gated community to his cats.


Sources: www.metro.co.uk; www.upi.com
Sources: www.metro.co.uk; www.upi.com

Deep sea creatures are swallowing discarded plastic

Even the sea creatures who live thousands of metres deep have tragically eaten toxic, damaging pieces of plastic.

Researchers at the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) in Oban, Scotland, tested deep-sea starfish and snails from the Rockall Trough.

They found tiny pieces of plastic in 48 percent of the animals they sampled, all of which live more than 2,000 metres deep in one of the least explored areas of planet Earth.

However, our plastic pollution has still managed to reach them. A range of plastics were found, including polyethylene, which is the plastic used to make shopping bags. Polyester was the most common plastic they identified, which was mainly in the form of microscopic fibres.

Although it wasn’t possible to trace the polyester back to a specific source, researchers added, the plastic is often used in clothing, and can reach the sea via the waste water in people’s washing machines.

This is apparently the first time the ingestion of microplastic by deep-sea invertebrate animals has been quantified, SAMS researchers said.


Sources: www.metro.co.uk; www.upi.com
Sources: www.metro.co.uk; www.upi.com

Two tonnes of Nutella stolen!\

In a crime that really crossed the line, a gang of sweet-toothed thieves have made off with a truckload of chocolate. Literally!

The trailer laden with 20 tonnes of chocolate included a loot of Kinder Surprise eggs, Valparaiso chocolate fruit pearls and Nutella spread, was stolen in the German town of Neustadt in Hesse.

It’s thought the thieves even went as far as bringing in a truck to haul away the cooler-trailer that was stocked with the goods.

Police spokesman, Martin Ahlich, said, “It’s not even clear if they were after the sweets or after the trailer — at this point we don’t know what their motive was.”

It’s unclear the effect this huge loss of Nutella —worth approx £46,700-£64,000.

Published in Dawn, Young World September 9th, 2017

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