Dateline: Saudi ArabiaA top Saudi cleric has sparked a controversy by banning snowmen in the Middle East. Asked on a religious website if it was permissible for fathers to build snowmen with their children after a recent snowstorm in the north of Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Mohammed Saleh al-Munajjid came down squarely in the negative. “It is not permitted to make a statue out of snow, even by way of play and fun,” he advised. Munajjid argued that the creation of a human snow creature was 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.” So snow fruits are fine, but snowmen are not.Dateline: ChinaA woman in China’s Henan province is accused of chopping off her husband’s penis—twice in one day. The 30-year-old woman allegedly flew into a rage after discovering a flirty email exchange between her 32-year-old husband, Fan Lung, and his 21-year-old lover. Naturally, the wife snipped off her cheating husband’s wang with a pair of scissors while he slept in their home in Shangqiu. The husband—and father of five—was rushed to a hospital where his manhood was sewn back on by doctors. Unfortunately, the angry wife snuck into the hospital and removed the offending organ a second time. She then threw it out the hospital window. “The first time we were aware of what happened was when someone came into the reception area to say a naked man was beating up a woman outside the hospital,” a hospital spokesperson told reporters. “Staff rushed out to see what was happening and found the patient with blood streaming down his legs hitting the woman.” The wife was taken into the hospital for treatment, and Lung was rushed back into emergency surgery. Doctors and police officers combed the area outside the hospital but were unable to locate the man’s missing member. They believe it may have been stolen by a stray dog or cat. According to the hospital, Lung is in stable condition but “extremely emotionally distraught.”Dateline: NorwayNorwegian police have fined a would-be hit man nearly $1,300 after he failed to carry out a contract on a 17-year-old boy. The strange case involves a 21-year-old man who was paid by another 21-year-old man who said he wanted the teenager dead for rejecting his romantic advances. Police busted the plot before any harm could come of it. Unfortunately, police were unable to prove that the amateur hit man actually intended to complete the job. So they charged him with fraud instead. The client claims to have paid nearly $8,000 for the job, but the failed hit man says he only received $5,300. The man who paid for the hit was sentenced to two years in prison, although most of the sentence was suspended after he confessed to the crime.Dateline: AlabamaA school in rural Alabama is asking parents to donate canned food—so that students will have a way to defend themselves against classroom intruders. In a letter sent home earlier this month, Priscella Holley, principal at W.F. Burns Middle School in Chambers County, asked parents to have their kids each bring an 8-ounce can of food to school. “We realized at first this may seem odd; however, it is a practice that would catch an intruder off guard,” Holley said in the letter. “The canned food item could stun the intruder or even knock him out until the police arrive.” Holley went on to say that the canned food missiles would “give the students a sense of empowerment.” Students will not be allowed to carry their cans around campus, but would have them stored in classrooms. If the cans are not used for defense, Holley plans to donate them to a local food pantry at the end of the year. “We hope the canned food items will never be used or needed, but it is best to be prepared,” said the principal.Dateline: FloridaPolice in Volusia County are looking for a woman who allegedly stole $3,000 worth of cat grooming supplies from the Daytona Beach International Airport. The thief, a short-haired woman between the ages of 45 and 55, swiped several items of luggage belonging to cat show participant Hope Gonano. Gonano was returning from winning a cat competition in Pennsylvania on Dec. 22 when her luggage went missing from the baggage carousel. The suspected thief was spotted loading two bags into a green Honda Element. “I’m thinking that it was premeditated, for sure. I mean, who does that?” Gonano told WKMG. “What are you going to do with my cat grooming stuff?” Anyone with information on the cat brush theft is advised to call Crime Stoppers of Northeast Florida.
Compiled by Devin D. O'Leary. Email your weird news to devin@alibi.com.
