Dateline: MichiganA library spoke out against the actions of an unknown individual who has been hiding its collection of Fifty Shades movies. Last week the Berkley Public Library in Berkley, Mich., put up a display featuring numerous copies of the Fifty Shades films along with a sign reading, “The Berkley Public Library is against censorship. Someone didn’t want you to check these items out. They deliberately hid all of these items so you wouldn’t find them. This is not how libraries work.” According to Fox News, staff noticed that the final film in the series, Fifty Shades Freed had gone missing for a fourth time, and discovered the previous films in the series—Fifty Shades of Grey and Fifty Shades Darker—were also missing. The films were replaced, reportedly costing the library around $100. Soon after, however, the missing movies were found by staff in an undisclosed location. Also discovered were the library’s copies of the films Eyes Wide Shut and Jerusalem. Library director Matt Church told reporters that he believed the movies were hidden by a person attempting to censor them. In response, they were given a prominent display in the library’s media section, accompanied by the message concerning censorship. Dateline: NigeriaA Nigerian herbalist healer was killed last week while testing “bullet-proof” magical charms. The BBC reports Chinaka Adoezuwe had been hired to prepare a set of charms that would render his client impervious to damage from bullets. Charms are used by many in Nigeria to bring luck or cure ailments. To prove that the charms worked, the 26-year-old healer allegedly handed a gun to his client—Chukwudi Ijezie—and instructed the man to fire it at him. Ijezie at first refused, but Adoezuwe was reportedly confident of the charms’ effectiveness and placed them around his neck while continuing to instruct the man to shoot him. Ijezie finally agreed and shot the healer, who died instantly. Ijezie was taken into custody by police on suspicion of murder. The case has been transferred to the State Criminal and Investigation Department in Owerri. In January, Punch reported a Nigerian doctor had been arrested after a man died, allegedly while testing a “bullet-repelling” potion made by the suspect. The doctor was charged with criminal conspiracy and culpable homicide.Dateline: United KingdomA British Parliament speech was interrupted by Siri. According to Huffington Post, British Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson was giving a speech in the House of Commons last week when Apple’s virtual assistant Siri responded to something he’d said concerning Islamic State terrorists in Syria. “I found something on the web for Syria,” Siri “said” from a cell phone in Williamson’s jacket pocket. The voice was projected by a microphone placed in front of the defense secretary, who began searching his pockets for the offending gadget. After turning the phone off, Williamson apologized and said, “It is very rare that you’re heckled by your own mobile phone,” referring to the common practice of heckling British Parliament speakers. Williamson later tweeted about the incident, writing, “One of the pitfalls of having a new iPhone… I must ask my 13 year old daughter how to use it!” Some were concerned by the event, noting that carrying a device which can eavesdrop might be considered a security risk. The BBC reported that a source close to Williamson said the phone is not a security risk since it isn’t taken into sensitive meetings.Dateline: OhioA stay-at-home mother blamed a two-day crime spree on a lack of excitement. The New York Post reports Melissa Bergman, a 30-year-old suburban mom was arrested last month for allegedly stealing a number of packages from her neighbors’ doorsteps. She told reporters that she “had everything that any woman would ever want,” but felt that her life was “going nowhere.” Bergman lives in a $475,000 home with her husband and two children. Police say she took packages from 12 homes over 2 days—sometimes with her children in the car. In an interview with WLWT5 in Cincinnati, she said the crime spree came days after her release from a hospital, where she had been admitted for attempting to commit suicide. She said it began when she decided to take a package from her neighbor’s porch. “That’s when the urge started getting worse and worse and worse, and I couldn’t control it,” she said. Bergman is an Army veteran who served in Afghanistan. She said PTSD might have played a part in the incident, claiming a psychologist told her the spree offered “excitement that [she] once had back in Afghanistan.” She was ordered to serve 30 days in jail for for theft and was told she had to make a public apology on Facebook. Last year, Bergman was ordered to complete the Warren County Veterans Intervention Program after she was arrested for stealing a man’s credit cards while he was asleep in his hotel room.
Compiled by Joshua Lee. Email your weird news to josh@alibi.com.
