■UNITED STATES
Deodorant disarms thief
Police in suburban Chicago say a taxi driver who didn’t have Mace handy when he was attacked by a knife-wielding passenger instead disarmed the man with a can of aerosol deodorant. Elgin Deputy Police Chief Jeff Swoboda says the 51-year-old cabbie picked up the male passenger early on Thursday outside a casino. Swoboda said the driver grew suspicious when the man offered several destinations, so he surreptitiously placed the small can of deodorant between his legs. Shortly afterward, the passenger put a knife to the driver’s neck and demanded money. The cabbie sprayed the deodorant in the man’s eyes, causing him to drop the knife.
■UNITED STATES
Girl beats mom’s boyfriend
Police say a Connecticut girl overheard her mother’s screams during sex and thought she was being assaulted, so she rounded up some friends to attack the woman’s companion. The 16-year-old girl, two boys and a 19-year-old man were arrested on Tuesday and arraigned on Wednesday on assault and conspiracy charges. Torrington police and the woman said the girl thought her mother was being attacked on June 6. Police say the teens went into the bedroom and beat the mother’s 25-year-old companion with a baseball bat and punched him. The man, Roger Swanson of Torrington, says he suffered a black eye and several bruises. The woman, Melanie Arnold, denies she screamed. She said her daughter heard a slap and thought it was an assault.
■ECUADOR
‘Simpsons’ loses key slot
Hit US cartoon series The Simpsons will no longer be shown during prime-time in Ecuador while the government ponders its impact on children, a broadcaster said on Thursday. Teleamazonas said it would no longer be allowed to broadcast the often satirical exploits of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie, between 6am and 9pm, pending a government investigation. A government-backed regulator will assess the program’s impact on “boys, girls and teenagers,” and wants to restrict its broadcast “to assure the protection” of younger audiences.
■UNITED STATES
Naked man rerouts plane
A US man who stripped off mid-flight, forcing flight attendants to cover him with a blanket and the pilot to reroute the flight, will face psychological evaluation, reports said on Thursday. The 50-year-old passenger, Keith Wright, was aboard US Airways flight 705 to Los Angeles from Charlotte, North Carolina, on Tuesday night when he shocked fellow passengers by standing up and starting to disrobe. Two police officers, who happened to be on the flight, forced him to the back of the plane and he was removed from the plane with just a blanket around his body after it landed at Albuquerque, New Mexico.
■UNITED STATES
Gay Mennonites protest
Gay and lesbian Mennonites dressed in bright pink have gathered with others outside the church’s biannual convention in Columbus, Ohio, to criticize its leaders for trying to push them out. About 100 ministers and lay people prayed, sang hymns and spoke of feeling ostracized from the church at the protest in downtown Columbus on Thursday. The “pink Menno” campaign is an effort to get the church to address the deeply divisive issue of allowing homosexuality within its congregations.
RSS