I t’s a weird world
cROWN SNATCHED
A beauty pageant winner in Sri Lanka was told she had been disqualified and had her crown taken from her head on stage because she was believed to be divorced.
Just moments after being revealed as the 2021 winner of Mrs Sri Lanka, a pageant for married women, Pushpika De Silva faced humiliation as last year’s winner, Caroline Jurie, took the mic and announced that the runner-up should take the title instead.
She then left the stage as the runner-up was recrowned the winner
The crown was then forcibly removed from a tearful De Silva, who walked off stage, and given to the woman who came second, footage from the ceremony shows.
“There is a rule that you all have to be married and not divorced,” Jurie told the audience. “The crown goes to the first runner-up.”
De Silva’s relationship status has not been fully clarified. It seems she may be separated from her husband, according to reports, but she has stated that she is not divorced. She reportedly needed hospital treatment for injuries caused when the crown was taken off.
Now, according to media in Sri Lanka, the title will be handed back to her.
Chandimal Jayasinghe, the national director of Mrs Sri Lanka World, said the incident should not have happened and that the winner was decided unanimously by the organising committee and judges, according to online newspaper the Colombo He said he did not condone Jurie’s actions, the paper said. — Sky News
ANGRIEST OCTOPUS
A swim on holiday at a western Australia beach has resulted in a painful octopus “whipping” — and a video of the encounter that has gone viral.
Geologist and author Lance Karlson was about to take a dip near the resort he and his family were staying at in Geographe Bay, on Australia’s southwest coast, when he spotted what he thought was the tail of a stingray emerging from the water and striking a seagull.
Upon walking closer with his two-yearold daughter, he discovered it was an octopus, and took a video, which shows the animal in shallow water take a sudden strike in Karlson’s direction with its tentacles.
“The octopus lashed out at us, which was a real shock,” Karlson said in emailed comments to Reuters.
After setting up a sun protection tent for his family on the beach, Karlston put on goggles and went in the water alone to explore a collection of crab shells, which he believed were left by dead sea creatures.
As he was swimming, he felt another whip across his arm - followed by a more forceful sting across his neck and upper back.
“My goggles became fogged, the water was suddenly murky and I remember being shocked and confused,” Karlson added in the email.
Karlson said he raced back to shore and saw raised imprints of tentacles across his arm, neck and upper back. — Reuters