STATUS UPDATES
A week in which a gator gets behind on rent and another soccer statue goes bust
EVICTED: A two-metre-long alligator found lounging in a hot tub. The owner of the home in Kansas City stumbled upon the unwanted house guest while throwing out a tenant. Sean Casey, the tenant, said the alligator’s name was Catfish and that it was “gentle as a puppy.”
GROUNDED: Two military aviators, who are being investigated for flying in a phallicshaped pattern. The Marine Corps said this week that the T-34C aircraft flew over the Salton Sea in a pattern resembling the shape of a penis. The indiscretion was discovered via a Twitter post from Aircraft Spots.
ATTACKED: Donald Trump by Minister Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam. The criticism came during Farrakhan’s visit to Iran, where he warned Trump not to pull “the trigger” of a Mideast war at Israel’s insistence. Farrakhan, 85, is known for comments considered anti-Semitic.
ON YOUR MARKS: A train that sped off without its driver. The runaway went 92 kilometres at speeds of about 100 km/h before being deliberately derailed in Western Australiaau. No one was injured; the 268 rail cars were loaded with iron ore.
AFFLICTED: A 23-year-old man who allegedly broke into a Florida tourist attraction and jumped into a crocodile pond. Police said the half-naked man was apparently bitten by one of the unamused creatures. The jumper with judgment problems was caught on video — and was charged with vandalism.
DUG UP: The oldest-known example of an animal drawing. The red silhouette of a bull-like beast was discovered by scientists on the wall of a remote Indonesian cave in Borneo. The sketch is at least 40,000 years old, slightly older than similar animal paintings found in famous caves in France and Spain.
DEFENDED: An L.A.-area teacher captured on video punching a student who had called him by a racial slur. Community members raised tens of thousands of dollars for music teacher Marston Riley, who is Black. Riley was released on bond after his arrest on suspicion of child abuse.
OFF THE MARK: A sculpture of soccer superstar Mohamed Salah. The statue unveiled in Egypt, on display in Sharm el-Sheikh, bears more resemblance — according to some art aficionados — to singer Leo Sayer or Marv the burglar from the movie Home Alone.