Strange but true

Air conditioning crackdown
A crackdown on illegally installed air conditioning units has caused tensions in the upmarket Italian resort of Portofino. The village lies in a national park, and the installation of AC units – banned until recent years – is closely regulated so as not to damage the vividly coloured house fronts. Following complaints, police have been scouring the streets for illegally placed units. Dozens of tip-offs have been recorded so far this year. Italian newspapers reported “vendettas” between residents, with tit-for-tat denunciations. The mayor, Matteo Viacava, denied drones had been used to locate rogue units.
Chess poisoning
Russia’s chess federation has suspended a player for allegedly poisoning a rival during a tournament in Dagestan. Amina Abakarova is accused of smearing mercury on the table where Umayganat Osmanova was due to play another opponent. In the match that followed, Osmanova began gasping for breath before noticing drops of mercury. Police were called and she was treated before returning to finish second in the tournament. Abakarova, 43, faces a police investigation, and up to three years in prison if found guilty.
Pageant row
A finalist in the Miss South Africa contest withdrew from the pageant after questions over her roots led to a storm of xenophobic abuse on social media. Chidimma Adetshina, 23, was born in and grew up in South Africa, and says that her father is Nigerian and her mother is a South African of Mozambican descent, but a government investigation requested by event organisers recently suggested that her mother might have stolen a South African woman’s identity in 2001. Authorities say they are looking into the implications for Adetshina’s own citizenship status.
Shearing marathon
A Scottish sheep shearer has broken a world record by shearing 517 sheep in nine hours. Una Cameron, 51, beat the previous women’s solo record – which was set earlier this year by the New Zealander Sacha Bond – by 59 sheep at a farm in Cornwall. She lost 19kg while preparing for her attempt, and took just four breaks, which organisers said was the equivalent of running “two marathons back to back”. She said that “her triumph felt like a very painful dream but a dream. I don’t think it’s really sunk in yet.”
Bons mots
“Money is minted freedom.” – Fyodor Dostoevsky, Russian novelist and short story writer 


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