Our pick of the strange but true stories from around the world.
Plane passenger 'wanted fresh air'
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Hacker's typo foils massive bank heist
A spelling mistake in an online banking transfer instruction has led to the collapse of a massive bank heist in Bangladesh, which some reports suggest could have netted the thieves up to £700m. Hackers had broken into Bangladesh Bank's systems and begun transferring cash from the Federal Reserve Bank in New York to a series of fake accounts. However, one of them misspelt the word "foundation" as "fandation", prompting Deutsche Bank to question the transfer and expose the scheme. Despite the error, the unknown hackers had taken more than £56m before they were detected.
Police hunt for chimp in a top hat
Scotland Yard detectives are on the hunt for four baboons, a sloth, two lions, a zebra foal, a king penguin and a chimp in a top hat. It might sound like the "plot of a Disney animation", says The Times, but the animals were actually from one of the country's largest taxidermy collections. Around £100,000 worth of items were stolen from London Taxidermy's collection of props for hire, which have appeared in film franchises such as Harry Potter and James Bond. "It was clear that some of the animals were missing," said director Alexis Turner. "The ground floor was considerably less populated."
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Israel jolted by ‘shocking’ settler violenceIN THE SPOTLIGHT A wave of brazen attacks on Palestinian communities in the West Bank has prompted a rare public outcry from Israeli officials
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Home Office worker accused of spiking mistress’s drink with abortion drugSpeed Read Darren Burke had failed to convince his girlfriend to terminate pregnancy
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In hock to Moscow: exploring Germany’s woeful energy policySpeed Read Don’t expect Berlin to wean itself off Russian gas any time soon
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Were Covid restrictions dropped too soon?Speed Read ‘Living with Covid’ is already proving problematic – just look at the travel chaos this week
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Inclusive Britain: a new strategy for tackling racism in the UKSpeed Read Government has revealed action plan setting out 74 steps that ministers will take
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Sandy Hook families vs. Remington: a small victory over the gunmakersSpeed Read Last week the families settled a lawsuit for $73m against the manufacturer
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Farmers vs. walkers: the battle over ‘Britain’s green and pleasant land’Speed Read Updated Countryside Code tells farmers: ‘be nice, say hello, share the space’
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Motherhood: why are we putting it off?Speed Read Stats show around 50% of women in England and Wales now don’t have children by 30
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Anti-Semitism in America: a case of double standards?Speed Read Officials were strikingly reluctant to link Texas synagogue attack to anti-Semitism
