Creepy clowns seen 'luring children into woods'

Our pick of the strange stories from around the world.

Woodland clowns are no laughing matter

Parents in Greenville County, South Carolina, are on high alert after a group of children reported "several creepy clowns" trying to lure them into a local forest. Several adults have also allegedly had run-ins with the mysterious figures, including a woman who says she saw a clown standing beneath a streetlight and waving to her as she walked home late at night. The clowns are said to have taken up residence "deep in the woods, near a house by a pond". Police are calling for calm after reports of residents shooting firearms blindly into the woods to scare the clowns away.

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Couple banned from Everest after faking climb

A husband and wife said to have been the first Indian couple to reach the summit of Mount Everest have been banned from climbing mountains in Nepal for ten years after officials determined they had faked their ascent. Police officers Dinesh and Tarakeshwari Rathod allegedly doctored images from another mountaineer's successful climb two days earlier to show them "standing" on the summit. Among the evidence reportedly against the pair are photos showing them in two different sets of gear in an environment where changing clothes is almost physically impossible.

Teen dies after 'fatal lovebite'

A 17-year-old boy from Mexico City has reportedly died in hospital after his 24-year-old girlfriend gave him a lovebite on his neck. Local officials say the boy began convulsing at the dinner table, before collapsing and being rushed to hospital, where doctors discovered the bite had formed a blood clot that had travelled to his brain and caused a fatal stroke. The boy's girlfriend is reportedly in hiding.