Missing tortoise found alive after 30 years, and more

Missing tortoise found alive after 30 years

A tortoise has been found alive after being locked in a storeroom for more than 30 years. Manuela the tortoise disappeared in 1982 from her home in Rio de Janeiro. When her owner recently died, his children cleaned out a storage room and found Manuela, alive, in a cardboard box. “We are all thrilled to have Manuela back,” says Lenita Almeida, “but none of us can understand how she managed to survive.” A local veterinarian says that red-footed tortoises can live for years without food, and thinks Manuela survived by eating bugs and licking condensation.

Protecting the British royal baby

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Prince William and Kate Middleton’s baby will be protected by a bombproof car seat, says the National Enquirer. The custom-made seat, which costs $5,000, has a titanium frame covered with cushioning and bulletproof Kevlar fabric, and can be bolted to the royal limousine so that it won’t fly away in an explosion. The seat will have some “pretty material,” a palace insider says, but is a serious piece of engineering. “This baby will be third in line to the throne,” he says, “and cannot be put at risk.”

Going to heaven with a Whopper

A Pennsylvania man who loved fast-food burgers had a final Whopper placed on his casket, after his entire funeral cortege slowly passed through the drive-thru lane at Burger King. David Kime, 88, was a WWII veteran and a regular customer at the Burger King in York. Manager Margaret Hess says the staff was honored to prepare 40 burgers for Kime’s funeral party—39 for the mourners, and one that was buried with him. “It’s nice to know he was a loyal customer up until the end,” she says. “The very end.”