Thieves who stole shopping bag in for big disappointment
And other stories from the stranger side of life

Two elderly thieves may wonder why they bothered after they stole a businessman's shopping from the back of his car. Ian Russell said an "old couple" was seen taking his carrier bags out of the boot in the car park of the Crown pub in Bridgnorth, Shropshire last weekend. However, revealed the Shropshire Star, the stolen bags contained an extra large box of medicine used to help in the recovery from diarrhoea. Addressing the thieves, Russell said: "I sincerely hope that you need the large box of Diarolyte more than me."
Boy launches nerd petition
A 10-year-old boy has called on Apple to change its "insulting" nerd emoji. Emojis have become a "staple of daily conversations", said The Times, but the boy, who has launched a petition, said the nerd emoji gives the wrong impression of spectacle-wearers. "I didn't like the name or the design so I decided eventually in a geography lesson that I would finally take action," said Teddy Cottle, from Oxfordshire.
Indian woman wins hair record
A 46-year-old Indian woman earned a world record when her "tremendous tresses" were measured at seven feet and nine inches long, said UPI. Smita Srivastava of Uttar Pradesh, who was awarded the Guinness World Records title for longest hair on a living person, hasn't had a haircut since she was 14. "In Indian culture, goddesses traditionally had very long hair," she said. "Long hair enhances the beauty of women."
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Chas Newkey-Burden has been part of The Week Digital team for more than a decade and a journalist for 25 years, starting out on the irreverent football weekly 90 Minutes, before moving to lifestyle magazines Loaded and Attitude. He was a columnist for The Big Issue and landed a world exclusive with David Beckham that became the weekly magazine’s bestselling issue. He now writes regularly for The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, Metro, FourFourTwo and the i new site. He is also the author of a number of non-fiction books.
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