Tourist sparks bomb alert after accidentally ordering a 'grenade'

The Cais do Sodré district (pictured here before the incident) is a popular area of the Portuguese capital

(Image credit: Horacio Villalobos#Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)

published 31 October 2023

A tourist triggered a bomb alert at a Lisbon restaurant when he mixed up the Portuguese words for "pomegranate" and "grenade" while trying to order a fruit juice. A language app gave the man from Azerbaijan the wrong word and he quickly found himself handcuffed and surrounded by armed police. His day got worse still when he was ordered to lie face down on the ground in the street as five officers immobilised him, then cuffed his hands. He was later released, reported The Telegraph.

Taylor Swift pumpkin completed

A US artist has made a model of Taylor Swift using a giant pumpkin, noted The Guardian. The item, made by Ohio-based Jeanette Paras, is called the 'Taylor Swiftkin'. It took 10 hours to paint and weighs 399lb (181kg). "This is probably my favourite character so far," said Paras, who has also painted gourds of Ted Lasso, Kim Jong-un and Rudy Giuliani. "I really think Taylor would like it."

Tiny police station opens in Crawley

Britain’s smallest police station has opened in Crawley. The 8ft by 6ft space, the size of a garden shed or small bus shelter, has been created in the town centre in response to recent stabbings and shoplifting. "Owing to its narrow nature" it has "room only for a couple of seats and has no cells in which to hold anyone placed under arrest", said The Times. "I've heard there have been cutbacks but this is ridiculous," said a local.