‘Extinct’ tortoise found on Galapagos Island
And other stories from the stranger side of life

A giant tortoise found on the Galapagos Islands is from a species considered extinct, The Telegraph reports. Scientists say an elderly female tortoise discovered during an expedition has been identified as a chelonoidis phantasticus, also known as Fernandina Island Galápagos tortoise – a species last seen more than a century ago. Ecuador’s environment minister wrote in a tweet: “It was believed extinct more than 100 years ago! Hope is alive.”
Police tell public to stop phoning 999 over ghost sightings
The British public have been reminded not to call 999 in relation to ghost sightings after a person in West Sussex rang the emergency services claiming to have been haunted by a ghost sent by their neighbour. Mid Sussex neighbourhood policing inspector Darren Taylor said the force had received a phone call “from a resident stating that their neighbour had sent a ghost into their house to haunt them”. He said people should dial 999 “for emergencies only.”
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Shamans in Peru predict election result
Peruvian shamans are trying to read tea leaves to guess the outcome of a tight election on 6 June. The mystics have used rattles, smoke and pictures of the Andean country’s two presidential candidates to try and establish who will win. They have burned campaign posters for the presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori during a traditional ritual that predicted Fujimori will lose to Pedro Castillo.
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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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