Shark attacks rebranded as ‘negative encounters’
And other stories from the stranger side of life

Australian officials have said shark attacks will be rebranded as “negative encounters” or “interactions” as part of a drive to change their image as a “man-eating monster”. Authorities will also now refer to “bites” rather than “attacks” as part of the drive to encourage more people to go to the beach. An average of five people are killed by sharks each year, while humans kill more than 100 million sharks annually, according to the journal Marine Policy.
Trapped naked woman rescued
A naked woman has been rescued after she became wedged between the concrete walls of two buildings in California. The woman was discovered as she cried out for help in Santa Ana by an onlooker who said: “She was upside down too.” Fire officials did not immediately say how the woman got stuck or why she was naked. “That’s a mystery to all of us here right now,” said one.
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‘Oldest home’ in UK discovered
A cave house in south Derbyshire that was previously thought to be an 18th-century folly has been identified as one of the oldest intact domestic interiors ever found in the UK. Archaeologists believe the cave house can be dated to 1,200 years ago and was possibly inhabited by Eardwulf who was deposed as king of Northumbria in AD806 and died in AD830. The discovery makes it “probably the oldest intact domestic interior in the UK”, a researcher said.
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