Silly/Odd News Stories from around the World

[Haak]

The Brawl in Bethlehem:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16347418

They even got a video of it. It's freaking hilarious.

[Fahd]

Originally Posted by Haak

The Brawl in Bethlehem:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16347418

They even got a video of it. It's freaking hilarious.

What I want to know is what sparked off such a brawl? Presumably they were all cleaning at the same time (hence the broomsticks), but surely it couldn't have been about who gets to clean which part of the church?

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Haak

The Brawl in Bethlehem:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16347418

They even got a video of it. It's freaking hilarious.

They should have attacked them with flashbangs and say "the Light of God dictates that you stop foghting!"

[ganbaru]

Christmas message lands Boston worker in hot water
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...12-27-16-04-06

[MrTerrorist]

Originally Posted by Fahd

What I want to know is what sparked off such a brawl? Presumably they were all cleaning at the same time (hence the broomsticks), but surely it couldn't have been about who gets to clean which part of the church?

It's complicated story. Originally, the church belong to one religious group. Then the Israeli government help another group claim the church as theirs. Since then, both groups held animosity with each other since they believe they are the rightful owners of that church while the others are thieves.

[Sumeragi]

Originally Posted by MrTerrorist

It's complicated story. Originally, the church belong to one religious group. Then the Israeli government help another group claim the church as theirs. Since then, both groups held animosity with each other since they believe they are the rightful owners of that church while the others are thieves.

There are three groups: Orthodoxs, Franciscans and Armenians. Of course, this is nothing compared to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre: The Church is split between Orthodox, Armenians, Catholics, Coptics, Ethiopians and the Jacobites.

[MrTerrorist]

Marvel lawyers fighting to prove that Mutants aren’t human

[MrTerrorist]

Orangutans 'could video chat' between zoos via iPads

[ganbaru]

Vehicle smashes into Tenn. house _ again
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...12-29-14-28-05

[andyjay729]

Another piece of Yeti "evidence" has been debunked.

[Xellos-_^]

Kanzi - the name means Treasure in Swahili - does not stay close to make sure his fire stays lit. But he does throw on more wood from a distance. And he has learned how to cook. He will take a marshmallow, stick it on the end of a twig and hold it carefully over the flames, ensuring it doesn’t burn.
He can place a grill pan on the fire and cook hamburgers. When he has finished with the fire, Dr Savage-Rumbaugh asks him to put it out using a bottle of water. He will carefully pour the liquid over the flames until it has been extinguished.
Kanzi is now incredibly passing on his skills to other apes. His son Teco, who lives in the same research centre, watches Kanzi as he solves problems. The researchers believe he may learn to make fires, too.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...y-burgers.html

first the BBQ then the Nukes. Soon war with humans.

[Kokukirin]

Originally Posted by MrTerrorist

It's complicated story. Originally, the church belong to one religious group. Then the Israeli government help another group claim the church as theirs. Since then, both groups held animosity with each other since they believe they are the rightful owners of that church while the others are thieves.

This is not true at all.

The Church of Holy Sepulchre has a long history. It was long dominated by the Greek Orthodox that dated from Byzantine Empire. After it fell to Muslim control, Muslims still allowed Christian pilgrims access to the church. The Crusades brought Catholics to Palestine and the Franks established crusader state for a while, gaining a claim in the church in the process. Then came the Armenians, Russians, Copts, Ethiopians, etc etc. So all parties negotiated to share duties and arrangements, down to silly little things like who gets to sweep that stair. When someone breaks the arrangement, like moving a chair to another spot, other parties may take offense and start a fight. All these predate the establishment of modern state of Israel. The Israel government has absolutely nothing to do with this.

Interestingly, a Muslim family is in charge of the key to the church door, a duty that dates back to Saladin's reign.

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by Kokukirin

This is not true at all.

The Church of Holy Sepulchre has a long history. It was long dominated by the Greek Orthodox that dated from Byzantine Empire. After it fell to Muslim control, Muslims still allowed Christian pilgrims access to the church. The Crusades brought Catholics to Palestine and the Franks established crusader state for a while, gaining a claim in the church in the process. Then came the Armenians, Russians, Copts, Ethiopians, etc etc. So all parties negotiated to share duties and arrangements, down to silly little things like who gets to sweep that stair. When someone breaks the arrangement, like moving a chair to another spot, other parties may take offense and start a fight. All these predate the establishment of modern state of Israel. The Israel government has absolutely nothing to do with this.

Interestingly, a Muslim family is in charge of the key to the church door, a duty that dates back to Saladin's reign.

There's almost certainly a Monty Python response to that sort of human entrenched lunacy

[Dhomochevsky]

middle_east$ reboot

Too much culture uptime can be bad too.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

first the BBQ then the Nukes. Soon war with humans.

First it was the machines, now even the apes are stealing our jobs!

Dr Savage-Rumbaugh, of the Great Ape Trust, in Des Moines, Iowa, adds: ‘Kanzi makes fire because he wants to. He used to watch the film Quest For Fire when he was very young which was about early man struggling to control fire. He watched it spellbound over and over hundreds of times.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz1i3FTHxyz

Wait. Why are we so surprised at the fire thing if he learned to operate a goddamn VHS player as a child?

[MrTerrorist]

Originally Posted by Kokukirin

This is not true at all.

The Church of Holy Sepulchre has a long history. It was long dominated by the Greek Orthodox that dated from Byzantine Empire. After it fell to Muslim control, Muslims still allowed Christian pilgrims access to the church. The Crusades brought Catholics to Palestine and the Franks established crusader state for a while, gaining a claim in the church in the process. Then came the Armenians, Russians, Copts, Ethiopians, etc etc. So all parties negotiated to share duties and arrangements, down to silly little things like who gets to sweep that stair. When someone breaks the arrangement, like moving a chair to another spot, other parties may take offense and start a fight. All these predate the establishment of modern state of Israel. The Israel government has absolutely nothing to do with this.

Interestingly, a Muslim family is in charge of the key to the church door, a duty that dates back to Saladin's reign.

Oh, i see. The info i got was from some show on Discovery Channel that explain how these two Christian groups were fighting during a ceremony. Since i never knew about the other groups until you mention it, it's possible the one i saw on the show was possibly another church over there.

[ganbaru]

PETA seeks memorials to cows killed on Ill. roads
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...12-30-17-03-57

CHICAGO (AP) -- An animal rights group wants Illinois to install highway signs in memory of cattle killed when trucks hauling them flipped in two separate wrecks

At least they aren't asking the state to pay for the memorial ...

[Marcus H.]

^ Don't give them ideas.

[MrTerrorist]

Can't believe this was posted on io9.

Oily magical prowlers haunt Malaysian town

[ganbaru]

Slain federal agent was getting dad's cancer meds
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...01-02-01-36-05