Bits and Bites from Around the World > Toadzilla; Bride Balks and Walks during Wedding

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'Toadzilla' world's biggest? Australian rangers find 

'monster' 2.7 kg cane toad

Guinness World Records lists the largest toad at 2.65 kg

Published:  January 20, 2023 13:40

AFP

Cane toad dubbed "Toadzilla" and believed by Australian park rangers to be the world's biggest toad is held by Queensland Department of Environment and Science Ranger Kylee Gray, in Conway National Park, Queensland, Australia Jan. 12, 2023.

Image Credit: Reuters

SYDNEY: Australian rangers have killed an invasive "monster" cane toad discovered in the wilds of a coastal park - a warty brown specimen as long as a human arm and weighing 2.7 kilograms (6 pounds).

The toad was spotted after a snake slithering across a track forced wildlife workers to stop as they were driving in Queensland's Conway National Park, the state government said.

"I reached down and grabbed the cane toad and couldn't believe how big and heavy it was," ranger Kylee Gray said, describing how she discovered the amphibian last week.

"A cane toad that size will eat anything it can fit into its mouth, and that includes insects, reptiles and small mammals," she said.

The animal was taken away and euthanised.

Cane toads were introduced into Queensland in 1935 to control the cane beetle, with devastating consequences for other wildlife.

At 2.7 kilograms - nearly the weight of a newborn human baby - the toad may be a record breaker, the Queensland Department of Environment and Science said in a statement.

Describing it as a "monster", the department said it could end up in the Queensland Museum.

Due to its size, rangers believe it was a female.

What kind of sexist remark is that?

While the age is unknown, "this one has been around a long time," Gray said, explaining that the amphibians can live as long as 15 years in the wild.

Female cane toads can produce up to 30,000 eggs in a season, and the animals are incredibly poisonous, causing local extinctions of some of their predators.

In India, bride calls off wedding as groom fails to count currency notes

After the girl called off the wedding, a heated argument ensued between the two families

Published:  January 22, 2023 14:35

IANS

Illustrative image. The bride called off her wedding when the groom failed to count currency notes.

Image Credit: IANS

Farrukhabad: It was mathematics that led to a wedding being called off in Uttar Pradesh's Farrukhabad district.

A 21-year-old bride called off her wedding when the groom failed to count currency notes.

The shocking revelation came during the marriage rituals when the priest grew 'doubtful of the man's behaviour' and informed the girl's family.

The bride immediately walked off from the dais which led to a verbal spat between the two families and the police were called.

The bride's family claimed that until the day of the marriage, they were unaware that the 23-year-old groom was 'mentally weak'.

The bride's brother, said, "Marriages usually happen in good faith and the mediator was a close relative, so we trusted him and did not meet the guy. When the priest told us about his odd behaviour, we decided to conduct a test and gave him 30 currency notes of Rs 10 to count which he could not. After knowing about his condition, she refused to marry him."

After the girl called off the wedding, a heated argument ensued between the two families. The matter reached the police who tried to mediate but the bride was not willing to give in so the baraat had to return.

Baraat - Groom's wedding procession.

SHO Anil Kumar Chaube said, "No police complaint has been filed in the matter yet."

Bits and Bites from Around the World > Bride abandons bald groom; Camel hugs old friend

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It must be love...

India: Bride refuses to marry after finding groom wearing a wig

No amount of persuasion from her family could convince bride to reconsider

Published:  February 25, 2022 10:27

IANS

  

Image Credit: Pixabay

Etawah:  bride refused to marry the groom on the wedding day after she saw him wearing a wig.

The incident took place in the Bharthana area of the Etawah district on Wednesday night.

The groom, Ajay Kumar, had to return home without getting married.

According to reports, when the garland exchange ceremony was underway, the bride noticed that Ajay was extra cautious and repeatedly adjusting his traditional headgear.

Someone told the bride that the groom was actually bald and was wearing a wig on his head. The bride fainted and fell on the stage.

Later, when she regained consciousness, she refused to marry the groom.

No amount of persuasion from her family could convince her and the baraat finally retuned without the bride.

It really is love...

Camel hugs ex-owner upon meeting him, refuses to let go

Published:  February 14, 2022 13:48

Tawfiq Nasrallah, Senior News Editor

Dubai: A video clip of camel "hugging" its ex-owner has gone viral on social media across Saudi Arabia.

According to media reports, a Saudi man sold his camel to someone else and after sometime, it so happened that the ex-owner went to check on his old camel. However, he was surprised to see the camel's reaction.

The video also shows the camel curling its neck around the man and refusing to let go. It was reported that someone tried to pull the camel away but it refused.

Camels are the national animal of Saudi Arabia and are native to the Arabian Peninsula, with a long history of accompanying Saudis as far back as time recorded, according to tourism website Visit Saudi.

Often deemed as the ‘ship of the desert’ and ‘Ata Allah’ (which translates to the ‘Gift of God’), camels are a very important part of Saudi cultural heritage because they used to be an essential part of the lives of people before cars arrived.

For centuries, camels provided them with a lot of basic life necessities such as transport, milk, food, and clothing.

German ISIS Bride on Trial for War Crime of Letting 5yo Yazidi Girl Die of Thirst in the Sun

© AFP / dpa / Peter Kneffel

The trial of a German woman who joined ISIS and is accused of the war crime of letting a five-year-old Yazidi slave die of thirst under the blistering sun began in Munich Tuesday.

The case is believed to be the first of its kind in the world for international crimes committed by Islamic State against the Yazidi people.

“After the girl fell ill and wet her mattress, the husband of the accused chained her up outside as punishment and let the child die an agonising death of thirst in the scorching heat,” prosecutors stated, AFP reports.

The accused allowed her husband to do so and did nothing to save the girl.

Curious phrase - 'allowed her husband', as if this invisible woman had to give her permission to her husband for anything. 

The 27-year-old woman, identified only as ‘Jennifer W.’ stands accused of murder and murder as a war crime, in addition to membership of a terrorist organisation as well as weapon control violations under German law. She faces a maximum penalty of life in prison and declined to make any statement during the initial 15-minute hearing. It remains unclear whether she will testify or issue any statement throughout the proceedings.

London-based human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, wife of Hollywood star George Clooney, is a member of the team representing the Yazidi girl's mother. Initial hearings are scheduled to take place through to September 30.

Prosecutors allege that Jennifer W. and her husband, IS fighter Taha Sabah Noori Al-J., purchased the girl and her mother in ISIS-occupied Mosul, Iraq in 2015.

Jennifer W. reportedly left school and converted to Islam in 2013, travelling through Turkey and Syria to join IS in 2014. She would join the group's so-called hisbah 'morality police' in 2015, patrolling cities like Fallujah and Mosul armed with an AK47 rifle and draped with an explosive vest to enforce the terrorist group's extremist ideology.

In January 2016, months after the Yazidi girl's death, Jennifer W. sought new identity papers at the German embassy in Ankara, Turkey whereupon she was arrested by Turkish authorities after exiting the building and was extradited to Germany.

'Hardcore even for ISIS'

Due to a dearth of evidence against her, Jennifer W. was allowed to return home but was reportedly arrested during an FBI sting operation as she attempted to return to the so-called ‘Caliphate’. During the sting operation, she was recorded admitting what she and her husband had done to the Yazidi girl which she admitted was “hardcore even for ISIS.”

She also stated the abuse was unjust as only God may punish sinners with fire, adding that her husband was later beaten by IS members as punishment.

So it appears she was not in agreement with her husband, but it is questionable as to how much influence she had over him, or whether she had opportunity to help the girl and didn't use it. She deserves some degree of punishment for just being there and marrying an ISIS fighter. I'm not convinced she deserves life in prison.

Love, Marriage & Divorce in 15 Minutes in the Gulf States

Groom divorces bride 15 minutes into marriage

Gulf News
Bassam Za'za', Legal and Court Correspondent

Dubai: The marriage between a couple lasted less than 15 minutes following a misunderstanding between the groom and his father-in-law, who was in a rush to collect his daughter’s bride price.

The newly-married man divorced his wife within 15 minutes after signing the marriage contract after he felt demeaned by his father-in-law who did not want to wait for him to bring part of the agreed-upon money from his parked car.

The man was believed to have an agreement with the bride’s father to pay Dh100,000 (about $27,000 USD) for the marriage and mention the amount in the contract, an Arabic news report said on Tuesday.

According to the father-husband agreement, the man was supposed to pay Dh50,000 at the time of signing the contract inside the Sharia judge’s office and the remaining amount upon leaving the court building.

Family members and friends accompanied the bride and the groom to the Sharia judge’s office to witness the signing of the marriage contract.

The groom paid the bride’s father Dh50,000 in the judge’s office at the time of signing, according to the news report, and as the bride, groom and attendees walked out, the bride’s father asked his son-in-law to pay the rest.

The groom asked his father-in-law to wait for a few minutes and assured him that the other Dh50,000 was in his car.

The woman’s father insisted the groom pay up immediately, even though the groom told him that he would get the money within five minutes after leaving the court building.

The father-in-law then told the man to send a relative or friend to get the money, a lawyer who is handling the case confirmed to Gulf News on Tuesday.

The lawyer, who wished not to be named, added, “The groom felt insulted and demeaned by his father-in-law. He told the bride’s father that he did not want his daughter as his wife and divorced her in less than 15 minutes from signing the marriage contract.”

I wonder if that was the real story? I wonder if the bride's father suspected that the groom would run off with the bride without paying the remaining Dh50,000? In fact, I would bet money that such was the case which just goes to show you what kind of man the father was selling his daughter to. I presume the father kept the first Dh50,000. 

Another Indian Wedding Fail as Groom Didn't Add-up

This is the third great Indian wedding story in the past month

In February, an Indian bride married a guest when her groom had an epileptic fit at the altar. The day before, a rejected bride in a flimsily arranged marriage started a hunger strike outside her 'wouldn't-be' in-laws home.

BBC
An Indian bride has walked out of her wedding after her bridegroom-to-be failed to solve a simple maths problem, according to police in Uttar Pradesh.

The bride asked the groom to add 15 and six. When he replied 17, she called off the marriage.

Reports say the groom's family tried to convince the bride to return, but she refused saying the man was illiterate.

Local police said they mediated between the families, and both sides returned all the gifts given before the wedding.

Most marriages in India are arranged by the families, and it is common for a bride and groom to get married without spending time in each other's company.

A police official of Rasoolabad village where the incident happened told BBC Hindi that local resident Mohar Singh had fixed his daughter Lovely's wedding to a man called Ram Baran.

"But just before the marriage ceremony Lovely came to know that Ram Baran is illiterate and she refused to marry," he said.

Mohar Singh told the Associated Press news agency that the "groom's family had kept us in the dark about his poor education".

"Even a first grader can answer this [the maths test]," he said.

Last month, another bride in Uttar Pradesh married a guest at her wedding after her groom-to-be had a seizure and collapsed.

Reports said the groom was epileptic and he had kept the information from the bride and her family.