ODDLY ENOUGH

ODDLY ENOUGH

Snake on a plane: Flight halted in serpent spotting

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates

Once Samuel L. Jackson appeared in the Mideast hotspot of Dubai, it was only a matter of time before the snake on a plane would turn up, too.

Dubai-based airline Emirates said Jan. 9 that one of its flights from Muscat, Oman, to Dubai was canceled the previous day after a snake was spotted slithering in the cargo hold. Passengers hadn’t yet boarded the Boeing 777.

The carrier says the serpent was captured, and the plane is back in service.

Jackson, who starred in the 2006 thriller “Snakes on a Plane,” was in Dubai last month to accept a lifetime achievement award at the Dubai International Film Festival.

In November, a snake slithered out from behind an overhead luggage compartment on an Aeromexico flight over Mexico.

Police called over armed passenger’s ‘intimate shave’

BERLIN

German media say a train conductor called police after spotting a naked man with a knife in one of the train’s restrooms, where officers found something hairy going on.

Public broadcaster ZDF reported Jan. 10 that the 22-year-old man was engaged in an “intimate shave” when police intervened at Duesseldorf’s main train station.

A police spokeswoman confirmed the report to German news agency dpa, saying the man had been “quite annoyed” by the interruption and only dressed himself reluctantly.

While shaving in train restrooms isn’t illegal, the man failed to produce a valid ticket and was removed.

Dpa quoted police saying the man told officers he elected to groom himself on the train because he wasn’t welcome at home.

Dog stuck on steep, snowy mountain ledge in Utah

SALT LAKE CITY

A search and rescue team hiked up a steep, snowy Utah mountain in an attempt to rescue a dog that was stuck on a narrow ledge above a 50-foot cliff.

The Utah County Sheriff’s Office posted a video Jan. 9 showing highlights of the operation that ended without getting the dog off the mountain near Provo, Utah.

A member of the team rappelled down to try to lure the dog, named Mary, with food. But it never worked because she became skittish every time he got close. They called off the rescue at nightfall and instead left her with food and hand warmers.

The saga had a happy ending when her owners called to say Mary made it down the mountain alone somehow. She had cuts to her paws, but was OK.

Associated Press