NOVELEXCUSE
Accusedofgropingafemale
colleague,DrColinGelder,59,
toldatribunalthathesqueezed
thenurse’sbottomonahospital
wardinCoventryafterfumesfrom
avalerian spray he used to pacify
his dogs during thunderstorms
reacted with his hay fever medica-
tion, which made him feel“like
Superman”.D.Telegraph, 16 Oct
2019.SIGN OF THE TIMES
Last May,a3ft (90cm) stainless
steelrabbit created by JeffKoons
in 1986 sold at Christie’s in New
Yo rk for £71 million. This made
Koons the highest-priced living
artist, overtaking the £70 million
paid the previous November for
David Hockney’s1972 work,
Portrait of an Artist (PoolWith Two
Figures). D.Telegraph, 17 May
2019.STUCK FIVEDAYS
Aman in his 60s,decoratinghis
bathroom in Mattaincourtnear
Épinal, eastern France,slipped
and got his head stuck in his
stepladder... for fivedays.He
wasstill conscious when medics
turned up, having been alerted
by his sister,who visited him on
23 August. His head, trapped
between two rungs,swelled during
the ordeal and hewasunableto
reach his phone.Hewasseverely
dehydrated.BBC News,26Aug
2019.THE NUMBERSGAME
Christina Malone-Brownwas
born on 9/11 (11 September)
at 9.11pm, weighing 9lb 11oz
in Germantown,Te nnessee,to
Cametrione Malone and Justin
Brown, as the US marked the
anniversary of theTw in To wers
attack.Sunday People,15Sept
2019.CREDULITYREWARDED
Devastated when his wife left
him in August 2017,aman from
Omsk in Siberia, named only as
M.E.A., calledanumber from a
TV ad andwastold his wife could
be made to return using“magic
knowledge”. He paid £3,
to acompany called The Sixth
Sense,but hiswife didn’t return
–sothe Kuybyshevsky Courtin
Omskawarded him £5,100 in
compensation.BBC News,26July
2019.FT389 9RUSSIAN DOLLDIAMONDLucky minerfinds SIDELINES...
gem inagemRussian diamond miner Alrosa
hasfound something unique:
asmall diamond with another
gem moving freelyinside
it, resemblingatraditional
Russian Matryoshka doll.
Theprecious stone,found at
Alrosa’sNyurba site in Siberia,
weighs just 0.62 carat, with
an internal cavity of six cubic
millimetres holding another
diamond of just 0.02 carat. It
is the first diamond of that
natureeverfound and maybe
morethan 800 millionyears
old. Alrosa planned to send it
to the Gemological Institute of
Americaforfurther analysis.
Alrosa has also made other
rarefinds inrecentyears.In
August, it announced plans to
sella14.83 carat pink gem,
named the Spirit of the Rose,
thatwasexpected to fetchone
of thehighest pricesever for
adiamond.Sydney Morning
Herald, 10 Oct 2019.PH
OT
OS
CO
URTES
YA
LROSA
STRANGEDAYSABOVE:Asmall diamondis clearlyvisiblewithinthe largergem.BELOW:AnX-rayviewof theunique ‘Matroyshka’diamond.