“Swiss animal lover Priska Küng runs a kind of matchmaking agency — for lonely guinea pigs that have lost their partners. She lives with around 80 of the furry, squeaky little creatures, in addition to six cats, a number of rabbits, hamsters and mice in the village of Hadlikon, some 30 kilometers from Zürich. Küng, 41, rents out her guinea pigs, a service that has been in high demand in the Alpine nation ever since animal welfare rules were tightened up a few years ago. Switzerland has forbidden people from keeping lone guinea pigs because the animals are sociable and need each other’s company… That is where Küng comes in. “Because they hardly ever die at the same time, even if they are exactly the same age, people who don’t want a new guinea pig and lose one of their two animals need an interim solution,” she says. Without her rent-a-guinea pig service, the owner would have to purchase a new, probably younger guinea pig as a companion to the ageing survivor, whose eventual death would force the purchase of yet another guinea pig, locking the owner into an endless cycle of guinea pig purchases in order to adhere to Swiss law — even though he or she may only ever have wanted one guinea pig in the first place.” w/ photo

“A savvy beggar from Serbia has been raking in the cash ever since he discovered he could make more by pretending to be invisible. For Nemanja Petrovic his risk-taking entrepreneurial skills paid off. The street beggar from Subotica got so fed up with being ignored by passers-by and hurried commuters he was tempted to throw the hat in. As an act of protest the 42-year-old tossed his cap and shoes down on the street with a hand-written sign saying ‘Invisible Beggar’ while he busied himself elsewhere and let off some steam. Once he had calmed down the cheeky beggar went back to his gear and discovered he had got far more than he had bargained for: ‘When I returned I was astonished to find a crowd and my cap was full of money,’ he explained.” w/ photo

“Bags, yes. Pockets, sure. Shoes, OK. But afros? Hairstylist Isis Brantley of Dallas said she can’t believe she was chased down this week at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport so that her sizable afro could be checked for weapons. The 53-year-old woman said she had gone down an escalator to catch a train to the concourse where her American Airlines flight to Dallas would depart when she started hearing shouts. “I just heard this weird voice saying, ‘Stop! Lady, don’t go! The lady with the big hair, stop,!” Brantley told Channel 2 Action News. When the Transportation Security Administration agents caught up with Brantley, they insisted on searching her afro. “Basically they said, ‘We have to check your hair for explosives’ and I thought they were kidding me. I just thought it was a joke. I was shocked. Everyone was shocked,” she said. Brantley said she was in tears as the agents started “digging” through her hair. In a statement, the TSA said Brantley left the checkpoint area before screening was completed and she refused a private screening that was offered.” w/ photo + video

“A Japanese macaque monkey has found comfort in a local’s pet dog after Typhoon Roke hit the center of the country last week. The monkey was spotted by Yoshiaki Mae in the mountains as it looked confused and frightened, provoking him to rescue the nine-inch-tall animal. Noticing the instant friendship the macaque developed with his pet mongrel dog, named Goma, Mae took the monkey home to care for it. Since then, the rescued animal has clung on to Goma, keeping itself attached to the fluffy black canine for comfort. Mae’s neighbors have all warmed to the new little resident, but the saviour plans to return the macaque back into its natural habitat once it shows signs of regaining its health.” w/ photo

“A 64-year-old stuntman has smashed a world record previously set during the filming of James Bond — by driving through a breakaway glass structure. Rocky Taylor jumped a spinning BMW at speed through a 19ft 69in by 13ft 12in sheet of breakaway glass at the O2 Area in Greenwich south London. This broke the previous record which was set during the filming of Die Another Day when actor Pierce Brosnan drove an Aston Martin through a 8ft 3.5in by 5ft 4.5in glass panel in the Ice Palace scene. The new record was attempted to help raise awareness for ‘Remember A Charity In Your Will’ and was the second Rocky has done this year having previously jumped 40ft from a burning building. As you do.” w/ photos

“Greg da Silva is on edge after having his world record-breaking hat, which features 1,000 eggs, stolen while in Germany. Mr Da Silva was suffering from heatstroke while in the city of Halle when an egg snatcher made off with the hardboiled hat. After he had recovered from his heat stroke, Mr Da Silva went to retrieve the hat from the hospital, but he was left scrambled when he found it was missing. ‘It was really hot and humid and I suddenly felt weak,’ explained Mr Da Silva, who is from Benin in West Africa. ‘The next thing I knew I was waking up after a day in a coma but without my hat. ‘I must get it back because it is my whole way of life but I know Germans are very honest people and I am sure someone will hand it in.’ Mr Da Silva is based in Cape Town, South Africa and has been performing there for years.” w/ photo

“Gardener, John Pearson, has claimed a world record by growing a leek weighing 20lb 5oz at a horticultural show in Stanley, Co Durham. Mr Pearson proudly showed off the giant vegetable at the event. ‘I’m very pleased to have set a new record at what is a beautiful show,’ the Sunderland man said. The retired groundsman is a record veteran having already registered the biggest pair and trio of leeks back in 2002. The 63-year-old remained humble and said he owed his success to previous winner John Soulsby, who had given him good seeds to use. ‘I’m proud to have the world record, but anyone could grow a leek like this – if they had the right pips,’ he said. Mr Pearson checks the weight of his leeks by using a specially adapted machine that is normally used to weigh suitcases.” w/ photos

“Lovestruck Zhu Lei hoped to get a ring on his finger but ended up with a bucket of water in his face when an elaborate balcony proposal went wrong. Mr Zhu planned a balcony proposal by crane but after getting a drenching from a woman at the window, it was less Romeo and Juliet – and more like Mr Bean. Mr Zhu rented the crane to lift him to his girlfriend Na Na’s sixth-floor window in Fuyang in eastern China. But when he reached the window and said ‘Na Na, I love you. Please marry me’, he got a basin of water chucked over hm from a woman inside. The sodden lover had no option but to ask the crane operator to let him down after his very public letdown.” w/ photos

“A St. Louis prison inmate who escaped after fighting through more than a dozen guards using homemade nunchucks was back in custody, police said. Lorenzo Pollard, 31, made the weapon from a bedsheet and and a chair, and used them to battle his way out of the medium security city Workhouse. The daring escape prompted a suspension of Commissioner Gene Stubbefield and a review of past jailbreaks. “I’m frustrated by it,” Police Capt. Sam Dotson, the city’s operations director, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “The mayor’s frustrated by it. These types of failures… cannot happen.” Pollard made his escape as he was being led by guards to a shower area. As guards called for backup, Pollard climbed to a second tier of jail cells, swinging the nunchucks as a dozen guards tried to subdue him, according to the paper. He next used the nunchucks to smash through a glass wall and then scaled two razor-wire fences. Pollard, who was in jail on charges of theft, trespassing, property damage and resisting arrest, escaped despite a swarm of police dogs and a search helicopter. But hours later, police said he was back in custody after being captured without incident on a city street.” w/ photo

“A 2ft tall American, who was recently named as the world’s shortest living woman by Guinness World Records, is also an all-singing, all-dancing cheerleader. Bridgette Jordan, 22, from Sandoval, Illinois, stands at 2ft 3in tall and is a multiple record holder, as she is also one of the shortest living siblings with her 20-year-old brother Brad. The siblings, who have Majewski osteodysplastic primordial dwarfism type II, both study at Kaskaskia College and live with their parents in Sandoval. Speaking of her record-breaking achievement, Ms Jordan said: ‘It feels awesome. It’s great to be small. I believe that everyone should be confident in themselves.’ Her brother said he hopes his sister’s record and the record they share will go a long way to helping other people realize it’s ‘OK to be different’.” w/ photos + video