Speculation of a time traveller caught on tape at a 1928 Hollywood movie premiere talking on her mobile phone has been making the rounds on the internet. But there is probably a more prosaic explanation: she had difficulty hearing.
Interest emerged among those most willing to theorise on the bizarre side of reality when a clip was uploaded onto YouTube of the 1928 premiere of Charlie Chaplin's The Circus. A woman can be seen walking, holding something to her ear in the manner people today might use a mobile phone. However, experts have since pointed out that she could have been - and probably was - using an early precursor to today's hearing aid. What's that again?
LA refugees seek asylum
The actor Randy Quaid has fled to Canada with his wife, seeking asylum after he claimed the couple were targets of a gang called the "Hollywood Star Wackers".
Quaid, who has roles in such films as Midnight Express and Independence Day, was arrested by immigration officials with his wife, Evi, and immediately applied for refugee status.
The couple say shadowy forces in Hollywood are killing movie stars to protect advertising revenues, and claim that his costar in Brokeback Mountain, Heath Ledger, who died from a drug overdose two years ago, was another victim.
Canadian border officials say that the couple are just fugitives from justice, after being charged with fraud and burglary this year.
'Bless you, mey nwoah'
A monkey that sneezes when it rains had been discovered in the rainforests of northern Myanmar.
Described as a snub-nosed monkey, Rhinopithecus strykeri has upturned nostrils that fill with water when it rains.
Locals say the monkeys can been seen sitting with their heads between their knees to avoid sneezing fits in wet weather.
They call the creature "mey nwoah", meaning "monkey with an upturned face".
Reason No 1 not to elope
A couple who were married in the Maldives have discovered that what they thought was a wedding ceremony was really workers at the hotel insulting them in the local tongue.
When footage of the ceremony was posted on YouTube, it emerged that the man they believed was a local minister was actually swearing at them.
Speaking in Dhivehi, the "minister" said: "Your marriage is not a valid one. You are not the kind of people who can have a valid marriage."
Parts of the printed "wedding vows" visible on the video appear to be a hotel document relating to employee relations, while other workers stand around taking photographs and making derogatory comments about the bride's appearance.
The hotel has now issued an apology to the couple, who are believed to be Swiss, and says all the staff involved have been sacked.
What, no combat pay?
The entire police force of a small Mexican town has resigned after their station was hit by grenades and at least 1,000 rounds of ammunition.
An assault by suspected members of a drug cartel in Los Ramones, in the north of the country, caused no injuries but destroyed six police vehicles and left the station riddled with bullet holes. It had been opened three days earlier.
The town's 14 officers, who earn an average of Dh1,200 a month, have now handed in their resignations. Mexico's brutal drug war is estimated to have cost 30,000 lives in the past four years.
