Dutch police in marijuana destruction error

Dutch police who mowed down what they thought were illicit marijuana plants were red-faced Thursday when it emerged they'd actually ruined a research group's officially sanctioned field of hemp.

Police proudly announced Wednesday that they'd found more than 47,000 cannabis plants, with an estimated street value of nearly €4.5 million (£3.9 million) concealed in a corn field in the Flevoland province east of Amsterdam.

They mowed down half the plants only to be informed they were the property of Wageningen University and Research Center, a respected agricultural school.

The field contained a new strain of hemp that researchers hope can be a sustainable source of fiber, Simon Vink, a spokesman for the executive board of Wageningen University and Research Center, said Thursday.

Hemp plants are related to marijuana but have only trace elements of THC, the mind-altering chemical that cannabis contains.

'The street value from a drug point of view is less than zero,' Vink said.

History buff fires cannonball into neighbour's house

A Pennsylvania history buff who recreates firearms from old wars accidentally fired a two-pound cannonball through the wall of his neighbour's home.

Fifty-four-year-old William Maser fired a cannonball on Wednesday evening outside his Uniontown home - which then ricocheted and hit a house 400 yards away.

The cannonball, about two inches in diameter, smashed through a window and a wall before landing in a closet. Authorities say nobody was hurt.

State police charged Maser with reckless endangerment, criminal mischief and disorderly conduct.

Maser told local news station WPXI-TV that recreating 19th century cannons is a longtime hobby of his. He added that he is sorry, and he will now stop shooting the cannons on his property.

Smelly people free to ride on Honolulu buses once more

A proposal to bar smelly people from travelling on buses in Honolulu has been turned down.

The Honolulu City Council had considered making it illegal to have 'odors that unreasonably disturb others or interfere with their use of the transit system.'

Anyone convicted of being too smelly could have been fined up to $500 and/or given a six-month jail term.

But officials and others wrinkled their noses at the plan during a hearing on Thursday.

Lawyers from the city and the American Civil Liberties Union said it was vague and could lead to unconstitutionally subjective judgments, while members of the public pointed out that bad odors could be produced by disease, or be carried from a person's workplace.

French 'Spiderman' climbs Petronas Towers in Malaysia

French "Spiderman" Alain Robert was arrested Tuesday after successfully scaling Malaysia's Petronas Towers, in his third attempt on the nation's tallest structure, police said.

The 46-year-old began climbing the 88-storey building before dawn and reached the top before being discovered by security officials, Kuala Lumpur police chief Muhammad Sabtu Osman told AFP.

"We have taken him back to the police station for questioning and checking his passport. He can be charged for criminal trespass," he told AFP.

Robert first tried to scale the building on March 20, 1997, and made a second unsuccessful attempt in 2007 after which he was freed without charge.

He has been nicknamed "Spiderman" for his high-profile escapades, which have included climbing the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

The 452-metre (1,483-feet) Petronas Twin Towers, which were completed in 1998, were for several years the world's tallest buildings until being upstaged by Taipei 101 among others.

Police arrest monkey man

Australian police arrested a man dressed as a monkey, provoking the ire of a crowd of onlookers.

The man in the monkey suit, Brenton Green, was carted off to jail after spending Sunday afternoon dancing around Perth, hugging people and posing for photos. He spent that night in cutody.The incident began when police interrupted Green's show in front of a small crowd, and demanded his name.

At first, the monkey responded just by shaking his head and making odd sounds; when asked for his name again, he simply said 'Monkey'.

At that point, the officers pushed him against a shop window and handcuffed him, as onlookers laughed and booed. 'Why are they arresting this monkey?' cried one onlooker.

Police said Green had been spotted by officers bumping into people, and allegedly had knocked a hamburger out of a man's hands. They said that he then refused to give them his name, instead 'continually shaking his head and making squeaking noises'.

He was taken to jail, where is he was bailed on the condition that he not return to the city. But as he walked to the train station, the same officer then re-arrested him, on the grounds that he'd breached the bail conditions. He was then held overnight.

'I thought it was some sort of a joke. And then he put the cuffs on me and I just couldn't believe it,' Green told PerthNow.

He appeared in Perth Magistrates Court on Monday, charged with 'failing to comply with a request given'. He was given a three-month community release order and ordered to pay $60 in court costs.