World in Briefs

Written By Kevin Dunne.

United States

A Massachusetts magic store owner has performed his greatest illusion of all; making a customer’s money disappear. Rather, Harry Levy made over $560,000 vanish into his pocket, forcing his client to put his house up for sale and hindered him from making a major business investment. Levy had been lying to investigators by giving them false records, but some believe that he cast the Imperius Curse upon several jury members to cover his tracks. After pleading guilty to credit card fraud, Levy was sentenced to two years of probation and must pay restitution in full.

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Sri Lanka

Many people complain about going out to eat and having to pay for expensive meals, but a Chinese man recently dined on something worth $13,600. Chou Wan was arrested at a gem show for attempting to steal a diamond and replacing it with a fake, but when caught, Wan ate the replacement. Police are still searching for the real diamond and Wan’s partner, who appeared to have escaped when everybody was watching Wan eat a fake diamond. Seeing that it’s not every day that you see a man eat a 1.5 carat diamond, it is understandable that this mysterious master thief was able to escape.


Last week, security personnel were flabbergasted when they frisked a group of passengers on a transit flight from Bangkok to Dubai. They didn’t find drugs or weapons; no, what they found was far more sinister. What they found was a monkey. The three men apprehended must have been bananas to have thought their plan would have worked. Besides the endangered monkey, six Persian cats, three poisonous tarantula spiders, and eleven bird eggs were found on the two other men, who hopefully didn’t try to smuggle those animals in their pants too.


While America has, for the most part, exited a major crisis, it seems that Germany is just on the brink of one. Oktoberfest—the festival which stereotypes Germans for loving lederhosen, sausage, and alcohol—has run into a snag. No, there is no shortage of beer, but there is a shortage of bottles and kegs, leaving many brewers in a bit of a pickle. Urging customers to return bottles, many are hoping that the thousands of bottles can be salvaged before the event kicks off in a matter of days. Drawing in partakers and aficionados from around the world (minus those from Greenville College), Oktoberfest is one of Germany’s most popular festivals.