British firefighters said two crews responded to a home where they discovered a Christmas pudding had caught fire while being heated in a microwave. Fire and Rescue officials said a resident dialed the 999 emergency line about 7:45 p.m. Monday when a smoke detector went off on the property, and two engine crews responded to the home. A rescue rep said, “On arrival the crews confirmed that this had been a small fire involving a Christmas pudding within a microwave.” It was unclear whether the Christmas pudding had been splashed with brandy — a traditional practice for the dish — before being placed in the microwave. The rep said, “The damage was confined to the Christmas pudding itself, crews made the area safe and ventilated the property.”
An aggressive elephant in Zimbabwe was caught on camera throwing two men away from the dinner table where they were sitting during a safari. The video, posted to YouTube, shows Stephen Montague and his brother-in-law Shane Wolf being shoved away from the table by the elephant’s tusks and trunk while they were having their dinner during a safari in the Mana Pools wildlife park. Wolf sustained minor injuries from the animal’s tusks and Montague was not harmed. Montague’s mother, Patricia, said the family was not deterred from their safari plans. She added, “They took what happened in their stride. The elephant wandered into the compound looking for something to ea. One of the guards threw it something but that made it bolder and it headed over to the table. Stephen is fine and that’s what is most important to us.” National Geographic estimates about 500 people are killed by elephants each year.
