News of the weird

Humiliated: A man accused of stealing a biscuit in Oakland, California, has accused police of forcing him to endure a "most degrading and humiliating punishment". Julian Aldarondo has filed a complaint with the Police Review Board after he was accused of pinching a ginger pecan cookie from the Critics Corner Cafe on his way to the cinema. Police followed him into the cinema, handcuffed him and took him to the manager's office, where officer Anthony Toribio carried out the allegedly degrading act: when he learnt that Aldarondo was a singer, he launched into a chorus of the "Pina Colada Song".

The joy of cucumbers: According to research at the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Centre in Chicago, the most sexually arousing smells for women are those of candy-coated liquorice, cucumbers and baby powder, all of which increase vaginal blood flow by 13 per cent. Men are turned on by the smell of pumpkin pie. A woman's sexual impulse, however, is inhibited by cherries, charcoal-barbecued meat, and men's colognes. Nothing so far researched has been found that inhibits men.