gncxx said:Wait a minute - did he rescue the organ with help or by himself? Because if it was by himself that makes it even more remarkable.
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/retired-taxi-drivers-missing-wallet-1832571
Retired taxi driver's missing wallet turns up in Paisley.. seven years after he lost it in Cyprus
JAMES COONEY, who lost his wallet in a field in Cyprus, received a phone call to say his wallet had been found in a street near his old home in Paisley.
Daily Record .co.uk 15.04.13
A RETIRED cabbie’s wallet has turned up in Paisley – seven years after he lost it in Cyprus.
James Cooney was working as a taxi driver on the sunshine island in 2006 when he dropped his wallet in a field.
He was amazed when he got a phone call to say it had been found – with all his cards and documents inside – in a street near his old home in Paisley.
James told our sister paper the Paisley Daily Express: “I couldn’t believe it when the wallet was returned to me.”
James, who used to work as a cabbie in Paisley, set himself up as a taxi driver in the Cypriot resort of Paphos in 2006.
He had been working on the island for two weeks when he lost his wallet in a field.
James said: “I was caught short one night and went into a field to relieve myself.
“The next day, I discovered my wallet was gone and realised I must have dropped it.”
A friend of a friend found the wallet in Paisley. But James has no idea how it got there.
He said: “The wallet was found lying outside 92 Lounsdale Drive and I used to live round the corner at 92 Lounsdale Road.”
James, who now lives in Kilbarchan, is hoping to trace the person who brought the wallet back, so he can say thanks.
* IF you can shed any light on how James’s wallet made it back to Paisley, call our reporters on news 0141 309 3251.
Eerie new images have emerged of a French apartment abandoned at the outbreak of World War II and left untouched in the seven decades since.
Other than a thick layer of dust covering the furniture, the room looks exactly as it would have done 70 years ago when its occupants fled Paris for the south of France as the Second World War erupted in Europe.
With Germany devising the Fall Gelb – a military sub-campaign later known as the Manstein Plan, with an objective conquering Northern France – the owner of the chic apartment decided that leaving the capital was the only way she could guarantee her safety.
The flat’s titleholder, a woman known only as Mrs De Florian, never returned to the apartment and never rented it out. Its existence only came to light in 2010, when Mrs De Florian died without issue at the age of 91 and experts were brought in to value the property.
The flat, which is close to the Pigalle red-light district in Paris’ 9th Arrondissement, was said to be like a “stumbling in to the castle of Sleeping Beauty” by one expert, as a room full of artworks and beautiful furniture was discovered behind its long-locked font door. . . .
Bristol Airport lost teddy bear 'seeks' owner
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-22717020
Glyn the bear, as staff think he is called, was left at Bristol Airport by a passenger over 14 months ago
Bristol Airport is trying to find the owner of an antique teddy bear left in a carrier bag within the departure lounge over a year ago.
Staff said the bear, who they believe is called Glyn, was found with an old photograph dated 1918, and other items.
On the reverse of the photograph - sent to "our darling daddy" - it names the children and Glyn the bear.
Airport police and security have tried to trace the passenger but to no avail, and are now asking the public for help.
Airport spokeswoman Jacqui Mills said it was obvious Glyn had been "well loved" for many years.
"Glyn's temporary home is by my desk, but he needs to find his family," said added.
"During the last 14 months we had been hopeful that the search would result in Glyn being reunited to his family.
"We have not been successful in this search and have drawn a blank, we would be delighted if anyone can help solve the mystery of Glyn."
Anyone with information is asked to contact Bristol Airport via email.
Venezuelan missing plane found five years after crash
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-22985957
A Venezuelan plane which went missing in 2008 with 14 people on board has been found underwater off a Venezuelan island resort, officials say.
Wreckage of the small aircraft was located 9km (5.6 miles) south of Los Roques archipelago at a depth of 900m (3,000ft).
The pilot had reported engine problems shortly before losing contact with air traffic control on 4 January 2008.
Five Venezuelans, eight Italians and a Swiss citizen were on board.
Venezuelan officials said the wreckage had been located by a US search vessel which had been looking for the plane under an agreement between Venezuela and Italy.
The twin-engine Transaven Airlines passenger plane was flying from Simon Bolivar International Airport near Caracas to Los Roques airport when its pilot reported that one of the engines had failed.
'New Bermuda triangle'
The co-pilot's body was found in the sea off Los Roques days later, but neither the wreckage nor the remaining crew and passengers could be located.
The disappearance of the Transaven plane, and that of a small aircraft carrying Vittorio Missoni, director of Italian fashion house Missoni, has given Los Roques a reputation for mysterious vanishings.
More than a dozen aircraft have either crashed, disappeared or declared emergencies while flying through the area, prompting some locals to call it the "new Bermuda triangle".
A search is still under way for Mr Missoni, his wife, and four other passengers and crew who disappeared while flying from Los Roques.
A piece of luggage from the missing plane was found three weeks after the plane's disappearance off the Dutch Caribbean island of Curacao.
Venezuela finds Vittorio Missoni crash plane
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-23088866
File picture of Vittorio Missoni and his wife Maurizia Castiglioni
Vittorio Missoni and his wife, Maurizia Castiglioni, were on board the plane
Officials in Venezuela say they have found a plane that disappeared carrying the boss of Italian fashion house Missoni in January.
Vittorio Missoni, 58, and his wife were among six people on board the flight from Los Roques islands to Caracas.
Interior Ministry spokesman Jorge Galindo announced the discovery of the plane on Twitter.
Officials said it was found 70m (230ft) under water, north of Los Roques islands in the Caribbean.
Following the plane's disappearance on 4 January, investigators from the Italian Agency for Air Safety (ANSV) said the company that owned the small plane was not fully licensed to operate.
A piece of luggage from the aircraft was found off the Dutch island of Curacao, about 320km (200 miles) west of Los Roques, later that month.
Map locator
Mr Missoni was the son of the fashion brand's founder, Ottavio Missoni, and co-owned the firm with his siblings.
He was returning from a Christmas and New Year holiday with his wife, Maurizia Castiglioni, and two friends - Elda Scalvenzi and Guido Foresti.
Two Venezuelan pilots were also on board the BN-2 Islander plane.
Minutes after take-off, one of the pilots reported that the plane was at 5,000ft (1,524m) and 10 nautical miles from Los Roques airport, Italy's air safety agency has said.
The last radar report showed the aircraft accelerating at 5,400ft (1,645m) before it rapidly lost altitude and speed, veering to the right until it disappeared from the radar.
Vietnam war veteran reunited with long-lost arm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-23124347
Dr Sam Axelrad, right, hands over arm bones belonging to former North Vietnamese soldier Nguyen Quang Hung at Hung's house in Gia Lai province, Vietnam on 1 July 2013
Mr Hung, left, said he would use the arm to try to claim a war veteran's pension
A former North-Vietnamese soldier has been reunited with his arm after more than 40 years.
Nguyen Quang Hung, a Vietcong soldier during the Vietnam war, had his arm amputated by US army doctor Sam Axelrad in 1966 after his arm caught gangrene.
Dr Axelrad kept the bones of the arm as a reminder of the good deed he had performed by treating an enemy soldier.
He began a quest to track down the owner of the arm in 2012, meeting Mr Hung on Monday to return his bones.
"I'm very happy to see him again and have that part of my body back after nearly half a century," Mr Hung said.
"My arm bone is evidence of my contribution to the war. I will keep it in my house... in the glass display cabinet," he said, adding that he hoped the arm would help him claim a veteran's pension, as his army files had been lost.
He also plans to be buried with his bones.
Returning mission
Dr Sam Axelrad, left, with Nguyen Quang Hung in October 1966 in front of his military clinic in the former South Vietnam
Dr Axelrad, left, amputated Mr Hung's arm in 1966
Dr Axelrad said he was "unbelievably happy" to be able to return the arm.
"When I amputated his arm [in 1966], our medics took the arm, took the flesh off it, put it back together perfectly with wires, and then they gave it to me," he said.
"When I left the country six months later, I didn't want to throw it away, I put it in my trunk and brought it home, and all these years it has been in my house," he added.
In 2011, he returned to Vietnam and tried to find the man whose arm he had amputated - a move he later said would help provide "closure".
A local journalist wrote about his mission, and the news eventually spread back to Mr Hung.
When he heard he would get his arm back he said he "really could not believe it".
"I can't believe that an American doctor took my infected arm, got rid of the flesh, dried it, took it home and kept it for more than 40 years," he said.
He added later that he considered himself "very lucky" compared to many of his comrades who died in the war.
The Vietnam war, which ended in 1975, killed an estimated 58,000 US soldiers and three million Vietnamese.
German boy finds 'a mummy' in grandmother's attic
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23553074
A sarcophagus with a mummy on the attic of a private house in Diepholz, Germany (August 2013)
The Kettler family plan to get their "mummy" examined by archaeological experts in Berlin
A 10-year-old German boy has found what appears to be a mummy hidden in a corner of his grandmother's attic.
The "mummy" was inside a sarcophagus complete with hieroglyphic adornments, packed in a wooden crate.
But it is unclear whether the bandaged item found by Alexander Kettler in Diepholz, northern Germany, is a genuine relic from ancient Egypt.
Alexander's father Lutz Wolfgang Kettler, a dentist, said he had not X-rayed the mysterious find.
Instead he plans to load it into his car and drive it to Berlin to be examined by experts, he told the Bild newspaper.
A tourist takes a camel ride at the Giza Pyramids in Giza, Egypt (May 2013)
Could the boy's grandfather have brought home an unusual souvenir from Egypt?
Mr Kettler said he had little doubt that the sarcophagus, as well as a death mask and a canopic jar - used by ancient Egyptians to store removed organs - found nearby, were replicas.
Mummy unwrapping?
However, he believes the mummy may be real.
The dentist's late father travelled to North Africa in the 1950s.
At that time there was still a trade in genuine mummies, Mr Kettler told his local paper, Die Kreiszeitung.
And there was a trend for mummy unwrapping parties in the 1950s, he said.
Asked if the "mummy" smelled bad, Mr Kettler said no.
It had lain undisturbed in the attic for at least 40 years, he said.
Douglas woman 'shocked' at return of purse stolen in 2003
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe- ... n-23547247
Denise Coates reported her purse missing in August 2003
A woman has been reunited with her purse almost 10 years after it was stolen in the Isle of Man.
Denise Coates from Douglas reported the missing purse to police on the island in August 2003.
She said: "It is absolutely remarkable. It still contained photographs and papers of great sentimental importance."
It was found under the floorboards of a property in Douglas by a local builder who was renovating the property.
David Atkins took the purse to the police station and they tracked down Ms Coates.
Insp Derek Flint said: "It is a great story and we are delighted to have been able to help.
"We never found the culprits but it is fantastic to reunite Mrs Coates with her photographs."
The hairdresser had changed her surname twice since the theft but police tracked her down with help from police in Northern Ireland.
She said: "They tracked me down from papers I had from an old flat mate from Belfast. I was in shock - it is amazing.
"It just shows what can happen and I can't thanks Mr Atkins and the police for their help."
Hastings church bible thief returns it after 42 years
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-23811659
Bible that was taken from church
The 200-year-old bible was taken from the church 42 years ago
Medieval panels 'hacked' from church
A 200-year-old bible that was stolen from an East Sussex church 42 years ago has been returned by the man who took it.
Simon Scott, treasurer of Holy Trinity Church in Hastings, said a German man had taken the book in 1971.
He had come to the town with his wife to take an English language course, but was not satisfied with the teaching.
He then took the bible intending to read it and improve his English, but never got round to it.
Mr Scott said that he received an anonymous letter from the thief, which said: "You won't believe receiving this letter and you certainly won't believe receiving a bible in the post shortly."
Interior of Holy Trinity Church
The huge leather-bound edition of The Holy Bible was sent in a box
A big box containing a huge leather-bound edition of The Holy Bible with brass clasps, later arrived.
'Guilty conscience'
"He found the course was very much below par, it fell very short of expectations, despite being quite expensive," Mr Scott said the man had written.
"Some of the lessons were held in the church premises and he said he saw these bibles just sitting there, unused he felt.
"And by some sort of compensation for this very poor, expensive course, he decided to take one and try and read it at home and improve his English that way.
"In fact, he said in the letter 'I never got round to doing it'."
The thief said his wife had been "pretty angry" with him for taking the book.
"Whenever I came across the bible I would have this guilty conscience about doing it," he added in the letter.
"I've never managed to pluck up the courage to come and hand it back personally.
"But now that I've retired, I've definitely decided to get on the right side of things."
Mr Scott said he did not think the book was worth much.
"These kind of bibles were kind of standard for well-to-do families in the old days," he said.
"They used to bring it out at meal times and read it to the children but these days of course, we don't do that sort of thing and so there are a number of them lying around in churches.
"We've got ours back."
He is best known for independently conceiving the theory of evolution through natural selection, which he jointly published with Charles Darwin in 1858.