News of the weird

Bun fight: In Mesa, Arizona, police officer Dean Stephan was surprised when a man started throwing doughnuts at him. After arresting Donald Scarf, 47, for assault, the policeman said: "I've been hit before, but this had to be the weakest attempt at assaulting me that I've ever seen."

Marital bliss: Two Israeli soldiers, identified only as T and S, were married last Thursday at a military court while handcuffed to policemen. S moved over to T, proposed, placed his wristwatch on her ring finger and said: "You are consecrated to me." Both were appearing on drug charges, but after the "wedding", their lawyer asked for the case to be dismissed on the grounds that the main witness had just been disqualified. Under Israeli law, spouses do not have to testify against each other. The judge has asked an army rabbi if the ceremony was valid, but still awaits a reply.

Flushed with success: Mayor James Farrington of Estancia, New Mexico, has won re-election with an ace-high flush. Voting was tied between him and Jo-Ann Carlson; the law decreed a tie-split by a game of chance. The mayor chose poker and won.