Free Republic

American troops have shot and wounded an Iraqi man who hurled a slipper at a military convoy in the former insurgent stronghold of Falluja. A joint patrol of US and Iraqi troops is believed to have mistaken the flying shoe for a grenade. A statement from the US military said that during a patrol on Wednesday an "object" was thrown at the troops, who then fired "in self-defence, wounding the attacker". US troops gave the man, Ahmed al-Jumaili, first aid before he was taken to hospital by Iraqi police. He was in a stable condition after being treated for a...

A Norwegian who thought he'd be spending a quiet weekend at his cabin near Kongsvinger ended up battling an angry moose with the first weapon that came to mind - his slipper. Ivar Smedstad was relaxing at his holiday cabin (called a hytte in Norwegian) when his uninvited visitor suddenly appeared on his property. "The moose was furious," Smedstad told local newspaper Glåmdalen. "Its ears were pulled back, the moose was snorting loudly and seemed to rear back on its legs." The object of the moose's anger was Smedstad's dog, a seemingly innocent Leonberger named Shiba. Smedstad had no idea...