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Reunited couple to marry after woman bites dog

A Florida grandmother is getting married after biting a pit bull to save her pet dog.

Margaret Hargrove, who's 73, has been reunited with an old friend because of the media coverage she got.

She plans to marry Byron Godwin on March 2 in Tallahassee and her Scottish Terrier will carry the rings.

Margaret bit the pit bull's neck after it attacked her nine-month-old dog Alex. The dog let go and backed off, then bared its teeth at Margaret, who bit it again. A neighbour with a baseball bat finally scared the dog away.

She said: "It's been a strange year for me but there's a purpose for everything in our lives. You have to believe there was some plan somewhere for all of us, for all of this to have come about the way it has."

Byron Godwin, 75, from Tampa, called Margaret after reading about the incident in a newspaper. The couple, both widowed, first met in the early 1950s.

He said: "When I read about her, I got real excited. I wanted to see her again. She'd been a good friend, and we'd had some good times together. I had no idea there'd be anything romantic."

Woman 'weds' cardboard cutout

A New Zealand woman has 'married' a cardboard cut-out because she had promised her friends she'd be wed by February.

Jan Bye promised friends years ago that she would marry on February 2, 2002, at 2.22pm.

As the date neared and she had no fiance, she decided to go ahead with a wedding using a life-sized display cutout from a local garage.

Ms Bye told the Otago Daily Times: "He's lovely. He's just a lovely man. I think we're going to be very happy together."

The 'groom' is Vince Martin, who appears on a tyre company's advertisements.

Ms Bye sent out wedding invitations, arranged food and organised a gown for the mock ceremony in Christchurch.

She said: "A few weeks ago, I started getting telephone calls from the girls saying, 'Hey, where is my invitation?', so I thought why not? It's a good excuse for a party and it just got bigger and bigger."

'Dead' girl interrupts her own funeral service

A Nigerian toddler thought to have died in the Lagos factory blast has interrupted her own funeral service.

Lucky Ibekwem believed he had recovered the body of his three-year-old daughter Carol from a canal.

He was about to bury her when his wife, who was also feared dead, walked in carrying the child.

Mr Ibekwem said his wife and child ran for cover from the blast and were last seen near the canal.

He told the Nigerian Guardian: "I saw the remains of a girl wearing the same type of dress which I personally bought for my daughter.

"I took a closer look at her and was convinced that it was my daughter. I filled the necessary forms and collected it for burial."

He was amazed when his wife and child interrupted the funeral. Mr Ibekwem said: "Initially, I wanted to run away as others did, believing that they were ghosts."

The remains of the unknown child have been returned to the authorities. Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr Leke Pitan, said cases of wrongly claimed corpses are rare.