Road crash turns into 238-pound pot bust

Tracks in the snow leading from a crashed car to the nearby bridge overpass on New Mexico's I-40 just didn't look right to officers. State police say that officers patrolling the stretch near Tucumcari Saturday found that 40-year-old Henry Alan Lowe of El Paso, Texas, had lost control of his sedan and crashed into a snow pile. Then they noticed tracks leading back and forth from the trunk to the bridge. They allege that partially hidden under the overpass were large plastic wrapped bundles and inside was about 238 pounds of raw marijuana with an estimated street value of more than $642,000. Police say Lowe was arrested after treated for a gash to his head. Moral of the story: Don't smoke your own dope while driving on the highway!!!

Doctors thought he was in a coma, but he was in fact conscious

For 23 torturous years, Rom Houben says he lay trapped in his paralysed body, aware of what was going on around him but unable to tell anyone or even cry out. The car crash victim had been diagnosed as being in a vegetative state but appears to have been conscious the whole time. An expert using a specialised type of brain scan that was not available in the 1980s finally realised it, and unlocked Mr Houben's mind again. Mr Houben, 46, is now communicating with one finger and a special touchscreen on his wheelchair.

"Powerlessness. Utter powerlessness. At first I was angry, then I learnt to live with it," he said, punching the message into the screen during an interview with the Belgian RTBF network, aired on Monday. He has called his rescue his "renaissance". I cannot imagine what torture this man went through. My thoughts are with him for a decent recovery, not just of health but of his life.