John Lennon's toilet sells for $14,740 at auction (Reuters)

Reuters - A toilet that belonged to late Beatle John Lennon fetched 9,500 pounds ($14,740) at auction on Saturday, around 10 times its estimate, the sale organizers said.---...More

Fat soldier shot and killed a supervisor

Georgia - A soldier was fasting to meet strict military weight guidelines and nearly catatonic when he shot and killed a supervisor who denied his vacation request, his attorney said. Attorney William Cassara said Army Reserve Sgt. Rashad Valmont was dehydrated, exhausted and delirious when he burst into Master Sgt. Pedro Mercado’s office in nearby Fort Gillem and shot him six times. ---...More

Bosnia Girl throws live puppies into river

Bosnia - A young woman has become the focus of death threats and hate messages after video of her throwing live puppies into a river was recently posted online. Her identity is unknown, but some have suggested she may be from Bosnia. The disturbing video shows the young, blonde woman smiling as she picks several puppies out of a dirty bucket and viciously tosses them into a rapidly flowing river.---...More

We are about to crash, jet passengers told in error

London - British Airways apologized after a crew member mistakenly played an emergency message warning Hong Kong-bound passengers that the plane they were on was about to plunge into the sea. About 275 passengers on a flight out of London’s Heathrow Airport heard the message: “This is an emergency. We may shortly need to make an emergency landing on water.”..More

Man nabbed with fake million dollar bills

Abu Dhabi - A man from the Ivory Coast is in police custody in Abu Dhabi after allegedly persuading a woman to try to exchange two phony $1 million bills at the UAE’s Central Bank. Police say the suspect promised the woman a 30 percent cut after the bills were traded - presumably for U.S. bills or UAE dirham. The phony notes feature the $1 portrait of George Washington and are mostly black and white on the front....More

15-year-old girl accidentally swallows her toothbrush

New Zealand - A 15-year-old girl showed up in the emergency department at an Auckland hospital after accidentally swallowing her toothbrush. She was running up some steps with the toothbrush in her mouth when she suddenly tripped and fell. Part of the toothbrush was still in the mouth but with apparently a very strong gag reflex she swallowed this down before it could be pulled out...More

Athlete blames cat over drunk driving charge (Reuters)

Reuters - Cricket star Graeme Swann told a police officer who stopped him for drunk driving that he had had to go out to buy screwdrivers to rescue his trapped cat, a court heard Monday.---...More

New York Bush drives drunk 11 miles without tire

New York - Authorities said a western New York man whose license expired 33 years ago has been charged with driving while intoxicated after police said he drove a van 11 miles without one of its tires. The Genesee County Sheriff’s Office said another motorist reported seeing a tire falling off a van weaving on a road in Bethany late. Deputies later arrested 61-year-old Duane Bush at his home in Bethany, 32 miles southwest of Rochester.---...More

Women-only train service launched

Indonesia - Women-only train carriages have been launched in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, in an attempt to prevent sexual harassment on public transport. The state-run train operator is running two new carriages for its female passengers on one busy commuter route. The service has been introduced after a series of complaints of sexual harassment from women who travel on Jakarta’s trains and buses. ---...More

Drink, Then Drive Whisky Fuel Could Power Cars

How about a whisky to go? Scientists say they have developed biofuel for cars from waste produced in distilling Scotch whisky. Researchers at Edinburgh Napier University have produced a type of fuel c...---...More

Traffickers hide cocaine under rare python (Reuters)

Reuters - Italian police seized a rare albino python in Rome Wednesday in a raid on a group of drug traffickers who used the snake to guard cocaine and intimidate customers who owed them money.---...More

Shaquan Duley: Mother Confessed to Killing Her Two Children

South Carolina - A South Carolina sheriff says Shaquan Duley, mother of two toddlers found dead in a vehicle in the Edisto River, has confessed to suffocating the children before driving the car into the river with the children strapped into their car seats. Duley originally told authorities that the children drowned when their car careened into the river and that she couldn’t manage to get the children out of the car. ---...More

Kids are diagnosed with ADHD because they are acting like kids

Michigan - Nearly 1 million children may have been misdiagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, not because they have real behavior problems, but because they’re the youngest kids in their kindergarten class, researchers say. Kids who are the youngest in their grades are 60% more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than the oldest children, according to a study out today from Michigan State University. Other researchers came to similar conclusions. ---...More

U.S. charges dropped against Japanese speed-eater

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A Japanese competitive eater won't have to try jail food after all, a judge ruled on Thursday, dismissing charges against the skinny speed-feeder for crashing a hot dog eating contest.
Takeru Kobayashi, 32, was arrested on July 4 for storming the annual competition at Nathan's Famous Frankfurters near New York City's Coney Island amusement park....More

Leader in hot water over bread scandal

BERLIN (Reuters) – German president Christian Wulff's preference for bread and baked goods made in distant Hanover has got the country's newly elected head of state into hot water.
German media and opposition politicians have criticized Wulff for importing the bakery specialties from 300 km away to Berlin, calling it a waste of taxpayer money and a poor example as far as his carbon footprint is concerned.
"Why don't you eat Berlin bread, Mr. President," Bild newspaper wrote on Tuesday....More

Attractive women overlooked for certain jobs?

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Too hot to be an engineer or prison guard?
Good looks can kill a woman's chances of snaring jobs considered "masculine," according to a study by the University of Colorado Denver Business School.
Attractive women faced discrimination when they applied for jobs where appearance was not seen as important. These positions included job titles like manager of research and development, director of finance, mechanical engineer and construction supervisor....More

Airlines grounds overweight staff: paper (Reuters)

Reuters - Turkish Airlines has grounded 28 flight attendants for being overweight and given them six months to slim down or face reassignment, a newspaper said on Saturday.---...More

Churchill's dentures fetch nearly $24,000 (Reuters)

Reuters - A partial set of British wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill's gold-mounted dentures has fetched 15,200 pounds ($23,770) at auction, over three times the estimate.---...More

Daughter electrocuted, boyfriend set on fire by girl’s parents

Hoshiarpur - In a suspected case of honor killing, a couple in Hoshiarpur allegedly electrocuted their daughter and tried to set afire her lover who is now battling for life in a hospital. Police officials said Sher Singh and his wife Paramjeet Kaur had gone to Jammu for collecting a certificate of their daughter from Jammu University and were scheduled to return on Saturday, but happened to come back home early on Friday evening. After finding his 20-year-old daughter with her boyfriend, Sher Singh strangled her to death and tried to kill the youth, Gagandeep Singh by burning him in his car after beating him.
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Odd News:Woman Called 911 to Ask for Date

Ohio - A woman is facing charges after she reportedly called 911 to ask dispatchers for a date. Bernadette Music, 43, allegedly called emergency dispatchers four to five times on July 26 and asked two dispatchers if they wanted to go on a date with her, Local12.com reports. ---...More