Anorexic model dies at 28

France - Isabelle Caro, a French actress and model whose anorexic image appeared in a shock Italian ad campaign, has died at the age of 28. Her longtime acting instructor, Daniele Dubreuil-Prevot, said that Caro died after returning to France from a job in Tokyo. Dubreuil-Prevot said she did not know the cause of death but that Caro ‘had been sick for a long time,’ referring to her anorexia.  More…

Man faces five years in prison for reading wife’s emails

Michigan - A Michigan man faces felony charges for reading his wife’s emails. Leon Walker said the emails revealed his wife, Clara Walker, was having an affair with her second husband, a man who had been arrested in the past for allegedly beating her. Fearing for their daughter’s safety, Walker said he turned the emails over to his wife’s first husband, who also shared a child with Clara. They then both took action to protect their children. The charge is a felony.  More…

Odd 2010: Sound the vuvuzela for year of the mystic mollusc (Reuters)

Reuters - The astounding predictions of an octopus, the perils of "chexting" and the pain of getting around on planes were the laughing matters of......more

UFOs Buzz New Zealand After X-Files Release

New Zealand - Just days after New Zealand authorities released 2,000 pages of previously classified UFO X-Files, mysterious lights were spotted over three locations. Unexplained orange and red lights appeared above Napier, Taranaki and Christchurch. The spectators described seeing flashing lights on the unknown object. More…

Lunch box mix-up leads to charges for teen

North Carolina - An athletic and academic standout in Lee County said a lunchbox mix-up has cut short her senior year of high school and might hurt her college opportunities. Ashley Smithwick, 17, of Sanford, was suspended from Southern Lee High School after school personnel found a small paring knife in her lunchbox. Smithwick said personnel found the knife while searching the belongings of several students, possibly looking for drugs.  More…

Man goes berserk with a tomahawk

Australia - Police have arrested a bloodied man inside the South Wharf Hilton Hotel in Melbourne allegedly seen earlier brandishing a tomahawk. More than 10 officers wearing bullet-proof vests had entered the hotel after seven police cars and two special response units first descended on the scene. Police arrested a 45-year-old man inside the building who fit the description of a man who allegedly had earlier gone “berserk” with a tomahawk...More

Man pushes stolen TV past police station

Seattle - Prosecutors in Washington state say a man was arrested when he was caught wheeling a 50-inch television in a shopping cart right past a police station. A bystander called 911 to report that she saw a man grab the TV out of the back of a delivery truck, load it in the cart and start pushing it away. An Auburn police officer heard dispatchers relay the call as he was pulling into the police station parking lot — and then he saw the man, dressed entirely in camouflage, walking by with the cart....More

Man, 92, chews through tape after robbery

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Washington - Sheriff’s deputies state say a 92-year-old man chewed through masking tape for two hours to free himself after two men bound him to a chair and robbed his house. Two men knocked on the victim’s door in Shoreline and asked to use his phone, claiming their car broken down. But once they entered, the men grabbed the victim’s arms and taped him to a chair. It took the man two hours to chew through his restraints...More

Girl, 10, empties piggy bank to help boy

AUSTIN, Texas, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- A Texas girl who read about a 10-year-old and his needy family in the newspaper says she decided to empty her piggy bank to buy clothes for the other child....More

Epic string of train delays - 24 hour trip

France - The train was due to split in two and take some passengers to Nice and others to Portbou. But it was stuck for hours overnight south of Strasbourg waiting until 6:00 am for a replacement driver. As most passengers dozed in their seats and heated sleeper cars, several were hauled off by police for drunkenly disturbing their fellow travellers. Further down the line, the train was stuck for a further three hours for repairs after one of its motors broke down...More

Pot grow-op in police official's rental

ABRIDGE, England, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- English police said a house rented from a high-ranking police official was being used by a marijuana growing operation.

Rod Jarman, a Scotland Yard deputy assistant commissioner, said the Abridge, England, home was rented out through an online agent to a man with a Chinese or Vietnamese name, The Daily Mirror reported Monday...more

Woman being prepared for burial comes back to life

Brazil - Maria das Dores was a few hours from being buried alive when an official noticed she was still breathing. The 88-year-old was rushed back to the same hospital who had earlier declared her dead. Officials in Brazil have now launched an investigation into how medical chiefs failed to realise the woman was alive and not dead when they sent her body for burial...more

Man Makes a Living Suing E-Mail Spammers

California - Daniel Balsam hates spam. Most everybody does, of course. But he has acted on his hate as few have, going far beyond simply hitting the delete button. He sues them. He launched a Web site called Danhatesspam.com, quit a career in marketing to go to law school and is making a decent living suing companies who flood his e-mail inboxes with offers of cheap drugs, free sex and unbelievable vacations...More

30,000-calorie meal eaten by the world’s fattest woman

New Jersey - A New Jersey woman who hopes to become the fattest woman in the world got 30,000 calories closer to her 1,000lb goal with a festive feast. Donna Simpson chowed down on a Christmas dinner as she ate for two straight hours. She tucked into two 25lb turkeys, two maple-glazed hams, 15lbs of potatoes, five loaves of bread, five pounds of herb stuffing, four pints of gravy, four pints of cranberry dressing and an astonishing 20lbs of vegetables and a salad made of marshmallow, cream cheese, whipped cream and cookies...More

Hospital Horror: Woman Trapped By Elevator

New York - A hospital visitor ended up in critical condition after being trapped by an elevator and having to be cut out of it. The woman was at Brooklyn’s SUNY Downstate Hospital at. She was trying to get on an 8th floor elevator when something went wrong and her legs were trapped between the elevator and the floor. The woman was reportedly drifting in and out of consciousness and was bleeding profusely as she lay trapped with her legs crushed...More

No one knows where town’s time capsule is located

Wisconsin - Officials in the Wisconsin village of Kimberly want to commemorate the community’s 100th anniversary by digging up a time capsule that was buried 25 years ago. There’s just one problem: No one knows where it is. The time capsule held coins, news clippings and a bottle of New Coke in a 2-foot-long piece of white PVC pipe. It was buried near the municipal building in 1985...More

Bus-riding dog reunited with owner

Scotland - A dog that boarded a Scottish bus in frigid temperatures and refused to leave has been reunited with its owner. The Cairn terrier boarded the bus at the Dumbarton Road stop in Glasgow. Witnesses said the canine had icicles hanging from his fur and refused to budge from a warm spot on the vehicle. The dog was taken to the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’ building in Glasgow. ...More

Coin dropped in Salvation Army kettle worth $1,400

Colorado - A valuable gold coin dropped into a Salvation Army kettle outside a Colorado Wal-Mart resembles similar rare coins donated across the nation. Salvation Army bell ringer Clair Harger found the unusual coin in her kettle in Broomfield. The charity investigated and found it was a 1983 South African Krugerrand coin worth $1,400. Similar valuable Krugerrands have turned up in Salvation Army kettles in Florida, Indiana and Washington....More

Bride discovers her husband is a woman

India - Minati Khatua, from Orissa, allegedly found out the hidden truth after walking in on her spouse taking a bath. Her husband, known as Sitakant Routray, had originally said that he was not willing to consummate the pair’s marriage as he was observing a religious ritual. Police have now launched an investigation into the marriage, with investigators believing that the groom could have gone through with the ceremony in order to receive the dowry...More

Stroke Belt Mystery Solved

USA - Too much fried fish may contribute to the high rate of stroke. People living in the stroke belt - including residents of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas and Louisiana - were about 30 percent more likely to eat two or more servings of fried fish every week than those living in the rest of the country...More

Collector buys card from nuns

New Jersey - A New Jersey collector said he bought a rare Honus Wagner baseball card from an order of Baltimore nuns after an auction winner reneged on a $220,000 bid. Nicholas DePace, 57, said he was contacted by auction officials after the original high bidder backed out of paying the School Sisters of Notre Dame for the card....more

Jurors made to work all night so judge can go on vacation

Las Vegas - The murder trial of Victor Fakoya is the talk of the county courthouse. Jurors in the case were forced to work through the night last week to accommodate the judge’s vacation schedule. When Judge Valerie Vega ordered them to begin deliberations at nearly 3 a.m. after more than 13 hours in the jury box, they figured she had a good reason. Judge: I am packing up and leaving town and going on vacation for two weeks...More

45 people lynched amid Haiti cholera fears

Haiti - Angry Haitian mobs have lynched at least 45 people in recent weeks, accusing them of spreading a cholera outbreak that has killed over 2,500 people across the country. The number included at least 14 suspected sorcerers previously known to have been lynched in the far southwestern region of Grand’Anse as local people feared they were spreading cholera with a magical substance....More

Candy canes may be sharpened and used as weapons

Virginia - They call themselves the “Christmas Sweater Club” because they wear the craziest ones they can find. They also sing Christmas songs at school and try their best to spread Christmas cheer. Now all 10 of them are in trouble and in detention. The boys were tossing small two-inch candy canes to fellow students as they entered school. Administrators said that the candy canes are weapons because you can sharpen them with your mouth and stab people with them. Neither he nor any of their friend did that....More

School district will make all public schools “sweet-free zones”

St. Paul - Jill Gebeke made it a habit to reward herself with a small piece of chocolate after lunch every day. But the chocolate rewards ended last month when some first- and second-graders caught her. “I thought you said this was a sweet-free zone,” they reminded her. Much to the chagrin of thousands of students — and even some parents and school administrators — all public schools in the St. Paul district will be declared “sweet-free zones” by the end of this school year....More

Town spent $17,000 defending a $5 fee

New Jersey - A township spent more than $17,000 defending a $5 fee it charged a resident for a compact disc of a council meeting. Tom Coulter filed a complaint with the New Jersey Government Record Council saying he should pay the actual cost of the CD to get the recording. The state council sided with Coulter and found he should have paid about 96 cents. Bridgewater Township paid more than $14,000 in legal fees defending the case. It had to pay $3,500 to Coulter for his legal fees and give him a $4.04 refund....More

Woman gets prison in glass-eating scheme

Massachusetts - Mary Evano has been sentenced to more than four years in prison after admitting that she and her husband intentionally ate glass particles, then submitted false insurance claims. From 1997 to 2005, the couple collected more than $200,000 in compensation after filing insurance claims that they had been injured by restaurants, hotels and grocery stores that had served them food containing glass particles. Evano’s husband, Ronald Evano, pleaded guilty in 2007. He is serving five years in prison...More

China-Products made from the skins of cats and dogs

China - Thousands of products made from the skins of cats and dogs are being offered on China’s largest retail website Taobao, sparking outrage among animal lovers, state media reported. Search results and sales records from Taobao showed the most popular items were trousers and hats made from dog fur, which is touted for its ability to ward off the cold....More

Unemployed get another jobless benefit - free yoga

Ohio - Free yoga for the unemployed: a different kind of jobless benefit where former managers, laid-off limo drivers and others can turn to the grown-up version of nap time to ease the stress of being out of work. With national unemployment just below 10 percent, $20 yoga classes don’t qualify as necessities for many out-of-work people. So some studios have decided to cut the unemployed a break...More

Airports Hire Clowns to Entertain Stranded Travelers

Germany - With travelers stranded by hundreds of flight cancellations, Germany’s busiest airport has hired clowns to help them and their children pass the hours. Four clowns are performing in the terminal halls. The clowns, dressed in brightly colored costumes and some parading on stilts, started working at the weekend, when heavy snowfall led to hundreds of flights being scrapped amid chaos in the European air traffic network....more

Santa Robs Yacht Club

Rhode Island - Police in Rhode Island said a gunman in a Santa Claus suit robbed a yacht club bar of an unspecified amount of cash. East Providence Police Lt. Raymond Blinn said the gunman approached the bartender at the East Providence Yacht Club while wearing a Santa Claus jacket, a white beard, a Santa hat and jeans....More

Thief pays firm for hammer stolen decades ago

Pennsylvania - A Pennsylvania tool-supply company says somebody mailed a $45 check to pay for a hammer stolen decades ago. Lynne Gramling, president of Central Contractors’ Supply Co., said that the check arrived and included an anonymous letter that says the writer stole a hammer 25 to 30 years ago. It reads, “Enclosed is $45 to cover the hammer plus a little extra for interest. I’m sorry I stole it, but have changed my ways.” ..more

Air Force sonic booms ignite crocodiles’ sex drives

Israel - Sonic booms created by Israeli air force planes breaking the sound barrier have stimulated the sex drive of a group of crocodiles on a local farm. The males have already begun their mating calls reserved for the crocodiles’ spring mating season. David Golan of the Hamat Gadar crocodile farm in the Golan Heights, believes the reptiles were responding to the sonic booms, wrongly believing they were the calls of rival males encroaching on their territory..More

Trained bears go into hibernation during road trip

Russia - Four trained bears with a touring circus went into hibernation during a road trip to a venue in the Russian Far East. It took us eight days to cover the distance because the truck broke down on the way. The situation was further aggravated by extremely low temperatures, which forced the trainer to give the dormant bears large quantities of strong tea and chocolate candies to stop them from falling asleep..More

Condoms fitted to trains

Train operator ScotRail has been experimenting with the giant plastic coverings at a secret location near Perth in an attempt to keep its stock rolling.After several problems caused by snow and ice,...More

Inmate drives out in corrections van

Florida News- An inmate escaped from the Central Florida Reception Center in Orlando and is believed to have fled in a white Florida Corrections van. The escapee was identified as 35-year-old James Russell. He has a mole on the left side of his face, no bottom teeth, and was last seen wearing a blue prison inmate jumpsuit, driving a white Ford E350, 15-passenger van bearing a yellow Florida Corrections tag DC7217....More

Man repays unemployment benefits

South Carolina - A man who collected about $1,100 in unemployment benefits nearly 50 years ago has repaid California $10,000, officials said. Dennis Ferguson, 74, lived in California 46 years ago and collected unemployment for about 5 months. Now living in South Carolina, Ferguson said he wanted to thank California for the help he received and that $10,000 seemed like a round number...More

Brain Anomaly Leaves Woman Fearless

Iowa - Researchers who have studied a woman with a missing amygdala - the part of the brain believed to generate fear - report that their findings may help improve treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and other anxiety disorders. The human study confirming that the almond-shaped structure is crucial for triggering fear, researchers monitored a 44-year-old woman’s response to typically frightening stimuli such as snakes, spiders, horror films and a haunted house, and asked about traumatic experiences in her past...More

Odd News-Man shoots self in buttocks after threat

Montana - A man accused of sticking a pistol in his girlfriend’s mouth accidentally shot himself in the buttocks after he shoved the gun down the back of his pants. 27-year-old Johnathan William Hartman and his girlfriend had been arguing. The woman said that Hartman stuck the gun in her mouth and threatened to kill her before firing a shot next to her ear. Hartman apparently placed the pistol into the back of his waistband and the gun discharged into his buttocks while he was driving erratically....More

Israel Shoots UFO Out of Sky

Israel - The Israeli Air Force fired several times and shot down a UFO in the Negev Desert just above the Dimona nuclear plant. The unidentified flying object was seen in the no-fly zone. The air force jets gathered and shot it immediately out of the sky. At this point, the UFO hasn’t been sufficiently identified. Early speculation says that it may have been a weather or party balloon....More

Loaded Gun Slips Past TSA Screener

Houston, Texas - As he had done hundreds of times, Iranian-American businessman Farid Seif passed through security at a Houston airport and boarded an international flight. He didn’t realize he had forgotten to remove the loaded snub nose “baby” Glock pistol from his computer bag. But TSA officers never noticed as his bag glided along the belt and was x-rayed...more

Gold vending machine comes to Fla.

BOCA RATON, Fla., Dec. 17 (UPI) -- A German company specializing in vending machines dispensing gold bars and coins picked Boca Raton, Fla., as its first U.S. test market, a U.S. company says....More

Fireman admits causing farmer's death with siren (Reuters)

Reuters - A fireman has admitted causing the death of a farmer who was crushed to death by a herd of cows after they were startled by fire engine sirens...More

1,914 guitars smashed simultaneously

HOLLYWOOD, Fla., Dec. 17 (UPI) -- A Florida casino said a world record for the World's Largest Guitar Smash was set by destroying 1,914 acoustic guitars at the facility...More

Woman, 103, may be oldest on Facebook user

England - A 103-year-old British woman who may be the world’s oldest Facebook user said she regularly browses the Web site on her iPad. Lillian Lowe of Tenby, England, said she uses the Facebook app for the iPad to keep in touch with her 34 friends, including seven grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. Lowe said she never even used a mobile phone before her grandson, Steve, 47, introduced her to the iPad....More

Man Convicted in Movie Theater Meat Thermometer Stabbing - LAist

A man on trial for stabbing a fellow movie-goer has ended with a conviction. Landry Boullard was watching the film "Shutter Island" at a Cinemark Theater in Lancaster back in February when a woman he was with was repeatedly shushed by another patron. Boullard, the woman, and another man left the theatre, only to return to stab the shush-er. The weapon: A meat thermometer.Man Convicted in Movie Theater Meat Thermometer Stabbing - LAist

Company has issued a strict dresscode for employees

Switzerland - Swiss banking giant UBS has issued a strict dresscode for employees, calling on them to wear skin-coloured lingerie and to ditch fancy and coloured artificial fingernails. In a document of over 40 pages, UBS underlined details from head to toe, including permissible hairstyles, what cut of skirt and which type of socks to wear. Women should not wear flashy jewellery or skirts that are too tight behind...More

Woman, 71, Beat Attacker With Frying Pan

Kansas - A Kansas man accused of trying to rape a 71-year-old woman was hospitalized for several days due to injuries the elderly woman inflicted with a frying pan. Investigators said Kevin Scott Funderburk, 25, was drunk when he approached the woman’s Hutchinson home and talked her into letting him inside by saying he was homeless and had nowhere else to seek ..more

School board shooting video of Clay Duke hits #1 on Google Trends

School board shooting video of Clay Duke hits #1 on Google Trends

Dog Saves Owner After Slip on Ice

Minnesota - An Edina woman said her chocolate lab came to her aid after she slipped and fell on the ice. Kate Boyer, Buck’s owner, certainly believes in pets having a sense something is wrong with their loved ones. She walked up her driveway and slipped on the ice, fell and hit the back of her head. “He was lying on me, on my chest and licking my face.” At the time, the temperature was 11 degrees...More

Judge Rules That Yodeling Offends Muslims

Austria - It seems as though in Austria, the popular yodel is an insult to Muslims. An Austrian court has recently fined a citizen for yodeling while mowing his lawn. The citizen, 63-year-old Helmut G., was told by the court that his yodeling offended his next-door Muslim neighbors, who accused him of trying to mock and imitate the call of the Muezzin. The Muezzin is the chosen person at a mosque who leads the call to prayer from one of the mosque’s minarets...More