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Celebrity panda at center of Thai-China deal
BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand's celebrity baby panda Lin Ping is almost 4 years old now. It's time to move to China, find a mate and have cubs.
"Too pretty" label mars South Korean boxing starlet's win
By Narae Kim SEOUL (Reuters) - When romantic actress Lee Si-young swapped her glamorous roles in South Korean dramas for boxing gloves in a bid to win an Olympic medal, her victories triggered a storm of protest that has marred her unexpected success in the ring. The 31-year-old, better known for her roles in TV shows such as "Wild Romance" and "Boys Before Flowers", had tears of joy in her eyes when she defeated 19-year-old Kim Da-som by 22 points to 20 in the 48 kg (106 lb) class at the South Korean national team tryouts in late April. ...
Sophia top baby name for U.S. girls; Messiah and King on the rise for boys
By Alex Dobuzinskis LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Sophia tops the list of names for American baby girls for the second year in a row, while King and Messiah are becoming increasingly popular names for boys, the U.S. Social Security Administration said on Thursday. Jacob has become a standby for boys' names, topping that category for the 14th straight year. Liam and Elizabeth broke into the Top 10 at No. 6 and No. 10 respectively, the SSA said in a statement. But rising on the list are a couple of less traditional, but more attention-grabbing names. ...
Ore. smokejumpers skydive into illegal pot garden
MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) — A team of smokejumpers parachuting into a fire in the mountains of Southern Oregon landed in an illegal marijuana garden being prepared for growing season.
Landlord mistakes tenant’s tomato plants for pot, calls cops
You say “tomato”, I say, “illegal pot farm on a Brooklyn rooftop.” A resident in a Brooklyn apartment building got an unexpected, and unmerited, visit from the police after his superintendent called the cops to report an illegal pot-growing operation on the building’s roof. There was just one small problem―the plants growing on the building’s [...]
Your Prius does not impress them. Workers commute via excavators
Think your commute is fraught with peril? Check out what these workers in Siberia go through to get to their jobs. This video is a few months old, but it's getting renewed interest, thanks to a segment on "Today." In the clip, bridge builders take turns climbing into the scooper of an excavator and taking [...]
Animated graphic illustrates impact of meteorites on Earth
Meteroites-–debris from space that falls to Earth, usually in a fiery blaze-–are few and far between. And they’re especially rare to witness. But over the millennia, they add up. A cool animated visualization by Carlo Zapponi called Bolides tracks the meteorites that have collided with Earth, focusing on ones that were seen falling and then [...]
16-year-old girl, born without legs and one arm, is now a swimming champ
Kayla Wheeler was born with three congenital amputations: missing both legs and one arm. Her doctor recommended swimming as a form of physical therapy. And now, at age 16, Wheeler is literally breaking world records. Massachusetts CNN affiliate KCPQ reports that Wheeler already has competed in Brazil, Mexico and the Netherlands and has her sights [...]
Woman accused of slapping deputy so she’d go to jail and quit smoking
File this one under "B" for "Bad Ideas." A woman allegedly slapped a Sacramento County deputy in order to get arrested. Why? So she would go to jail and be forced to give up smoking cigarettes. CBS-Sacramento reports that Deputy Matt Campoy was leaving his shift when he felt a slap across his face. "It [...]
Mass. panel: No profanity on rapper's headstone
LYNN, Mass. (AP) — Commissioners at a Massachusetts cemetery have said no to profanity on headstones.
Arizona climber and his dog apparently stung to death by bees
PHOENIX (Reuters) - An Arizona climber has been found dead, dangling from a rope on a cliff face south of Tucson, after apparently being stung to death by bees, police said on Wednesday. Steven Wallace Johnson, 55, a counselor with some 30 years experience hiking and climbing, headed into the mountains south of Tucson on Friday, Santa Cruz County Sheriff Tony Estrada said. Johnson was reported missing on Monday by co-workers after he failed to show up for work. A Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office search and rescue team found his body that afternoon, Estrada said. ...
China probes reports of film director Zhang Yimou's seven children
BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese authorities have begun investigating reports that Zhang Yimou, one of China's best-known movie directors, has seven children in violation of strict family planning rules, which could result in a fine of 160 million yuan ($26.05 million), state media said on Thursday. Online reports have surfaced that Zhang, who dazzled the world in 2008 with his Beijing Olympic ceremonies, "has at least seven children and will face a 160 million yuan fine," said the website of the People's Daily, the Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece. ...
Man uses spoon to break out of Russian maximum-security prison
One man, using only a spoon, has escaped from one of Russia’s most infamous prisons. Sky News reports that 33-year-old Oleg Topalov escaped from Matrosskaya Tishina, apparently by using a single spoon to dig a hole through his cell’s ceiling. He is only the fourth person in 20 years to escape from the prison. Russian [...]
Brazilian woman survives harpoon shooting
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A 28-year-old woman miraculously survived after her husband accidentally shot her in the mouth with a harpoon, Brazilian officials said Wednesday.
Scratch-and-sniff cards prompt natural gas scare
GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) — Those scratch-and-sniff cards the energy company sends to customers to teach them to recognize the artificial smell added to natural gas? Turns out they work pretty well.
Kenya co. turns old sandals into colorful objects
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The colorful handmade giraffes, elephants and warthogs made in a Nairobi workshop were once only dirty pieces of rubber cruising the Indian Ocean's currents.
Senior class president suspended after tweet about high-school sports
Was his tweet a bullying act, or merely the stating of a fact? Either way, reports the Wichita Eagle, the senior class president of Heights High School in Kansas has been suspended and banned from participating in most of this year’s graduation activities after posting a tweet about the school’s athletic program. “‘Heights U’ is [...]
Brazilian woman survives harpoon accident
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilian health officials say a 28-year-old woman miraculously survived after her husband accidentally shot her in the mouth with a harpoon.
Charles Ramsey gets autotuned, and not everyone is pleased
Charles Ramsey’s account of his rescue of Amanda Berry, believed to have been held captive along with two other young women in a Cleveland home for a decade, already had gotten attention on the Web. Now, Ramsey is being celebrated for his way with words the way only the Internet can do it: with a [...]
Puppy survives after being locked in car for nearly a month
A 12-week-old puppy has miraculously overcome a harrowing ordeal and survived being locked inside an impounded car for nearly a month. The Kansas City, Mo., animal shelter now caring for the terrier and schnauzer mix they’ve named Kia said she survived by eating trash left in the car from a McDonald’s restaurant. However, she apparently [...]
Houston braces for giant snail invasion
Houston, we have a problem. A giant African land snail has been spotted in a Houston garden, and residents are being warned to stay away from it—and to watch out for others. Texas station KPRC reports that the slow-moving menaces are sometimes carriers of a life-threatening meningitis. It "can cause a lot of harm to [...]
Rodman to Kim: 'Do me a solid' and free American
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Former NBA star Dennis Rodman is tapping his friendship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to ask for the release of a Korean-American man sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in the North.
Japan hopes for a lift from "Abenomics" bra
TOKYO (Reuters) - The Japanese division of lingerie maker Triumph International unveiled on Wednesday an "Abenomics" bra, a special edition it says offers a "growth strategy" and a potential lift towards Japan's elusive inflation target. Launches of Triumph's concept bras in Tokyo have become a regular event over the past quarter of a century and are an important publicity tool for 127-year-old, Swiss-headquartered company. The latest "Branomics Bra" follows earlier solar-powered, recycled and "husband-hunting" models but, like its predecessors, will not go on sale. ...
Dozens of climbers caught in middle of deadly volcanic eruption
Five mountain climbers were killed and either others injured when a sudden volcanic eruption in the Philippines sent down rocks “big as cars.” “I heard a sound similar to a sudden drop of coconuts. Then I heard noise of cascading rocks. But the thick fog clouding us that time blinded us from seeing the falling [...]
Authorities tried earlier visit to house where Ohio women found
By Kim Palmer and Daniel Trotta CLEVELAND (Reuters) - As three Cleveland women reunited with their families on Tuesday after vanishing for about a decade in their own neighborhood, police scoured the house they escaped from for clues on how they could be held captive for so long with no one noticing. Cleveland authorities said there was one attempt to visit the home in 2004 on an unrelated matter but no one answered the door. They said they combed through records and found no other calls to the house nor reports of anything amiss in the years the women were missing. ...
Critter cams provide peek into the lives of bears
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Biologists at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game are getting a peek into what city bears do all day.
Stop motion effects pioneer Ray Harryhausen dies at 92
The name Ray Harryhausen probably isn’t familiar to the average moviegoer, but fans of today’s science fiction and fantasy films owe a debt to the legendary effects wizard, who died Tuesday at the age of 92. For decades, Harryhausen was Hollywood’s premiere stop motion effects artist, building models that would seemingly interact with actors on [...]
Woman seeks home for World War II letters found in hatbox
About 15 years ago, Pamela Gilliland bought a hatbox at an estate sale in Oklahoma for a dollar. When she got around to opening the box a few days later, she discovered it was full of letters from World War II. Tulsa World has the story. Gilliland, it reports, recently enlisted the help of history [...]
Dad helps deliver baby boy in Sam’s Club parking lot
When Fritz Rosales and Josephine Rosales, who was in labor, realized they wouldn't make it to the hospital in time, they pulled into a Sam's Club parking lot to deliver their fifth child. CBS-Sacramento interviewed the proud parents. Fritz Rosales explained that events seemed to conspire against them. First, they needed to stop at a [...]
British economy claims new victim: Prince Charles' veg shop
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's weak economy has taken its toll on the nation's poshest greengrocer with Prince Charles forced to close his organic vegetable store, citing falling trade and rising prices. Prince Charles, the heir to the throne and a champion of the environment, opened a store near to his country home Highgrove in Gloucestershire, south-west England, about eight years ago after converting his estate to organic farming in 1986. ...
Urban Outfitters under fire for Rx-related products
Popular retailer Urban Outfitters is under fire for selling a line of products that some say glamorizes prescription drug abuse. KABC in Los Angeles reports that the store is selling shot glasses that resemble pill bottles, flasks that feature a prescriptionlike label for "Boozemin" and "syringe shot shooters." The gag products are available in stores [...]
NJ governor 'saves' children from spider
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie wasn't in a pardoning mood when an itsy, bitsy spider crawled on his desk while he spoke to a group of schoolchildren.
Newsreel footage shows Hindenburg disaster in stunning detail
Rarely seen footage of the Hindenburg airship's tragic end, posted by the Public Domain Review, is an amazingly intimate look at a 76-year-old disaster. While the exact cause of the airship’s fiery demise is still debated, the video—which also includes historical newsreel coverage of the Hindenburg on safely executed flights—is a moving look at the [...]
Report: Early humans dined on antelope brains
According to a recent article from Science News, early humans enjoyed dining on antelope brains. Science News reports that the findings came from recently discovered fossils in Kenya. Via the publication: Three sets of butchered animal bones unearthed at Kenya’s Kanjera South site provide the earliest evidence of both long-term hunting and targeted scavenging by [...]
U.S. returning looted Tyrannosaurus skeleton to Mongolia
By Deborah Zabarenko WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A 70-million-year-old dinosaur skeleton from the Gobi Desert that was smuggled to the United States in pieces and auctioned for more than $1 million was returned on Monday by the U.S. government to Mongolia. The huge Tyrannosaurus bataar's skull was on display at a repatriation ceremony near the United Nations in New York, where officials of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan and the U.S. Immigration and Customers Enforcement (ICE) formally turned over the nearly complete skeleton to Mongolian officials. ...
Wash. State graduate wears wedding gown under robe
PULLMAN, Wash. (AP) — With friends and family already gathered for her graduation from Washington State University, Cassie Dotts thought it would be a good time for another ceremony — her wedding.
Bell tower emerges from Italian lake
A surreal sight greets visitors in the northern Italian town of Curon Venosta: The steeple of a church submerged in the water. As Slate reports, the people of the town had moved to higher ground soon after World War II to make room for an artificial lake. The abandoned city is now underwater, with the [...]
Woman accidentally buys winning $14 million lotto ticket
A single mother of four sons accidentally purchased an extra lottery ticket. Another dollar down the drain? Nope. Thuan Le told NBCLosAngeles.com that she normally she buys $4 worth of Powerball tickets and one $1 SuperLotto Plus ticket. This time, Le accidentally put an extra buck into the self-service machine, purchasing another SuperLotto Plus ticket. [...]
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie squashes spider; PETA not pleased
Come election time, Chris Christie will not get the spider lover vote. The New Jersey governor demonstrated his bug killing skills to a group of fourth-graders when the unwelcome guest crawled across the desk in his office. Video captured the crowd of kids pointing out the arachnid, and the governor making an executive decision: He [...]
Utah cabin had uninvited guests _ 60,000 bees
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — It was the biggest beehive that that Ogden beekeeper Vic Bachman has ever removed — a dozen feet long, packed inside the eaves of a cabin in Ogden Valley.