Wierd and Offbeat News
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Why do zebras have stripes? Perhaps to dazzle away flies
LONDON (AP) — Zebra stripes are dazzling — particularly to flies.
Thu, 21 Feb 2019 16:06:15 -0500 -
Snowman builders aim for big money in video contest
MOSCOW (AP) — Building a snowman isn't always just a way to while away a long winter. For some people in Russia and Ukraine, it's a way to possibly earn some significant money.
Thu, 21 Feb 2019 13:04:51 -0500 -
As Trump and Kim prepare for summit, bars in Vietnam serve 'Peace Negroniations'
Bars in Vietnam's capital are cashing in on the second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un next week with special concoctions to mark the high-stakes diplomacy. "This beer was inspired by the pure streams of Mount Paektu between North Korea and China," Nguyen Thi Huong Anh, manager of Hanoi's Standing Bar, said of the "Kim Jong Ale", brewed especially for the summit. The mountain is the highest on the Korean peninsula at about 2,750 meters (9,000 ft) and the official birthplace of the late North Korean leader, Kim Jong Il.
Thu, 21 Feb 2019 04:34:40 -0500 -
Police: Man says he stole Pepsi truck to get to the airport
TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Authorities say an Oklahoma man stole a Pepsi truck as the driver was unloading soda in the back.
Wed, 20 Feb 2019 11:49:11 -0500 -
Kim or Trump? Hanoi barber offers leaders' hairdos for free
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — At a barbershop tucked away in a Hanoi alley, Le Phuc Hai patiently waits for the dye to turn his black hair the orange shade of President Donald Trump's locks.
Wed, 20 Feb 2019 08:47:17 -0500 -
Dog reunited with family 101 days after California wildfire
PARADISE, Calif. (AP) — A dog named Kingston is back with his family 101 days after he jumped out of their truck as they fled a devastating Northern California wildfire.
Tue, 19 Feb 2019 20:44:34 -0500 -
Dog shoots man: German court rules owner not fit for license
BERLIN (AP) — A German court has ruled that a dog owner isn't fit to carry a firearms license after his dog shot him with a rifle.
Tue, 19 Feb 2019 08:53:04 -0500 -
Burglar crashes car into Oklahoma adult novelty store
TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Police in Tulsa, Oklahoma, are searching for a man who crashed his car into the glass doors of an adult novelty shop, then ran inside and stole lingerie and sex toys.
Tue, 19 Feb 2019 08:17:25 -0500 -
Big thaw hits Harbin ice sculptures in China
Ice and snow sculptures carved by nearly 10,000 artists in the city of Harbin have melted during a sudden warm spell, forcing the earliest closure of the main venue at China's biggest winter festival. Daytime temperatures have poked above freezing in northern China's warmest week this winter, prompting the closure of the Harbin Ice and Snow World after Sunday, more than 10 days ahead of schedule. "Of course, we do have a sense of crisis," a park official said, adding that it was closed for safety reasons because the sculptures had started to melt.
Tue, 19 Feb 2019 02:44:48 -0500 -
Beer from 1886 shipwreck may yield new brew
COBLESKILL, N.Y. (AP) — Ahoy, beer lovers: A bottle from a 133-year-old shipwreck may yield yeast for a new brew in upstate New York.
Fri, 15 Feb 2019 19:23:14 -0500 -
Home investor finds staircase booby-trapped with a knife
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Philadelphia real estate investor says a home he was scoping out came with an unadvertised surprise — a stairway booby-trapped with a swinging knife.
Fri, 15 Feb 2019 06:57:51 -0500 -
Nightmare: Man's car stolen while he's asleep in back seat
NEWARK, Del. (AP) — A man's nap in the back of his car in Delaware turned into a nightmare after the car he was sleeping in was stolen and crashed.
Thu, 14 Feb 2019 18:04:15 -0500 -
Hungry bear goes for ride after getting stuck on trash truck
WINDSOR, N.C. (AP) — Drivers were startled to see a hungry bear that got stuck in the back of garbage truck and took a ride across a stretch of eastern North Carolina.
Thu, 14 Feb 2019 13:40:08 -0500 -
Cockroaches named after exes to be fed to Texas zoo animals
EL PASO, Texas (AP) — Not in the Valentine's Day spirit? A Texas zoo has a cockroach that can help.
Thu, 14 Feb 2019 08:32:51 -0500 -
We've got this mountain of trash - why don't we ski down it?
What to do with the mountain of garbage a major metropolitan area produces is an age-old question. Copenhagen has come up with a brand-new answer: ski down the mountain. The waste is actually inside Copenhill, a waste-treatment plant 10 minutes from downtown Copenhagen.
Thu, 14 Feb 2019 05:03:49 -0500 -
Woman finds tiger in house, tells dispatch: 'I'm not lying'
HOUSTON (AP) — A woman who called Houston's non-emergency dispatch line after discovering a tiger inside a cage at an abandoned home told the shocked dispatcher: "I'm not lying."
Wed, 13 Feb 2019 17:57:59 -0500 -
'Tinder for cows' matches livestock in the mood for love
A Tinder-inspired app is helping farmers match up potential partners for their cattle. Called "Tudder" - a mix of dating app Tinder and udder - it lets farmers swipe right on cattle they like the look of. Valuable information is available on matters like milk yield and protein content, or calving potential, explained Doug Bairner, CEO of Hectare Agritech which runs SellMyLivestock (SML) and Graindex, a UK-based online agritech trading platform.
Wed, 13 Feb 2019 12:16:01 -0500 -
We've got this mountain of trash - why don't we ski down it?
What to do with the mountain of garbage a major metropolitan area produces is an age-old question. Copenhagen has come up with a brand-new answer: ski down the mountain. The waste is actually inside Copenhill, a waste-treatment plant 10 minutes from downtown Copenhagen.
Wed, 13 Feb 2019 11:19:49 -0500 -
Purse lost in school in the 1950s to be reunited with owner
JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. (AP) — A purse containing a prom invitation, photos and other items from 1950s America will be returned to its now 82-year-old owner after workers found it while demolishing part of an Indiana high school.
Wed, 13 Feb 2019 11:06:18 -0500 -
Couple named 'breeder of year' face animal cruelty charge
DURHAM, N.H. (AP) — A New Hampshire couple honored as a "Breeder of the Year" by the American Kennel Club faces an animal cruelty charge.
Wed, 13 Feb 2019 11:05:29 -0500 -
Russia teen refits car, gets shoutout from Elon Musk
MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian teenager has refitted his car to drive it backward, and got a shoutout from Tesla's CEO Elon Musk. But this didn't stop the police from stripping him of the car registration.
Wed, 13 Feb 2019 06:02:24 -0500 -
Camels found wandering in Arizona yard are back home
SAHUARITA, Ariz. (AP) — Two camels in southern Arizona are back home after going for an impromptu trek in the desert.
Tue, 12 Feb 2019 18:46:39 -0500 -
Police: Pot smokers find caged tiger in abandoned house
HOUSTON (AP) — Houston police say some people who went into an abandoned home to smoke marijuana found a caged tiger.
Tue, 12 Feb 2019 18:44:47 -0500 -
Polar bears invade Russian town; locals delighted but wary
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian wildlife specialists are heading for an Arctic archipelago to try to resolve a situation that has both terrified and delighted the locals: the polar bears that moved into a populated area.
Tue, 12 Feb 2019 17:29:43 -0500 -
Volunteer discovers $4,000 inside donated book in Phoenix
PHOENIX (AP) — Thousands of dollars found inside a donated book has been returned to the former owner.
Tue, 12 Feb 2019 14:07:55 -0500 -
Haunted by jeers, town rethinks teen trick-or-treat penalty
CHESAPEAKE, Va. (AP) — A Virginia city's penalty of jail time for teenage trick-or-treaters has scared up some ridicule and a possible policy change.
Tue, 12 Feb 2019 12:05:21 -0500 -
Man who dumped tuna in woods pleads guilty, gets probation
PEABODY, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts man authorities say caught a tuna out of season and then dumped the headless, 400-pound carcass in the woods has been placed on probation after pleading guilty to related charges.
Tue, 12 Feb 2019 10:10:50 -0500 -
Toronto police probe hurling of chair from high-rise balcony
No one was injured or killed in the incident, which occurred on Saturday, Toronto Police Service media relations officer David Hopkinson said. It caught the attention of users of Reddit who expressed safety concerns and sparked the police investigation.
Mon, 11 Feb 2019 15:03:04 -0500 -
Not a rom-com: Mom scouting date for son draws campus ire
TOWSON, Md. (AP) — It's almost Valentine's Day, and at Towson University in Maryland a mother has been trying so hard to find a date for her son that police are concerned.
Mon, 11 Feb 2019 12:30:33 -0500 -
Troopers: Teen arrested for taking control of Alaska flight
BETHEL, Alaska (AP) — A 16-year-old boy was arrested after he briefly took control of a small plane during a short commercial flight over western Alaska, authorities said.
Mon, 11 Feb 2019 09:23:16 -0500 -
Indonesia police apologise for using snake in Papua interrogation
Indonesian police have apologised and pledged disciplinary action after officers draped a live snake around the neck of a suspect to persuade him to confess during an interrogation session in the easternmost area of Papua. Reports of human rights abuses by security forces often emerge from Papua, where a separatist movement has simmered for decades.
Mon, 11 Feb 2019 05:20:54 -0500 -
Utah students find handgun in snowbank at school bus stop
PLEASANT GROVE, Utah (AP) — A Utah school district is praising two elementary school students who reported to a school bus driver that they'd found a handgun in a snow bank at their bus stop.
Sat, 09 Feb 2019 18:20:01 -0500 -
House call turns into horse call for police in Minnesota
INVER GROVE HEIGHTS, Minn. (AP) — Authorities say a suburban Minneapolis resident reported a strange intruder in her basement. It was a horse.
Sat, 09 Feb 2019 17:52:17 -0500 -
NY woman resorts to baseball bat after patty not available
NEW YORK (AP) — A woman who couldn't get a beef patty at a favorite New York eatery used a baseball bat in protest.
Sat, 09 Feb 2019 16:54:02 -0500 -
Texas students don wigs in tribute to late painter Bob Ross
ABILENE, Texas (AP) — There were lots of happy little trees at one Texas middle school this week.
Sat, 09 Feb 2019 13:57:53 -0500 -
Texas grandma uses child's scooter to fight off masked men
TEXAS CITY, Texas (AP) — Police say a Texas woman used her granddaughter's scooter to defend herself against a pair of machete-wielding men wearing clown masks who attempted to rob the woman and her husband.
Fri, 08 Feb 2019 09:21:48 -0500 -
A dying disk: Warm weather deteriorates river's wheel of ice
WESTBROOK, Maine (AP) — Maine's giant spinning ice disk may soon meet its end because of unseasonably warm weather.
Thu, 07 Feb 2019 16:09:20 -0500 -
Tip leads to cocaine stashed in jailed man's prosthetic leg
STAFFORD, Va. (AP) — The discovery of cocaine inside a Virginia inmate's prosthetic leg has led to an investigation into a suspected drug distribution operation at that jail.
Thu, 07 Feb 2019 12:46:10 -0500 -
Russians take to social media to celebrate the cold spell
MOSCOW (AP) — Residents of Russia's Urals and Siberia, where temperatures recently plunged to minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit (Celsius) have taken to social media to celebrate the cold.
Thu, 07 Feb 2019 10:27:14 -0500 -
Greek minister caught taking a puff tells EU official to butt out
Greece's deputy health minister has told the European Union's top health official to butt out after getting a reprimand for smoking in public. Deputy minister Pavlos Polakis was caught on video footage this week holding a cigarette while dancing in a club. It drew a rebuke from EU Health Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis, who was in Athens to mark World Cancer Day.
Wed, 06 Feb 2019 10:40:57 -0500 -
Police get in snowball fight with kids during snowstorm
DUVALL, Wash. (AP) — Police grabbed a tactical shield and engaged in some fun as a major winter storm blanketed parts of Washington state.
Wed, 06 Feb 2019 08:29:15 -0500 -
Police: Man fails to open register, steals chicken instead
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — New Orleans police say a man entered a fast-food restaurant and tried to swipe some cash but couldn't open the register so he made off with some fried chicken instead.
Wed, 06 Feb 2019 07:26:32 -0500 -
Art exhibit shows Ivanka Trump lookalike vacuuming up crumbs
WASHINGTON (AP) — A new art exhibit at a Washington museum shows an Ivanka Trump lookalike pushing a vacuum cleaner and invites spectators to toss crumbs for her to clean up.
Tue, 05 Feb 2019 18:53:37 -0500 -
College student finds man in closet wearing her clothes
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina college student says she found a man in her closet wearing her clothes.
Tue, 05 Feb 2019 16:29:39 -0500 -
Memories made of this: USB stick found in frozen seal poo
Scientists in New Zealand say they have found a USB memory stick containing holiday photos inside a frozen slab of seal poo. The scat, valuable for studying the health of leopard seals, had been stored in a freezer for a year before it was thawed out for analysis, the researchers said. "Concealed deep inside the scat was a USB stick," the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) said on its website.
Tue, 05 Feb 2019 07:46:41 -0500 -
New app lets dog lovers swipe right for perfect pet match
VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — If the pooch melts your heart, swipe right.
Tue, 05 Feb 2019 06:58:45 -0500 -
Officials launch ice guessing contest on Vermont lake
NEWPORT, Vt. (AP) — Vermont officials have launched their annual contest to guess how long the ice will last on Lake Memphremagog.
Mon, 04 Feb 2019 11:07:16 -0500 -
Voters reject plan to name streets in German municipality
BERLIN (AP) — Voters in a municipality in northwestern Germany have delivered a clear message: no street names, thanks.
Sun, 03 Feb 2019 16:25:12 -0500 -
Super Bowl super fan can't stop because Patriots won't stop
KENNEBUNK, Maine (AP) — One of the handful of fans who has seen every single Super Bowl is keeping the streak alive as he prepares to cheer for his New England Patriots.
Sat, 02 Feb 2019 15:01:32 -0500 -
Groundhog doesn't see his shadow, predicting early spring
PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. (AP) — It may be hard to believe as a large swath of the U.S. thaws out from a bitter polar vortex, but spring is coming early, according to handlers for some of the country's most famous prognosticating groundhogs.
Sat, 02 Feb 2019 09:06:21 -0500