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Missouri poacher ordered to repeatedly watch 'Bambi'

OZARKS, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri poacher has been ordered to repeatedly watch the movie "Bambi" as part of his sentence in a scheme to illegally kill hundreds of deer.

Federal court says NY ban on nunchucks unconstitutional

NEW YORK (AP) — A 1974 New York state ban on nunchucks that was put into place over fears that youth inspired by martial arts movies would create widespread mayhem is unconstitutional under the Second Amendment, a federal court has ruled.

Bees, brothels and monkey selfies: oh my; 2018 abuzz with odd U.S. stories

A hive of honeybees in the heart of New York City, a monkey with a photographer's eye, a brothel full featuring robotic sex dolls and a political candidate who carried the day from his grave were among the characters featured in the strangest stories of 2018. Clearly, bees do not enjoy the right of free assembly in New York City. In April, a California court ruled that the animal kingdom does not have much in the way of property rights, either, in a case involving a Celebes crested macaque who took a selfie using a nature photographer's camera.

Trucker saves dogs thrown from vehicle on New York highway

NEW YORK (AP) — A pair of beagle mixes are on the mend after authorities say someone threw them out of a moving vehicle on a snowy New York highway. The dogs were rescued by a passing trucker, but one was so badly mangled that a front leg had to be amputated.

Cow steals spotlight at student's graduation photo shoot

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — University of Missouri students were stunned when a towering dairy cow appeared on campus to make a cameo in a graduation photo shoot.

Worth the sting: Cuba's scorpion pain remedy

Once a month for the last decade, Pepe Casanas, a 78-year-old Cuban farmer, has hunted down a scorpion to sting himself with, vowing that the venom wards off his rheumatism pains. Researchers in Cuba have found that the venom of the blue scorpion, whose scientific name is Rhopalurus junceus, endemic to the Caribbean island, appears to have anti-inflammatory and pain relief properties, and may be able to delay tumor growth in some cancer patients. While some oncologists abroad say more research is needed to be able to properly back up such a claim, Cuban pharmaceutical firm Labiofam has been using scorpion venom since 2011 to manufacture the homeopathic medicine Vidatox.

Scuba-diving Santa brings holiday cheer to fish, museumgoers

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — It's a busy time for Santa Claus, but he's making time to feed some fish in San Francisco.

Hung without care? Some say tunnel decor is an eyesore

JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) — The Holland Tunnel between New Jersey and New York City may be in for a makeover after critics called the placement of its holiday decorations a distraction, a possible trigger for people with obsessive-compulsive disorder — and just plain ugly.

Chirp perp: Finches found in luggage at NY airport

A man was caught at New York's JFK airport last weekend trying to smuggle dozens of South American finches into the country, a bird that Guyanese immigrants covet for chirping but officials fear could spread disease, officials said on Thursday. About 70 finches were found hidden inside a shipment of hair rollers at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Saturday when a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialist inspected the unidentified male passenger's luggage. The birds may have been destined for sale to Guyanese immigrants for a game that involves betting on how often the finches chirp per minute, said Customs spokesman Anthony Bucci.

Customs finds 70 finches in hair rollers

NEW YORK (AP) — Customs officials at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport say they found 70 live finches hidden inside hair rollers.

'Benny the Beluga' facing Christmas in the Thames far from home

A beluga whale that was first spotted nearly three months ago in the River Thames is still feeding healthily east of the British capital and facing a lone Christmas hundreds of miles from its normal Arctic habitat. The last spotting of the whale, dubbed Benny the Beluga by the British media, was on Dec. 12 east of Gravesend, said a spokesman for the Port of London Authority which oversees the river. The last sighting of beluga whales in UK waters was in 2015 when they were spotted off northeastern England near the Northumberland coastline, but they left shortly afterwards.

Crews rescue man stuck in grease vent of empty restaurant

SAN LORENZO, Calif. (AP) — A man who authorities say was possibly trying to burglarize an abandoned Chinese restaurant has been rescued from the grease vent, where officials say he had been trapped for two days.

Firefighters to the rescue after German chocolate factory spill

Firefighters in the town of Werl in western Germany tackled an unusual emergency late on Monday when a tank at a local firm making liquid chocolate overflowed and poured out onto a street. The firefighters closed off the street and shoveled the chocolate - about 10 square meters (108 square feet) - to one side before a specialist cleaning company cleaned the road. "Despite this heartbreaking incident, it is unlikely that a chocolate-free Christmas is imminent in Werl," the fire department said.

This Chinese city is feeding garbage to a billion cockroaches to combat waste

The air is warm and humid - just as cockroaches like it - to ensure the colonies keep their health and voracious appetites. Expanding Chinese cities are generating more food waste than they can accommodate in landfills, and cockroaches could be a way to get rid of hills of food scraps, providing nutritious food for livestock when the bugs eventually die and, some say, cures for stomach illness and beauty treatments. On the outskirts of Jinan, capital of eastern Shandong province, a billion cockroaches are being fed with 50 tonnes of kitchen waste a day - the equivalent in weight to seven adult elephants.

Teacher accused of cutting boy's hair pleads not guilty

VISALIA, Calif. (AP) — A California high school teacher pleaded not guilty to several charges of child cruelty and battery after she allegedly forced a haircut on one of her students, authorities said.

Leaping lemur surprises Florida trooper during DUI arrest

SANFORD, Fla. (AP) — A lemur surprised a Florida Highway Patrol trooper when it crawled from a trailer being pulled by a pickup truck that had been stopped for driving erratically and hitting other cars.

California teacher arrested for forcibly cutting boy's hair

VISALIA, Calif. (AP) — A high school teacher in central California was arrested on suspicion of felony child endangerment after forcibly cutting the hair of one of her students while singing the national anthem, authorities said.

Quackarazzi: Mandarin duck holds NYC in its spell

NEW YORK (AP) — It took just days for the brightly colored Mandarin duck that appeared suddenly in a Central Park pond to turn both New Yorkers and visitors into a new gaggle: the quackarazzi.

It's now or never pedestrians: German town has Elvis lights

BERLIN (AP) — Keep your blue suede shoes behind the curb: the central German town where Elvis Presley was stationed as a U.S. soldier in the 1950s has installed three pedestrian lights with images of the American rock icon.

New study explains creation of deadly California 'firenado'

REDDING, Calif. (AP) — A rare fire tornado that raged during this summer's deadly Carr Fire in Northern California was created by a combination of scorching weather, erratic winds and an ice-topped cloud that towered miles into the atmosphere, according to a study announced Wednesday.

Enter the Bull: Fighters mix kung fu and bullfighting in China

BEIJING/JIAXING, China (Reuters) - Several times a week, kung fu teacher Ren Ruzhi enters a ring to spar with a bovine opponent around five times his weight and capable of killing him. Ren's mixing of martial arts and bullfighting worries his mother, but the 24-year-old has never been hurt. "It symbolizes the bravery of a man," Ren told Reuters in Jiaxing in China's eastern province of Zhejiang.

Boy hits target, convinces town to scrap snowball fight ban

SEVERANCE, Colo. (AP) — A 9-year-old boy has convinced the leaders of a small northern Colorado town to overturn a nearly century-old ban on snowball fights, and he already knows who his first target will be — his little brother.

CHP may have used Tesla Autopilot to stop speeding car

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (AP) — The California Highway Patrol says it may have used the Autopilot system of a Tesla to stop the car after its driver fell asleep.

Dutch court rejects man's request to be 20 years younger

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch motivational speaker Emile Ratelband may feel like a 49-year-old but according to Dutch law he is still 69.