Odd News

A baboon called Fred, back ground, sits inside a car with a baboon called Michael Jackson, left, as he eats at Cape Point on the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa, Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009. Visitors heading to South Africa premier holiday destination during the 2010 World Cup maybe worried about becoming victims of the country's high crime rate but they are more likely to find themselves robbed or mugged by a rather furry kind of felon: baboons. The baboons were named local officials who are supposed to prevent baboons from entering houses and cars. (Photo/Schalk van Zuydam)
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AP

Furry felons rob SAfrican tourists, steal food

AP - Tue Nov 24, 9:24 PM ET

CAPE TOWN, South Africa - Visitors to South Africa's premier holiday destination who are worried about becoming victims of the country's high crime rate could find themselves instead robbed by a more furry kind of felon: baboons.

  • Men dressed as Santa Claus pose in the assembly hall after a meeting of the rent-a-Santa Claus service organised by the "jobcafe.de" at Munich's Universitiy November 23, 2009. REUTERS/Michael Dalder
    Don't kiss Santa, he may have the flu Reuters - Mon Nov 23, 1:56 PM ET

    BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Santa Claus should avoid kissing children and shaking their hands to prevent spreading the flu and should get vaccinated against the illness, Hungary's state health authority said.

  • A detail of British artist John Collier's 1883 painting of Charles Darwin is displayed as part of an exhibition in Darwin's former home, Down House, in Kent, southern England February 12, 2009. REUTERS/Tal Cohen
    Darwin book worth up to $100,000 found on shelf Reuters - Mon Nov 23, 1:59 PM ET

    LONDON (Reuters) - A first edition of Charles Darwin's "On the Origin of Species," which had been kept in a toilet bookcase for years, will go on sale this week and is expected to fetch 40-60,000 pounds ($66-100,000).

  • Aging Santa gets $100,000 facelift for Christmas Reuters - Mon Nov 23, 8:33 AM ET

    WELLINGTON (Reuters) - A Santa in New Zealand with a droopy eye has received a NZ$100,000 ($74,000) face-lift in the run-up to Christmas so that his aging face does not scare children.

  • A forensic scientist displays human bones found in the jungle of Huanuco in this undated picture provided by the police. Peruvian police said on Thursday they had broken up a gang suspected of killing dozens of people and selling their fat to buyers to be used for making cosmetics. Four Peruvians were arrested on suspicion of kidnapping, murder and trafficking in human fat. REUTERS/Handout
    Gang accused of killing to sell human fat Reuters - Fri Nov 20, 11:03 AM ET

    LIMA (Reuters) - Peruvian police said on Thursday they had broken up a gang that allegedly killed dozens of people and sold their fat to buyers who used it to make cosmetics.

  • Cartons of contraband cigarettes are put on display at the Finance Ministry in Paris on September 4, 2008. REUTERS/Charles Platiau
    Diplomats arrested for cigarette smuggling Reuters - Fri Nov 20, 11:04 AM ET

    STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Swedish police have arrested two North Korean diplomats on suspicion of smuggling 230,000 cigarettes into the Nordic country, the Swedish Customs Office said Friday.

  • New EU president wins fans in Japan -- as a poet Reuters - 2 hours, 27 minutes ago

    BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Herman Van Rompuy, the European Union's new president, may not be very well known around the world but he's already winning fans in Japan -- as a poet rather than a politician.

  • Astronaut Randy Bresnik talks about his first spacewalk and the birth of his daughter while in orbit aboard the International Space Station in this handout image from NASA TV Space Shuttle Atlantis November 22, 2009. REUTERS/NASA TV/Handout
    Houston, we have a baby Reuters - Mon Nov 23, 1:10 AM ET

    CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Shuttle Atlantis astronaut Randy Bresnik awoke early on Sunday to a much-anticipated call that his new daughter had been born.

  • Agent showing house finds pile of bones AP - Tue Nov 24, 9:24 PM ET

    GIBSON, La. - A real estate agent showing a house got to the basement and found about 100 human bones in a corner. James Kenny, a forensic investigator with the Terrebonne Parish Coroner's Office, says the bones found Saturday were so old that dirt had saturated the marrow inside them. He says they probably are remains of Native Americans buried long before the house was built.

  • Italy collector finds Galileo's lost tooth, fingers Reuters - Fri Nov 20, 12:24 PM ET

    ROME (Reuters) - An art collector has found a tooth, thumb and finger of the renowned Italian scientist Galileo Galilei who died in the 17th century, Florence's History of Science museum announced on Friday.

  • New fossils reveal a world full of crocodiles Reuters - Thu Nov 19, 10:52 AM ET

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New fossils unearthed in what is now the Sahara desert reveal a once-swampy world divided up among a half-dozen species of unusual and perhaps intelligent crocodiles, researchers reported on Thursday.

  • U.S. residents fight for the right to hang laundry Reuters - Wed Nov 18, 8:05 AM ET

    PERKASIE, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - Carin Froehlich pegs her laundry to three clotheslines strung between trees outside her 18th-century farmhouse, knowing that her actions annoy local officials who have asked her to stop.

  • What's in an unusual name? More than you might think Reuters - Tue Nov 17, 2:29 PM ET

    LONDON (Reuters) - Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes might have thought twice about naming their daughter Suri if they'd known that it means "pickpocket" in Japanese, "turned sour" in French, and "horse mackerels" in Italian.

  • Pa. prosecutor wants 'no-tip' charges dropped AP - Tue Nov 24, 3:52 PM ET

    BETHLEHEM, Pa. - An eastern Pennsylvania prosecutor wants charges dropped against a couple who refused to pay a tip at a restaurant where they said they got poor service. Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli said he's recommending that Bethlehem police drop the theft of services charges.

  • FILE - In this Thursday, June 25, 2009 file photo, supporters of the South African soccer team blow 'vuvuzelas' (Zulu for stadium trumpet) before their Confederations Cup semifinal soccer match against Brazil at Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa. The Sankei Sports newspaper is reporting that the head of Japan's football association says he will ask FIFA to ban vuvuzela trumpets at the World Cup next year. Japan Football Association President Motoaki Inukai said he had already asked officials in South Africa to stop the use of the instruments, and would ask FIFA to do so as well, according the Sankei. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)
    Japan ask 2010 hosts South Africa to ban vuvuzela Reuters - Tue Nov 17, 1:57 AM ET

    TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's football chief has joined in the chorus of protestors wanting the noisy vuvuzela trumpet to be banned from next year's World Cup in South Africa.

  • Hitler's favorite car makes comeback? Reuters - Tue Nov 24, 3:19 PM ET

    BERLIN (Reuters) - A car expert says he has tracked down Hitler's favorite Mercedes to a garage near the town that helped the Austrian-born Fuehrer become a German citizen.

  • In this image made from video and released by cbsatlanta.com, celebrity chef Paula Deen reacts after being hit by a canned ham, in Atlanta. The Food Network star was helping unload 25,000 pounds of donated meat for an Atlanta food bank on Monday, Nov. 23, 2009, when someone threw one of the hams like a football and accidentally smacked her. (AP Photo/cbsatlanta.com) MANDATORY CREDIT; NO SALES
    Chef Paula Deen accidentally hit by charity ham AP - Tue Nov 24, 9:24 PM ET

    ATLANTA - Celebrity chef Paula Deen got an unexpected serving of ham — across her face. The Food Network star was helping unload 25,000 pounds of donated meat for an Atlanta food bank on Monday when someone threw one of the hams like a football and accidentally smacked her.

  • Italian women disappointed by Gaddafi "party" Reuters - Mon Nov 16, 11:03 AM ET

    ROME (Reuters) - Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, in Rome for a U.N. food summit, spent several hours in the company of 200 Italian women recruited by an agency and tried to convert them to Islam, Italian media reported on Monday.

  • Using your plastic for plastic surgery.. Reuters - Tue Nov 24, 3:18 PM ET

    CARACAS (Reuters) - Unfazed by a recession and rampant inflation, image-conscious Venezuelans show no signs of cutting back on the facelifts, liposuction, and breast augmentation that have become de rigueur beauty treatments.

  • FILE - In this file photo taken Aug. 29, 2005, file photo, a female kangaroo and her joey are seen in suburban Sydney, Australia. An Australian man was in stable condition Monday, Nov. 23, 2009, after being slashed across the abdomen and face by a kangaroo that was holding his dog underwater. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith, File)
    Kangaroo tries to drown dog, attacks owner AP - Mon Nov 23, 8:38 PM ET

    MELBOURNE, Australia - A kangaroo startled by a man walking his dog attacked the pair, pinning the pet underwater and slashing the owner in the abdomen with its hind legs. The Australian, Chris Rickard, was in stable condition Monday after the attack, which ended when the 49-year-old elbowed the kangaroo in the throat.

  • Japan's marathon queen Takahashi to run veggie farm Reuters - Tue Nov 17, 9:44 AM ET

    TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's former Olympic marathon gold medallist Naoko Takahashi has decided to become a vegetable farmer.

Most Popular Odd News

  • Agent showing house finds pile of bones AP - Tue Nov 24, 9:24 PM ET

    GIBSON, La. - A real estate agent showing a house got to the basement and found about 100 human bones in a corner. James Kenny, a forensic investigator with the Terrebonne Parish Coroner's Office, says the bones found Saturday were so old that dirt had saturated the marrow inside them. He says they probably are remains of Native Americans buried long before the house was built.

  • Gang accused of killing to sell human fat Reuters - Fri Nov 20, 11:03 AM ET

    LIMA (Reuters) - Peruvian police said on Thursday they had broken up a gang that allegedly killed dozens of people and sold their fat to buyers who used it to make cosmetics.

  • Darwin book worth up to $100,000 found on shelf Reuters - Mon Nov 23, 1:59 PM ET

    LONDON (Reuters) - A first edition of Charles Darwin's "On the Origin of Species," which had been kept in a toilet bookcase for years, will go on sale this week and is expected to fetch 40-60,000 pounds ($66-100,000).