Baby placenta facial treatments

Dubai - Beauty-conscious women in Dubai are being targeted by a controversial product claimed to make them look younger made from newborn baby placenta. British therapist Mona Mirza says new customers walk through the doors of her Dubai clinic almost every day, as word spreads of the new procedure. ?The main reason why human placenta is effective is because it is bio-identical to our own physiology,? she said. And while adult skin will continue mimicking the placenta cells for about three months, the treatment is not cheap. A 60-minute session costs around $307.---...More

Bingo caller told to cut ?fat ladies?

UK - A bingo caller has been advised to stop using phrases such as ?two fat ladies? for fear of offending his audience. John Sayers, who runs charity games in Sudbury, Suffolk, says he was told by a council clerk the traditional bingo call could upset some players. A town council spokeswoman said it was ?sad? they had to give the advice but they had to be ?politically correct?. ?The concern was that if there might be two large ladies in the audience when I said ?two fat ladies 88? or someone might think I was looking at their legs when I said ?legs 11?,? he said. ---...More

Pa. student suspended for wearing Santa suit

WALLINGFORD, Pa. (AP) -- A suburban Philadelphia teenager was suspended for a day for wearing a Santa Claus suit to school---...More

Man pays $72 for a taco, says 'Merry Christmas'

SANDUSKY, Ohio (AP) -- So much for the value menu. A Taco Bell manager in Ohio says a man who appeared drunk walked into the restaurant earlier this week and handed him $72 for just one taco. The manager tells police near the northern Ohio town of Sandusky that the customer who seemed to be in his early 20s refused to take back the money and told workers "Merry Christmas.----...More

Attorney sued after biting off part of man's nose

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- A Memphis attorney bit off part of a man's nose during a fight in a restaurant bathroom. A lawsuit filed by Greg Herbers claims attorney Mark Lambert attacked him last June after Herbers asked two men in a bathroom stall to get out so that he could use it---...More

Wis. teen will need legal permission to date girls

APPLETON, Wis. (AP) -- A Wisconsin teenager will need legal permission to date girls for the next three years after he was convicted of fleeing to Tennessee with his girlfriend in a stolen car---...More

Aussie, Chinese officials urge pandas to reproduce

ADELAIDE, Australia (AP) -- Australian and Chinese officials urged two bamboo-munching giant pandas on Sunday to consider reproducing during their 10-year residency Down Under---...More

Woman plans to be a graduate, bride on same day

CLINTON, Iowa (AP) -- A 34-year-old Florida woman plans to be a graduate and bride on the same day in Iowa. Tricia Giordano said she has always been the kind of person who loves to stay busy. She was scheduled to get her degree on Saturday afternoon at Ashford University in Clinton, Iowa. Shortly after that, she planned to head across campus to the chapel and swap her cap and gown for a wedding dress--...More

Man Attacks Italian PM, Breaks Nose and Teeth

Italy - Police in Italy say a man with a history of mental problems hit Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in the face with a statue Sunday. Mr. Berlusconi was taken to a hospital with a broken nose, two broken teeth, and a cut lip. Doctors say they want to keep him in the hospital overnight for observation. Mr. Berlusconi was signing autographs and shaking hands after a rally in Milan Sunday. His attacker moved close enough to throw a small statue at the prime minister?s face. Mr. Berlusconi covered his face as security agents pushed him into his car. ----...More

Shopper gets scratch on new car, sarcastic note

Lehigh Valley - Someone scratched a Luzerne County woman?s new car in the Lehigh Valley Mall parking lot and left her a note saying she deserved it for taking up two parking spaces, according to a Whitehall police report. Kulaga, 24, of Drums said she was in the mall for about four hours Sunday and around 4 p.m. returned to her car, where she found the note that read ?Your $30,000 car isn?t worth taking up two spaces? in purple ink. She found a fresh scratch on the front quarter panel on the passenger side of the car, police said.----...More

Sheriff: Bailiff unknowingly sold stolen wreaths

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) -- The Hillsborough County sheriff said a court bailiff sold stolen Christmas wreaths in the lobby of the Superior Court in Manchester. Sheriff James Hardy said the bailiff sold the wreaths after being asked to do so by an elderly woman who told the bailiff she had made them---...More

Mom of Ohio suspect: Pipe bombs are his hobby

AKRON - The mother of a former doctor accused of making pipe bombs in his northeast Ohio apartment says her son made the bombs to detonate in remote areas as a hobby. On Thursday, Mark Campano was ordered held without bond on a federal charge of illegal possession of a destructive device. Campano was taken into custody Nov. 23 after two explosions at his apartment complex in Cuyahoga Falls. Authorities say they seized about 35 pipe bombs plus firearms and ammunition.--...More

Man allegedly assaults wife over snow shoveling

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) -- Police arrested a man who allegedly assaulted his wife when she refused to help him shovel snow. Officers said they went to the residence early Wednesday afternoon after the 44-year-old woman said her husband struck her in the head with his chest and attempted to pull her out of the house---...More

Dutch man reports theft of Ecstasy pill collection

AMSTERDAM (AP) -- A man who said he spent two decades collecting Ecstasy pills of all colors and shapes as a hobby has turned to police for help after they were stolen - because he said some of them are poisonous---...More

Fla. woman accused of hitting man with raw steak

DUNNELLON, Fla. (AP) -- A 53-year-old was arrested after allegedly hitting a man in the head with a raw steak. According to a Marion County Sheriff's Office report, the man told deputies Elsie Egan repeatedly hit him with the uncooked meat and slapped his face after he refused a piece of sliced bread. The man said he wanted a bread roll---...More

Man Carves Tunnel for 14 Years to Park Near House

India - A man in India has proved that nothing?s impossible, not when you have the willpower and the right equipment. Frustrated with a hilly range that blocked easy access to his home, Ramchandra Das, a villager from Kewati, eastern Bihar, slugged away at the rocky mountain for 14 years creating a small tunnel. The tunnel, measuring 10 m in length and 4 m width, finally enabled Das to park his truck by his home. Prior to this, there was no convenient way for him to drive his vehicle to his house. ?I could not park my truck near my house since the mountain blocked my path. I had to leave my truck miles away, so I decided to do something about it myself.? ---...More

Scantily-clad 'David' decked out as St. Nick

BIG SPRING, Texas (AP) -- A Texas homeowner who adorned his front lawn with Michelangelo's "David" as a scantily clad Santa got more than just jolly laughs from his neighbors. Barry McBee said he was aiming to make people chuckle by adding a Santa hat and white beard to the 5-foot-tall replica of the Renaissance statue with six-pack abs - an image at odds with usual depictions of a fat, jolly St. Nick---...More

Iowa Kmart workers open tin can, find $10,000

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- When employees of a Des Moines Kmart store finally opened a red tin can that had been sitting on the customer service counter for four days, they got a $10,000 surprise. The can contained $10,380 in assorted bills. Employees called police after opening the can Friday---...More

Tenn. man arrested for allegedly drunk-dialing 911

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP) -- A Middle Tennessee man was arrested after police said he drunk-dialed 911 and has called police 47 times over the last year. Murfreesboro police arrested a 57-year-old man on Thursday after police responded to an emergency call to find him intoxicated in his home. According to the police report, officers asked him why he called 911 and he replied that he was "just drunk.".---...More

Police jail man for rubbing burger in wife's face

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (AP) -- A 25-year-old Port St. Lucie man was arrested for allegedly rubbing a hamburger on his wife's face during an argument. Police said Daniel Boss and his wife got into it late Thursday night and started calling each other names. At some point, the woman apparently poured soda on Boss' hamburger, causing him to grab the sandwich, rub it in her face and start throwing food---...More

Ind. man caught on bike with stolen Christmas tree

PORTAGE, Ind. (AP) -- Authorities said they caught an Indiana man riding a bike while balancing a stolen Christmas tree across the handlebars. Police in Portage said they spotted 48-year-old Phillip Menefee about 1 a.m. Friday riding the bike equipped with a homemade motor but no lights. Police had been investigating motor noise near a Christmas tree lot---...More

Australia?s kangaroo, emu ?Coat of Arms? chips

Australia - Some Australians are up in arms over a new kangaroo and emu flavored chip, horrified that people are encouraged to eat the nation?s coat of arms which depicts the iconic Australian animals. Complaints to Australia?s Advertising Standards Bureau said the ?BBQ Coat of Arms? chips were degrading for native wildlife and sent the wrong message to Australian children, reported the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper. ?It implies that it is perfectly OK to kill kangaroos and emus just for fun!? said one complaint. But the company manufacturing the chips rejected the charge, saying the kangaroo and emu flavored chips celebrated Australia?s heritage.---...More

Gambler Blew $127 Million - They made him do it

LAS VEGAS, Nevada - During a year-long gambling binge at the Caesars Palace and Rio casinos in 2007, Terrance Watanabe managed to lose nearly $127 million. The run is believed to be one of the biggest losing streaks by an individual in Las Vegas history. It devoured much of Mr. Watanabe?s personal fortune, he says, which he built up over more than two decades running his family?s party-favor import business in Omaha, Neb. It also benefitted the two casinos? parent company, Harrah?s Entertainment Inc., which derived about 5.6% of its Las Vegas gambling revenue from Mr. Watanabe that year. In a civil suit filed in Clark County District Court last month, Mr. Watanabe, 52 years old, says casino staff routinely plied him with liquor and pain medication as part of a systematic plan to keep him gambling.

Britain pulls the plug on its UFO hotline

LONDON (AP) -- Britain's military has closed a hotline that took reports of unidentified flying objects, or UFOs, after determining that the money is better spent in Afghanistan---...More

'Elf' jailed over dynamite hoax on Ga. mall Santa

MORROW, Ga. (AP) -- A man dressed as an elf is jailed after police in Georgia say he told a mall Santa that he was carrying dynamite---...More

Deer swims Hudson River from New Jersey to New York

New York - A scrappy young buck desperate to hoof it out of New Jersey swam some 2,000 yards to the Empire State on Tuesday afternoon. Cops were on the lookout after reports of a deer roaming downtown Jersey City started coming in. A police boat in New York Harbor spotted the deer running along the rocky shore of Governors Island about 1:30 p.m. and sped to the rescue. Cops shot the 10-point buck with a tranquilizer and hauled him off to a nature preserve near the southwest shore of Staten Island.----...More

Parents ditched kids to shop

COMMERCE, Georgia - Authorities in Georgia said two people were arrested for allegedly leaving their young children alone at a Wal-Mart so they could go shopping. Police said Mario Navarro, 35, and Elias Esmeralda, 31, left their children, ages 9 and 9 months, in a shopping cart at the Commerce, Ga., Wal-Mart at 7 a.m. on Black Friday and left the retail outlet to do more shopping. Witnesses said Wal-Mart employees paged the parents for 45 minutes---...More

Cops: Woman makes threat to help boss make flight

MIAMI (AP) -- A South Florida woman has been charged with calling in a bomb threat to keep her boss from missing a flight. An arrest report said a 31-year-old woman was charged Thursday with making a false report of planting a bomb. Miami International Airport officials received a call and an e-mail Wednesday claiming that a bomb was on an American Airlines plane. Police searched the specified aircraft but didn't find a bomb---...More