Eighteen die while mushroom picking

Italy - Eighteen people died while mushroom picking in Italy in little more than a week - but not from inadvertently eating poisonous fungi. The victims were killed by falling into rocky crevasses and gorges or from similar physical mishaps while undertaking the popular pastime...More

Man accused of rape fires himself as his lawyer

Iowa - Jack Leonard Hays held on to his right to act as his own defense attorney in court while facing sexual assault and burglary charges - until the final hours before his trial. Hays - who is accused of raping an acquaintance - abruptly fired himself as his own counsel during a court appearance. For months, he had attempted to mount his own defense with only a paralegal certificate earned online and work in a prison law library as his legal experience..More

Police bust Paris "booby" trap gang (Reuters)

Reuters - French police have arrested two teenage girls they say stole hundreds of euros from unsuspecting cash machine customers after distracting them by flashing their breasts.---...More

Comic character's McDonald's binge sparks Gallic outcry (Reuters)

Reuters - A new McDonald's ad featuring Gallic champion Asterix enjoying a burger and fries has sparked outrage among French comic purists who see it as an insult to their national heritage.---...More

3rd trip to Texas death chamber for grieving dad

Huntsville, Texas - Randy Ertman knows the road to the Texas death chamber too well. He’s set to make the trip again, to witness for the third time the execution of one of the gang members responsible for the rape and murder of his teenage daughter and her schoolmate. This time, it will be the lethal injection on of Peter Anthony Cantu, the leader of the five young men who were sentenced to die for the June 1993 murders of 14-year-old Jennifer Ertman and 16-year-old Elizabeth Pena. It’s not lost on him that Cantu has lived in prison longer than Jennifer and Elizabeth were alive.---...More

Skateboarding priest becomes YouTube hit (Reuters)

Reuters - A Hungarian Roman Catholic priest has become a YouTube hit with his distinctive method of spreading the word on wheels.
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Women find men in red more appealing?

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Men wanting to catch the eye of women should dress in red, a color which new research shows makes them more alluring to the opposite sex.
Women in the United States, England, Germany and China said they found men pictured wearing red, or framed in red, more sexually attractive than in other colors, the research published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology showed....More

Kama Sutra Ancient sex guide published as audio book

LONDON (Reuters) – Too shy to read the Kama Sutra on the train during rush hour? Just take out your headphones.
The ancient sex guide dating back 1,600 years has been published as an audio book for the first time in its long history in what its British-based publisher described as a "perfect meeting of ancient history and modernity."
"Now there's no need to feel embarrassed by reading a copy of this wonderful and important book in public -- simply download it on to your mp3 player and liven up your commute to work," said Simon Petherick, managing director of Beautiful Books...More

Jet Blue flight attendant freaks out!

New York - A frustrated JetBlue flight attendant allegedly fled his plane via emergency shoot — beer in hand — after getting into a fight with a passenger and then cursing out the entire cabin over a loudspeaker. One of the passengers apparently got out of his seat to grab a bag from an overhead compartment and they got into an argument. ---...More

Stupid News-Hanging flower baskets branded a safety hazard

UK - Linda Martin, 68, had hung the floral displays around the centre of Wilton, Wiltshire, in an attempt to brighten up the area. But she was told they must be removed as they breached health and safety rules. Officials were concerned that shoppers could bump their heads as they passed under them. The ruling followed an earlier dictat which banned the grandmother from placing floral displays on the ground in case pedestrians tripped over them.---...More

Sex job ads banned at employment offices

Such a ban had previously been in place at the taxpayer-funded employment exchanges but that changed seven years ago when Ann Summers, a sex toys and suggestive lingerie retailer, successfully argued ---...More

Stupid News-EPA to Crack Down on Farm Dust

OKLAHOMA CITY - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is considering a crackdown on farm dust, so senators have signed a letter addressing their concerns on the possible regulations. “We respect efforts for a clean and healthy environment, but not at the expense of common sense. These identified levels will be extremely burdensome for farmers and livestock producers to attain. Whether it’s livestock kicking up dust, soybeans being combined on a dry day in the fall, or driving a car down the gravel road, dust is a naturally occurring event.”---...More

Mail found near 60-year-old plane crash

DUNDEE, Scotland - A British geography student on a visit to the French Alps said she discovered a bag of mail from a November 1950 plane crash. Freya Cowan, 22, a Student at Scotland’s University of Dundee who was in the Alps researching global warming, said she found a mailbag from the Malabar Princess, an Air India Lockheed Constellation that took off from London in 1950 and crashed en route to Geneva. ---...More

Australia Witch:Your laws don’t apply to me

Australia - A self-proclaimed witch told a traffic cop she was not subject to earthly laws as she was “a being from another world”. “Your laws and penalties don’t apply to me. I’m not accepting them, I’m sorry, I must go, thank you,” Eilish De Avalon said, driving off with the officer’s arm caught in her driver’s side door. “De Avalon was a suspended driver and that is why she took off,” Leading Senior Constable Geoff Lamb said.---...More

Stupid News:Pub launches menu for dogs

UK - For dogs around the country, a walk to the pub has long been rewarded with only a dish of water and the odd tantalising tid-bit. But now they can tuck into a meal of their own as Butcher’s Pet Care, in partnership with gastropub chain Brakspear, offers a tasty range of pub lunches for dogs. Now dog owners can sit down to lunch happy in the knowledge their dog is enjoying their meal as much as they are....More

Police nab bandit who used underwear as mask (Reuters)

Reuters - An unemployed woman who said she was desperate for money has been arrested on charges she robbed an Oklahoma McDonald's with a white stretch girdle wrapped around her face as a makeshift mask....More

Store to sell ‘plus size’ clothes to three-year-olds

UK - Marks and Spencer has begun selling “plus-size” clothing for children as young as three in an attempt to dress a new generation with bulging waistlines. Health campaigners said the decision by the High Street giant demonstrated the scale of the obesity epidemic affecting Britain’s “overindulged” children, with one in four children now classed as obese or overweight by the time they start primary school. The retailer said it began a trial of the “plus fit” range last week, in an attempt to meet consumer demand. ---...More

Air France attendant held for robbing passengers (Reuters)

Reuters - French police have arrested an Air France stewardess on suspicion of stealing thousands of euros in cash, cards and jewelry as passengers slept on long haul flights, a newspaper reported on Tuesday....More

Bridge game fights "led man to murder wife" Reuters

Reuters - A British man murdered his wife after constant arguments about her ability to play bridge, a court heard Tuesday. Stephen Green, 52, is accused of stabbing his wife Carole to death in January, after fights about her card playing...More

Woman Rushed to Hospital With Ulcer Delivers Baby Boy

UK - Lisa Witchalls was told she would never be able to have children. So, it was quite a shock when she was rushed to the hospital with what she thought was an ulcer, and delivered a healthy baby boy just hours later, the London Evening Standard reported. The 25-year-old was admitted to Queen’s Hospital in Essex, England after experiencing intense stomach pains. Doctors checked her blood pressure and performed two pregnancy tests. Both were positive.---...More

China warns tourists on "forced shopping" in Hong Kong (Reuters)

Reuters - China's National Tourism Administration has issued an advisory on travel to Hong Kong after a video of mainland tourists being insulted and "forced to shop" by a Hong Kong tour guide sparked outrage on the Internet.---...More

Stupid News Headlines Pictures

Woman, 75, crashes into store for 2nd time

Georgia - Police in Atlanta said a 75-year-old woman who drove her car through the front of a liquor store told officers it was the second time she had done so. Investigators said Constance Chapman, 75, drove her Mazda Miata through the front window of Green’s store at about 3:15 p.m., shattering 1,500 bottles of alcohol, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported....More

Corporate "firewalk" ends with burnt feet in Italy

Reuters - A "motivation day" organized by one of Italy's biggest real estate agencies ended in tears and scars when nine staff had to be treated in hospital after walking barefoot on a bed of hot coals.
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Holy War on Haircuts

Iran - It’s something like a holy war on haircuts. Iran’s Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance has issued a directive banning ‘decadent’ hairstyles for men, restricting barber shops to only certain kinds of cuts. The primary target: spiky, gelled hairdos associated with rebellious youths, corrupted by Western influence. It’s a style that was commonly seen on the front line of last year’s post-election protests. ---...More

Does Scientology Force Abortions On Its Pregnant Members?

Scientologists just can't catch a break. People were angry when John Travolta dropped them off in Haiti to touch people. They are accused of covering up child rape. And now, former members are saying they were pressured into having abortions.---...More