Art student hid among Terracotta Warriors

A German art student hid among China's famed Terracotta Warriors for a prank at a world heritage site.

Pablo Wendel, 26, jumped into a pit to join about 2,000 ancient life-size pottery warriors and horses in Xi'an.

He wore a uniform identical to those once worn by Emperor Qinshihuang's warriors and had even brought a plinth to stand on.

Wendel stood there, motionless and unblinking, for a couple of minutes until police found him, reports the Xinhua news agency.Officers tried to persuade him to leave but when he persisted with his pose they picked up the prostrate figure and carried him out.

Wendel said: "I have always dreamed of disguising myself as a terracotta warrior among the real ones".

He had his costume confiscated and was sent back to the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, where he is studying performance art. Police said his actions warranted only "serious criticism and education" since he did not cause any damage.

Man, 29, passes for toddler

A businessman flew from Britain to Amsterdam on his two-year-old daughter's passpart.

Mark Coshever, 29, was allowed through airport security and on to a plane after picking up the wrong passport at home.

He did not realise the mistake until his easyJet flight from Luton touched down at Amsterdam, reports the Mirror.

Mark, 29, said: "I was shocked that I could fly to a major international airport on a child's passport."

Airline staff had twice examined his passport and failed to notice the photo was that of toddler Alicia.

Mark, from Rayleigh, Essex, added: "Fortunately I had my driving licence, which has my photo."

A spokesman for easyJet said: "Staff misread Mr Coshever's passport and have been disciplined."

Millimetres from instant death

QUEENSLANDER Chaz White vividly remembers the steak knife flying straight at his eye.

"For a split second I could see the tip of the blade coming towards me," he said.

There wasn't time to duck and the sharp serrated blade plunged into the corner of his left eye, sliced its way behind his right eye and into his brain.

"I remember seeing the knife - I was yelling, 'I've got a knife hanging out of my eye'," Chaz, 21, said. "I could see it with my right eye and I was trying not to blink."

The knife, which penetrated 10cm into his head, narrowly missed vital arteries. Stunned medical staff marvelled at his millimetre escape from instant death.

An X-ray of Chaz's skull taken at the hospital shows how lucky he was to survive, the knife lodged in his eye socket.

Another angle from above shows just how deep the knife penetrated his skull, into his brain. "I'm told if it went in any further I would have been dead," said Chaz, from Yeppoon, near Rockhampton.

Royal Brisbane Hospital specialist Lawrence Lee said Chaz could easily have been killed. "He's really lucky the knife missed everything," the consultant opthalmologist said.

"He would have been gone if the knife had hit the carotid artery and blind if it hit the optic nerve.

"It was only a fraction of a millimetre away. "He's a pretty tough cookie."

Crazy new driving laws

A recent approval to proceed with a controversial new type of traffic offence in Texas has enraged some local folks and even had some doctors quoted as saying it is the wackiest law they have ever heard.

The local H.A.C (Health Advisory Committee) approved the new traffic offence based on 3 years of research done at the University of Texas done by the Mycology department. The new offence will be officially called “driving while under the influence of a severe cold”.

Two old women almost die after locking themselves in their car

Two elderly women are recovering from heat stroke and heat exhaustion after locking themselves in a hot car in Daytona Beach.

Police say their battery apparently died, the automatic locks failed, and they didn't know they could unlock the doors manually.

The women were trapped for nearly two hours before a passerby spotted their plea for help, which they wrote on the back of a tissue box.

Rescue workers smashed a window to get the ladies out.

Man finds his car seven months after forgetting where he parked it

MOTORIST Eric King has been reunited with his car — seven months after FORGETTING where he parked it.

Absent-minded Eric, 57, left his black X-reg Ford Focus in a space in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, last February so he could walk into the town centre.

But when he had finished his sightseeing trip he couldn’t remember the name of the residential road he had parked the car in or where it was.

Eric searched for the £3,000 motor for four hours before catching a coach back to his home over 60 miles away in Milton Keynes, Bucks.

He reported the Focus missing to police but could not make an insurance claim as it had not been stolen.

He returned to Bury St Edmunds TEN TIMES to look for his motor, often booking himself into bed and breakfasts overnight — and lost two stone tramping the streets in his quest.

He finally got the car back this week after it was reported abandoned where he had left it — in Blackbird Drive on the Moreton Hall estate.

Man who claims toupee caused attack sues

MILFORD, Conn. - A man who claims he had a heart attack during a dispute over an ill-fitting hairpiece that didn't match his hair color is suing the wig shop.

Paul Lewis claims he suffered a heart attack after refusing to pay for the hairpiece that was not only the wrong size but also the wrong color. He is seeking more than $15,000 in damages.

Lewis filed a counter lawsuit in Superior Court after Paula's Wig Boutique of Orange filed a small claims action seeking $1,200 in payment for the hairpiece.

Lewis claims he fell ill in December 2004 after Paula Wood, the owner of the wig shop, threatened to call police because he refused to pay, according to court records.

Lewis told the Connecticut Post that Wood sold him the hairpiece in a darkened room and he didn't realize it was the wrong color until later. He said he put a stop payment on a check he issued to the shop.

Wood said she has no idea why Lewis suffered a heart attack over the incident and added that he was so happy with the hairpiece when he left the shop that he "hugged me and thanked me."

She added that her shop is brightly lit and Lewis left with the hairpiece during the day.

Widow rented rotary phone for 42 years

CANTON, Ohio - A widow rented a rotary dial telephone for 42 years, paying what her family calculates as more than $14,000 for a now outdated phone.

Ester Strogen, 82, of Canton, first leased two black rotary phones - the kind whose round dial is moved manually with your finger - in the 1960s. Back then, the technology was new and owning telephones was unaffordable for most people.

Until two months ago, Strogen was still paying AT&T to use the phones - $29.10 a month. Strogen's granddaughters, Melissa Howell and Barb Gordon, ended the arrangement when they discovered the bills.

"I'm outraged," Gordon said. "It made me so mad. It's ridiculous. If my own grandmother was doing it, how many other people are?"

New Jersey-based Lucent Technologies, a spinoff of AT&T that manages the residential leasing service, said customers were given the choice option to opt out of renting in 1985. The number of customers leasing phones dropped from 40 million nationwide to about 750,000 today, he said.

"We will continue to lease sets as long as there is a demand for them," Skalko said.

Benefits of leasing include free replacements and the option of switching to newer models, he said.

Gordon said she believes the majority of people leasing are elderly and may not realize they are paying thousands of dollars for a telephone.

Skalko said bills are clearly marked, and customers can quit their lease any time by returning their phones.

Strogen says she's not a big fan of her new push-button phone. "I'd like to have my rotary back," she said. "I like that better."

Murder suspect: Goat turned into corpse

LAGOS, Nigeria - A Nigerian murder suspect accused of killing his brother with an axe told police investigators he actually attacked a goat, which was only later magically transformed into his sibling's corpse, officials said Thursday.

The man, whose name wasn't released, offered police his explanation after his arrest on Tuesday in the death of his brother the previous day at Isseluku village in southern Nigeria.

"He said that the goats were on his farm and he tried to chase them away. When one wouldn't move, he attacked it with an axe. He said it then turned into his brother," Police Commissioner Udom Ekpoudom told the Associated Press.

Murder suspects in Nigeria, where many people believe in black magic, sometimes claim spirits tricked them into killing. In 2001, eight people were burned to death after one person in their group was accused of making a bystander's penis magically disappear.

Arctic Ice Seal Found on N.C. Beach

WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH, N.C. Sep 16, 2006 (AP)— A wayward Arctic ice seal was found Friday on a beach in southern North Carolina, far from its usual habitat.

The 4-foot-long seal didn't seem to be emaciated and growled at beachgoers at Wrightsville Beach, said Ann Pabst, a marine biologist at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington. It was taken to the state aquarium.

"An ice seal, by definition, is out of habitat when it's found this far south," Pabst said.

Mums in burger backlash over healthy eating

TWO mums are organising junk food runs to a South Yorkshire school - because they don't agree with its healthy eating policy. Julie Critchlow and Sam Walker deliver fish and chips, pies, and burgers to hungry kids at Rawmarsh Comprehensive every day.

They say they have started the food runs because pupils are turning their noses up at the 'low fat rubbish' served up at the school.

And they are angry at a recent ruling by headteacher John Lambert that pupils can't leave at lunchtime to visit the local chippy - and should eat pasta, salads and sandwiches.

The two mums say demand is so great they have had to start using an old supermarket trolley for their lunchtime deliveries.

Sweet tooth bandit at large in Canada

DURHAM, Ontario, Sept. 16 (UPI) -- Police in Durham, Ontario, are looking for a woman who robbed a gas station at gunpoint, then took a tub of ice cream, along with cigarettes and cash.

Police told the newspaper, the robber, said to be in her 40's, was quite cool about everything, reportedly walking into the store and calmly informing the clerk she was robbing it.

When the clerk tried to shove her aside, she pointed a gun at him. The clerk then ran off as the woman filled her bags with cash, cigarettes and sweets.

Officers called in a K-9 unit but came up with nothing.

"This was pretty unusual because we don't see a lot of women armed robbers," Sgt. Paul McCurbin of the Durham Regional Police told the Star. "And she seemed pretty cool about it. She seemed to take her time."

McCurbin told the Star that male robbers are usually more aggressive and do not take time to pick out ice cream.

Zombie outbreak strikes Cambodia.

There has been a small outbreak of “zombism” in a small town near the border of Laos in North-Eastern Cambodia.

The culprit was discovered to be mosquitoes native to that region carrying a new strain of Malaria which thus far has a 100 percent mortality rate and kills victims in fewer than 2 days.

After death, this parasite is able to restart the heart of its victim for up to two hours after the initial demise of the person where the individual behaves in extremely violent ways from what is believed to be a combination of brain damage and a chemical released into blood during “resurrection.”

Cambodian officials say that the outbreak has been contained and the public has no need to worry.

General Ary Serey had this to say, "We have obtained samples of this new parasite and plan to learn how it starts the heart and other major organs of the deceased. We intend to use this to increase the quality of life for all."

51-Year Old Woman Strangles Hit Man Hired to Kill Her

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Portland Police say the estranged husband of the woman who killed an intruder with her bare hands has been accused of hiring him to kill her.

Michael Kuhnhausen, 58, was charged Thursday with criminal conspiracy to commit murder and attempted murder.

Detectives say Kuhnhausen let Edward Haffey into Susan Kuhnhausen's house. Detectives say he waited for Susan Kuhnhausen with a claw hammer to arrive home from her nursing job.

Haffey struck her several times. According to a court affidavit obtained by The Oregonian newspaper, she managed to take the hammer away. The intruder bit Kuhnhausen several times. She bit back.

Finally, the 51-year-old woman was able to choke the life out of him. Portland Police found the 59-year-old Haffey dead on the floor. Susan Kuhnhausen told homicide detectives she believed her husband was involved.

Marshmallow Mary Meets her Maker

A UK woman collapsed at the Western Fair earlier this week after participating in a marshmallow-eating contest has died.

A London Health Sciences Centre spokesperson confirmed the patient’s death today, but would not release her name at the request of the woman’s family.

The woman collapsed Wednesday evening after participating in a Chubby Bunny contest, in which participants stuff 100 marshmallows into their mouth and then attempt to say the words “Chubby Bunny.”

Western Fair manager Dave Taylor also confirmed the death and was quoted as saying, “Marshmallow Mary (as she was called) knew her stuff, I had once seen her put 150 marshmallows in her mouth. Just before she gasped her last breath it seemed she was still trying to say Chubby Bunny, to win the prize, but all I heard was, oh fuck!”

Chubby Bunny is expecting a large law-suit to be filed by Mary’s family. The company is reportedly going to change the rules for future contests and only require 75 marshmallow to be stuffed into a contestants mouth prior to speaking those words, which win you a free 20 lbs. bag of Chubby marshmallows.

Man needed surgery after sex with hedgehog

A Serbian man needed emergency surgery after he had sex with a hedgehog on a witchdoctor's advice.

Zoran Nikolovic, 35, from Belgrade, says the witchdoctor told him it would cure his premature ejaculation.

But he ended up in an operating theatre after the hedgehog's needles left his penis severely lacerated.

A hospital spokesman said: "The animal was apparently unhurt and the patient came off much worse from the encounter. We have managed to repair the damage to his penis."

OAP WHO FELL DOWN MANHOLE IGNORED BY PASSERS-BYS

A GRANDAD stuck down a manhole had his cries for help ignored by passers-by for almost an hour.

Clive Colins, 65, was about to open the boot of his car in a busy shopping car park when he stepped back on to a loose manhole cover and tumbled down a 5ft hole.

About 30 people walked past him, even though he was yelling for help and his head, a leg and an arm were stuck above the surface. One woman even parked her car next to him. But she ignored the retired garage owner's cries as she put the roof up on her convertible.

Eventually, the stricken pensioner managed to get his mobile out of his pocket and dialled 999. He was treated in hospital for two broken ribs, a suspected broken jaw and a leg wound that needed 47 stitches.

Clive, of Bournemouth, said: "I must have seen at least 30 people walk past within a few yards of me. I was shouting, 'Help me' and asked for someone to call an ambulance as loud as I could. But everyone just ignored me. I couldn't believe it. I was in agony and could hardly move.

"It's a sign of the times and an awful shame that people don't realise how important it is to look out for others.

"I had backed my car into a space and just got out to get something out of the boot. As I tried to open it, I stepped back on to the manhole, the cover tilted and I fell in. I landed at such an angle that I became stuck by my arms and legs.

A real-life hamburgler

Lake Havasu City police are looking for a real-life Hamburglar.

A man broke into a McDonald's early Sunday morning through a roof vent.

Surveillance video shows the man turning on the grill, cooking and eating a couple of burgers before fleeing.

When he fled, the burger bandit triggered a door alarm that a morning shift manager heard when she pulled into work nearly two hours later.

She found a piece of drywall on the kitchen floor, and another employee noticed the grill was greasy.

Damage to the McDonald's is estimated at $150.

Korean park showcases talking elephant

Sep. 13th, 2006 -- The word “attraction” at amusement parks now has a new meaning. Everland Park in South Korea has a new attraction. The 16 year-old elephant Kosik is making news and grabbing people’s attention at this South Korean park. Kosik can reportedly speak up to eight words in Korean, some of these words include: “Sit”, “Yes”, and “No”.

The trainers/scientists are unsure whether or not the elephant understands these words, but further research will be conducted. Kosik the elephant makes these words by sticking his trunk in his mouth, and wiggling it as he exhales, much like a human using his fingers to make a loud whistle.

Boxes Of Cocaine Left Behind In Rental Van

(CBS4) LAWRENCE Police in Lawrence arrested two people following the discovery of more than $1 million in cocaine in a rental van. Investigators found even more cocaine in a Methuen home along with $120,000.

Workers at a car rental agency found the drugs inside two liquor boxes in the back of the van on Tuesday morning. The cocaine was covered in transmission fluid to mask the scent.

The van was rented to 30-year-old Nicole Paquette of Haverhill. A detective posed as a car rental employee, called Paquette and told her to come pick up the boxes.

Paquette arrived at the store at short time later and was arrested. Police also arrested 44-year-old Angel Ayala, of Philadelphia, at a home in Methuen. Inside the home they found another $1.5 million in cocaine and $120,000 cash.

Paquette and Ayala were scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday in Lawrence District Court.