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Tuesday, September 25, 2012 10:27 PM PDT

Today's Odd News - Reuters News Headlines - Yahoo! News: Turkish divers "rescue" blow-up sex doll from sea Blowhard silencer, dead-fish brain science win spoof Nobel prizes Congo questions Tintin's cultural status ahead of Francophonie Unaware of pregnancy, British soldier has baby in Afghanistan Planes of the future could fly on sawdust or straw Tourist-bashing turns ugly in Berlin Publicist sues editor after NY Fashion Week dustup over seats Porn producer to recall DVDs punning on Ben & Jerry's flavors Elephants play truant from Copenhagen circus Alaska fisherman survives 26 hours floating in fish crate Morgan Freeman is alive, no matter what Facebook says Facebook pix spat sparks Philadelphia plane bomb hoax Ryanair plane disinfected after insect bite complaints Condom company fined for using French town's name Dutch province tilts at (real) windmills Chinese tourist accused of swallowing $13,600 diamond at Sri Lanka fair Dutch police release piano-playing break-in artist Swazi virgins dance in unity, defy criticism Love-triangle books a headache for France's Hollande Arizona drifter jailed for skinning cat, wearing tail UK firemen called to rescue cow stuck up a tree Man apparently attempting Bigfoot hoax killed on Montana highway Italy health minister mulls France-style drinks tax Mud runs draw the fit and their muck-caked friends "Go-Topless Day" in New York seeks equal rights to bare chests Norwegian gallery loses a Rembrandt in the mail Nepali man bites snake to death in revenge attack Gibbons on helium sing like opera stars Finn throws Olympic distance with old Nokia Pigs and squatters threaten Peru's Nazca lines Brooklyn bar owner accuses police of draining his liquor stock Smoke, donkey mascot for U.S. Marines in Iraq, dies in Nebraska Inmate mails own severed finger to French minister Driver swerves to avoid moose, hits bear instead Obama finally beats Bieber as Klout score admits real world South Africa goes big on birth control for elephants Giant Burmese python sets Florida record for size, fertility Man believed killed in attempt to escape East Germany is alive For Italy mafia fugitive, trip to the beach proves costly Teddy-bear stunt leads to EU slap of Belarus Turkish divers "rescue" blow-up sex doll from sea Sun,23 Sep 2012 11:38 AM PDT Reuters - ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish rescue workers retrieved an inflatable sex doll from the Black Sea after police were notified by panicked residents who mistook it for a woman's body floating offshore, Milliyet newspaper reported on Sunday. Police cordoned off a wide stretch of beach in northern Samsun province and sent a team of divers into the water to rescue what appeared to be a drowning woman, it said. The team quickly discovered it was in fact a blow-up doll, which they deflated before throwing in the garbage, the daily said. It was not clear where the blow-up doll had came from. ... Full Story Top Blowhard silencer, dead-fish brain science win spoof Nobel prizes Thu,20 Sep 2012 07:50 PM PDT Reuters - CHICAGO (Reuters) - Psychologists who discovered that leaning to the left makes the Eiffel Tower seem smaller, neuroscientists who found brain activity in a dead salmon, and designers of a device that can silence blowhards are among the winners of Ig Nobel prizes for the oddest and silliest real discoveries. The annual prizes are awarded by the Annals of Improbable Research as a whimsical counterpart to the Nobel prizes, which will be announced early next month. Former winners of the real Nobels hand out the Ig Nobel awards at a ceremony held at Harvard University in Massachusetts. ... Full Story Top Congo questions Tintin's cultural status ahead of Francophonie Thu,20 Sep 2012 09:35 AM PDT Reuters - KINSHASA (Reuters) - Any Tintin fan would feel at home in the small wooden shed in a back street of Democratic Republic of Congo's capital Kinshasa, where the shelves are crammed with brightly painted statues from the famous Belgian cartoon character's adventures. Friendly faces are everywhere - the tufted-haired Tintin, the bearded Captain Haddock and the bumbling policemen Thomson & Thompson - lovingly carved from wood and carefully painted in bold colors. ... Full Story Top Unaware of pregnancy, British soldier has baby in Afghanistan Thu,20 Sep 2012 01:38 AM PDT Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - A British soldier who did not realize she was pregnant has given birth to a baby boy at the Camp Bastion field hospital in Afghanistan. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) in London said mother and baby were in stable condition and a specialist "Paediatric Retrieval Team" would fly out from Britain to care for them during the long flight home. "It is not military policy to allow servicewomen to deploy on operations if they are pregnant. In this instance, the MOD was unaware of her pregnancy," the ministry said. ... Full Story Top Planes of the future could fly on sawdust or straw Wed,19 Sep 2012 10:26 AM PDT Reuters - TOULOUSE, France (Reuters) - Passenger jets could be chomping on straw or flying on fuel extracted from sawdust in coming years as the search widens for cleaner alternatives to kerosene, French scientists say. The "ProBio3" project, started in early July and co-financed by a French government economic stimulus program, aims to use traditional horse-bedding materials to develop a new kind of biofuel that can be used in a 50/50 blend alongside kerosene. ... Full Story Top Tourist-bashing turns ugly in Berlin Mon,17 Sep 2012 11:35 AM PDT Reuters - BERLIN (Reuters) - Tourism to Berlin is booming as never before and filling the debt-ridden city's coffers with much-needed cash, but not all Berliners are cheering the influx of visitors. Some blame the tourists, especially the young 20-something "Easyjet set" who ride the budget airline to party through the night in the uber-cool, hedonistic German capital, for a host of ills from rising rents to noise pollution. "Noisy tourists go home!" reads one hostile sign in the eastern district of Friedrichshain. "Berlin doesn't love you," say stickers plastering traffic lights in nearby Kreuzberg. ... Full Story Top Publicist sues editor after NY Fashion Week dustup over seats Thu,13 Sep 2012 12:27 PM PDT Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters) - Prized seats at celebrity-studded New York Fashion Week are so coveted that a dispute over one allegedly prompted a slap in the face. A New York publicist has sued a French magazine editor and her mother, a publishing executive, for $1 million after a fight over front-row seats at a Zac Posen show. Lynn Tesoro filed the lawsuit on Wednesday against Jalouse editor Jennifer Eymere and Marie-Jose Susskind-Jalou in Manhattan state Supreme Court. It claims "assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, slander and/or libel. ... Full Story Top Porn producer to recall DVDs punning on Ben & Jerry's flavors Wed,12 Sep 2012 07:45 AM PDT Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters) - A movie studio has agreed to recall pornographic DVDs whose titles and packaging mimic those of Ben & Jerry's ice cream. Caballero Video also agreed to stop marketing and to destroy materials used to make 10 titles in its "Ben & Cherry's" X-rated film series while a lawsuit against it is pending. Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc, a unit of London-based Unilever Plc, had sued Caballero on September 5 for trademark infringement. ... Full Story Top Elephants play truant from Copenhagen circus Wed,12 Sep 2012 07:15 AM PDT Reuters - COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Two elephants said goodbye to the circus and took a walk along a Copenhagen street packed with rush-hour traffic on Wednesday, one following the other with trunk linked to tail. Sonia, 31, and Vana Mana, 41, star turns at the Circus Benneweis, strolled down the multi-lane Borups Alle in the Danish capital for about 200 meters before their trainer caught up with them. "They were walking past the morning traffic trunk-to-tail," a police officer told Danish news agency Ritzau. Police blocked the road so the tuskers could return to the circus site unhurt. ... Full Story Top Alaska fisherman survives 26 hours floating in fish crate Tue,11 Sep 2012 04:09 PM PDT Reuters - ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - An Alaska fisherman survived for a day floating on frigid ocean waters in a plastic fish crate after his boat sank and said he kept up his spirits by singing. Ryan Harris, 19, told the local newspaper in Sitka, Alaska, that he sang songs like "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" to keep himself awake through the night as the fishing crate bobbed on the waves. Harris told the Sitka Sentinel that he gave himself a "pep talk," saying for hours on end: "I'm Ryan Hunter Harris and I'm not going to die here. ... Full Story Top Morgan Freeman is alive, no matter what Facebook says Mon,10 Sep 2012 05:37 PM PDT Reuters - LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Breathe easy, Morgan Freeman fans - the internet has once again failed to kill off the "Shawshank Redemption" star, despite its best efforts. Freeman was once again the victim of an online death hoax this week, after a Facebook page announcing the 75-year-old actor's demise amassed more than 842,000 "likes." "At about 5 p.m. ET on Thursday, our beloved actor Morgan Freeman passed away due to a artery rupture," the page reads. "Morgan was born on June 1, 1937. He will be missed but not forgotten. ... Full Story Top Facebook pix spat sparks Philadelphia plane bomb hoax Fri,7 Sep 2012 01:11 PM PDT Reuters - PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - A man avenging his girlfriend over a questionable Facebook photograph was charged on Friday with falsely reporting explosives aboard a plane that was ordered to return to Philadelphia Airport, authorities said. Kenneth Smith Jr., 26, was charged with using a telephone to convey false information about the woman's former boyfriend, who was a passenger aboard the US Airways flight from Philadelphia to Dallas on Thursday. ... Full Story Top Ryanair plane disinfected after insect bite complaints Fri,7 Sep 2012 10:16 AM PDT Reuters - ROME (Reuters) - Irish low-cost airline Ryanair said it took a plane out of service at the request of Italian health authorities after passengers complained of insect bites, and had it disinfected before being returned to service. Ryanair said on Friday two passengers who traveled from Billund, Denmark to Ciampino, Italy, had made a complaint while waiting in the terminal to collect baggage. "As the source of these alleged insect bites was unknown, Ryanair was happy to disinfect the aircraft overnight before returning it to service on Friday September 7," it said. ... Full Story Top Condom company fined for using French town's name Thu,6 Sep 2012 10:54 AM PDT Reuters - BORDEAUX (Reuters) - A maker of condoms purported to be from the town of Condom in southwestern France has been ordered to pay 10,000 euros ($12,600) for false advertising after the provenance of its prophylactics was found to be Malaysia. "The Original Condom Company" advertised its condoms as coming from the picturesque forested town on the river Baise. However a court in the city of Bordeaux has ordered the firm, run by two Frenchmen, to remove references to the town from its advertising, as only an unoccupied address could be found there. ... Full Story Top Dutch province tilts at (real) windmills Wed,5 Sep 2012 08:54 AM PDT Reuters - AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The Netherlands has been famous for its windmills for centuries but now one of its most populous provinces has said it wants to ban their modern-day incarnations - wind turbines - on the grounds that they are ugly and noisy. The government of North Holland, home to the Netherlands' largest city, Amsterdam, has authorized a giant wind power project in the north of the province and had been considering applications to construct 20 similar projects. ... Full Story Top Chinese tourist accused of swallowing $13,600 diamond at Sri Lanka fair Wed,5 Sep 2012 06:11 AM PDT Reuters - COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lankan police arrested a Chinese tourist suspected of swallowing a diamond worth 1.8 million rupees ($13,600) on Wednesday at the island nation's biggest international gem and jewelry exhibition. Chow Cheng, 32, is believed to have swallowed the diamond as he inspected it at the exhibition, attended by buyers from China, Hong Kong, Thailand, India and Europe, police said. "His intention was to steal it," Police Spokesman Ajith Rohana told Reuters. "The x-ray shows the diamond is in his throat. ... Full Story Top Dutch police release piano-playing break-in artist Tue,4 Sep 2012 01:46 AM PDT Reuters - AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch police arrested and then released without charge a homeless man who triggered an alarm after breaking into a music shop to play the piano and get some sleep. The 60-year-old man, who once studied music and is now homeless, smashed the music shop's window in the northern Dutch town of Assen in search of a place to sleep on Sunday. A spokesman for the police in Assen said he played well. "He told my colleagues he had studied the piano for seven years," Dirk Neef said. The man was released without charge on Monday. ... Full Story Top Swazi virgins dance in unity, defy criticism Tue,4 Sep 2012 12:03 AM PDT Reuters - LUDZIDZINI ROYAL VILLAGE, Swaziland (Reuters) - Thousands of bare-breasted young Swazi women paraded in front of their king to celebrate chastity and unity, dismissing criticism of the lavish ceremony in one of Africa's poorest countries for its last absolute monarch. Clad in beaded mini-skirts and clutching machetes and mobile phones, women and girls as young as five danced and sang tributes on Sunday and Monday to the king and queen mother, also known as the Great She-Elephant, in a traditional Umhlanga Reed Dance meant to celebrate womanhood and virginity. ... Full Story Top Love-triangle books a headache for France's Hollande Thu,30 Aug 2012 10:00 AM PDT Reuters - PARIS (Reuters) - Stuck with dismal approval ratings for his presidential debut, France's Francois Hollande is now having his private life raked over in a series of books that dissect the alleged jealousy between his current and former companions. Despite Hollande's insistence he wants his home life kept private, public interest has been rife since first lady Valerie Trierweiler sent a "killer tweet" in June that exposed the animosity between her and Segolene Royal, the president's partner up to mid-2007. ... Full Story Top Arizona drifter jailed for skinning cat, wearing tail Wed,29 Aug 2012 05:35 PM PDT Reuters - PHOENIX (Reuters) - An Arizona drifter who skinned a cat and wore its tail and innards around his neck was sentenced to two years in prison on Wednesday. An Arizona Superior Court judge also sentenced Russell Christopher Hofstad, 25, to four years probation on his release, the Maricopa County Attorney's office said. Hofstad pleaded no contest last month to a felony animal cruelty charge and guilty to a burglary charge. According to the criminal complaint, police arrested Hofstad in January after he broke into a Phoenix warehouse used as a music venue. ... Full Story Top UK firemen called to rescue cow stuck up a tree Wed,29 Aug 2012 08:51 AM PDT Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - A cow had to be rescued by fire services in northern England after it tumbled down a 30 meter river embankment and got stuck in a tree. Fire crews in Cumbria were surprised to receive a call to rescue the cow, which had toppled 10 meters down a slope of the river Leith before a tree broke its fall. The bruised bovine was discovered after its farmer noticed one of his cows was missing. The animal was sedated by a vet before being winched out of the tree by firemen using specialist equipment. ... Full Story Top Man apparently attempting Bigfoot hoax killed on Montana highway Tue,28 Aug 2012 04:14 PM PDT Reuters - MISSOULA, Montana (Reuters) - A man wearing a bushy, military-style camouflage suit in an apparent attempt to impersonate the mythical creature Bigfoot has died after being struck on a Montana highway by two cars, police said on Tuesday. Randy Lee Tenley, 44, was dressed in a "ghillie" -- an outfit favored by military snipers and game hunters -- and standing in the middle of southbound lanes on U.S. Highway 93 near Kalispell on Sunday when he was struck twice in quick succession, Montana Highway Patrol spokesman Sergeant Steve Lavin said. ... Full Story Top Italy health minister mulls France-style drinks tax Mon,27 Aug 2012 06:31 AM PDT Reuters - ROME (Reuters) - Italy's health minister is considering the inclusion of a tax on drinks deemed unhealthy in a spending bill due to go before the Italian cabinet later this week, a health ministry official said on Monday. The official confirmed Health Minister Renato Balduzzi may propose a drinks tax of 3 euro cents a bottle to raise revenues of 250 million euros ($312.9 million), but did not clarify which beverages would be affected. ... Full Story Top Mud runs draw the fit and their muck-caked friends Mon,27 Aug 2012 02:24 AM PDT Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters) - Mud runs, essentially military-style obstacle races in muck, might appall the neat freak but for some people mud is the medium for a challenging test of true grit and fitness. Neal Pire, owner of Inspire Training Systems, in Ridgewood, New Jersey, has trained several people for mud runs, which come in varying lengths and levels of difficulty and appeal to people who enjoy performing and withstanding the elements. "Most of the people I've seen do it are the extreme fitness enthusiasts," said Pire, an expert with the American College of Sports Medicine. ... Full Story Top "Go-Topless Day" in New York seeks equal rights to bare chests Sun,26 Aug 2012 01:51 PM PDT Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters) - Some two dozen topless women protested in a New York City park on a hot, sweaty Sunday as part of what they called "National Go-Topless Day" to draw attention to inequality in topless rights between men and women. There were topless men in the park, too, but nobody paid them much attention, a disparity, organizers said, that demonstrated the need for the event. The topless women drew crowds of onlookers who took pictures and video with their cell phones. ... Full Story Top Norwegian gallery loses a Rembrandt in the mail Thu,23 Aug 2012 05:24 PM PDT Reuters - OSLO (Reuters) - A Norwegian art gallery lost a Rembrandt etching worth up to $8,600 in the mail after trying to save money on courier and insurance costs, the gallery's chief said on Thursday. The Soli Brug Gallery in Greaaker, about 80 kilometers south of Oslo, purchased a copy of Rembrandt's 'Lieven Willemsz, van Coppenol, Writing-Master' made in around 1658 from a British dealer, only to have it lost in the Norwegian postal system. "Using a courier or special insurance is quite expensive so we have used regular mail until now," Ole Derje, the gallery's chairman said. ... Full Story Top Nepali man bites snake to death in revenge attack Wed,22 Aug 2012 11:10 PM PDT Reuters - KATHMANDU (Reuters) - A Nepali man who was bitten by a cobra snake bit it back and killed the reptile in a tit-for-tat attack, a newspaper said on Thursday. Nepali daily Annapurna Post said Mohamed Salmo Miya chased the snake, which bit him in his rice paddy on Tuesday, caught it and bit it until it died. "I could have killed it with a stick but bit it with my teeth instead because I was angry," the 55-year-old Miya, who lives in a village some 200 km (125 miles) southeast of the Nepali capital of Kathmandu, was quoted by the daily as saying. ... Full Story Top Gibbons on helium sing like opera stars Wed,22 Aug 2012 09:30 PM PDT Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - Gibbons are jungle divas. The small apes use the same technique to project their songs through the forests of southeast Asia as top sopranos singing at the New York Metropolitan Opera or La Scala in Milan. That was the conclusion of research by Japanese scientists who tested the effect of helium gas on gibbon calls to see how their singing changed when their voices sounded abnormally high-pitched. Just like professional singers, the experiment found the animals were able to amplify the higher sounds by adjusting the shape of their vocal tract, including the mouth and tongue. ... Full Story Top Finn throws Olympic distance with old Nokia Sat,18 Aug 2012 01:06 PM PDT Reuters - SAVONLINNA, Finland (Reuters) - A Finnish teenager won a mobile phone throwing contest on Saturday by hurling his old Nokia phone 101.46 meters. The annual contest is one of many offbeat events such as wife-carrying that are held in the summer when normally reserved Finns like to celebrate the warmer weather with silliness and outdoor sport. Ere Karjalainen, who beat around 50 contestants, including some who had travelled from England and India, said he had practiced only once and prepared mainly "by drinking". ... Full Story Top Pigs and squatters threaten Peru's Nazca lines Fri,17 Aug 2012 02:21 PM PDT Reuters - LIMA (Reuters) - Squatters have started raising pigs on the site of Peru's Nazca lines - the giant designs best seen from an airplane that were mysteriously etched into the desert more than 1,500 years ago. The squatters have destroyed a Nazca-era cemetery and the 50 shacks they have built border Nazca figures, said Blanca Alva, a director at Peru's culture ministry. ... Full Story Top Brooklyn bar owner accuses police of draining his liquor stock Thu,16 Aug 2012 04:16 PM PDT Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters) - The owner of a Brooklyn bar is suing New York City after police emptied the bar's entire stock of alcohol down the drain in a liquor license dispute, according to court papers. David Kelleran, 51, claimed in his lawsuit that the police's Prohibition-style tactics violated state law and trampled on his rights. And, in any case, the police got the wrong address. Kelleran, who owns the restaurant called 68, is seeking an unspecified amount of damages for the loss of alcohol worth "thousands of thousands" of dollars, his attorney Craig Trainor said on Thursday. ... Full Story Top Smoke, donkey mascot for U.S. Marines in Iraq, dies in Nebraska Thu,16 Aug 2012 10:04 AM PDT Reuters - (Reuters) - Smoke, the Iraqi donkey whose journey from a desert battleground to a peaceful retirement in the United States captured the attention of the world, has died in Nebraska. Smoke became lethargic and died this week after frolicking with miniature horses at Miracle Hills Ranch and Stable north of Omaha. Smoke had served as an equine therapy animal to help veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder. Smoke's Facebook page has friends from around the world. Smoke was taken in by U.S. Marines after he showed up malnourished and wounded at Camp Taqaddum in Anbar province in 2008. ... Full Story Top Inmate mails own severed finger to French minister Thu,16 Aug 2012 08:53 AM PDT Reuters - PARIS (Reuters) - An inmate in a French jail has mailed part of his own severed finger to the justice minister hoping the desperate gesture would help his plea to be moved to another prison, officials said on Thursday. An envelope containing the chunk of finger was delivered on Thursday to the offices of Justice Minister Christiane Taubira, accompanied by a letter arguing for a transfer to a jail nearer to the inmate's family, a police official said. A Justice Ministry spokesman confirmed a piece of finger had been delivered. ... Full Story Top Driver swerves to avoid moose, hits bear instead Thu,16 Aug 2012 05:38 AM PDT Reuters - OSLO (Reuters) - A Norwegian driver who swerved his car on a rural road to avoid running into a moose hit a bear instead, authorities said on Thursday. The driver spotted the moose on a country road near Hanestad, 225 kilometers north of Oslo, around midnight on Wednesday, and tried to go around the animal, not realizing that a bear was also nearby. "The driver had lost a bit of speed as he tried to avoid the moose before hitting the bear," said Svein Erik Bjorke of the local wildlife authority, who was out in the forest searching for the wounded animal. ... Full Story Top Obama finally beats Bieber as Klout score admits real world Wed,15 Aug 2012 07:47 AM PDT Reuters - SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Until recently, Justin Bieber was more influential than Barack Obama -- at least in the world of Klout, the controversial Web startup that claims to measure people's online influence using an algorithm. Not anymore. Klout said it has overhauled its website and rejigged its algorithms, mostly by pulling in data from Wikipedia entries, to better reflect a person's status in the real world. The move toward calculating offline influence is a tricky but expected step for a company that divides opinion, and gets tongues wagging, like practically no other in Silicon Valley. ... Full Story Top South Africa goes big on birth control for elephants Wed,15 Aug 2012 04:23 AM PDT Reuters - JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A South African province home to thousands of elephants is planning a birth control campaign for the pachyderms to prevent a population explosion that could threaten plants and wildlife. Unlike other parts of Africa where elephant stocks have dwindled to dangerously low levels due to poaching and a loss of habitat, South Africa has seen its populations steadily grow through conservation, with the country pressed for room to house the massive animals with hefty diets. ... Full Story Top Giant Burmese python sets Florida record for size, fertility Tue,14 Aug 2012 12:36 PM PDT Reuters - ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - A Burmese python found in Florida set records as the largest such snake ever captured in the state at 17-feet, 7-inches and the most prolific reproducer carrying a record load of 87 eggs, according to researchers. The previous Florida record setters were a 16-foot, 8-inch python and 85 eggs. "It was huge," said Paul Ramey, spokesman for the Florida Natural History Museum at the University of Florida in Gainesville. ... Full Story Top Man believed killed in attempt to escape East Germany is alive Mon,13 Aug 2012 12:39 PM PDT Reuters - BERLIN (Reuters) - For 31 years, Rene Seiptius had been counted among the thousands of people killed while trying to escape the confines of communist East Germany. As it turns out, he was alive all along. "I can't explain how it could have happened," Seiptius told Reuters on Monday. Seiptius first attempted to cross the deadly strip of land that once separated East Germany from the West in 1981, when he was 17. He and two friends managed to tiptoe past a row of minefields but they triggered fire from an automatic spring gun. One of Seiptius' crew died, and their cover was blown. ... Full Story Top For Italy mafia fugitive, trip to the beach proves costly Fri,10 Aug 2012 11:38 AM PDT Reuters - ROME (Reuters) - Alleged mafia boss Roberto Matalone evaded the police for two years, but a trip to the beach in southern Italy on Thursday proved to be his undoing. Accused of being part of the inner circle of the Pesce clan, one of the most powerful branches of the Calabria mob, he is married to the sister of boss Francesco Pesce, who was arrested last year hiding in an underground bunker. But Matalone, 35, turned out to be less shy than his brother-in-law. ... Full Story Top Teddy-bear stunt leads to EU slap of Belarus Fri,10 Aug 2012 10:20 AM PDT Reuters - BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belarus's relations with the West took a turn for the worse on Friday as EU governments agreed to reprimand Minsk for expelling the Swedish ambassador in a row over a pro-democracy stunt involving an air drop of teddy bears on Belarus's territory. At an emergency meeting in Brussels, senior envoys of European Union states said the dispute, in which Belarus also withdrew its embassy staff from Sweden, would damage the bloc's already strained relations with the government of President Alexander Lukashenko. ... Full Story Top

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