Offbeat
Latest stories
Toe Dispute Prompts Arrest of Beauty Contestant

Officials say a 22-year-old beauty pageant contestant has been arrested in California after being caught on video walking comfortably in high heels while collecting workers' compensation benefits after saying she had a broken toe.

The state Department of Insurance said Tuesday that Shawna Lynn Palmer claimed she fractured a toe while working at a supermarket.

W140 Full Story
Australian Hospital Accidentally Declares 200 Patients Dead

An Australian hospital apologized "unreservedly" Thursday after sending out notices to the doctors of more than 200 patients telling them they had died instead of being discharged.

The error by Austin Hospital in Melbourne was spotted within hours and the doctors were contacted, but not before at least one had called a family member to express their condolences, the Herald Sun newspaper reported.

W140 Full Story
Robo-Cook: Android Restaurant Boots Up in China

It's more teatime than Terminator -- a restaurant in China is electrifying customers by using more than a dozen robots to cook and deliver food.

Mechanical staff greet customers, deliver dishes to tables and even stir-fry meat and vegetables at the eatery in Kunshan, which opened last week.

W140 Full Story
China Orders 'Patriotic' Anti-Fascist Series on TV

China has ordered the country's television broadcasters to air "patriotic" or anti-fascist series for two months from September, reports said, stepping up its propaganda efforts amid disputes with Japan and ahead of national holidays.

Such programmes are already a staple of Chinese television, but news portal Netease, citing unnamed industry insiders, said satellite channels -- which are all controlled by provincial governments -- had been ordered to broadcast them in prime time until the end of October.

W140 Full Story
Austrian Mountain Rescuers Deliver High-Altitude Baby

A team of 15 mountain rescuers accompanied by a gynecologist had to climb some 2,500 meters (8,200 feet) above sea level to help deliver a baby, police said Wednesday.

The mother, 30, went into labor in a mountain hut at around 7:00 am on Tuesday but could not be brought down by helicopter due to bad weather in western Austria's Alps.

W140 Full Story
Robots Guide Nights at the Museum at Tate Britain

Tate Britain is inviting art fans to a night at the museum — though robots, not T. rexes, will be roaming this time.

The London art museum says for five nights beginning Wednesday, people from around the world can get an after-hours tour online thanks to four roaming robots fitted with lights, cameras and sensors designed to let them move around the rooms in the dark.

W140 Full Story
Utah Nude Sunbather to Fight Lewdness Charges

A 76-year-old man who police say was sunbathing nude in his backyard next to a church parking lot in Utah has pleaded not guilty to lewdness charges.

The Standard-Examiner of Ogden reports (http://bit.ly/1uLJW30 ) that Myron Lee Kipp was in a Farmington, Utah, court Tuesday. Kipp pleaded not guilty to four counts of lewdness involving a child and three counts of lewdness.

W140 Full Story
New Jersey's Christie Takes Ice Bucket Challenge

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is proving again he doesn't mind a little humiliation.

The Republican on Tuesday posted on his Facebook page a video showing two of his kids dumping a bucket of ice water on his head.

W140 Full Story
Mickey Rourke Shows off Putin T-Shirt in Moscow

Hollywood star Mickey Rourke became the latest actor to offer his praise to Russian President Vladimir Putin when he sported a T-shirt emblazoned with the leader's face at a publicity event on Monday.

"I like this guy," said the 61-year-old star of "Iron Man 2" and "Nine And A Half Weeks", pointing to his new grey t-shirt featuring Putin in a navy cap and surrounded by flowers.

W140 Full Story
Paris Plea to Lovers: Say it with a Selfie, Not 'Love Locks'

Note to romance-struck couples strolling in Paris, the eternal city of love: please consider immortalizing your passion with a "selfie" rather than lashing a padlock to a city bridge.

That was the message issued on Monday by City Hall authorities, desperately trying to save its bridges, including the world-famous Pont des Arts, from damage from the thousands of padlocks left there by lovers to pledge their eternal devotion.

W140 Full Story