US-ODD Summary
Giant snake capture was a hoax?
MIAMI python in a Florida drain pipe was charged with perpetrating a hoax after wildlife officers discovered he owned the snake and put it in the pipe in order to stage the capture. Justin Matthews, a professional animal trapper, later admitted that he had "staged the event to call attention to a growing problem of irresponsible pet ownership," the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said on Thursday.
Health worker fired for hockey flu shots
CALGARY, Alberta - Senior health officials in the Canadian province of Alberta said on Wednesday they had fired an unidentified worker for giving National Hockey League players preferential access to the H1N1 flu vaccine. The controversy boiled over this week when it was revealed that players for the NHL's Calgary Flames and their families received shots on an exclusive basis one day before the province closed public flu clinics due to a shortage of the vaccine.
Wife's free handbag a "symbol of derision"
LONDON - FIFA vice-president Jack Warner is returning a handbag given to his wife by England's 2018 World Cup bid because he says it has become "a symbol of derision, betrayal and embarrassment." British newspapers reported Thursday that the CONCACAF president had written to FA chairman Lord Triesman to complain about media coverage of what was intended to be a goodwill gesture.
"Give pees a chance" student may face jail
LONDON - A university student who was photographed urinating over a war memorial was warned on Wednesday that he could be jailed for the "disgusting act." Philip Laing, 19, was charged by police after the picture, which showed him urinating on a poppy wreath following a drinking session in the center of Sheffield, appeared on a national newspaper's website.
Cheap mobile calls help more young couples elope
MOGADISHU - Somali courtship was different in Hassan Aden's day. When he was a teenager, you gave the girl's parents 11 camels and an AK-47 assault rifle as bride price and then waited respectfully. Now, the 55-year-old said, a mobile phone service that seems to be the only thing working in the failed Horn of Africa state is helping drive a rise in elopements, pregnancies out of marriage and a steady erosion of Somalia's conservative values.
Rebels ban musical ringtones on phones
NAIROBI - Sacdiyo Sheeq used to love listening to Bollywood movie songs on her mobile telephone. But since hardline al Shabaab insurgents seized the southern Somali port of Kismayu, the 25-year-old's life has changed.
Moonshine turns horse race rowdy
TODOS SANTOS CUCHUMATAN, Guatemala length of road for up to seven hours.
Scared of flying? Press the fear iButton
SYDNEY - People scared of flying can now press a button on their iPhone to help them deal with their panic. Long-haul airline Virgin Atlantic Airways has launched an application, or app, for its Flying Without Fear course which boasts a success rate of over 98 percent. Apps are a source of information, games and other novelty ideas for users of Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch devices.
Marilyn Monroe crypt auction fails again
LOS ANGELES - A second attempt to sell a crypt on top of Marilyn Monroe's final resting place has failed, with not a single bid received for the burial spot in a celebrity-filled Los Angeles cemetery. Widow Elsie Poncher is trying to sell her husband's crypt to pay off the mortgage on her Beverly Hills home. On selling the crypt, Poncher had planned to move her husband, who died in 1986, to an adjacent crypt intended for her.
Beefeaters "harassed" lone female Tower guard
LONDON - Two guardians of Britain's historic Tower of London have been suspended after a female colleague, the first woman warden in their 524-year history, accused them of harassment. The Tower's 34 Yeoman Warders, commonly known as Beefeaters -- whose ceremonial dress is a distinctive scarlet and gold tunic, white ruff, red stockings and black patent shoes -- appointed Moira Cameron to their ranks in 2007.