strange stuff

From strange crimes to strange celebrity deaths, read all of the latest weird and strange stuff news stories on Newser.com

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iPhone Stolen —From Guy Who Just Stole It

'Apple picking' amounts to 14% of NYC crime

(Newser) - How rampant is 'Apple-picking'—iPhone and iPad theft—in New York City? Well, last year saw 16,000 thefts, or 14% of total city crimes. Consider a case related by the New York Times , in which the same phone was stolen twice in an afternoon. A teenage girl...

New Zealand in Uproar Over Quest to Eradicate Cats
New Zealand in Uproar Over Quest to Eradicate Cats
in case you missed it
Jan 26, 2013 7:29 AM CST

New Zealand in Uproar Over Quest to Eradicate Cats

Gareth Morgan dreams of a country where birds can flourish

(Newser) - Gareth Morgan is not a cat lover—and a great many New Zealanders apparently aren't a Gareth-Morgan lover. The AP reports on the environmentalist's quest to make the country a haven for native birds by getting rid of cats, and the outrage that has quickly followed. Morgan has...

10K Escaped Crocodiles Still Roaming Free in S. Africa

Farm had to open gates amid flooding

(Newser) - Heavy rains in South Africa forced a farm along the Limpopo River to release its animals to save them from floodwaters. But in this case, those animals happened to be crocodiles—15,000 of them, reports Reuters . Police have joined other farmers and hunters in tracking down the escaped crocs,...

Aussie Winery Pulls Out of NRA's ... Wine Club?

You can find a nice Merlot and 'defend basic freedoms' at same time

(Newser) - Who knew? The NRA has a wine club, a revelation that surfaced this week when an Australian winery discovered to its dismay that its bottles were sold there, reports the Herald Sun . The owners of Yalumbu say they have no idea how that came to be and promise to get...

Tourist Jailed in NYC When He Can't Pay Bill

Italian lawyer says he forgot wallet, but restaurant is unforgiving

(Newser) - An Italian lawyer spent Monday night in a New York City jail because he didn't have his wallet when his $208 bill arrived at a swanky steak restaurant. Both the New York Post ("Mama Mia!") and the Daily News ("Crime Rib") love the tale....

German Soldiers Growing Breasts&mdash;on One Side
German Soldiers Growing Breasts—on One Side
new report
Jan 25, 2013 8:06 AM CST

German Soldiers Growing Breasts—on One Side

Condition sparked by too much chest-thumping

(Newser) - As part of their training, elite German troops of the Wachbataillon do a lot of chest-beating, repeatedly whacking their rifles on the left side of their chests. That's stimulating unusual hormone production, according to experts. The result: The guys are growing breasts—just on the left side, the German...

Woman in Aptly Named Crazy Love Movie Is Dead

Linda Riss Pugach was blinded by her ex-lover, later married him

(Newser) - "Ours was a storybook romance," Burt Pugach tells the New York Times for the obituary of his wife, Linda Riss Pugach. You be the judge: In 1959, the married Pugach hired three thugs to throw lye in the face of Linda when she ended their affair. She was...

Bosses Held Hostage Over 2-Minute Bathroom Breaks

1K Chinese workers kept 18 managers inside factory for day and a half

(Newser) - Hundreds of Chinese factory workers held their Japanese and Chinese managers hostage for a day and a half over ... strictly timed bathroom breaks. About 1,000 workers at Shanghai Shinmei Electric Company kept the 18 managers inside the factory in Shanghai starting Friday morning until just before midnight Saturday. The...

Man Allegedly Tries to Force-Feed Ring to Fiancée

Faron Thompson also allegedly pushed her while she was holding their son

(Newser) - We can't imagine why Faron Thompson's finacée wanted to move out of their apartment, but apparently when she tried to do so, he got a little upset. Orlando police arrested the 29-year-old Sunday, charging him with battery via strangulation and child neglect, after he allegedly tried to...

New Bestseller: Novel About ... Hitler's Return

Germans apparently love it, and soon you can, too, dear English reader

(Newser) - Adolf Hitler doesn't seem like a hilarious subject, but a German writer did indeed write a comic novel about the Führer, and it's now a bestseller in the country. Er Ist Wieder Da ("He's Back") by Timur Vermes imagines Hitler waking up in 2011...

Sorry, Would-Be Neanderthal Moms: Story a Big Mix-Up

George Church says the whole thing was a misunderstanding

(Newser) - If you were thinking of applying to be the "extremely adventurous" surrogate mom of a Neanderthal baby, we have bad news for you: The Harvard geneticist who was supposedly looking for such a woman now says the reports (which Newser got in on ) aren't true. "Definitely...

Cheese Fire Closes Norway Tunnel—for Days

Truck was carrying caramelized goat cheese

(Newser) - Motorists trying to use a road tunnel in Norway's far north have had their way blocked by 27 metric tons of burning goat cheese for nearly a week, the BBC reports. A truck driver abandoned his load of brunost, a highly caramelized brown cheese, after noticing it was on...

Exotic Dancers Fight Over $1 Bill

It gets worse

(Newser) - The weird crime-blotter item of the day comes from Wisconsin's Appleton Post-Crescent , which reports that police had to break up a nasty, hair-pulling fight between two dancers at an exotic dance club over who should get a customer's tip. Bad: The tip was all of $1. Worse: One...

Huge Swath of France Smells Like Rotten Eggs

No, not permanently

(Newser) - Insert Pepé Le Pew joke here: The northwestern part of France currently smells like rotten eggs, reports Reuters . The bizarre aroma is the result of a non-lethal leak of the gas Mercaptan at a chemicals factory about 75 miles northwest of Paris. Though the leak occurred yesterday, winds carried the...

Wanted: 'Adventurous' Woman to Birth Neanderthal

Bringing Neanderthals back could save humanity, geneticist says

(Newser) - A Harvard professor has hatched a plan to bring back the Neanderthals—but he needs an "adventurous" female volunteer to deliver a knuckle-dragging bundle of joy. George Church, a geneticist who helped pioneer the Human Genome Project, says it is now possible to create artificial Neanderthal DNA from bone...

Store Robbery Foiled by ... Getaway Donkey

Bumbling thieves outed by a few 'hee-haws'

(Newser) - A trio of thieves nearly got away with robbing a convenience store in Colombia when their getaway donkey ruined everything, the Telegraph reports. The three had managed to steal tuna, sardines, rum, rice, and oil from a little shop in the town of Juan de Acosta when the donkey's...

Girl, 5, Suspended in Hello Kitty Threat

Told friend she'd shoot bubble gun: lawyer

(Newser) - Hello Kitty may be actually terrifying to some of us, but a 5-year-old Pennsylvania girl has been dubbed a "terrorist threat" and suspended from school over a Hello Kitty bubble shooter, the New York Daily News reports. The girl was waiting for the school bus when she told a...

Pics Show POWs Performing in Nazi Camp

Germany used Oflag VII-A to dupe the Red Cross

(Newser) - Photos have emerged from a Nazi POW camp that show officers performing theater and playing music—signs that Germany used the camp to help conceal the Holocaust, Der Spiegel reports. Reports of Polish officers enjoying some cultural life at Oflag VII-A, in Murnau, Germany, have circulated for years, but were...

Teacher Ducks Rape Charge by Saying 'I Do'

Leah Shipman marries 17-year-old former student

(Newser) - A former teacher in North Carolina has avoided statutory rape charges after marrying the alleged victim, the Wilmington Star-News reports. Leah Shipman, 42, was accused of sleeping with a 15-year-old student in 2009, but prosecutors reduced the charge to a misdemeanor after she divorced her husband of 19 years and...

Google: Let&#39;s Get Rid of Passwords
Google: Let's Get Rid
of Passwords
Jan 20, 2013 3:05 PM CST

Google: Let's Get Rid of Passwords

Googlers experiment with new forms of security

(Newser) - Want to log into Gmail by tapping a ring on your computer? So do Google executives who consider passwords a weak form of security, Wired reports. Google Vice President of Security Eric Grosse and engineer Mayank Upadhyay say that so far, the company is trying out USB sticks that log...

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