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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Triathlete Attacked by Crazed ... Otter

Minnesota woman bitten 25 times

(Newser) - Triathletes face some serious challenges—but bloodthirsty otters aren't usually among them. While preparing for her second Ironman Triathlon, a Minnesota woman was attacked by just such a creature, which bit her 25 times before she was rescued. Leah Prudhomme was in the midst of a half-mile swim in...

Guy 'Fesses Up to Everything in Own Obituary

Seems Val Patterson had a lot to get off his chest

(Newser) - Val Patterson died last week after a bout with throat cancer that gave him time to write a doozy of an obituary, in which the 59-year-old Utahan came clean about pretty much everything. "Now that I have gone to my reward," Patterson wrote with all the honesty of...

NZ Prostitutes Destroying Street Signs...

With pole dances

(Newser) - It seems that New Zealand's working girls have taken to attracting new customers in a rather creative way: by performing pole dances in the street, using traffic signs as the poles. The result? More than 40 bent, buckled, or otherwise busted street signs near Auckland in the past year...

Buses Carrying Olympians Get Lost in ... London

Bus with US athletes took 4 hours to cover 24 miles

(Newser) - At least three busloads of Olympic athletes arriving in London yesterday received an extended tour of the metropolis courtesy of hopelessly lost bus drivers. "Athletes are sleepy, hungry and need to pee. Could we get to the Olympic Village please," tweeted American 400-meter hurdler Kerron Clement. "We’...

London Pulls Plug on Springsteen, McCartney

The Boss blew past Hyde Park's curfew

(Newser) - Telling a spellbound crowd of 60,000 that "I've been trying to do this for 50 years," Bruce Springsteen brought Paul McCartney onstage in London last night, with the grinning duo blazing their way through "I Saw Her Standing There" before launching into "Twist and...

Kitten Survives Shanghai-to-LA Journey Locked in Container

3-month-old cat went without food, water

(Newser) - A 3-month-old kitten survived a journey across the Pacific, traveling from Shanghai to Los Angeles without food or water while locked in a freight container on a ship. The orange-and-white short-haired kitten traveled 6,500 miles before arriving Wednesday. It was unclear how many days the kitten was in the...

Couple Allegedly Traded Truck for Baby

Truck then sold for meth: cops

(Newser) - An, er, innovative take on the adoption process: A Kentucky couple has been arrested and charged with human trafficking after allegedly trading their truck for a friend's baby. Jamie and Jeremy Brown are accused of giving their truck to Heather Kaminskey, who'd recently given birth to a boy,...

Cult Busted for Eating Sorcerers

New Guinea group thought witch doctors were charging too much

(Newser) - Twenty-nine members of an alleged cannibal cult have been arrested in Papua, New Guinea, for allegedly hunting, killing, and eating at least seven sorcerers, police revealed today. They allegedly ate their victims' brains raw and made a soup from their penises, the AFP reports. The gang was part of a...

$158K Dog Wedding Sets New Record

'Puptials' raise cash for Humane Society

(Newser) - A new world record was set and plenty of cash was raised for the Humane Society of New York at a high-society canine wedding last night. The bride was a Coton de Tuléar named Baby Hope Diamond and the groom was a formerly stray poodle called Chilly Pasternak. A...

SC Funeral Home Adds ... Starbucks

Would you like a mocha to go with your mourning?

(Newser) - Think of the last funeral you attended. Wouldn't it have been so much better if you had a fresh cup of Starbucks brew in your hand? That's apparently the idea at South Carolina's Robinson Funeral Home, where mourners will find an outpost of the coffee chain beginning...

New Corporate Bonding Tactic: Juice Cleanse

Because nothing says 'team spirit' like subsisting on 1,200 calories!

(Newser) - It's a corporate trend that's likely to make your stomach growl. Group juice cleanses are apparently the hippest new way for co-workers in NYC and beyond to bond, or so says the New York Times , which spoke with a handful people who have taken part. It means partaking...

Katie Couric: Perky Face of Iraq's Spotty Electricity?

Iraq ministry uses unwitting anchor's face in marketing campaign

(Newser) - Iraq's electricity ministry is trying to put a happy face on its inability to provide adequate power—a very happy face. Around Baghdad, the ministry has erected billboards for its electricity news bulletin, bearing the beaming mug of Katie Couric. No, Couric doesn't have anything to do with...

Big Find in Case of Arsonist Who Died After Conviction

Canister marked 'sodium cyanide' recovered from Michael Marin's car

(Newser) - Michael Marin, the convicted arsonist who dropped dead minutes after his guilty verdict was read in a Phoenix courtroom, most likely took a homemade cyanide pill, say police. After his dramatic death, a member of Marin's family received a delayed email from the former Wall Street trader saying that,...

Drunk Guy Who Tied Kids to Car: I Thought They'd Like It

Because who wouldn't? Plus, other tales from the bottle...

(Newser) - An Indiana man who thought it was a good idea to drunkenly strap four kids to the hood of his car and go on a three-block joy ride has pleaded guilty to several charges. Aaron Stefanski, 29 of Fort Wayne, was arrested in May after a witness called 911. Stefanski...

Well Sure, Strangers, You Can Borrow My BMW

Hooters patron hasn't seen it since

(Newser) - An apparently absurdly kindhearted Virginia man got taken for a ride recently, when he lent out his BMW to people purporting to be travelers with a hard-luck story. The man was at a Hooters in Fairfax City, when a couple came in saying their car had broken down on the...

Teen Jumps Off Chair Lift to Escape Storm

New Jersey's Melanie Rossomando is OK

(Newser) - New Jersey's Melanie Rossomando became a YouTube sensation for her 17th birthday, though not by choice. A video shows the teen jumping off a chair lift at a beachside amusement park over the weekend as a storm rolled in and the power stopped. She kicked off her shoes and...

Home Intruder Orders Woman to Cut Her Grass

But 'intruder' turns out to be overzealous Georgia county employee

(Newser) - When it comes to victims of home invasion, you could do a lot worse than Erica Masters. The Georgia woman says she woke up one morning to find a man standing in her bedroom's doorway—to rebuke her for neglecting her lawn. "I didn't have my glasses...

Politician Pulls Gun on Debate Rival

Threat follows insults, shoe-throwing in Jordan

(Newser) - A live TV debate between a Jordanian lawmaker and a guerrilla-turned-activist deteriorated into a loud volley of accusations ... then the MP whipped out a pistol. And shoe-throwing was involved! A court is considering charges against Mohammed Shawabka after the not-so-diplomatic incident. "He was going to shoot me and he...

Cape Cod Kayaker Dodges Great White

Man has close encounter on 1st kayak trip

(Newser) - It might be a while before Walter Szulc Jr. decides it's safe to go back in the water. He was kayaking—for the first time—at a Cape Cod beach on the weekend when he saw the fin of a great white shark longer than his kayak just 10...

Cat Poop Raises Owners&#39; Suicide Risk

 Study: Cat Poop 
 Raises Owners' 
 Suicide Risk 
in case you missed it
Jul 7, 2012 7:00 PM CDT

Study: Cat Poop Raises Owners' Suicide Risk

Parasite infection linked to higher rate of attempts

(Newser) - More bad press for cat poop: A parasite found in cat feces has been linked to an increased likelihood of owners committing suicide, reports NPR . The study of more than 45,000 Danish women over the course of 30 years found that those infected with toxoplasmosis (possibly from changing cat...

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