Offbeat
Latest stories
NY State Fair Unveils 1,500-Calorie 'Donut Burger'

Want fries with that ... doughnut?

A food booth in Syracuse will unveil the "Big Kahuna Donut Burger" at this year's New York State Fair.

W140 Full Story
Unsuspecting Brazilian Woman Prepares 'Meatballs a La Condom'

A Brazilian woman who ate a dish of savory meatballs with tomato sauce only to discover a condom in the tomato can, will be awarded $5,000 in damage, the Globo news website reported Wednesday.

The southern state of Rio Grande do Sul fined the tomato sauce maker the amount for "moral damages."

W140 Full Story
Britain's Vintage May Change Future Festivals

Dandies, punks, teds and mods dusted down their finest threads for London's Vintage Festival, a celebration of British design history which hints at a change in direction for UK festivals.

Brainchild of British designers Wayne and Gerardine Hemmingway, the three-day event at London's iconic Royal Festival Hall kicks off Friday and will honor almost a century of British music, fashion, film, dance and design.

W140 Full Story
Russian Teens World Geography Champs

They had to identify countries and regions of the world by economies, politics, latitudes -- even by a type of tortoise.

On Wednesday, the National Geographic world championship between teenagers from Canada, Russia and Chinese Taipei hinged on knowing which island has a population of about 57,000 people, with most settlements on its West coast.

W140 Full Story
Crack, The New Nightmare of Rio's Street Kids

Sobbing and playful laughter echo off the walls at Casa Viva, a rehab center in Rio that takes in children who have become addicted to crack, living on the streets like zombies among the trash.

Rio city officials have tallied almost 700 children and adolescents living on the streets who are hooked on alcohol or drugs. Though crack devastated many inner-cities around the world decades ago, it is just starting to do major damage in Brazil.

W140 Full Story
Anderson Japanese Gardens Aim for Tranquility

Japanese gardens are about inspiring and soothing the soul. And you don't have to be a gardening expert or Zen Buddhist to appreciate all they have to offer — the beauty, the tranquility, even the Zen.

Anderson Japanese Gardens, a 12-acre (4.8-hectare) wonderland of landscaping and design, is regarded as one of the top Japanese gardens in North America, along with ones in Portland, Oregon, and Delray Beach, Florida.

W140 Full Story
Necklacing Reignites in South African Vigilantism

It was one crime too many for New Brighton. Two men broke into an elderly woman's home, stole her television, and then stabbed her tenant to death when he tried to protect her.

So the next morning, neighbors tracked down the thieves, put tyres around their necks, doused them with petrol and set them ablaze.

W140 Full Story
Four Tons of Gold Ore Stolen from Zimbabwe Mine

Four tons of gold ore were stolen from a Zimbabwe mine after armed gangs staged two daring robberies, state media reported Wednesday.

The mine at Chav-Chess Farm outside Kadoma, 140 kilometers (85 miles) southwest of Harare, was robbed twice in June when armed gangs drove up in pick-up trucks, beat farm workers, and hauled away the gold, the Herald newspaper said.

W140 Full Story
U.S. Man Attempts Self-Surgery with Butter Knife

A Southern California man stuck a butter knife into his belly in a failed bid at self-surgery to remove a painful hernia, police said Tuesday.

The wife of the 63-year-old Glendale man called the emergency dispatcher on Sunday night and told the operator her husband was using a knife to remove a protruding hernia, Sgt. Tom Lorenz said.

W140 Full Story
Buttery Space Shuttle featured in Ohio State Fair

Cows aren't jumping over the moon in this year's Ohio State Fair butter sculptures, but the refrigerated exhibit does have a space travel theme.

Fair officials said Tuesday the usual cow and calf made of butter are accompanied this year by a butter space shuttle and astronaut.

W140 Full Story