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NEWS & NUGGETS
CHINESE TEACHER AND BEAUTICIAN SUE CNN _ A Chinese school teacher and a beautician have filed a suit against CNN over remarks they say insulted the Chinese people and are seeking $1.3 billion in compensation -- $1 per person in China. The case against the cable news channel and Jack Cafferty, the offending commentator, comes after 14 lawyers launched a similar suit in Beijing alleging that Cafferty's remarks earlier this month violated the dignity and reputation of the Chinese people. Cafferty said the United States imported Chinese-made "junk with the lead paint on them and the poisoned pet food" and added: "They're basically the same bunch of goons and thugs they've been for the last 50 years".
HUMANS ALMOST DIDN'T MAKE IT THIS FAR _ Human beings may have had a brush with extinction 70,000 years ago, an extensive genetic study suggests. The human population at that time was reduced to small isolated groups in Africa, apparently because of drought. A report released Thursday also mentions that a separate study by researchers at Stanford University estimated the number of early humans may have shrunk as low as 2,000 before numbers began to expand again in the early Stone Age.
ARBY'S OWNER BUYS WENDY'S _ Arby's has a new sister. Billionaire Nelson Peltz, who owns Arby's, has finally succeeded in landing Wendy's in a $2.3 billion deal.
PAWN SHOPS SEEING GOLD TEETH, BEACHES SEEING METAL DETECTORS _ A dental gold rush is being reported at pawn shops around the country as people sell piles of gold teeth, dental caps, fillings and even bridgework to cash in on the metal's high prices. People are getting as much as $50 for each gold crown they turn in to pawnshops. Gold set a record of $1,038.60 an ounce on March 17 and has since fallen to about $920, but experts say it could soon resume its upward climb. Also hot right now: Metal detectors in beach communities. People are buying them up and searching the sand for gold.
MEXICAN OFFICIAL PICKS BLACKBERRIES _ A Mexican press attaché was caught on camera by Secret Service pocketing several White House BlackBerries during a recent meeting in New Orleans. Fox New says the official, Rafael Quintero Curiel, served as the lead press advance person for the Mexican Delegation and was responsible for handling logistics and guiding the Mexican media around at the conference. He took six or seven of the handheld devices from a table outside a special room in the hotel where the Mexican delegation was meeting with President Bush earlier this week. Everyone entering the room was required to leave his or her cell phone, BlackBerry and other such devices on the table, a common practice when high-level meetings are held. American officials discovered their missing belongings when they were leaving the session. It didn't take long before Secret Service officials reviewed videotape taken by a surveillance camera and found footage showing Quintero Curiel absconding with the BlackBerries.
A WEBSITE FOR WOMEN TRYING TO UNLOAD EX-BOYFRIEND JEWELRY _ For quite a few years now women have been able to turn to the Internet to sell gifts their ex-boyfriends gave them before their relationships ended. Sites like eBay and Craigslist are a big help, but now there's ExboyfriendJewelry.com, the brainchild of Megahn Perry and her step mother, Marie Perry. At the site (which is currently down because they didn’t buy enough bandwidth), women can hawk their jewelry and tell their stories.
UPDATE: LIGHTS OVER PHOENIX NOT UFO _ Earlier this week we told you about lights hovering over northern Phoenix. They spooked a lot of folks there, many of whom called police. The four bright red lights hovered silently over the city, changed shape after a while, moving from a triangular to rectangular configuration, then disappeared one by one. The Air Force had no explanation, and neither did local air traffic controllers. Now the truth is out there. An anonymous hoaxer says he created the UFO lights using road flares tied to helium balloons, launching them in one-minute increments.
UPDATE: KIDS CAN PLAY TAG AGAIN _ Students at Kent Gardens Elementary School in McLean, Virginia, were refining their dodging skills and polishing their recess etiquette this week in preparation for a game of tag. Three weeks ago their principal halted the pastime, saying that it had become too aggressive. Her decision set off debate among parents -- some appreciative of her caution and others wary that the restriction was excessive. Now, a committee of administrators and teachers has devised a plan to reinstate the game. After a week of "reorientation lessons on playground safety" in phys-ed classes, classroom discussions of safe recess behavior and monitoring by teachers on the blacktop, students are likely to be yelling "You're it!" today (Friday). The principal had to suspend tag after determining that it was getting out of hand, with some students getting very aggressive.
UPDATE: GUY FINDS NEW FRIENDS FOR HIS ELDERLY FATHER _ Found: drinking companions to join elderly gentleman for a friendly beer at his local pub. Mike Hammond was bombarded with offers after advertising in his English village post office for someone to accompany his 88-year-old father Jack on visits to a southern England pub from a nursing home. He offered the lucky winner $14 an hour plus expenses and, after sifting through the applicants, decided on a job-share. Drinking duties are to be divided between a retired doctor and a former military man. Mike says his dad's now going to going down to the pub several times a week -- three with his new friends and twice with him.
MURAL IN SUBWAY NOW WORTH $15 MILLION _ A mural in a Pittsburgh subway station is worth $15 million, more than the cash-strapped transit agency expected, raising questions about how it should be cared for once it is removed before the station is demolished. It would cost the agency more than $100,000 a year to insure the 60-foot-by-13-foot tile mural. The artist was paid $90,000 for the mural, titled "Pittsburgh Recollections." It was installed in 1984. The subway station that is home to the mural is being demolished as part of a $435 million plan to extend the subway.
THE EARTH IS MAKING MUSIC _ Did you know that the Earth is making music? Scientists say that the Earth is humming, generating a constant thrum of noise. And apparently, it’s not like a steady humming beat, but music with swirling loops of sounds that are so low that they cannot be heard by human ears. Scientists are at a loss to explain what is causing the mysteriously ethereal phenomena or why it’s happening.
CHICKENS MAY BE DESCENDED FROM T. REX _ Scientists are coming up with proof that today's chicken is descended from the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex. And, not a surprise, they confirmed a close relationship between mastodons and elephants. Fossil studies have long suggested modern birds were descended from T. rex, based in similarities in their skeletons. Now, bits of protein obtained from connective tissues in a T. rex fossil shows a relationship to birds including chickens and ostriches, according to a report in the latest edition of the journal Science.
GAS STATION OWNER SHUTS DOWN PUMPS TO PROTEST HIGH PRICES _ The gas pumps were wrapped in yellow caution tape on Thursday at a gas station in Mequon, Wisconsin. Signs on the pumps explained that, to protest high prices, the station wouldn't sell any gas for 24 hours. Station owner Harvey Pollack said he wanted his customers to know "we're with them and we're against the high prices as much as anything."
STUDENTS GO FOR COKE-MENTOS WORLD RECORD _ It was to be one of the biggest science experiments ever seen yet there was not a bunson burner or test tube in sight. Around 1,500 students dressed out in waterproof ponchos discovered exactly what happens when you drop a Mentos into a bottle of Coca Cola, in an attempt to break a world record. The students, from Belgium, tried to out-fizz the previous record for so-called Mentos fountains by simultaneously putting Mentos mints into bottles of the soft drink. The resultant chemical reaction shot hundreds of streams of carbonated soda into the air. The explosive record-breaking event was caught on video, which will be reviewed by Guinness.
HIGH HONEY PRICES = BEEHIVE THEFT _ The price of copper is up, and so are copper thefts. Gas prices are up, and so is gas stealing. Now, higher honey prices are being blamed for a surge in... thefts of beehives. A mysterious condition that has devastated bee colonies in recent years has pushed up the price of honey. At least one beekeeper organization, the California State Beekeepers' Association, has begun a Bee Theft Reward Program that offers $10,000 for information on anyone who has stolen or destroyed property of the group's 372 members.
| ENTERTAINMENT
TOM CRUISE WILL JUMP ON OPRAH'S COUCH AGAIN _ Tom Cruise is returning to Oprah. The actor hasn't appeared on Winfrey’s daytime talk show since his June 23, 2005, appearance where, in addition to promoting War of the Worlds, he very enthusiastically expressed his love for future wife Katie Holmes. (Here's some audio of that visit from our archives.) It’s not clear what the focus of this show will be, but it is well-timed to May sweeps, and a quick look at the calendar shows that this summer is the 25th anniversary of Cruise’s breakthrough role in Risky Business.
WESLEY SNIPES TO GET HIS OWN INMATE NUMBER _ Wesley Snipes is prison-bound. The 45-year-old actor was sentenced Thursday to three years behind bars as his punishment for failing to file his tax returns. The actor sat stone-faced -- and some people in the courtroom gasped -- when the sentence was read. Snipes said, "I'm very sorry for my mistakes and errors. I apologize to my family, the court and the community." In February, a federal jury convicted Snipes of three counts of failing to file a tax return (from 1999 through 2001, which prosecutors said amounted to $41 million owed in taxes). Thursday he received 12 months for each count.
NBC SAY NO-WAY TO O.J. _ NBC is adamantly saying that O.J. Simpson will not be on Donald Trump's next edition of Celebrity Apprentice. The network says, "O.J. Simpson has never been considered to join the cast for the upcoming season of Celebrity Apprentice on NBC. All rumors are completely false." Actually, the rumors weren't that he was joining the cast, but that he wants to join the cast.
SHIA LABEOUF PAYS SMOKING FINE _ Shia LaBeouf transformed a misdemeanor unlawful smoking charge into a $500 fine Thursday. The 21-year-old actor was arrested February 18 in Burbank, California, for allegedly puffing away on a downtown sidewalk in front of a store -- a crime in that city. The District Attorney agreed to drop the charge in exchange for the penalty.
JIMMY FALLON TO REPLACE CONAN O'BRIEN _ NBC wasn't expected to announce it until next month, but word has leaked to Fox News that Jimmy Fallon is set to take Conan O'Brien's job as host of Late Night in 2009 when O'Brien takes over The Tonight Show from Jay Leno, who is leaving as host in May, 2009. Fox News' Roger Friedman writes: "There's much debate about letting Leno leave NBC etc., but right now let's just concentrate on Jimmy. He's the perfect successor to Conan and should have just as big an audience when he takes the reins. Fallon is one of those great underrated performers."
CARMEN ELECTRA IS ENGAGED _ Carmen Electra and boyfriend Rob Patterson are engaged. Electra and Patterson -- a former guitarist for Korn -- had been dating less than a year when the rocker reportedly popped the question last weekend while he and Electra were in Las Vegas celebrating her 36th birthday. This will be the third time down the aisle for the actress, who was previously married to Dave Navarro and NBA star Dennis Rodman.
GARY COLEMAN'S MARRIAGE ON THE ROCKS _ Gary Coleman and his disgruntled bride Shannon Price are thinking about getting divorced. Gary is taking this matter straight to Divorce Court, reportedly looking for a little guidance from Judge Toler in hopes of saving the marriage before it’s too late. Look for their Divorce Court segment to air on May 1st.
BARACK OBAMA TO VISIT FOX NEWS SUNDAY _ Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama will make his first appearance on Fox News Sunday this weekend and take questions from moderator Chris Wallace. That means the "Obama Watch" clock will stop Sunday morning. The clock, posted for the first time on camera on March 16, was counting the days since Fox News first invited Sen. Obama to appear on the program.
STUNTMAN INJURED ON THE SET OF LATEST BOND FLICK _ A stuntman was seriously injured in a car crash while filming an action sequence for the new James Bond movie in northern Italy. The production company for Quantum of Solace said that an experienced stunt driver of an Alfa Romeo car remained hospitalized in serious condition following the accident Wednesday. A second stunt driver in the same car also was injured, but less seriously. The accident was the second on the Bond set in four days, after an Aston Martin being delivered to the set skidded off the road in heavy rain and landed in a lake on Saturday. No one was injured and the car was later fished from the lake.
CLAIRE DANES TO PUSH GUCCI JEWELS _ Claire Danes will soon be dripping with jewels. Why? She's the new Gucci girl. Danes was announced Thursday as the face of a new Gucci fine jewelry campaign, replacing Drew Barrymore, who did the job last year for its first celebrity ads |