Officials in Dover, England, said they were swindled by a con artist who posed as the lead singer of the rock band Status Quo.
Dover councilors said the con man -- who fled town before his true identity could be uncovered -- had them convinced he was rocker Francis Rossi. He had promised to bring celebrity musicians including Paul McCartney, Charlotte Church, and Queen's Brian May to the town's festival, Sky News reported.
Councilors said the faux-Rossi was treated to rides in the mayor's limousine and received invitations to high profile dinners and events, including a prestigious gathering at Dover Castle, in exchange for agreeing to play at the festival.
Larose -- The U.S. Postal Service announced the 7,000-person town of Larose, La., has been given its own ZIP code, meaning residents will finally receive mail at home.
Residents previously had to visit post offices in the neighboring towns of Cut Off and Lockport to pick up their mail, but the issuing of ZIP code 70373 to the community means that as of Monday, mail was to be delivered to boxes at the homes of Larose residents, The (Lafourche Parish, La.) Daily Comet reported.
Edgar Sandoval and Wil Cruz
NY Daily NewsWed, 12 Nov 2008 11:13 UTC
A 57-year-old Bronx man dusted off his karate skills Tuesday and turned the tables on three would-be robbers decades younger than him, police and the victim said.
Diogenes Angeles was walking to a pharmacy near his home in Morrisania about noon when the young men marked him as an easy target.
© Schwartz for NewsTwo suspects are escorted from Bronx's 40th Precinct stationhouse after allegedly trying to rob Diogenes Angeles who used karate he learned as a teen to defend himself.
An American woman has revealed how she was swindled out of $400,000 (£269,000) by Nigerian internet fraudsters, in what is believed to be one of the biggest cases of its kind ever recorded.
Comment: The Nigerian scams are well-known. So why do people still fall for things like this? Wishful thinking and mechanical behavior. The same reasons they believe the politicians and the news media. It goes on and on.
Greg Morsbach
BBC NewsFri, 14 Nov 2008 19:02 UTC
A manhunt is under way in western Germany for a convicted drug dealer who escaped by mailing himself out of jail.
The 42-year-old Turkish citizen - who was serving a seven-year sentence - had been making stationery with other prisoners destined for the shops.
At the end of his shift, the inmate climbed into a cardboard box and was taken out of prison by express courier. His whereabouts are still unknown.
The chief warden of the jail told the BBC this was an embarrassing incident.
The prison authorities in Willich, near Duesseldorf, said the man, who was tall and broad-shouldered, had hidden in a box that was about 150cm by 120cm.
When the weekly express courier arrived to pick up several boxes of merchandise, the one containing the prisoner was also loaded into the back of the lorry.
Wheat Ridge, CO -- Police say a beer truck driver was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving after his rig overturned on a highway exit ramp in Wheat Ridge, Colo.
Investigators said the Coors beer truck being driven by Bobby Dodge, 56, overturned on the eastbound Highway 58 exit ramp to eastbound Interstate 70 at about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday after the driver accelerated past the posted 20 mph speed limit for the ramp, KMGH-TV in Denver reported Wednesday.
Sheboygan, Wis. -- Police in Sheboygan, Wis., say a man reported a burglary only to be arrested when officers found drugs and paraphernalia at his home.
Investigators said officers responding to a burglary report filed by Justin Luecke, 28, spotted a marijuana pipe in Luecke's bedroom and marijuana stems and seeds in his living room, the Sheboygan Press reported Wednesday.
Officers returned to Luecke's home later in the day with a search warrant and found marijuana, marijuana packaging, a scale and two varieties of unauthorized prescription pills, the arrest report said.
Superior, WI -- Jim Kotera of Highland, Wis., says his 19,875-pound ball of twine is likely a world record for such an unusual collection of string.
Kotera said by collecting bits of twine from area neighbors, he has been able to amass an elliptical twine ball that is approaching 20,000 pounds and is a worldwide attraction, the Superior (Wis.) Telegram reported.
"I had heard that there were people out there claiming to have the world's largest ball of twine and I decided that I would beat them," Kotera said.
© AFPThe spoof edition fooled many readers
A fake edition of the
New York Times announcing the end of the Iraq war has been handed out to commuters in the US.
More than 1m free copies of the 14-page "special edition" newspaper were distributed mainly in the cities of New York and Los Angeles.
Another bogus story was about all Americans being given free health care.
Comment: Imagine . . . . . .
Comment: The Nigerian scams are well-known. So why do people still fall for things like this? Wishful thinking and mechanical behavior. The same reasons they believe the politicians and the news media. It goes on and on.