NEWSWORTHY
World / Offbeat Aug 18, 2018
Florida's famed weirdness creeping into political races
by Gary Fineout
Florida's penchant for the weird and strange — often manifested in new forms of criminal behavior (think chasing people through a store with a live alligator) — is so prevalent it has created a cottage industry of chroniclers and followers. But, like a contagion that ...
World / Offbeat Aug 11, 2018
'Suicidal' mechanic steals plane in Seattle, does stunts before crashing
A "suicidal" airline employee stole an empty Horizon Air turboprop plane, took off from Sea-Tac International Airport and was chased by military jets before crashing into a small island in the Puget Sound on Friday night, officials said. Preliminary information suggests the crash occurred because ...
World / Offbeat Jul 22, 2018
Tightrope walker stuns Parisians with netless Montmartre performance
PARIS Reuters French tightrope artist Tatiana-Mosio Bongonga impressed hundreds of Parisians on Saturday with a performance that featured a walk on a rope suspended 35 meters (115 feet) above the ground in the city's hilly northern district of Montmartre. Bongonga, 34, walked on a rope suspended by ...
Asia Pacific Mar 16, 2018
Australian paraplegic aims to be first to reach Everest base camp under own power
A wheelchair-bound Australian is aiming to become the first paraplegic to reach Everest base camp unaided, a breathless trek he reckons he will make mostly on his hands. Scott Doolan, 28, sets out Friday for Mount Everest's base camp, which lies 5,364 meters (17,598 feet) ...
Asia Pacific / Social Issues Aug 11, 2017
A Melbourne cafe went viral on social media this week after introducing an 18 percent "man tax" to raise awareness of Australia's gender pay gap. The gender surcharge at the Handsome Her cafe is optional and the proceeds are donated to a women's charity, cafe ...
World / Offbeat Jul 9, 2017
A radio station's broadcast underwater in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary on Saturday attracted about 400 divers and snorkelers who listened to music and announcements advocating reef preservation. The Lower Keys Underwater Music Festival at Looe Key Reef, part of the world's third-largest living ...
World / Offbeat Jun 29, 2017
Niagara Falls daredevil riding inside inflatable ball with a boa constrictor dies; snake missing
A daredevil who died after plunging over Niagara Falls in an apparent stunt with an inflatable ball might have brought a boa constrictor along for the ride. After Kirk Jones' death, New York State Park Police found a website with a photo of him and ...
World / Offbeat Jun 23, 2017
New York man balances lawn mower on chin to set fresh world record
Pushing a running electric lawn mower for 71 meters (233 feet) is not a difficult thing to do, but try doing that distance not pushing it, but balancing it on your chin. New Yorker Ashrita Furman broke, by more than 50 meters, his existing Guinness ...
World May 27, 2017
The British inventor of an "Iron Man"-style jet suit has lofty hopes that his project, which started out as fun experiment, could become a practical tool for industries ranging from entertainment to the military. Richard Browning, a 38-year-old former commodities trader with little experience of ...
World / Offbeat Mar 12, 2017
Every March the cryogenically frozen corpse of a Norwegian man breathes fresh life into sleepy Nederland, Colorado, where throngs of fun-lovers fill the streets for Frozen Dead Guy Days, a festival in honor of the town's most famous resident. The annual three-day festival is the ...
World / Offbeat Nov 27, 2016
Haute cuisine? Santa serves up sleigh-borne dinner in the sky
Not waiting at home for Santa Claus, gourmets in Brussels are flying off aboard his sleigh to dine with him above the city's rooftops and twinkling Christmas lights. Santa in the Sky is a novel twist on the Belgian capital's Dinner in the Sky venture, ...