H2O Murder

HEADLINE: Man was killed for watering his lawn
Clip from: FOXNews.com
Date of clip: 14.12.8
Caption: H2O Murder

A MAN has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of a homeowner he wrongly accused of ignoring water restrictions.

Todd Munter, 37, of Carringbah in Sydney's south, punched 66-year-old Ken Proctor in the face as he was watering his lawn at Sylvania last October, at a time when he was legally entitled to do so.

Mr Proctor allegedly turned the hose on Munter, after he called him a "stupid old goat" for disregarding water restrictions, prompting a physical altercation.

Munter was accused of punching him, pushing him to the ground and kicking him.

Headline: Santas freak out screaming toddlers
Clip from: FOXNews.com
Date of clip: 14.12.8
Caption: Claus's Ho! Ho! Ho! Freaks Kids

He's a huge, strangely dressed man who sneaks into people's homes at night, then yells, "Ho! Ho! Ho!" at the top of his lungs. Who wouldn't be afraid of Santa Claus?

"A 2-year-old knows what a regular person looks like, and Santa ain't it," author Nancy Watkins says.

Authors Denise Joyce and Nancy Watkins know at least 250 toddlers who are. The two recently published a book called "Scared of Santa: Scenes of Terror in Toyland" that shows photos of children on St. Nick's lap -- most of whom are desperate to leave.

The project started at the Chicago Tribune, where both Joyce and Watkins work. They asked readers to send in their photos and got an overwhelming response that's still going strong. Last week, the Tribune's "Scared of Santa" Web site had 2 million hits.

Headline: Mom Accused of Selling Twins for Cosmetic Surgery
Clip from: foxnews.com
Date of clip: 14.12.8
Caption: Crazy World

A mother in the Belgian tourist haven of Ghent has been accused by her estranged husband of selling her newborn twin boys for more than $13,000 to pay for cosmetic surgery.
Marc Poppe, 48, told an undercover reporter for Dutch television that Sonia Ringoir, 31, had sold the babies to a friend to fund liposuction, the fat removal procedure. He said the couple had searched the Internet to find a quick way to make money: "It was financially attractive to us. Of course we wouldn’t do it for nothing."

Since Belgium has no law banning the sale of children, Ringoir was charged with "degrading treatment" of the twins. She was also charged with fraud after a Dutch couple alleged she had conned them by falsely offering to be a surrogate mother.

Headline: Dieting mum dies after too much water
Clip from: news.com.au
Date of clip: 14.12.8
Caption: Sad Story

A BRITISH mother of five died after drinking too much water three weeks after she had begun a water-based diet to lose weight, an inquest has heard.
Jacqueline Henson, 40, was determined to slim down from 89kg and was "over the moon" after losing nearly 5.4kg in one week after starting the LighterLife diet plan, Huddersfield Coroners' Court in England was told yesterday.
The LighterLife diet, which has been linked with water poisoning, hair loss and disrupting the menstrual cycle, suggests consuming only 2220 kilojoules a day - a quarter of a woman's recommended daily intake - for a period of 12 weeks, and drinking four litres of water a day.

Accidental Murder

Headline: Dieting mum dies after too much water
Clip from: news.com.au
Date of clip: 14.12.8
Caption: Sad Story

A BRITISH mother of five died after drinking too much water three weeks after she had begun a water-based diet to lose weight, an inquest has heard.
Jacqueline Henson, 40, was determined to slim down from 89kg and was "over the moon" after losing nearly 5.4kg in one week after starting the LighterLife diet plan, Huddersfield Coroners' Court in England was told yesterday.
The LighterLife diet, which has been linked with water poisoning, hair loss and disrupting the menstrual cycle, suggests consuming only 2220 kilojoules a day - a quarter of a woman's recommended daily intake - for a period of 12 weeks, and drinking four litres of water a day.

Headline: Death on TV Reveals a Swiss Haven for Suicides
Clip from: FOXNews.com
Date of clip: 13.12.8
Caption: Ongoing Debate

SCHWERZENBACH, Switzerland — Twice a week, on average, in a nondescript building by the railroad tracks, a foreigner comes to die.
Most are terminally ill. Some are young and physically healthy except for a permanent disability or severe, debilitating mental disorder.
Drawn by Switzerland's reputation as a trouble-free place for foreigners to end their lives, more than 100 Germans, Britons, French, Americans and others come to this small commuter town just east of Zurich each year to lie down on a bed in an industrial park building and drink a lethal dose of barbiturates.
Now the country's suicide practices are under the spotlight after British TV last week showed Craig Ewert, a 59-year-old Chicago man with a severe form of motor neuron disease, killing himself in Switzerland two years ago...

Headline: Malaysia Burglar Stuck For 3 Days In Haunted House
Clip from: CBSnews.com
Date of clip: 13.12.8
Caption: A Haunting Trail

A news report says a burglar who broke into a house claims he was held captive by a "supernatural figure" for three days without food and water.
Police official Abdul Marlik Hakim Johar told The Star newspaper the house's owners found the 36-year-old man fatigued and dehydrated when they returned from vacation Thursday.
He says they called an ambulance to take him to a hospital.
The man told police that every time he tried to escape, a "supernatural figure" shoved him to the ground.

Headline: Man Without Pants At Doughnut Shop Gets Probation
Clip from: CBSnews.com
Date of clip: 12.12.8
Caption: They called him the Streak

A man who showed up at a suburban New York doughnut shop drive-through without putting his pants on has been sentenced to three years' probation. John Greco of Croton-on-Hudson was sentenced Thursday. He had pleaded guilty to public lewdness, admitting he exposed himself while placing an order at a Dunkin' Donuts drive-through in Yorktown in February.

Headline: Man Sprays 'toilet-papering' Teens With Fox Urine
Clip from: CBSnews.com
Date of clip: 12.12.8
Caption: Urine Loaded Squirt Gun Attack

A 50-year-old man who told authorities he was fed up with teens toilet-papering his house decided to defend his property _ with a squirt gun filled with fox urine....According to police, Wagar was on his property Sept. 16 when he used night vision goggles to see 15-20 people running toward his place. He told police that he told them to leave, swore at them and sprayed them with the fox urine...

Headline: Canadian Man Builds Himself Robot Girlfriend
Clip from: FOXNews.com
Date of clip: 12.12.8
Caption: Kinky Canadian

A Canadian man, apparently unable to find the perfect woman, has done the next best thing — he's built himself one.
Le Trung, a 33-year-old software engineer who lives with his parents in Brampton, Ontario, a suburb of Toronto, says he's spent about $20,000 so far on Aiko, a 5-foot-tall female android with clear skin, a slim if shapely figure and a wonderful disposition.

Headline: Boy Survives 16-Inch Arrow Through the Head
Clip from: FOXNews.com
Date of clip: 12.12.8
Caption: It was not Cupid

A Chinese schoolboy narrowly escaped death after being accidentally shot through the head with a 16-inch arrow.
The arrow pierced Liu Cheong's eye socket, traveled through his head and lodged in the back of his skull.
The 11-year-old only survived because the arrow missed his brain.

Headline: Man Handcuffs His Wife To The Bed, But Loses Key
Clip from: CBSnews.com
Date of clip: 12.12.8
Caption: Lost The Key -Yea Right

If you love something, set it free. And if you can't, call the police. The Detroit Free Press reported police responded to a call Thursday morning by a Dearborn man who handcuffed his wife to their bed but misplaced the key.
Police used a universal key to free the woman.