US-ODD Summary

Man robbed of $2 million bank withdrawal

TAIPEI , said a police investigation official surnamed Chang.

Using your plastic for plastic surgery..

CARACAS - Unfazed by a recession and rampant inflation, image-conscious Venezuelans show no signs of cutting back on the facelifts, liposuction, and breast augmentation that have become de rigueur beauty treatments. "There is never a question of not doing it, but of how you can do it. We all want to get everything done," said Helen Patino, a 37-year-old former model who had her first breast augmentation when she was 21 and her third about three months ago.

Hitler's favorite car makes comeback?

BERLIN - A car expert says he has tracked down Hitler's favorite Mercedes to a garage near the town that helped the Austrian-born Fuehrer become a German citizen. Classic cars specialist Michael Froehlich said he found the bullet-proof touring car after charting its postwar travels from Austria to Las Vegas and back to Munich, where Hitler burst onto the political scene with a failed putsch in 1923.

Cops on trail of "gingerbread town" vandals

OSLO - The people of Bergen rolled out the cookie dough Monday as local police tried to sniff out vandals who destroyed the Norwegian city's traditional Christmas decoration -- a town of gingerbread houses. Saturday vandals entered a massive tent in central Bergen and crushed most of the 650-cookie-house town, topping off the ruins with paint and fire extinguisher foam.

Judge blocks law allowing guns in bars

NASHVILLE, Tennessee - A judge on Friday blocked a Tennessee law that allowed people to bring handguns into restaurants and bars. The law that took effect in July allowed handgun owners with permits to pack their pistols in places serving alcohol, providing the establishments made more than half their profits from food.

Don't kiss Santa, he may have the flu

BUDAPEST - Santa Claus should avoid kissing children and shaking their hands to prevent spreading the flu and should get vaccinated against the illness, Hungary's state health authority said. In a recommendation issued over the weekend and posted on its official website www.antsz.hu, the authority did not ban traditional Santa Claus activities but warned of increased risks of contagion due to a nationwide flu epidemic.

Darwin book worth up to $100,000 found on shelf

LONDON . Christie's auctioneer will offer the book on Tuesday, the 150th anniversary of its original publication.

Aging Santa gets $100,000 facelift for Christmas

WELLINGTON tall fiberglass Santa has been among the festive decorations in Auckland since 1960 but in recent years began to struggle with one of his eyes that was made to wink and a mechanical figure that moved in a welcoming gesture.

Gang accused of killing to sell human fat

LIMA - Peruvian police said on Thursday they had broken up a gang that allegedly killed dozens of people and sold their fat to buyers who used it to make cosmetics. Four Peruvians were arrested on suspicion of kidnapping, murder and trafficking in human fat.

Diplomats arrested for cigarette smuggling

STOCKHOLM - Swedish police have arrested two North Korean diplomats on suspicion of smuggling 230,000 cigarettes into the Nordic country, the Swedish Customs Office said Friday. The pair, a man and a woman who have diplomatic status in Russia, were stopped by Swedish customs officers Wednesday morning as they drove off a ferry from Helsinki, the Finnish capital.