US-ODD Summary

Miss England gives up crown over brawl reports

LONDON - Beauty pageant winner Miss England gave up her title on Friday after reports she had been involved in a nightclub brawl with another beauty queen. Rachel Christie, niece of former British Olympic gold medal sprinter Linford Christie, was arrested earlier this week after allegedly getting into a fight with Miss Manchester, Sara Jones, at a club in the northern English city, newspapers reported.

Driver suspected in Bank of France van heist

LYON, France after the man vanished, apparently after first clearing out his flat. The van disappeared early on Thursday after the three-member crew took delivery of the cash at a branch of the Bank of France in the southeastern city of Lyon.

Man makes living by selling the shirt on his back

NEW YORK - A T-shirt a day has kept unemployment at bay for an American man who is making about $85,000 a year by selling advertising space on his torso. Jason Sadler, 26, a former marketing professional from Florida, founded his own company, www.iwearyourshirt.com, in 2008 with the idea to wear a T-shirt supplied by any company and then use social media tools to promote the firm.

Giant snake capture was a hoax?

MIAMI python in a Florida drain pipe was charged with perpetrating a hoax after wildlife officers discovered he owned the snake and put it in the pipe in order to stage the capture. Justin Matthews, a professional animal trapper, later admitted that he had "staged the event to call attention to a growing problem of irresponsible pet ownership," the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said on Thursday.

Health worker fired for hockey flu shots

CALGARY, Alberta - Senior health officials in the Canadian province of Alberta said on Wednesday they had fired an unidentified worker for giving National Hockey League players preferential access to the H1N1 flu vaccine. The controversy boiled over this week when it was revealed that players for the NHL's Calgary Flames and their families received shots on an exclusive basis one day before the province closed public flu clinics due to a shortage of the vaccine.

Wife's free handbag a "symbol of derision"

LONDON - FIFA vice-president Jack Warner is returning a handbag given to his wife by England's 2018 World Cup bid because he says it has become "a symbol of derision, betrayal and embarrassment." British newspapers reported Thursday that the CONCACAF president had written to FA chairman Lord Triesman to complain about media coverage of what was intended to be a goodwill gesture.

"Give pees a chance" student may face jail

LONDON - A university student who was photographed urinating over a war memorial was warned on Wednesday that he could be jailed for the "disgusting act." Philip Laing, 19, was charged by police after the picture, which showed him urinating on a poppy wreath following a drinking session in the center of Sheffield, appeared on a national newspaper's website.

Cheap mobile calls help more young couples elope

MOGADISHU - Somali courtship was different in Hassan Aden's day. When he was a teenager, you gave the girl's parents 11 camels and an AK-47 assault rifle as bride price and then waited respectfully. Now, the 55-year-old said, a mobile phone service that seems to be the only thing working in the failed Horn of Africa state is helping drive a rise in elopements, pregnancies out of marriage and a steady erosion of Somalia's conservative values.

Rebels ban musical ringtones on phones

NAIROBI - Sacdiyo Sheeq used to love listening to Bollywood movie songs on her mobile telephone. But since hardline al Shabaab insurgents seized the southern Somali port of Kismayu, the 25-year-old's life has changed.

Moonshine turns horse race rowdy

TODOS SANTOS CUCHUMATAN, Guatemala length of road for up to seven hours.