Jon Stewart's humor a hit with millions of envious Chinese

By Jane Lee

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Humor may not always translate well, but Jon Stewart is picking up millions of fans in China, where his gloves-off political satire is refreshing for many in a country where such criticism is a rarity - especially when directed at their own leaders.

A recent segment on North Korea scored over 4 million views on microblogger Sina Weibo, and even stodgy state broadcaster CCTV has used Stewart's "The Daily Show" in a report, though they wouldn't let a Chinese version of him near their cameras.

Recent popular sequences have included one in which Stewart lampooned the Chinese hackers who hacked into the New York Times computer system earlier this year, wondering if that was the best they could do.

But far from squelching Stewart, CCTV even used one of his sequences on Guantanamo Bay to criticize Obama in a regular broadcast - a move widely derided by netizens.

In China, however, such criticism tends not to be welcomed by the government. Dissident artist Ai Weiwei, who regularly criticizes the government for what he sees as its flouting of the rule of law and human rights, was detained for 81 days in 2011, sparking an international outcry.

"There's nothing like political satire here," said David Moses, who studies and writes about Chinese humor.

Though the exact timing of Stewart's entrance to China is unclear, many have been watching him for four or five years, mainly through the Internet and Weibo.

"Being a journalist, you have to find out the truth," said Mao Moyu, a Shanghai journalism student who got hooked on Stewart four years ago.

"If there's ... something that hurts the public interest you have to stand out, no matter how sharp the thing is. You have to stand out and say that's not right."

Part of Stewart's popularity is that he seems cool to young people in love with all things foreign, but a thirst for satire that is not afraid to show its face contributes too, Moses said.

The closest thing that exists in China is coded references and puns that tweak official pronouncements or sound like obscenities.

"That's just shooting a finger at the government. But this is full-fledged jokes and routines about North Korea or about China and trade...It's just what they wish they could do here," Moses said.

Free translations into Chinese by Stewart's fans have boosted his popularity. In fact, one - known as Gu Da Bai Hua - now even has his own fan base.

China's thirst for foreign satire is so great that Stewart is not the only popular U.S. comic. Some Chinese say they prefer rival television satirist Stephen Colbert - although humor may not be the only issue at stake.

"I think I like Stephen Colbert's pronunciation more because it's much clearer for me," said Shanghai student Peng Cheng.

(Editing by Elaine Lies and Michael Perry)

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Paw Warz: the Force is strong with these kittens

Nearly four months ago, Oklahoma Senators Tom Coburn and James Inhofe both voted against H.R.152, the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act that eventually sent $50.5 billion in relief to victims of Hurricane Sandy. And in the flurry of last night's devastation in Moore, Oklahoma. it was impossible not to forget that fact, knowing the federal government would soon rally to the cause.

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Tourists drift away (and then are rescued) while dining on ice floe

Nearly four months ago, Oklahoma Senators Tom Coburn and James Inhofe both voted against H.R.152, the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act that eventually sent $50.5 billion in relief to victims of Hurricane Sandy. And in the flurry of last night's devastation in Moore, Oklahoma. it was impossible not to forget that fact, knowing the federal government would soon rally to the cause.

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Germans blame euro zone crisis for Eurovision debacle

Nearly four months ago, Oklahoma Senators Tom Coburn and James Inhofe both voted against H.R.152, the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act that eventually sent $50.5 billion in relief to victims of Hurricane Sandy. And in the flurry of last night's devastation in Moore, Oklahoma. it was impossible not to forget that fact, knowing the federal government would soon rally to the cause.

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Grizzly bear puts camera inside its mouth (VIDEO)

Nearly four months ago, Oklahoma Senators Tom Coburn and James Inhofe both voted against H.R.152, the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act that eventually sent $50.5 billion in relief to victims of Hurricane Sandy. And in the flurry of last night's devastation in Moore, Oklahoma. it was impossible not to forget that fact, knowing the federal government would soon rally to the cause.

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Ferris wheel ride world record broken in Chicago

CHICAGO (AP) — A manager of Chicago's Navy Pier rode the tourist spot's Ferris wheel for more than two days — 384 times, up and around — bringing the world record for the longest ride to the birthplace of the amusement park favorite.

"I thought Chicago should have that title," Clinton Shepherd said after finishing his record-breaking ride on Sunday. Shepherd, the park operations manager, spent 48 hours, 8 minutes and 25 seconds riding Navy Pier's Ferris wheel over the weekend.

The first Ferris wheel was built in 1893 in Chicago for the World's Columbian Exposition.

Guinness World Records allowed him to have one five-minute break each hour. He played hours of videogames to stay awake during the ride, and watched James Bond and Batman movies. His gondola on the wheel was specially outfitted with a big-screen TV, cushions and curtains.

Supporters followed him on Twitter. A video camera recorded the feat while volunteer timekeepers documented Shepherd's activities.

Fans could join Shepherd for a spin by making a donation to the USO. Shepherd's girlfriend rode with him Saturday for a candlelight anniversary dinner with food from a Chicago restaurant owned by Michael Jordan.

The 32-year-old Shepherd called his adventure "a very overwhelming experience" that was made easier by the support of friends, family and the city of Chicago.

"I was thrilled and honored to be able to have all the love and support I did," Shepherd said.

The previous record was 30 hours and 35 seconds. Shepherd said he didn't want to simply beat the record, "I wanted to shatter it."

"It was little rough at about three in the morning, but the more I kept busy, the better," Shepherd said.

He said his legs felt wobbly after the ride.

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Czech police seize 1 million liters of illegal booze

PRAGUE (Reuters) - Czech police found a million liters of illegal alcohol hidden in underground tanks in one of the biggest seizures of untaxed booze ever.

Police have been chasing a widespread web of untaxed alcohol makers and distributors since a batch that included poisonous methyl alcohol killed 45 people and forced the government to ban all liquor sales for several weeks in September last year.

A spokesman said officers found the illicit booze at several unused industrial sites around the steel-making and mining center of Ostrava, in the eastern Czech Republic near Polish and Slovak borders, and at a site near the northern German border.

"Under the floors, in some places under a two-meter layer of cement and rubble, tanks with illegal ethanol were found," the police said in a statement.

Video footage showed officers and firemen using an earth mover, pneumatic drill and steel cutters to reveal the storage places.

Tax evasion from the sale of the booze would amount to about 12 million euros ($15.45 million), the police said.

The Czech Republic is one of Europe's heaviest drinking countries, and the world's leader in per-capita beer consumption of around 140 liters per year. Hard alcohol made from flavored ethanol is widely available in bars, stores and market kiosks, and popular especially among poorer Czechs.

Industry experts have estimated illegal liquor make up 15-25 percent of the market.

Police said they have not charged anyone in relation with the case yet. Last year, dozens of people were charged when police traced poisonous illicit alcohol to producers.

($1 = 0.7769 euros)

(Reporting by Jan Lopatka, editing by Paul Casciato)

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Marijuana waste helps turn pot-eating pigs into tasty pork roast

By Jonathan Kaminsky

OLYMPIA, Washington (Reuters) - With Washington state about to embark on a first-of-its-kind legal market for recreational marijuana, the budding ranks of new cannabis growers face a quandary over what to do with the excess stems, roots and leaves from their plants.

Susannah Gross, who owns a five-acre farm north of Seattle, is part of a group experimenting with a solution that seems to make the most of marijuana's appetite-enhancing properties - turning weed waste into pig food.

Four pigs whose feed was supplemented with potent plant leavings during the last four months of their lives ended up 20 to 30 pounds heavier than the half-dozen other pigs from the same litter when they were all sent to slaughter in March.

"They were eating more, as you can imagine," Gross said.

Giving farm animals the munchies is the latest outcome of a ballot measure passed by Washington voters in November making their state one of the first to legalize the recreational use of pot. The other was Colorado. Both were among about 20 states with medical marijuana laws already on their books.

The federal government still classifies cannabis as an illegal narcotic, and the Obama administration has not yet said what actions, if any, it will take in answer to the newly passed recreational weed statutes.

Matt McAlman, the medical marijuana grower who provided the pot leavings for Gross' pigs, says he hopes the idea expands with the likely impending expansion of Washington state's marijuana industry.

"We can have pot chickens, pot pigs, grass-fed beef," he said.

Draft regulations issued last week to govern the burgeoning recreational-use industry seem to leave open that possibility. The rules dictate that marijuana plant waste must be "rendered unusable prior to leaving a licensed producer or processor's facility," adding that mixing it with food waste would be acceptable.

Gross' pigs were butchered by William von Schneidau, who has a shop at the famous Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle. In March, von Schneidau held a "Pot Pig Gig" at the market, serving up the marijuana-fed pork as part of a five-course meal.

He quickly sold out the remaining weed-fed meat at his shop but plans another pot-pig feast later this summer, he said.

"Some say the meat seems to taste more savory," he said.

The results beg the question of whether pot-fed pork contains any measurable traces of THC, the mind-altering chemical ingredient in cannabis.

The European Food Safety Authority reported in 2011 that "no studies concerning tolerance or effects of graded levels of THC in food-producing animals have been found in literature."

The agency also noted that "no data are available concerning the likely transfer of THC ... to animal tissues and eggs following repeated administration."

(Editing by Steve Gorman and Bob Burgdorfer)

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Texas senior, 18, bags 800-pound record alligator

HOUSTON (AP) — A Houston-area high school senior has bagged a 14-foot, 800 pound alligator — the heaviest ever certified in Texas — on his first alligator hunt.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department officials say 18-year-old Braxton Bielski bagged the record gator last week at Choke Canyon State Park, about 90 miles south of San Antonio.

The agency says in a statement that Braxton shot the giant reptile after hooking it on a line using raw chicken as bait.

Bielski's father, Troy Bielski, won a Parks and Wildlife drawing for a five-day permit to hunt in the Daughtry Wildlife Management Area. The Houston police officer says his son had been dreaming of hunting alligators for years.

Parks and Wildlife says the alligator was between 30 and 50 years old.

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A toothbrush that comes with caffeine?

A toothbrush may be able to administer caffeine. (Thinkstock)

Step aside, Starbucks. Coffee lovers may be able to get a shot of caffeine right from the toothbrush, if a patent from Colgate-Palmolive goes through.

No need for the double latte down the street: That caffeine could be administered through a patch while you're polishing those pearlies.

According to the patent application, “The present invention pertains to an oral care implement generally, and more particularly to a toothbrush that releases a chemical into the mouth during use.”

Other uses, aside from a nice boost of caffeine, include a delivery system for drugs, for weight loss or pain, for example.

The toothbrush could also be packed with a dollop of flavor, like berry, green apple, or lemon. Or it could provide an easily administered herbal remedy, such as lavender or chamomile.

The patch would attach to the head of the toothbrush, and a dose of the elixir would be introduced during brushing. The patch would last three months, according to the Daily Mail.

But having a toothbrush that does more than brush your teeth comes with risks: If you haven't had your caffeine, you could make the mistake of picking up the brush with the chile pepper pack instead--yet another flavor suggested for the toothbrush invention.

“A chemical known as capsaicin, found naturally in chile peppers, can be used to provide a tingle,” suggests the patent application.

Hello! We’re up.

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Gandhi blood sample up for auction in London

LONDON (Reuters) - Two microscope slides bearing the blood of former Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi are to go on sale in London on Tuesday and are expected to fetch from 10,000 pounds to 15,000 pounds ($15,200-$22,800).

The slides were obtained in 1924 when the father of the Indian independence movement was recovering from an appendectomy near Mumbai. He was thought to have donated the blood to the family he was staying with at the time.

"To Gandhi devotees, it has the same status as a sacred relic to a Christian," said Richard Westwood-Brookes, a historical documents expert at Mullock's auctioneers which is selling the item.

"It is an artefact which is revered by disciples of Gandhi, particularly in India and therefore that is the sort of person who would go for it," he added.

The slides are part of a larger collection of items obtained by Mullock's, which include the former leader's sandals, shawl and bed linen.

Demand for Gandhi memorabilia has been steadily growing since Mullock's sold soil samples and blades of bloody grass purportedly from the spot where Gandhi was assassinated in 1948, for 10,000 pounds ($15,200) last year.

($1 = 0.6582 British pounds)

(Reporting by Li-mei Hoang, editing by Paul Casciato)

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NASA awards grant for 3-D food printer; could it end world hunger?

Some 3-D printer food made from meal worms (TNO research)

Call it food for thought. Or perhaps thought for food: NASA has given a six-month grant to a company developing what could be the world’s first 3-D food printer. And the project’s developer, reports Quartz, an online digital news site, believes the invention could be used to end world hunger.

Quartz explains that the printer is the brainchild of mechanical engineer Anjan Contractor. Being developed by Contractor’s company, Systems & Materials Research Corp., it will use proteins, carbohydrates and sugars to create edible food products.

Contractor says one of his primary motivations is a belief that food will become exponentially more expensive in the near future. The average consumer, he told Quartz, will need a more economically viable option.

Some alternative food source options that may be used with the printer include algae, duckweed, grass, lupine seeds, beet leaves and even insects, according to TNO Research, which is working with Contractor on the project.

“I think, and many economists think, that current food systems can’t supply 12 billion people sufficiently,” said Contractor. “So we eventually have to change our perception of what we see as food.”

One of Contractor’s first prototypes will be a 3-D pizza printer, and he hopes to begin building it over the next couple of weeks. Contractor, reports Quartz, explained that it will print "a layer of dough, which is baked at the same time it’s printed, by a heated plate at the bottom of the printer. Then it lays down a tomato base, 'which is also stored in a powdered form, and then mixed with water and oil.'" Lastly comes the "protein layer."

Contractor also hopes that people will be able to share recipes via an open source coding system.

“One of the major advantages of a 3-D printer is that it provides personalized nutrition,” Contractor told Quartz. “If you’re male, female, someone is sick—they all have different dietary needs. If you can program your needs into a 3-D printer, it can print exactly the nutrients that person requires.”

NASA is certainly a believer: The six-month grant comes to $125,000. The agency specifically interested in using the 3-D printer to feed astronauts on long space voyages.

“Long distance space travel requires 15-plus years of shelf life,” Contractor said to Quartz. “The way we are working on it is, all the carbs, proteins and macro and micro nutrients are in powder form. We take moisture out, and in that form it will last maybe 30 years.”

The 3D food printer schematic (SMRC)

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Daring ‘dambuster’ WWII mission remembered with vintage flight

Aviation enthusiasts and military veterans crowded together outside Sheffield, England, to mark the 70th anniversary of one of World War II's most memorable air assaults—Operation Chastise, more popularly known as the "dambusters" mission.

Vintage airplanes, including a Lancaster bomber, recreated a daring run Thursday that combined courageous flying with ingenious military creativity.

On the night of May 16, 1943, a squadron of modified British Lancasters took off for a secret, overnight mission into the heart of Nazi Germany. Their payload was a top-secret bomb designed to target dams.

Germany's Ruhr basin dams held back water above some of Hitler's prime industrial heartland. It was hoped destroying them would cripple the Nazi war machine and bring a speedy conclusion to the war. The problem was, how to do it? Dams are tiny and tough targets for planes carrying regular bombs, and the Germans had installed nets to prevent torpedo attacks.

Sir Barnes Wallis, a scientist, thought he had a way of tackling both problems. He proposed hurling explosives with a tremendous backspin out of a plane, bouncing them over the lake and sinking them in the nets next to the dam, to detonate at depth where the structure was most vulnerable. Planes would have to approach the dams low and fast, 60 feet off the water. Instruments failed at that altitude, so planes were equipped with crossing spotlights that converged at 60 feet.

The execution of this daring mission fell to the 617 Squadron, a group of pilots which had hosted an American, the broad-chested Joseph C. McCarthy, a Bronx kid who was so eager to fight he joined the Royal Air Force before the U.S. entered the war.

A year after the mission, its Wing Commander, Guy P. Gibson, recalled the preparation. "We trained for it for months," he said. "We knew that our losses would be high but that what we were going to do had such high military value that our losses would be worth it."

In the dead of night, harried by anti-aircraft fire, the specially-trained squadron of Avro Lancaster pilots dropped its strange payload of bouncing bombs over the lakes behind four dams, two of which burst.

As predicted, losses were high—53 of the 113 airmen died in the mission, three taken prisoner. Gibson survived the mission but not the war.

The skipping bombs' effect was devastating. More than 1,400 people drowned, including hundreds of slave-laborers. But the hoped-for death blow to Germany's industrial production never came. The country repaired the damage in months, though historians agree a psychological blow had been struck against Germany.

The raid lives on as a testament to British derring-do and in military histories as an example of ingenuity and courage.

The bombing run inspired a movie, 1955's "The Dam Busters," which George Lucas in turn borrowed from liberally to depict the rebel Death Star attacks in "Star Wars."

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Umbrella-toting Marines protect Obama, Turkish PM from raindrops

Nearly four months ago, Oklahoma Senators Tom Coburn and James Inhofe both voted against H.R.152, the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act that eventually sent $50.5 billion in relief to victims of Hurricane Sandy. And in the flurry of last night's devastation in Moore, Oklahoma. it was impossible not to forget that fact, knowing the federal government would soon rally to the cause.

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Military dad surprises daughter at gymnastics competition

Leave it to someone with military training to execute such a successful and well-planned mission.

Maj. Jake Brittingham had been stationed in Africa for the past five months, and he's been badly missed by his daughter Emma. So to surprise her, he showed up at her first gymnastics competition. Luckily, the moment was captured on video.

Dad came home early, arrived at the gym and hid. Operation Surprise Emma was a go.

With mom Kelley and older sister Erin in the audience, the announcer asks 9-year-old Emma, “If you had one wish today, what would it be?”

“That my dad could be here,” she answers.

“Really? How about you turn around?” the announcer says to gasps in the crowd as Emma’s father appears behind her. A joyful Emma gets a huge hug from her dad.

“I just couldn’t even believe he was here,” she says.

Her mom, when she posted a video of the surprise reunion, wrote, "We had NO idea Daddy came home early to surprise Emma at her first Level 7 meet! Thank goodness the news was there to capture the whole thing!"

“It was exactly what I was hoping it would be,” says Maj. Brittingham.

Mission very accomplished.

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Blind gunslinger hits more than 80 percent of targets

Jim Miekka has an incredible firearm accuracy record all while shooting blind (Miekka/Facebook)The Classical Fast Draw Society is home to a select number of expert marksmen. But their most remarkable member is not technically their most accurate.

Jim Miekka only hits about 80 percent of his targets, firing shots at just half a second apart. But the truly incredible thing about Miekka is that he’s totally blind.

Bay News 9 reports that the man referred to as the “Midnight Gunslinger,” has steadily been improving his accuracy.

“When I first started I was hitting about 25 percent of the time," Miekka told the station. "Now I think I’m hitting about 80 percent or something like that.”

You can watch a video of Miekka showing up his quickdraw skills here.

So, those years of practice have obviously paid off, right? Actually, Miekka says he’s only been practicing fast draw shooting for about a year.

If Miekka’s name rings a bell, you may have seen his name in the news over the past few years but for very different reasons. In 2010, Miekka made national headlines when he unveiled the Hindenburg Omen, a system that helps predict stock market crashes. It was featured in the Wall Street Journal and on financial cable network news station CNBC.

He’s also invented a specialized rifle that helps him hit targets from up to 100 yards away by sending a sound signal into headphones.

He’s also apparently good enough that some of his compatriots have placed a high-level of trust in his abilities. For example, Miekka says he’ll occasionally enlist someone to tap a spot just above his target so that he can mentally place the location of his next shot.

“Not being able to see the target, remember where it is and actually get right on it. He’s done awesome,” fellow Fast Draw Society member Randie Rickert said.

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Alaska man runs onto frozen lake to avoid jail

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Anchorage police say a young man who didn't want to return to jail ran out onto the uncertain ice of an Alaska lake to escape officers armed with an arrest warrant.

Police spokeswoman Dani Myren says officers were sufficiently concerned about the thickness of the ice covering Cheney lake that none of them wanted to venture onto it. So a standoff ensued.

KTUU-TV reports (http://is.gd/4WCBub ) that police negotiators and Fire Department dive teams were staging on the lakeshore when the young man finally surrendered late Thursday afternoon.

Myren says officers went to a home earlier in the afternoon to serve 19-year-old Siaosi Sila with a warrant alleging failure to comply with probation conditions. The spokeswoman says Sila saw police as he approached the home in a vehicle, bailed out and headed for the lake.

It wasn't immediately clear why he was on probation.

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Information from: KTUU-TV, http://www.ktuu.com

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Denmark's de Forest wins Eurovision song contest

MALMO, Sweden (AP) — Denmark's Emmelie de Forest has won this year's Eurovision Song Contest with her ethno-inspired flute and drum tune "Only Teardrops," despite tough competition from spectacular stage shows by performers from Azerbaijan and Ukraine.

Juries and television viewers across Europe awarded the barefoot, hippie-chic 20-year-old for the catchy love song that is driven by her deep, Shakira-like voice. She received a total of 281 points in the glitzy music battle, which also featured a bizarre opera pop number from Romania, the comeback of "Total Eclipse of the Heart" star Bonnie Tyler and an Armenian rock song written by the guitarist of Black Sabbath.

"It was overwhelming and I could really feel the fans and the audience and the people in the arena," de Forest told reporters after the winners were announced early Sunday.

"Of course I believed in the song and I thought we had a great song, but that's the exciting thing with Eurovision, you never know what's going to happen," she added.

De Forest grew up in northern Denmark and has been singing since she was 14, touring around Denmark with the Scottish musician Fraser Neill. She said it is important to be persistent to succeed as a young musician.

"I just called and emailed like a lot of festivals, music places and a lot of times I got no, but you just have to believe in yourself and keep trying, trying, trying — be outgoing and talk to new people, just call them and don't be afraid," she said.

De Forest was followed by second-place winner Farid Mammadov of Azerbaijan, who got 234 points for the song "Hold Me," which he performed on top of a glass cubicle containing a male dancer. The Ukraine's Zlata Ognevich and her song "Gravity" finished third with 214 points.

Ognevich was carried onstage in Saturday night's finals by the tallest man in the U.S. — Ukrainian-born Igor Vovkovinskiy. Vovkovinskiy — who stands 7 feet, 8 inches (234 centimeters) — wobbled onstage in a fur and feathers, placing the fairy-like Ognevich on a rock where she stood for the rest of the performance.

The televised extravaganza, with an audience of 125 million worldwide, is now in its 58th year. Once again without fail, it produced a mix of bubble-gum pop songs, somber ballads, bagpipes, accordions and bizarrely kitsch musical productions.

In an opening video, soccer great Zlatan Ibrahimovic welcomed the viewers to the competition in his hometown Malmo, in southern Sweden. The Nordic country hosted the event because its contestant Loreen won last year with "Euphoria."

This year's event also saw the return to the international stage of two seasoned European stars. "Total Eclipse of the Heart" singer Bonnie Tyler represented Britain with the sleepy love ballad "Believe In Me," while Anouk, whose song "Nobody's Wife" was a big hit in Europe in the 1990s, performed the song "Birds" for The Netherlands. Tyler ended in 19th place, while Anouk finished in the 9th spot.

Finland's Krista Siegfrid provided this year's controversy, ending her bouncy pop number "Marry Me" with a girl-on-girl kiss that some interpreted as a stance promoting gay marriage. While it did not raise eyebrows in most parts of Western Europe — where Eurovision has long been a bastion of gay culture — the act jarred sensitivities in parts of eastern and southern Europe. Her cheesy tune didn't win the hearts of Europeans, however, and she ended up third to last with only 13 points.

Romanian opera singer Cezar gave one of the more remarkable performances. He resembled a Dracula reborn as a high-pitched vocalist, attempting a crossover opera pop number with techno beats and pyrotechnics that landed him in 13th place. Three muscular male dancers in red body paint were delivered out of a large red cape.

Two semifinals this week had whittled down the contestants from 40 to 26. The voting is shared equally between professional juries in all participating countries and viewers using their telephones to pick their favorites.

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, who watched the competition in Malmo Saturday, called it a unique event that unites Europe.

"We see the old Yugoslavia, now independent states, after a decade of war they always vote for each other in Eurovision, " Bildt told The Associated Press. "That I think is fun."

Having won five times, most famously with ABBA's Waterloo in 1974, Sweden is a veteran of Eurovision. It took the opportunity on Saturday to showcase some of its big music acts. At the opening of the competition, contestants marched into the stadium with flags, Olympics-style, accompanied by a choir singing a song especially composed by Swedish super DJ Avicii and ABBA members Bjorn Ulveaus and Benny Andersson. While contestants waited for the votes to come through, Swedish singer Sarah Dawn Finer sang ABBA's hit tune "The Winner Takes It All."

Yet the event — with a price tag of around 153.5 million Swedish kronor ($23 million) — didn't measure up to last year's lavish competition hosted by oil-rich Azerbaijan in its capital, Baku.

"We have attempted to host Eurovision with less money to show that it is possible to do this without it being too painful for the host country," said Jan-Erik Westman, a spokesman for host broadcaster SVT.

The festive atmosphere was visible throughout the city of Malmo on Saturday, where residents and visitors blended on the sunny streets waving the flags of their favorite countries.

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Associated Press television producer David MacDougall and Associated Press reporter Jan Olsen contributed to this report.

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Follow Malin Rising on Twitter: https://twitter.com/malinrising

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Funeral home has bicycle hearse for 1 last ride

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — An Oregon funeral home in Eugene offers natural burials where the ride to the person's final resting place is on the back of a three-wheeled bicycle.

Sunset Hills Cemetery and Funeral Home director Wade Lind says he got the idea from bikers and designed the pedal-powered hearse himself. It has an electric motor to give him a little help hauling the casket.

KVAL reports (http://bit.ly/10VwlL1 ) Lind has bicycled five bodies so far and there's a waiting list for the service. The ride and a bamboo casket that looks like a basket costs about $3,500.

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Information from: KVAL-TV, http://www.kval.com/

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A gnome grows in Chelsea - at the flower show, that is

By Paul Casciato

LONDON (Reuters) - Some spectators at London's Chelsea Flower Show wouldn't be caught dead with one in the boot of their Bentley, but garden gnomes have turned up at the show's 100th edition this year, for charity.

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), which runs Chelsea in the grounds of the Christopher Wren-built Royal Hospital Chelsea, has lifted a ban on the ceramic figures with floppy hats and beards in order to raise funds for an RHS charity that supports the use of gardens in schools.

Some 100 gnomes decorated by singer Elton John, actress Helen Mirren, "Downton Abbey" screenwriter Julian Fellowes and other celebrities have taken up residence by the Great Pavilion at the heart of the show. They are also up for auction on e-Bay.

Sarah Easter, acting show manager, told Reuters the RHS was keen to have a bit of fun with the gnomes, but also wants to underscore the importance of getting children out in the fresh air to learn about flowers, vegetables and fruit.

"It's got huge health benefits, it's relaxing, it's good exercise and the design side of gardening gets underplayed," Easter said.

GARDENING NOT JUST FOR GROWNUPS

British pop singer Lily Allen told Reuters that gardening was particularly important for young people surrounded by touch-screen tablets and smartphones.

"I think there is so much immediate gratification these days it's probably quite good for young people especially to grow (plants) and feed them and watch, chill out and learn something about patience," she said as she strolled amongst a largely grey-haired crowd of VIPs and gardening enthusiasts.

Celebrity gardener Alan Titchmarsh, host of a BBC television show about the event that will be seen by millions every night this week, admitted he also has gnomes.

"I hide mine away but I've got them. They're round the back of a yew tree," Titchmarsh told Reuters.

He said Chelsea had pulled out all the stops for the 100th birthday edition, which will see more than 160,000 visitors this year and is famed for bringing plants from throughout the world into fashion as well as reviving old favourites, like roses.

"They always do their best, but they've done their 'double best' this year," he said as he hurried past the show gardens competing for a medal from the judges on Tuesday.

A few steps away, sponsors of the RBC (Royal Bank of Canada) Blue Water Roof Garden, where English designer Nigel Dunnett has created Chelsea's first "living roof", awaited the verdict.

"The judges were here this morning and you could have heard a pin drop," Lynn Patterson, RBC Director, Corporate Responsibility, said.

Dunnett said water conservation, another big theme at this year's show, was a key part of an exhibit that ties North American plants into an urban design meant to highlight the potential for greening city rooftops.

"Water conservation and really wise use of water is at the heart of it," Dunnett said.

Another of the gardens has been created by the Sentebale charity for vulnerable children in the southern African country of Lesotho, supported by Prince Harry, whose grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, is patron of the RHS.

In the Great Pavilion, amongst the fruit, vegetables and blooms of every shape and colour, 10-times gold medallists Karen and Peter Warmenhoven said their 100-year-old Dutch family firm has been bringing Amaryllis flowers and bulbs to Chelsea for 25 years, fulfilling a dream of Peter's grandfather.

The company now has customers all over the world. Is it worth the full time staff, growing flowers in Spain to have them ready in time for Chelsea and how much does it all cost?

"You don't want to know," Peter Warmenhoven said.

(Reporting by Paul Casciato; Editing by Michael Roddy)

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College student snares record long Burmese python near Miami

Nearly four months ago, Oklahoma Senators Tom Coburn and James Inhofe both voted against H.R.152, the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act that eventually sent $50.5 billion in relief to victims of Hurricane Sandy. And in the flurry of last night's devastation in Moore, Oklahoma. it was impossible not to forget that fact, knowing the federal government would soon rally to the cause.

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‘Pedal pubs’ catching on; should you be able to imbibe and ride?

Two Pedal Pubs in action in downtown Minneapolis (AP)So-called “pedal pubs” are popping up in more than two-dozen cities across the country. And in some of those places, riders can sip on an alcoholic beverage while sitting across a bar from fellow cyclists.

What exactly is a pedal pub? USA Today reports they are sort of like a modern day trolley meets the Flinstones. Up to 16 riders sit across from each other, using peddles underneath their seats to slowly power the quadracycles across city streets. A driver sits at the front of the vehicle, steering it along to its next destination.

"It's like being in a parade," bachelorette party attendee Jen Johnson told the paper. Her friends rented one in Madison, Wisconsin and used the vehicle as part of a pub crawl. Or, in this case, they embarked on something more akin a bar bike, pub pedal, or drink drive. Regardless, "We're smiling, they are smiling," she said of how their pedal party was received by onlookers.

In Wisconsin, it’s still against the law to actually drink while on one of the pedal pubs, although there is an effort to repeal the ban. But in some states, it’s perfectly legal to ride and imbibe.

Houston-based Pedal Party allows its riders to take a drink with them onboard. But owner Gene Landry said some commonsense rules still apply. "You can bring cans or a keg, easy-peasy," he said. "Texas is very sort of mind-your-own business kind of state and people (here) like to be able to do their own thing."

Pedal pubs are also catching on in cities like Arlington, Minneapolis, Nashville and San Diego.

"Different cities have different rules and different attitudes," said Eric Olson, manager of Minnealpolis’ PedalPub . "There's no federal laws regulating it."

And for the record, alcohol is allowed aboard the PedalPub, which advertises itself as, “the bike with the barrel.”

Olson’s company specializes in guiding tours around Minneapolis.

A Florida-based development services coordinator added that the pedal pub is more than a novel transportation route, giving revelers an alternative to driving while intoxicated along with being environmentally friendly.

"It's 100 percent green,” Gigi Hart told the Sun-Sentinel. “There's no gasoline involved, it's only pedaling. It's really fun to go from bar to bar on it, it shows that you can party, be healthy and green at the same time."

Jeff Stone, a Republican state Representative from Greenfield, Wis., recently introduced a bill that would allow municipalities to allow alcohol on pedal taverns.

"In my mind, it's very similar to a limousine or a commercial bus where people can have an open container,” said Wisconsin state Representative Jeff Stone, Republican, who as proposed a bill to change his state’s pedal pub regulations.

“There's a licensed commercial driver responsible for operating the vehicle."

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Chinese businessman pays record price for Belgian racing pigeon

Nearly four months ago, Oklahoma Senators Tom Coburn and James Inhofe both voted against H.R.152, the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act that eventually sent $50.5 billion in relief to victims of Hurricane Sandy. And in the flurry of last night's devastation in Moore, Oklahoma. it was impossible not to forget that fact, knowing the federal government would soon rally to the cause.

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What's in a name? U.S. starts using Myanmar as well as Burma

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Southeast Asian nation formerly known as Burma received further backing from the White House on Monday in its campaign to be called Myanmar.

Successive U.S. governments have refused to acknowledge the name change made in the late 1980s by the country's military rulers. The United States for years deliberately referred to the nation of 60 million people as Burma, so as not to give legitimacy to military governments.

But in a nod to political reforms made by President Thein Sein, the White House acknowledged it is now employing the name Myanmar more often than before.

"We have responded by expanding our engagement with the government, easing a number of sanctions, and as a courtesy in appropriate settings, more frequently using the name Myanmar," White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

Thein Sein met with U.S. President Barack Obama in the Oval Office on Monday in the first visit to the White House by a president of Myanmar, or Burma, in 47 years. Obama used the name Myanmar, not Burma, throughout his comments to reporters.

But his spokesman employed both names.

"Burma has undertaken a number of positive reforms, including releasing over 850 political prisoners, easing media restrictions, permitting freedom of speech, assembly and movement," Carney said.

In their meeting, Obama urged the president to take steps to halt violence against Muslims in his country and move ahead with economic and political reforms.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by David Brunnstrom)

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Aussie minister sorry he 'liked' exposed teen pic

SYDNEY (AP) — An Australian politician says he has learned a valuable lesson in social networking after he "liked" a Facebook photo without realizing that it showed a teenage prankster exposing himself.

Western Australia Minister for Education Peter Collier said he clicked the "like" button under what he thought was an innocent photo of the then-16-year-old in late 2011. Collier apologized Thursday and said he had no idea that the teen, who was otherwise fully clothed and posing alongside an older man, was playing a prank commonly known as "sneaky nuts."

"At first glance it appeared to be a harmless picture," Collier said in a statement. "It was a silly mistake on my part. I only became aware of the actual content of the photo when shown by a journalist today. This obviously highlights the pitfalls of social media. I apologize if I caused any offense."

The stunt was popularized by Australian comedian Chris Lilley's TV show "Angry Boys," in which a character revels in ruining group photos by secretly exposing himself. The prank has been a headache for some educators: Last year, administrators at a Catholic school in Canada scrambled to place stickers over a photo printed in all 1,300 class yearbooks of a student subtly exposing his genitals.

The Australia incident did not attract attention until late last month, when the teen bragged on Twitter about fooling Collier, whom he was friends with on Facebook.

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Canadian astronaut wrestles with gravity after spaceflight

By Irene Klotz

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Back on Earth, Canadian astronaut and cyberspace tweeter Chris Hadfield is getting a rough re-introduction to gravity after a five-month stint aboard the International Space Station, the former commander told reporters during a video webcast from Houston.

Hadfield became a social media rock star with his zero-gravity version of David Bowie's "Space Oddity" and a continuous stream of commentary on Twitter about his life in orbit. But living without gravity for five months has left him feeling dizzy, weak and prematurely aged. A veteran of three space flights, he is wearing a pressure suit under his clothes to help his circulation as his body re-adapts to getting blood back to his brain.

"Without the constant pull-down of gravity, your body gets a whole new normal, and my body was quite happy living in space without gravity," Hadfield, 53, said in a video conference call with Canadian reporters on Thursday, three days after returning to Earth.

The video conference was posted on the Canadian Space Agency's UStream channel.

"Right after I landed I could feel the weight of my lips and tongue ... I hadn't realized that I had learned to talk with a weightless tongue," he said.

He is suffering overall body soreness, particularly in his neck and back which are again having to support his head after months in weightlessness.

"It feels like I played full-contact hockey, but it's getting better by the hour," Hadfield said. "The subtle things and the big things are taking some re-adaptation to get used to and they are coming back one by one."

Hadfield, who is the first from Canada to command a space station crew, NASA astronaut Thomas Marshburn and Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko landed in Kazakhstan on Monday. He and Marshburn were then flown to Houston to begin rehabilitation.

As a departing finale Hadfield created a music video rendering of Bowie's classic "Space Oddity," which as of Friday had 13 million hits on YouTube.

Hadfield, who is the lead singer and bass guitarist in the all-astronaut rock band Max Q, said it is too early to think about what he will do next.

"For now, I'm still trying to stand up straight. I have to sit down in the shower so I don't faint and fall down, and I don't have calluses on the bottom of my feet yet, so I'm walking around like I walked on hot coals," he said.

It usually takes about three weeks until a returning astronaut can return to driving, according to the Canadian Space Agency.

"We're sort of tottering around like two old duffers in an old folks home," Hadfield said, referring to his crew mate Marshburn.

Hadfield's orbital odyssey ended with a parachute descent of their Soyuz space capsule onto the steppes of Kazakhstan.

"We hit the Earth just like a car crash, like we expected," Hadfield said. "There was enough wind so that we rolled up on our side. I was the guy hanging from the ceiling."

"Our first true sense of being home was a window full of the dirt of the Earth and the smell of spring and the growing grasses in Kazakhstan wafting in through the open hatch," he said.

(Editing by David Adams and Jackie Frank)

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Idaho man sentenced to seven years for killing zoo monkey

By Laura Zuckerman

(Reuters) - An Idaho man who admitted to breaking into a Boise zoo last year and killing a monkey was sentenced to seven years in prison on Thursday, court records show.

Michael Watkins, 22, of Weiser, Idaho, in March pleaded guilty to attempted grand theft, a felony, and misdemeanor animal cruelty stemming from the break-in and beating death of the monkey at Zoo Boise in November.

The primate was one of the zoo's two Patas monkeys, ground-dwelling animals from Africa that stand more than 2 feet tall and weigh about 35 pounds. They are rare in zoos but not endangered in the wild.

The case shook officials at the zoo and triggered an outpouring of sympathy and donations from animal lovers worldwide.

Watkins scaled the security fence at Zoo Boise in the pre-dawn hours of November 17 and attempted to steal the monkey, which bit him, police said. Watkins then kicked and hit the animal, severely wounding it, according to police. The monkey later died of blunt force trauma, zoo officials said.

Zoo Boise Director Steve Burns said on Thursday the sentencing of Watkins closed a particularly devastating chapter for the facility.

"We're moving on," he said. "The court has done its job and we're continuing to do our job."

In the days after the death, zoo staff sought to boost the spirits of the companion-less Patas monkey and considered shipping it to another zoo with primates since they are exceedingly social, Burns said.

Instead, Zoo Boise in December gained two female Patas monkeys donated by the Rosamund Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, New York.

News about the monkey's death brought donations from across the United States and overseas, allowing the zoo to begin construction on Monday of a $250,000 exhibit for the three Patas monkeys, Burns said.

(Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Bill Trott)

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Man climbs onto dome of St Peter's to protest Italian politics

Nearly four months ago, Oklahoma Senators Tom Coburn and James Inhofe both voted against H.R.152, the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act that eventually sent $50.5 billion in relief to victims of Hurricane Sandy. And in the flurry of last night's devastation in Moore, Oklahoma. it was impossible not to forget that fact, knowing the federal government would soon rally to the cause.

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From "bunga bunga" to "pianists" - Italy's political slang

By Naomi O'Leary

ROME (Reuters) - An encyclopedia of Italian political slang has shone a light on a colorful and Byzantine world where lawmakers and journalists speak a language you won't find in any ordinary dictionary.

The confusing nature of Italian politics has come to the fore in recent months, with an electoral result in which the leading party won the lower house but not the senate, a resulting two-month stalemate, and the final formation of a government led by none of the candidates who campaigned.

Here is a selection of the words that best sum it all up in the encyclopaedia 'Il Crollo' ('The Downfall'), compiled by journalist Lorenzo Pregliasco:

BUNGA BUNGA

The term for a "mysterious sexual ritual" supposedly enjoyed by guests at Silvio Berlusconi's parties. It originated from testimony from the Moroccan nightclub dancer Karima El Mahroug, or 'Ruby the Heartstealer', in October 2010.

The phrase became synonymous with Italy's then prime minister, and its viral spread through international media in 2011 accompanied the collapse of both his reputation and the financial markets' trust in Italy's ability to repay its debt.

CASTA

Originally meaning caste, the word now refers to a clique of politicians keeping a grip on privilege and power. It was a favorite term of the 5-Star Movement that stormed to 25 percent of the vote in its first national election, promising to kick the 'casta' out of parliament.

CELODURISMO (I HAVE IT HARDISM)

From the catch phrase of regionalist party the Northern League - "The League has it hard", a not so subtle allusion to an erect penis. It refers to macho posturing and "the assumption of aggressive or decisive political attitudes, at the cost of appearing crude or coarse".

COMPRAVENDITA (PURCHASE AGREEMENT)

Paying lawmakers to switch sides in parliament to shore up or undermine a government. In a current 'compravendita' investigation, former Senator Sergio De Gregorio told officials he accepted 3 million euros ($3.86 million) from Berlusconi to change sides and topple the centre-left government in 2006.

ESODATI (EXILED ONES)

Workers who voluntarily took early retirement but found themselves without a stipend because of a 2011 pension reform that raised the retirement age. A combustible political issue, particularly following several suicides of people affected.

GRILLINI

The supporters of former comic and 5-Star founder Beppe Grillo, meaning 'little Grillos' or 'little crickets'. In Italy, the insects are associated with speaking uncomfortable truths.

INCIUCIO

The word for a deal done under the table, particularly between supposedly rival political groups. It leapt in usage in April 2013 as opposing centre-left and centre-right groups in parliament zoned in on an agreement that would allow them to share power.

OLGETTINE

Term for 14 young women housed at Berlusconi's expense at number 65 via Olgettina in Milan. They were frequent guests at parties at the home of the former prime minister.

PIANISTA

A 'pianist' uses the vote of an absent adjacent parliamentarian as well as his own, by stretching out his arm to press the voting button on his colleague's desk.

SPREAD

Taken from the English. In Italian financial circles, it is most often used to refer to the price difference between Italian 10-year bonds and benchmark German bunds. "Lo spread" spread beyond those circles to become a ubiquitous buzzword in 2011, referring broadly to Italy's precarious financial position.

"Enough with this talk of the spread," Berlusconi declared in February 2013. "We lived happily for years without worrying about it. It's an invention of two years ago."

(Reporting by Naomi O'Leary; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

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Winning ticket for $590.5 million Powerball lottery sold in Florida

By Brendan O'Brien

(Reuters) - A single winning ticket for a record Powerball lottery jackpot worth $590.5 million was sold in Florida, organizers said late on Saturday, but there was no immediate word about who won one of the largest jackpots in U.S. history.

The winning numbers from Saturday night's drawing were: 10, 13, 14, 22 and 52, with a Powerball number of 11. The odds of winning were put at 1 in 175 million.

The winning ticket was sold at a Publix supermarket in Zephyrhills, a suburb of Tampa, according to the Florida Lottery.

The winner or winners had not come forward as of Sunday morning, said Connie Barnes, a Florida Lottery spokeswoman. The winning ticket holder's name will become part of the public record because a check will be made out to the winner, but that person or persons need not appear in public to acknowledge the prize, Barnes said.

The grand prize, accumulated after two months of drawings, surpassed the previous record Powerball payoff of $587.5 million set in November 2012.

The largest jackpot in U.S. history stands at $656 million, won in the Mega Millions lottery of March 2012. That prize was split between winners in Maryland, Kansas and Illinois.

The Multi-State Lottery Association, based in Iowa, announced the Powerball results in a brief message on its website, saying, "There was one winner sold by the Florida Lottery for the last drawing's $590,500,000 grand prize."

The extremely long odds of winning did not deter people from buying tickets at staggering rates. California was selling $1 million in tickets every hour on Saturday, said Donna Cordova, a spokeswoman for the California Lottery, which has only been selling Powerball tickets since April 8.

The $2 tickets allow players to pick five numbers from 1 to 59, and a Powerball number from 1 to 35.

(Additional reporting by Karen Brooks in Austin, Texas, and Steve Gorman in Los Angeles.; Editing by Daniel Trotta, Christopher Wilson and Cynthia Osterman)

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Birth of anteater has Conn. zoo staff puzzled

GREENWICH, Conn. (AP) — An anteater has given birth at a Connecticut conservation center, prompting officials there to wonder how the mother conceived.

Officials at the LEO Zoological Conservation Center tell the Greenwich Time (http://bit.ly/14wsum4 ) they had removed the only male anteater from the enclosure in August, long before the six-month gestation period for baby Archie would have begun.

They feared that male, Alf, would kill another baby in the pen.

That left the mother Armani, and the young female, Alice, in the enclosure.

But little Archie was born in April anyway.

Marcella Leone, founder and director of the conservation center, suspects this might be a rare case of delayed implantation, when fertilized eggs remain dormant in the uterus for a period of time.

___

Information from: Greenwich Time, http://www.greenwichtime.com

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Goat on the lam snarls NJ's Pulaski Skyway traffic

JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) — A goat believed to have escaped en route to a slaughterhouse snarled the morning commute along one of the busiest roadways in northern New Jersey on Tuesday, leading police on a nearly two-hour chase.

The small, chocolate brown female with curved horns eluded five Jersey City police officers for more than 90 minutes by jumping back and forth over a central divider along the Pulaski Skyway, alternately disrupting traffic along both east and west-bound lanes, according to city spokesman Stan Eason.

Traffic was snarled from 7:10 a.m. until almost 9 a.m. along the elevated roadway, which traverses the Passaic and Hackensack Rivers between Newark and Jersey City and carries thousands of vehicles daily to the Holland Tunnel and into New York.

Four vehicles, whose drivers were attempting to avoid the zigzagging goat, were involved in a minor accident, police said. There were no injuries.

"A call came in: 'There was a motor vehicle accident, and there's a goat running around on the skyway," Eason said, adding that Jersey City police were not alarmed. "We had full-sized bucked deer running around in the metropolis downtown of Exchange Place about two years ago, before it jumped in the Hudson River and swam to Governor's Island, so nothing surprises us," he added.

The frisky goat eventually tired, Eason said, and officers were able to form a semi-circle around her and secure her in a noose.

Officials are still trying to determine where the goat came from. One of the goat's ears is tagged with a U.S. Department of Agriculture tag, indicating the animal likely escaped a truck headed to a slaughterhouse, Eason said. If no company claims the animal, it will be moved to a rural animal welfare facility that can accommodate livestock.

"If it can survive running around the Pulaski Skyway for two hours, and then winds up in a slaughterhouse, it's kind of sad," Eason said. "But if someone claims her, she is private property, so there's not much we can do."

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Relegation woes worry toothless Argentinos Juniors

Nearly four months ago, Oklahoma Senators Tom Coburn and James Inhofe both voted against H.R.152, the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act that eventually sent $50.5 billion in relief to victims of Hurricane Sandy. And in the flurry of last night's devastation in Moore, Oklahoma. it was impossible not to forget that fact, knowing the federal government would soon rally to the cause.

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Alleged crooks accidentally dial 911 during car break-in

Police say a man accidentally dialed 911 while he and a buddy were breaking into a car, unknowingly leading Fresno, Calif., officers right to their location.

The two men, Nathan Teklemariam and Carson Rinehart?, both 20, face charges of breaking and entering, possession of stolen property and conspiracy, according to Fox News.

KGPE.com explains that the 911 dispatcher could hear people speaking in the background, so he listened to see if anyone was in need of assistance.

It didn't take long for the dispatcher to realize that the men weren't so much in danger as they were up to no good. On the recording made available to KGPE.com, one of the men can be heard to say, "I just want to smoke weed right now." That's pretty much the least incriminating thing they said.

The discussion then shifts to how the two should break into an automobile. Later, the sounds of a window being smashed can be heard followed by a suspect's excited declaration that he found prescription drugs in the car.

All the while, the dispatcher was listening and seeking clues as to where the pair might be. Eventually, police were able to locate the two men and followed them. The suspects can be heard fretting over why the police are on their tail. It's like a farce crossed with an episode of "Cops."

"He's following the (expletive) out of you, bro," one suspect said. The other, apparently suffering from short-term memory loss, then replied, "Wow, what the (expletive) did I do?"

The mystery was solved when the cops pulled them over. Playing it straight, the police officer asked one of the suspects if he had anything in the vehicle that "shouldn't be in the vehicle."

One of the men said he doesn't, but a quick search of the car yields the stolen property. That's when the police decide to let the men in the butt-dial.

"We really called 911?" one of the suspects said. "Damn."

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Thailand urged to explore edible insect market

BANGKOK (AP) — Researchers say Thailand is showing the world how to respond to the global food crisis: by raising bugs for eating.

The United Nations' Food and Agricultural Organization released a study and handbook Tuesday on what they call 'six-legged livestock' — edible bugs and worms that can help meet global food demand that is expected to grow 60 percent by 2050. The agency says they provide a rich source of protein, vitamins and minerals.

The study was conducted in Thailand, where insects including crickets, grasshoppers and bamboo worms have long been a part of diets, especially in rural areas.

Entomologist Yupa Hanboonsong says about 200 insect species are eaten in Thailand. Cricket farming alone is already a $30 million industry there, but only a few other species have been commercially marketed.

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Powerball jackpot could go higher than $600 million

By Karen Brooks

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - The Powerball jackpot Saturday night could exceed the $600 million figure being advertised, possibly rivaling the largest lottery payoff in U.S. history, a Texas Lottery official said on Saturday.

"Oftentimes, the advertised amount is lower than what the actual jackpot ends up being," said Kelly Cripe, a spokeswoman for the Texas Lottery. "It's entirely possible this $600 million jackpot will end up being a bigger jackpot."

Chances of winning the Powerball on Saturday were one in 175 million, Cripe said, but that did not deter people from buying up tickets at staggering rates. California was selling $1 million in tickets every hour on Saturday, said Donna Cordova, a spokeswoman for the California Lottery, which has only been selling Powerball tickets since April 8.

Texas Lottery officials reported $1.2 million in hourly sales between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. local time, with ticket sales for the Saturday draw topping $18.4 million.

The ticket sale rate on Saturday was nearly double Friday's rate, Cripe said, and a jump of some 686 percent over last Saturday.

The Powerball lottery, which has not had a winner in two months, is offered in 43 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

A Powerball lottery record was set in November with a $587.5 million jackpot that topped the $550 million figure that was advertised, thanks to last-minute sales.

The largest jackpot in U.S. history was the $656 million in the Mega Millions lottery in March 2012. That prize was split between winners in Maryland, Kansas and Illinois.

If Saturday's Powerball drawing yields no winner, all records will be shattered as the jackpot for Wednesday's drawing would go to $925 million.

Many Americans were playing the "if I win" game ahead of Saturday's drawing.

"If I win, I'm going to spend a lot of it on liquor, women and gambling," said Austin lawyer Donald Dickson. "I'll likely squander the rest of it."

In New York City, talent acquisition agent Michelle Amici was more philanthropic.

"Not sure that I'd buy anything," she said. "Rather, I'd attempt to quench my wanderlust by traveling the world. I'd also donate a large portion to education reform."

Lottery players such as Austin marketing professional Becky Arreaga was not discouraged by the long odds.

"As long as the odds are 1 in anything, I'm in," said Arreaga, a partner at Mercury Mambo marketing firm. "I truly believe I could be the one."

"It's only a couple bucks for a small daydream," said Russell Williams, 35, a salesman in Austin, Texas.

Bonnie Carreno of El Paso, Texas, rarely plays but was taking a chance on this one. "I only ever buy a ticket when I see the amazing numbers in the headlines," she said.

The $2 tickets allow players pick five numbers from 1 to 59, and a Powerball number from 1 to 35. The numbers will be drawn Saturday at 10:59 p.m. EDT (0259 GMT on Sunday) in Tallahassee, Florida.

(Reporting by Karen Brooks; Editing by Greg McCune, Doina Chiacu and Bill Trott)

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Denmark favorite to win Eurovision Song Contest

MALMO, Sweden (AP) — An ethno-inspired flute and drum tune from Denmark is the bookmakers' favorite to win this year's Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday, which also features a bizarre opera pop number from Romania and an Armenian rock song written by the guitarist of Black Sabbath.

Yes, it's that time of the year again.

The televised pan-European extravaganza, known for its kitschy shows, bad taste and bizarre offerings, is still expected to be seen by about 125 million television viewers worldwide.

This year's contest is being hosted in Malmo, southern Sweden, following the victory of the Nordic country's contestant Loreen with "Euphoria" last year.

According to bookmakers, the hippie-chic Emmelie De Forest of Denmark is the favorite to win, driving the song "Only Teardrops" with her deep, Shakira-like voice. Her main challenge comes from the clean-cut techno pop tune "I Feed You My Love" by Norway's Margaret Berger, who rose to fame at home after becoming the runner-up in Norway's version of Pop Idol in 2004.

"I will be nervous before going on stage," De Forest said Friday. "I think we have a really good song that can take us far, but let's see, anything can happen."

Finland's Krista Siegfrid provided this year's controversy, ending her bouncy bubble-gum pop number "Marry Me" with a girl-on-girl kiss that some have interpreted as a stance promoting gay marriage. While the show will not raise eyebrows in most parts of Western Europe — where Eurovision has long been a bastion of gay culture — the act may jar sensitivities in parts of eastern and southern Europe.

"The fact is that Finland is the only country in the Nordic countries where gay marriage is not allowed, and I think that's wrong," Siegfrid told The Associated Press. "It's 2013 now and ... I can kiss anyone I want to. It shouldn't be a problem."

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, who arrived in Malmo to watch the competition Saturday, said it is a unique event that unites Europe.

"We see the old Yugoslavia, now independent states, after a decade of war they always vote for each other in Eurovision, " Bildt said. "That I think is fun."

This year's competition also sees the return to the international stage of two seasoned European stars. "Total Eclipse of the Heart" singer Bonnie Tyler is representing Britain with "Believe In Me" while Anouk, whose song "Nobody's Wife" was a big hit in Europe in the 1990s, is singing the song "Birds" for The Netherlands.

Among the more notable performances is the Ukraine's Zlata Ognevich with her song "Gravity." Ognevich is carried onstage by the tallest man in the U.S. — Ukrainian-born Igor Vovkovinskiy. Vovkovinskiy — who stands 7 feet, 8 inches (234 centimeters) —wobbles onstage in a fur and feathers, placing the fairy-like Ognevich on a rock where she stands for the rest of the performance.

There is also Armenian rock group Dorians, whose gloomy song "Lonely Planet" has been written by Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi.

Romania's Cezar, who resembles a Dracula reborn as a high-pitched vocalist, is apparently a reputable opera singer, but is attempting a crossover opera pop number with techno beats and pyrotechnics. Three muscular male dancers in red body paint are delivered out of a large red cape.

Two semifinals this week have whittled down the contestants from 40 to 26. The winner is picked by juries and television viewers across the continent, and the winning nation will stage next year's event.

Having won five times, most famously with ABBA's Waterloo in 1974, Sweden is a veteran of Eurovision. This weekend it is taking the opportunity to showcase some of its big music acts. The opening of the competition is set to feature a song especially composed by Swedish super DJ Aviici, together with ABBA members Bjorn Ulveaus and Benny Andersson.

Yet the event — with a price tag of around 153.5 million Swedish kronor ($23 million) — won't measure up to last year's lavish competition hosted by oil-rich Azerbaijan in its capital, Baku.

"We have attempted to host Eurovision with less money to show that it is possible to do this without it being too painful for the host country," said Jan-Erik Westman, a spokesman of host broadcaster SVT.

The festive atmosphere was visible throughout the city of Malmo on Saturday, where residents and visitors blended on the streets waving the flags of their favorite countries.

___

Associated Press television producer David MacDougall and Associated Press reporter Jan Olsen contributed to this report.

___

Follow Malin Rising on Twitter: https://twitter.com/malinrising

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Teen’s invention could charge cellphone in 20 seconds

Nearly four months ago, Oklahoma Senators Tom Coburn and James Inhofe both voted against H.R.152, the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act that eventually sent $50.5 billion in relief to victims of Hurricane Sandy. And in the flurry of last night's devastation in Moore, Oklahoma. it was impossible not to forget that fact, knowing the federal government would soon rally to the cause.

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Man returns to restaurant—over a decade later—to pay off old debt

Nearly four months ago, Oklahoma Senators Tom Coburn and James Inhofe both voted against H.R.152, the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act that eventually sent $50.5 billion in relief to victims of Hurricane Sandy. And in the flurry of last night's devastation in Moore, Oklahoma. it was impossible not to forget that fact, knowing the federal government would soon rally to the cause.

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Prague metro plans to launch love train for singles

Nearly four months ago, Oklahoma Senators Tom Coburn and James Inhofe both voted against H.R.152, the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act that eventually sent $50.5 billion in relief to victims of Hurricane Sandy. And in the flurry of last night's devastation in Moore, Oklahoma. it was impossible not to forget that fact, knowing the federal government would soon rally to the cause.

View the original article here

Man uses spoon to break out of Russian maximum-security prison

Russian officials say Oleg Topalov used only a spoon to escape from a maximum security prison (Federal Prison Supervision …

One man, using only a spoon, has escaped from one of Russia’s most infamous prisons.

Sky News reports that 33-year-old Oleg Topalov escaped from Matrosskaya Tishina, apparently by using a single spoon to dig a hole through his cell’s ceiling.

He is only the fourth person in 20 years to escape from the prison. Russian investigators have blamed Topalov’s escape on the prison staff, who they say engaged in a, "dishonest or careless attitude to their work that was made use of by the prisoner Topalov."

Topalov, who was sentenced for double murder and arms trafficking, used the spoon to create a hole in the cell’s roof, opened a ventilation shaft and then climbed to the prison’s roof, finally escaping over the building’s perimeter fence.

"Because of the building being run-down, Topalov had no difficulty in widening the vent of the air-shaft, through which he got to the prison’s roof,” Russian Federal Penitentiary Service representative Kristina Belousova told RIA Novosti. “Using sheets tied one to another he managed to go down the wall, then jump over the fence and run away.”

One unnamed witness says Topalov didn’t use sheets, but rather acquired rope from the prison’s psychiatric ward.

Prison officials described Topalov as “mentally unstable and liable to escape,” and have offered a “large reward” for his capture.

Interestingly, under Russian law, Topalov only faces an additional four years of incarceration if he is captured.

Reports said Topalov shared a cell with around seven other prisoners, though it’s unclear what role, if any, they played in his daring escape.

Matrosskaya Tishina was first opened in 1946 and is considered one of Russia’s most secure prisons. Over the years, it has been home to high-profile Russian prisoners, including Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Sergey Magnitsky.

Inmates and their cells are checked each day for illegal objects. Because of this strict enforcement policy, investigators say Topalov could only have used a spoon to make his escape attempt.

Prison service spokesman Sergei Tsygankov said Topalov had been singled out as someone who was likely to make a prison escape attempt. And while Russian officially typically are reluctant to provide details surrounding inmates, they have released pictures of Topalov to the public as part of their attempts to apprehend the former organized crime member.

The prison’s last known escape occurred in 2005, when convicted hitman Aleksandr Solonik used mountain climbing equipment provided to him by a prison officer to escape. The pair rappelled over the prison’s walls using 20 feet of rope and have not been seen in public since.

Moscow's maxium security prison, Matrosskaya Tishina, as seen in a 2009 photo (AFP)

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Seattle man dribbling soccer ball to Brazil dies after being hit by car

By Jonathan Kaminsky

OLYMPIA, Washington (Reuters) - A man less than two weeks into a planned journey to dribble a soccer ball from his home city of Seattle to Brazil, the host nation for the 2014 World Cup, died on Tuesday after being struck by a car in Oregon, police and the man's supporters said.

Richard Swanson, 42, was struck as he walked on the shoulder of a road on the outskirts of Lincoln City just east of the Oregon coast, said Lincoln City Police Sergeant Randy Weaver. Swanson's soccer ball was found nearby, Weaver said.

Swanson's death was mourned in a post on the Facebook page titled "Breakaway Brazil," which he had used to document his planned journey. It was supposed to culminate with his arrival in Brazil in time for the World Cup, which begins in June 2014.

"It is with a heavy heart to notify you that Richard Swanson passed on this morning," said the post, signed "Team Richard." "His team, family, friends, and loved ones will miss him and love him dearly. You made it to Brazil in our hearts, Richard."

Swanson wrote on his Facebook page that he planned to dribble the ball from Seattle to Brazil and sought donations for the trip, which would take him through countries such as Mexico, Nicaragua and Colombia.

He is survived by two sons, aged 22 and 18, whom he mentioned in a YouTube video he uploaded in March.

In that video, Swanson explained that he was making the trip after being laid off and having difficulty finding a new job.

He had worked in graphic design, after spending eight years as an investigator of suspected insurance fraud, he said in the video.

After losing his job, Swanson said he became "a little bummed out" and started thinking about what he wanted from life, leading him to the realization that he had always dreamed of attending the World Cup.

Because his children were grown, he had no mortgage payments and no job to protect, Swanson said in the video, "all the pieces seemed to fit and it felt right that I should be planning this trip."

He set out from Seattle on May 1 carrying a sleeping bag in his backpack and sought out people to put him up along the way. He was scheduled to stop next at the coastal Oregon town of Newport, just over five miles (eight kms) west of the city where he died.

He had written, "NEWPORT help me out! Couch still needed." on Facebook early on Tuesday morning.

(Editing by Alex Dobuzinskis and Christopher Wilson)

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Brazilian woman survives harpoon shooting

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A 28-year-old woman miraculously survived after her husband accidentally shot her in the mouth with a harpoon, Brazilian officials said Wednesday.

The Rio de Janeiro State Health Department said in a statement that the woman's husband was cleaning his spear gun when it went off, firing a harpoon that hit her cervical spine.

Elisangela Borborema Rosa was rushed to the hospital and underwent emergency surgery after Monday's incident in the coastal city of Arraial do Cabo.

The statement quotes neurosurgeon Allan da Costa as saying that the harpoon came within 1 centimeter (less than half an inch) of killing the woman. He said he expects a full recovery.

A police officer in Arrial do Cabo said by telephone that officials are looking into the case.

"Everything indicates it was an accident, but we are investigating. We don't think the husband tried to kill her," said the officer, who cited department policy in declining to let her name be used.

"But once she fully recovers we will be able to question her and get a clearer picture of what happened."

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Ohio State awaits bloom of stinky corpse flower

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Researchers at an Ohio State University greenhouse are awaiting a rare second bloom by a rainforest plant known as a corpse flower because of its unpleasant odor.

The university says the nearly 6-foot titan arum is expected to open this week, releasing another round of its rotting-flesh smell a little more than two years after it first flowered.

A second corpse flower opened briefly at the greenhouse last May.

A university spokeswoman tells The Columbus Dispatch (http://bit.ly/15FLGSU ) cultivators are lucky to have three blooms in three years. Each brief bloom attracts visitors hoping to catch a glimpse or a whiff of it.

The plant expected to bloom soon is nicknamed Woody, after Buckeyes football coach Woody Hayes.

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Online:

Ohio State University greenhouse updates: http://bioscigreenhouse.osu.edu/titan-arum

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Information from: The Columbus Dispatch, http://www.dispatch.com

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Fighting eagles crash land on Minn. airport runway

DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — Two bald eagles locked together by their talons in a midair battle survived a crash landing onto a runway at a northeastern Minnesota airport.

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources conservation officer Randy Hanzal says the adult eagles couldn't separate Sunday before slamming into the tarmac at the Duluth International Airport.

Hanzal tried to take the birds to a Duluth wildlife rehabilitation center. He covered them with blankets and jackets on the back of his pickup and held them down with webbing straps. En route, Hanzal says, he heard a ruckus and saw one bird jump out and fly away.

The Duluth News Tribune (http://bit.ly/12rDalM ) says the other eagle made it to the rehab center and is now being cared for by the University of Minnesota in St. Paul's Raptor Center.

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Information from: Duluth News Tribune, http://www.duluthnewstribune.com

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Kenya co. turns old sandals into colorful objects

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The colorful handmade giraffes, elephants and warthogs made in a Nairobi workshop were once only dirty pieces of rubber cruising the Indian Ocean's currents.

Kenya's Ocean Sole sandal recycling company is cleaning the East African country's beaches of used, washed-up flip-flops and other sandals.

About 45 workers in Nairobi make 100 different products from the discarded flip-flops. In 2008, the company shipped an 18-foot giraffe to Rome for display during a fashion week.

Company founder Julie Church says the goal of her company is to create products that people want to buy, then make them interested in the back-story.

Workers wash the flip-flops, many of which show signs of multiple repairs. Artisans then glue together the various colors, carve the products, sand and rewash them.

Church first noticed Kenyan children turning flip-flops into toy boats around 1999, when she worked as a marine scientist for WWF and the Kenya Wildlife Service on Kenya's coast near the border with Somalia.

Turtles hatching on the beach had to fight their way through the debris on beaches to get to the ocean, Church said, and a plan to clean up the debris and create artistic and useful items gained momentum. WWF ordered 15,000 key rings, and her eco-friendly project took off.

It has not made Church rich, however. The company turns over about $150,000 a year, she said. Last year it booked a small loss.

But new investment money is flowing in, and the company is in the midst of rebranding itself from its former name — the FlipFlop Recycling Company — to Ocean Sole.

The company aims to sell 70 percent of its products outside Kenya. It has distributors in the United States, Europe and new inquiries from Japan. Its biggest purchasers are zoos and aquariums.

One of Church's employees is Dan Wambui, who said he enjoys interacting with visitors who come to the Nairobi workshop.

"They come from far ... when they see what we are doing we see them really happy and they are appreciating. We feel internationally recognized and we feel happy about it," Wambui said.

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On the Internet:

Ocean Sole: http://www.ocean-sole.com

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City sues ‘Robin Hood’ group over parking meter payments

File photo of an expired parking meter (Thinkstock)

The city of Keene, New Hampshire, is suing a group of do-gooders for allegedly topping off parking meters of strangers.

The group, which calls itself "Robin Hood and his Merry Men," likes to leave notes on the windshields of cars that are in danger of getting a ticket due to an expired meter, according to the Union Leader.

A note reads, "Your meter expired; however, we saved you from the king’s tariffs, Robin Hood and his Merry Men. Please consider paying it forward.” The note then lists an address where people can send donations if they wish.

According to the Union Leader, the city claims Robin Hood and his Merry Men have "intentionally taunted, interfered with, harassed and intimidated" the city's three parking enforcement officers. The suit also alleges that the group follows the parking enforcement officers around the city and uses video and radio equipment to coordinate their efforts.

All told, six citizens are named in the city's lawsuit. One of the defendants, James Cleaveland, spoke to the Union Leader about it. "They say video recording or talking to them is harassing them, but I don't agree with that," he said. "So they want to establish a safety zone of fifty feet."

The lawsuit, according to the Union Leader, lists a bit of trash-talking on the part of the Robin Hooders.

In the filing, parking enforcement officer Linda Desruisseaux said, "Besides following me, crowding around me, making video recordings of my activities, and placing coins in expired meters to prevent me from writing tickets, these individuals repeatedly taunt and harass me, asking why I am stealing peoples' money and telling me to get another job ... In particular, Graham Colson likes to taunt me by saying, 'Linda, guess what you're not going to do today - write tickets.' ... The taunting and harassment tends to get worse when there is a group, as they try to one-up each other at my expense.

Another parking enforcement officer claims that he suffers from heart palpitations, stress and anxiety, and "dreams related to this activity."

The city is concerned that the parking enforcement officers will quit, according to the Union Leader. That would cause a financial hardship, because the city would have to hire and train new officers, the suit claims.

Members of the group were issued the lawsuit last week and have 30 days to respond.

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U.N. encourages people to eat more insects

Deep-fried insects for sale at a food stand in Bangkok, Thailand (Wikicommons)The United Nations has some advice for the starving people of the world that might bug you. Eating insects might just be the future of food.

A new report from the U.N. says that eating insects (high in protein, low in fat) can help fight global warming, pollutions, and yes, hunger. And if the suggestion catches on, it could even be great for small businesses.

The concept of eating insects as part of a regular diet is known as entomophagy is already practiced by an estimated two billion people, according to the report, which was issued on Monday, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.

In 2012, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation named Dr. Aaron T. Dossey’s “All Things Bugs” company the winner of the foundation’s annual Grand Challenges Explorations contest. The group received a grant to pursue its project to come up with viable insect protein options to combat malnutrition in children.

So, which bugs earned the U.N.’s seal of approval? Well, there are reportedly more than 1,900 edible insect species. The international governing body suggested people try red ants, bees, caterpillars, crickets, grasshoppers, locusts wasps and certain types of water beetles.

And why do insects provide a viable alternative to other livestock?

That’s because on average insects product less greenhouse gas than larger animals and require a smaller ratio of food compared to the amount of substanance they provide. A Rice University study found that cultivating insects for food requires about 10 times less plant and land-mass than producing food from traditional livestock sources.

And the U.N. is looking to insects for more than food. A recent $100,000 was given by the organization to study whether South African flies can be used to transform blood, manure and other organic waste into animal feed.

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Charles Ramsey gets autotuned, and not everyone is pleased

Charles Ramsey’s account of his rescue of Amanda Berry, believed to have been held captive along with two other young women in a Cleveland home for a decade, already had gotten attention on the Web.

Now, Ramsey is being celebrated for his way with words the way only the Internet can do it: with a meme.

The hero's name has become a trending topic on Twitter, and his interviews have been catching notice on social media sites.

His overnight celebrity was cemented with quotes such as: “I barbecue with this dude. We eat ribs and whatnot and listen to salsa music.”

And: ”Bro, I knew something was wrong when a little pretty white girl ran into a black man’s arms. Something is wrong here. Dead giveaway. Dead giveaway.”

He also name-checks McDonald’s, saying he was just finishing his fast-food meal when he heard screams. Even the restaurant chain wants to reach out to the Web star.

Now his story, as told in a must-watch interview with reporters, has become a meme, capturing both Ramsey’s heroism and humor—with a little music mixed in. Above, check out the songified version by the Gregory Brothers.

But not everyone is happy about Ramsey getting the autotune treatment.

"Perhaps it's time for the world's meme artists to stop assuming that any black dude getting interviewed on local news about a crime he helped to foil can be reduced to some catch phrase or in-joke" Miles Klee writes on BlackBook.

"It's just baffling that we're trying to find a way to laugh about what is, in itself, a harrowing turn of events," he adds.

The Atlantic Wire also took issue with the Internet’s treatment of Ramsey, arguing that the neighbor became a Web sensation because “he's black and poor,” and ignores the horrible nature of the crimes committed against the women.

Amy Davidson of the New Yorker thinks otherwise.

She writes that he is “one of those instantly compelling figures who, in the middle of an American tragedy, just start talking—and then we can’t stop listening.”

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Conn. chef planning to feast on cicadas

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — A chef in Connecticut is looking forward to the upcoming cicada invasion, and the chance to try out a few recipes for the insects.

Bun Lai, owner of Miya's Sushi in New Haven, is already known for his Mexican grasshopper dish and his fried rice with meal worms and crickets.

He tells the New Haven Register (http://bit.ly/16eNZfy ) that he plans to fill a big freezer full of Brood II cicadas, once the red-eyed bugs' 17-year life cycle brings them above ground for about five weeks.

He says he plans to cook them for himself and maybe do some theme dinners.

Lai says they have great nutritional value and his recipes will honor that, meaning no deep frying. He plans to steam some and boil others with the appropriate spices.

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Information from: New Haven Register, http://www.nhregister.com

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Rodman to Kim: 'Do me a solid' and free American

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Former NBA star Dennis Rodman is tapping his friendship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to ask for the release of a Korean-American man sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in the North.

"I'm calling on the Supreme Leader of North Korea or as I call him 'Kim', to do me a solid and cut Kenneth Bae loose," Rodman said on Twitter. He later called the tweet a direct response to a Seattle Times editorial that dared him to ask Kim for the release if the two are really buddies.

Rodman visited North Korea in February and sat next to Kim as they watched an exhibition basketball game. His trip came at a time of high tension between Pyongyang and Washington and was not endorsed by the U.S. State Department.

Bae is a tour operator who was arrested in North Korea in November. The North's Supreme Court sentenced him last week for unspecified "hostile acts" against the state. In a Foreign Ministry statement on Sunday, North Korea said the 44-year-old Washington state man entered the country with a disguised identity.

Bae is at least the sixth American detained in North Korea since 2009. The others eventually were deported or released, some after trips to Pyongyang by prominent Americans, including former U.S. presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter.

North Korea's Foreign Ministry rejected speculation that it was seeking a U.S. envoy to negotiate Bae's release, saying he is not a political bargaining chip.

Analysts have said North Korea may be using Bae as bait to open direct negotiations with the United States over its nuclear arms programs. Bae's sentencing came during a lull after weeks of threats of war from Pyongyang against the U.S. and South Korea.

The U.S. has called for the North to immediately release Bae. It relies on Swedish diplomats in Pyongyang to deal with Bae's case because the North and the U.S. have no formal diplomatic relations after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce instead of a peace treaty.

North Korea has not described the exact nature of Bae's alleged crimes. Friends say Bae is a devout Christian and tour operator based in China who traveled frequently to North Korea to feed orphans.

Rodman said after his trip to North Korea that he planned to return in August to vacation with Kim, a diehard basketball fan.

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