Odd News

BURR OAK, Mich. - A man gathering sweet corn in southern Michigan is the latest to have an unexpected encounter with an alligator. The animals have been showing up far north of their traditional habitats this summer. Jeff Adamski of Burr Oak said he was picking corn near the Michigan-Indiana border when two women who were a few rows over came running and screaming, saying they had seen an alligator. Full Story »

HELENA, Mont. - Two young goats wandered onto the thin ledge of a railroad bridge and spent nearly two days high above the ground until rescuers in a towering cherry picker plucked them from their perch, hungry but safe. Full Story »

• Slideshow: Goats rescued off Mont. railroad bridge

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Canadian parents are more lenient with their children than mothers and fathers in France and Italy, according to a new study. Full Story »

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The Dutch Finance Ministry Thursday acknowledged it was defrauded out of more than 160,000 euros ($204,800) earlier this year by an employee of the ministry unit that handles the state's financing needs. Full Story »

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A number of Dutch colleges are considering legal action against the publisher of a move-in guide for new freshmen, after the company included an ad recruiting students for jobs as online sex workers. Full Story »

BERLIN (Reuters) - A British airplane en route to Poland was forced to make an emergency landing in Germany after a 56-year-old woman spilled a hot cup of tea on herself, German police said on Wednesday. Full Story »

BERNE (Reuters) - Vuvuzelas have been kicked out of European competitions after UEFA said that the controversial plastic trumpets drowned out supporters and detracted from the emotion of the game. Full Story »

Updates Full Story »

AMES, Iowa - An Iowa State University music professor says the Lady Gaga club anthem "Bad Romance" translates better than you might think into the 110-foot-tall, organ-like instrument known as a carillon. Full Story »

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Just in case it wasn't clear: Weapons and drugs don't make good charitable donations. Full Story »

DARIEN, Conn. - Connecticut State Police say a man fell out of his car onto Interstate 95 and watched his vehicle drive on for about two-tenths of a mile before it crashed into a pole. Troopers said they're not sure why 51-year-old Robert Craig of Killingworth fell out of his 2006 Dodge Charger late Tuesday morning in Darien near Exit 10. Police said Craig was treated for minor injuries at Stamford Hospital. Full Story »

DES MOINES, Iowa - A "D+" campaign logo aimed at encouraging recruitment at Drake University is getting a failing grade from some faculty, students and alumni. Full Story »

BETHEL, Ohio - For a second time, an Ohio woman has given birth to a baby who couldn't wait and arrived on the drive to the hospital. Full Story »

FARSON, Wyo. - The powdery substance that Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers found in a zip-close bag during a recent traffic stop didn't turn out to be drugs after all. Sgt. Stephen Townsend of the patrol said then when troopers pulled over two men in a car Wednesday, they found small amounts of marijuana and drug paraphernalia and thought the bag might hold illegal drugs. Troopers contacted the car's owner — the girlfriend of one of the men — and asked her. Full Story »

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Diane Buckalew said she felt sick when she woke up and realized two rings she'd left on the bathroom counter the night before were gone. She and husband Carl, married in Las Vegas a month ago, realized Thursday their cat Jinxe had batted into the toilet an amethyst ring and Diane's 4-carat, $40,000 diamond engagement ring. Full Story »

PARIS (Reuters) - The warmth generated by human bodies in the Parisian metro will help heat a public housing project in the city centre, the capital's largest owner of social housing said on Friday. Full Story »