WETM: Weird News

Drug company halts sale of drugs used for executions

Fri, 17 May 2013 17:57:49 -0400

A drug company has stopped selling a drug to Arkansas because officials in the U.S. state planned to use it to execute death row prisoners.

Pharmaceutical company Hikma, based in London, said phenobarbital is prescribed to prevent convulsions, but the company does not condone its use on death row.

According to a spokesperson, Hikma's subsidiary West-Ward Pharmaceuticals had not sold phenobarbital to the Arkansas Department of Correction since mid-April when they were made aware it could be used for capital punishment.

A statement from the firm reads, "It has recently come to senior management's attention that it may have been purchased by Arkansas DOC for future use in capital punishment. We do not condone the use of this drug for capital punishment and as a result we have stopped selling the drug."

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James Bond movie studio expansion plans rejected

Fri, 17 May 2013 17:56:11 -0400

Britain is at risk of losing the James Bond movies after plans to expand the franchise's iconic Pinewood Studios were rejected.

Bosses at the movie unit in Buckinghamshire, England applied to local planning officials for permission to extend the site across an area of adjacent land in what would have been a $310 million project.

However, the proposals were turned down by officials at South Buckinghamshire Council on Wednesday due to the expansion taking place on 'greenbelt' land, where prominent building work is restricted.

Councillor Bill Lidgate says, "We're 87 percent greenbelt in South Bucks and those policies are jealously protected. The point people must understand is that Pinewood Studios do not make films, they rent out buildings."

Just days before the rejection, Pinewood chief executive Ivan Dunleavy warned the studio faced losing the Bond films if the expansion didn't go ahead.

He said, "If we as a sector don't respond to the growing demand (for bigger and better facilities) then someone else will. (The Bond producers) have to be financially responsible. If they get a better proposal elsewhere than the U.K. can mount then they have to look after their business as well."

All except two of the 23 films in the Bond franchise have been filmed at Pinewood.

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Survey finds that 7-in-10 women would follow Jolie's lead

Fri, 17 May 2013 17:54:13 -0400

Angelina Jolie's announcement that she has undergone a preventative double mastectomy has inspired other women to take control.

A survey by market research company YouGov reveals seven out of 10 British women would have the procedure if tests showed they had a high chance of developing breast cancer.

On Tuesday, the Tomb Raider beauty announced in a New York Times piece that she had undergone a double mastectomy as a preventive measure against breast cancer.

Jolie said that doctors estimated that she "had an 87 percent risk of breast cancer and a 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer" due to a "faulty" gene, BRCA1, which increases cancer risk.

Now 68 percent of women say they would have all natural breast tissue removed and replaced with implants if tests indicated a high probability of developing breast cancer.

Copyright WENN.com

Mystery over Japanese chef's island death

Fri, 17 May 2013 17:43:30 -0400

BERLIN (AP) — Authorities in Germany are investigating the death of a Japanese chef following a fight with two customers who had complained about his food.

Prosecutors say Miki Nozawa died Monday following a brawl with the two men at a nightclub near his restaurant on the North Sea resort island of Sylt.

German tabloid newspaper Bild reported the men had refused to pay for a dish of fried rice with vegetables and beef.

The paper described Nozawa as a "star chef" who previously worked in Berlin and Sardinia.

Prosecutors' spokesman Ruediger Meienburg said Friday that an autopsy determined the cause of death was a brain hemorrhage but further tests were needed to determine if the bleeding was due to the fight.

In the meantime, no formal charges have been filed.

Bieber will have to pay for German monkey business

Fri, 17 May 2013 17:42:29 -0400

BERLIN (AP) — German officials say Justin Bieber will have to pay the bill for his monkey's two month stay at a Munich animal shelter.

A spokesman for Munich's customs office says the cost of care, food and vet visits for capuchin monkey Mally is several thousand euros (dollars).

Customs spokesman Thomas Meister says Bieber has until midnight Friday to claim the monkey seized by authorities March 28 when the singer failed to produce its papers after landing in Munich on tour.

The shelter says his management company has asked that the 20-week-old monkey be placed in a zoo.

But customs has yet to receive a formal request for that from Bieber or an authorized representative.

Navy pilot earns degree in combat zone

Fri, 17 May 2013 16:49:28 -0400

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Navy Lt. Thomas Sanez says he needed armed guards and an armored car to take his finals.

Saenz has earned a master's degree in engineering from the University of Southern California while commanding a top security team in Afghanistan. His class graduates Friday.

The 33-year-old father of two is joining a growing number of military members earning college degrees online while serving in a war zone.

The Obama administration is pushing universities to find creative ways to help as it tracks the success of its post 9/11 GI Bill.

Saenz says a deadly bomb attack caused him to miss class once, and getting to finals meant traveling on a dangerous road in Kabul to a university approved testing site.

He has persevered and is job hunting as he prepares to leave the service in June.

Hundreds of dead animals wash up on Chile's shores

Fri, 17 May 2013 16:35:59 -0400

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Chilean officials are investigating the death of hundreds of penguins, pelicans and other animals that are washing up on the county's shores.

Authorities say they suspect that fishermen using explosives may have killed the animals found at the town of Punta de Choros on Chile's north-central coast.

Chile's National Fishing Service and the Navy are inspecting vessels around the area.

Environmental group Oceana is urging officials to find and punish those responsible for the deaths.

Chile has more than 2,500 miles of coastline and fishing is among its top industries.

Bahrain jails demonstrator for 'insulting' flag

Thu, 16 May 2013 17:29:48 -0400

MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — A defense lawyer in Bahrain says a demonstrator has been sentenced to three months in prison for hanging a Bahrain flag from his truck during 2011 rallies.

Thursday's ruling is among the first based on tougher penalties imposed last month for insulting the Gulf state's king or national symbols. The measures seek to quell more than two years of protests led by Bahrain's majority Shiites seeking a greater political voice in the Sunni-ruled nation.

Defense lawyer Hashim Saleh says 62-year-old Abdulla al-Sayegh plans to appeal the sentence and the 100 dinar ($265) fine. Al-Sayegh acknowledges he attended pro-reform rallies during the early days of the Arab Spring uprising.

On Wednesday, six Twitter users in Bahrain were given one year each in prison for posts deemed offensive to the king.

Now Venezuela is running out of toilet paper

Thu, 16 May 2013 17:28:25 -0400

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — First milk, butter, coffee and cornmeal ran short. Now Venezuela is running out of the most basic of necessities — toilet paper.

Blaming political opponents for the shortfall, the embattled socialist government says it will import 50 million rolls.

That was little comfort to consumers who struggled to find toilet paper in stores Wednesday.

Manuel Fagundes, a shopper hunting for tissue in downtown Caracas, said: "I'm 71 years old and this is the first time I've seen this."

Economists say Venezuela's shortages stem from price controls meant to make basic goods available to the poorest parts of society and to the government's controls on foreign currency needed to pay for imports.

The government claims anti-government forces including the private sector are causing the shortages to destabilize the country.

Grandma gets jail for hog-tying boy at home

Thu, 16 May 2013 12:41:14 -0400

ALTOONA, Pa. (AP) — A central Pennsylvania woman will spend 60 days to two years in jail for hog-tying her 5-year-old grandson to a chair so she could go to a methadone clinic.

The Altoona Mirror reports 49-year-old Evelyn Himes, of Duncansville, was sentenced Wednesday after pleading no contest to endangering the welfare of a child and simple assault.

Police charged Himes after the boy's pre-school called county social workers after noticing a mark on his wrist. The boy told investigators he'd been tied down and investigators later determined Himes bound him with scarves. Himes claimed the boy was badly behaved and reminded the judge the court had given her custody of the boy.

Blair County, Pa. Judge Jolene Kopriva told Himes that the boy has been well-behaved since he was placed in foster care and called Himes "misguided."