News From: Yahoo! News: Odd News
Dog hits controls, drives van into coffee house (AP)
AP - A dog left inside a running van put the vehicle in drive, causing it to crash into a Long Island coffee house. Suffolk County police said no one was injured in the incident, which damaged the glass window and some patio furniture at Cool Beanz coffee shop in St. James.

Ind. inmates sneak through ceiling to have sex (AP)
AP - Three male and three female inmates at a southern Indiana jail face charges that they devised a way to sneak between cell blocks to help pass their time behind bars by having sex.

Rapper gets 20 years after writing shooting song (AP)
AP - He shot a man twice and felt so good about it, police said, a rapper wrote a song describing the shooting and calling out the victim by name. A judge sentenced 25-year-old Rico Todriquez Wright Monday to spend the next 20 years in prison after his victim mentioned the hip hop confession to police.

Thieves pry bronze Virgin Mary statue from church (AP)
AP - Thieves may have to take an awkward trip to the confessional. A bronze statue of the Virgin Mary was lifted from a Catholic church in Newport Beach. Police Lt. Craig Fox said the 4-to-5 foot statue was pried from its base on the front of Our Lady Queen of Angels Church on Friday night.

NC undercover officers use Taser on pallbearer (AP)
AP - Five sheriff's deputies will be disciplined after they used a Taser while serving an arrest warrant on a man at his father's funeral, a North Carolina sheriff said Wednesday.

Lawmaker apologizes for blocking Wikipedia (Reuters)
Reuters - A member of parliament who got a court order blocking online encyclopedia Wikipedia in Germany for two days because of entries linking him to communist-era security police apologized on Tuesday for overreacting.

Manual issued to stop forced marriages (Reuters)
Reuters - The Paris City Hall launched a manual on forced marriages on Wednesday to help officials spot and prevent cases of young women being coerced into matrimony.

Farmer avoids jail in fake tiger photo trial (Reuters)

Reuters - A farmer in northern China found guilty of doctoring photos of an endangered tiger after collecting a cash reward from wildlife authorities, has been handed a lighter sentence on appeal, local media said on Tuesday.

Top anti-drink cop caught drunk driving (Reuters)
Reuters - A senior Tokyo police official tasked with keeping the city's roads clear of drunk drivers has been arrested for driving under the influence, police said on Tuesday.

Parliament picks bomb hoaxer as speaker (Reuters)
Reuters - Lithuania's newly elected parliament has chosen as its new speaker a popular television talent show host once convicted of placing a prank call about a bomb in a hotel.

Obese have right to 2 airline seats (Reuters)
Reuters - Obese people have the right to two seats for the price of one on flights within Canada, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled on Thursday.

Sumo-Happy hunter Asashoryu plots New Year ring return (Reuters)
Reuters - Volatile grand champion Asashoryu will not return to the ring until the New Year despite being fit enough to hunt and cook wild animals in the Mongolian mountains.