King Cobra Halts Assembly Proceedings

BHUBANESWAR (India): The Orissa assembly was forced to suspend its proceedings on Thursday after a stray snake was spotted by the staff inside the house. But the reptile, believed to be a king cobra, couldn't be found despite hours of search by security personnel, officials and a sniffer dog.

The snake was noticed around 8 a.m. near the house reporters' table by some of the assembly staff during routine cleaning. The reptile sneaked into the table of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and disappeared, officials said.

Snake catchers, security personnel, forest officials and a sniffer dog were pressed into service to locate the reptile. As it could not be found, Speaker Pradip Kumar Amat initially adjourned the house for one hour to facilitate the search operation.

The house was later adjourned several times during the day while the search for the futile turned intense. The speaker finally adjourned the house for the day at 4.30 p.m.

Amat said the house will resume its normal business Friday. To remove the legislators' fear, the carpet flooring would be removed, thoroughly checked and disinfected, he told reporters.

Octogenarian Shoplifter Arrested for 61st Time

CHICAGO: An 86-year-old woman has been arrested here for the 61st time after she was caught stealing items worth about $250, including anti-wrinkle cream and batteries, from a retail shop.

The woman, identified as Ella Orko, whom the police called a "career shoplifter" was charged with felony shoplifting and a bail of $10,000 was set for her.

Orko allegedly stole five packs of salmon, 11 packages of AA batteries, two packs of L'Oreal anti-wrinkle cream, eight boxed jars of Olay face cream and four jars of instant coffee from the store.

She was arrested on Monday when someone in the store saw her hiding the items in her cloths. The total value of the items is said to be nearly $252, a police report said.

Orko has been arrested 60 times before this incident, first in 1956 for petty larceny in the city.

She has 13 convictions for shoplifting. The woman also has at least 20 aliases, police spokesman Robert Perez said.

Mouse Builts Nest in ATM Machine with $20 Bills

LOUISIANA GRANDE (US): A mouse found inside an automatic teller machine -- along with a nest it had built with chewed-up USD 20 bills -- gave an Oregon gas station employee the surprise of her life.

The mouse, discovered Thursday, had thoroughly torn up two bills and damaged another 14 to line his nest. Employee Millie Taylor says she screamed and slammed the machine's door shut.

The bank replaced all the money that wasn't extensively damaged, and the ATM has continued to work just fine. The mouse also got a reprieve: He was evicted from his nest but set free outside the station.

Other workers at the Gem Stop Chevron in La Grande in eastern Oregon say they're mystified about how the mouse got inside the machine.

Lottery Winner Gives Money to Beggar

MOSCOW: A Nigerian lottery winner gave all her prize money to a street beggar an hour after being given the cheque, a website said.

Forty-six-year old Rosemary Obiakor from Lagos won over three million naira (about $20,000) in the country's national lottery, the Ananova website reported.

In a ceremony, broadcast on local TV, Rosemary told reporters that she planned to donate all the money she had won to a "lucky beggar".

"I have heard a lot of stories about how people win the lottery, and they get broke in the short run and come across a lot of misfortune. I am scared, and so I'll give it to a lucky beggar on the street," she explained.

After cashing in her cheque Rosemary handed the money to a woman begging with a two-year-old child, who was naturally delighted when presented with the bag of cash.

The beggar gave some cash to other poor people on the street before disappearing with a promise to open a food shop.

Devotees Offer Liquor to Deity

Uttar Pradesh (India): This temple in Uttar Pradesh's Sitapur district doesn't have an idol or a priest and devotees don't make floral offering. They offer liquor to the deity -- a saint who lived in the area around 150 years ago and was said to enjoy his drink in the evening and had a knack of clairvoyance and curing people.

Welcome to the Khabees Baba temple situated in a forest area near Sandana town in Sitapur district, some 80 km from Lucknow, where devotees offer liquor to the deity.

According to locals, the temple was built around 150 years ago in memory of a saint named Khabees Baba, who devoted his life worshipping Lord Shiva in Sitapur.

"It is believed that Khabees Baba died in the Sandana forest while worshipping Lord Shiva. So, in order to pay homage to their guru, Baba's disciples constructed the temple at the place where he died," Shyam Babu Saini, a teacher and resident of Sandana, said.

The temple is popular not only amongst the locals in Sitapur; devotees from different parts of Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere too visit the temple.

"Though devotees visit the temple round-the-year, they throng here in large numbers during the month of Ashadh of the Hindu calendar, especially on the occasion of Guru Poornima," said Saini.

Locals say Khabees Baba was fond of liquor and whatever he used to say under its influence proved to be true.

"We have been told by our ancestors that a large number of people used to meet Khabees Baba Monday evenings, when he used to get drunk," said Praveen Kumar, 65, a resident of the Roti Godam area of Sitapur. He visits the temple often.

"People, especially those with chronic health problems, used to come to Khabees Baba. An inebriated Baba used to bless them and their health problems used to be cured," he added.

The small temple has no idol inside, instead there is a raised platform on which rests two slipper-shaped structures that are taken to symbolise the feet of the saint, locals say.

Devotees coming to the temple offer liquor on these clay structures, while a small portion of liquor around the symbolic feet is collected and distributed as prasad (offering) among the devotees.

There is no priest in the temple and the locals themselves take care of its maintenance, taking turns to do so.

Charged 23 Quadrillion Dollars for Pack of Cigarettes

NEW HAMPSHIRE (US): A New Hampshire man says he swiped his debit card at a gas station to buy a pack of cigarettes and was charged over 23 quadrillion dollars.

Josh Muszynski checked his account online a few hours after the purchase and saw the 17-digit number - a stunning $23,148,855,308,184,500 (twenty-three quadrillion, one hundred forty-eight trillion, eight hundred fifty-five billion, three hundred eight million, one hundred eighty-four thousand, five hundred dollars).

Muszynski told WMUR-TV that he spent two hours on the phone with Bank of America trying to sort out the string of numbers - and the $15 overdraft fee.

The bank corrected the error the next day. Bank of America said the card issuer, Visa, could answer questions. Visa, in turn, referred questions to the bank.

Man Uses Nail Clippers to Circumcise Himself

London: A man who gave himself a DIY (Do-It-Yourself) circumcision using nail clippers was taken to hospital for emergency treatment.

The young man had to be rushed to the Lister Hospital in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. The wound was disinfected to cleanse it before he was given a bed in an observation ward.

"This is something we would advise men never to attempt," a medic said, "The results can be quite horrific and long-lasting and have quite an affect on a man's sexual performance.

"Using a pair of nail clippers must have caused excruciating pain, even if he had had a few drinks beforehand."

Want Divorce? Spend More Time in the Loo

MELBOURNE: A newly wed man left behind his wife at the airport because he thought she had spent too much time in the toilet.

The Saudi couple, married for only a week, were heading back home from their honeymoon in Malaysia, when the bridegroom decided to fly from Kuala Lumpur International Airport without his wife.

The woman had gone to use the facilities before boarding the flight, and her time in the toilet was apparently unclear, reports News.com.au.

When she reportedly emerged, she could not find any trace of her husband, and began a frantic search subsequently.

According to the Saudi Gazette, the woman eventually found out that her better half had taken the flight back home.

Meanwhile, the man upon arriving at his destination told his relatives his new wife was still in Malaysia.

The woman is now seeking an immediate divorce.

Son Tries to Sell Sexy Photos of Mum on Internet

WELLINGTON: A New Zealand teenager tried to sell some sexy photographs of his mother on an Internet auction site after the pair had an argument,a newspaper here reported.

The 18-year-old student opened an auction for "five naked photos of my Mum" on the Trade Me site after being told to clear the family garage and sell any unwanted items on the site, the Herald on Sunday said.

Trade Me pulled the auction the next day, but the student, identified only as Michael, was soon back trying to sell a series of eight-year-old "glamour" shots of his mother, including one of her in underwear.

His mother Jennifer, 44, who did not want the family name published, told the paper she was "pretty annoyed" when she found out about the first set of photographs.

"He was quite naughty... I thought 'you cheeky little git'," she said.

But she was also annoyed that Trade Me withdrew the second set of pictures, of which she approved.

"I insisted Michael show me first, the little bugger. They are quite artistic. There is nothing dodgy about them."

"I wanted 50 per cent of the sale, but more than that I miss the nice comments."

Trade Me spokesman Jon Macdonald said both auctions were withdrawn because of "inappropriate" photos.

"We don't really want to be the place where people list photos of their mums in their underwear," he said.