Small Bits of News

Hmmm. Didn't I have a house here?
MOSCOW - Returning home after an absence can mean unpleasant surprises — a leaky roof, a pet's mess, even a break-in. But a Russian woman got a nastier surprise when she returned from her country house: her home was gone, torn down mistakenly by construction workers clearing a site, according to a report Thursday on NTV television.
Oops yahoo.com

Attempted Bank Robber Didn't Get Far
Grand Rapids Police caught a bank robbery suspect when he tried to hold up the same credit union twice in one month.
We say "tried" because employees recognized the man before he could actually walk into the West Michigan Credit Union on Front Avenue.
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Woman Who Shot Neighbor In Groin Gets 30 Months
A self-described Annie Oakley, who "smiled and chuckled" when she fired a shotgun into her neighbor's groin, will spend the next 30 months in prison.
Sandra Luann Long agreed to the sentence as part of a plea deal with the Maricopa County Attorney's Office. She also was ordered to pay as much as $500,000 in restitution.
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Swedish Bank Stops Digital Theft
A gang of Swedish criminals was seconds away from completing a digital bank heist when an alert employee literally pulled the plug on their brazen scam, investigators said Wednesday.
The would be bank robbers had placed "advanced technical equipment" under the employee's desk that allowed them to take control of his computer remotely, prosecutor Thomas Balter Nordenman said in a statement.
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Haiti's rising food prices drive poor to eat mud
Impoverished Haitians are increasingly resorting to eating biscuits made of mud as food prices soar in the Caribbean country. The discs are made from dried yellow clay mixed with water, salt and vegetable shortening or margarine. The mud, which comes from Haiti's central plateau region, is first strained and then shaped into biscuits which are left in the sun.
The pale brown biscuits, known by locals simply as "terre", have traditionally been eaten by pregnant Haitians and children as an antacid and source of calcium. However, for some Haitians unable to afford even a plate of rice, terre has become their staple diet. There's a photo gallery here.