UPI NewsTrack Quirks in the News

Newsweek cover angers Palin supporters

WASHINGTON, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Some Republicans say a Newsweek cover of U.S. vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin shows bias because it reveals unflattering details.

Andrea Tantaros, a political consultant, accused the magazine of running flattering covers of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, The Daily Telegraph reports. One notorious cover showed Obama with what looked like a halo.

"This cover is a clear slap in the face of Sarah Palin," Tantaros said on television. "Why? Because it's unretouched. It highlights every imperfection that every human being has. We're talking unwanted facial hair, pores, wrinkles."

Tantaros said that many Newsweek photos of Obama show clear signs of retouching.

Jeff Bercovici, a media analyst with Conde Naste Portfolio, said that the magazine had a clear "implicit" message.

"Here's your beauty queen, ... your 'hottest governor from the coldest state.' How do you like her now that you've seen her crows' feet, her clumpy mascara, her bloodshot eyes, her faint mustache, her cakey makeup, her gaping pores etc," he wrote on his blog.

Splitting couple cuts home in half

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- A Cambodian couple has taken splitting up to the extreme, dividing property by sawing their home in half to avoid the country's divorce system, officials say.

Vorng Morn, an official in the Prey Veng province where the couple lives, said Meoun Kim and his wife, Nhanh, sliced their home in half after Kim accused his wife of nearly 40 years of neglecting him, the BBC said Friday.

Morn said despite opposition from area officials, the couple decided to conduct the real estate alteration in order to avoid Cambodia's complicated and often lengthy divorce proceedings.

"We tried to persuade them to think clearly before they did this because they had been married for nearly 40 years," Morn said.

"But they did not listen," he added.

The BBC said the couple also divided up the rest of their property into four sections, with one for Kim, one for his wife and two for their two children.

BART managers detail sippy cup dangers

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Bay Area Rapid Transit managers say allowing sippy cups onto the San Francisco public transportation system could lead to terrorist attacks.

The San Francisco Chronicle said Friday that BART managers opposed a plan to allow the drinking cups onto the train system, alleging terrorists would begin using them to carry flammable liquids.

The managers also suggested that if commuters were allowed to use sippy cups on the trains, the trains' interiors would be damaged and ensuing conflicts would require police intervention.

But while presenting their opinions to their bosses on Thursday, their warnings were met with skepticism and they were accused of "fear mongering," the Chronicle reported.

"If somebody wants to break the law and bring flammable liquids on, they can. It's not like al-Qaida is waiting in their caves for us to have a sippy-cup rule," BART director Tom Radulovich said.

"You know, it's just fear mongering and you should be ashamed."

Tourists can now get very close to crocs

DARWIN, Australia, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- A new tourist attraction in Australia allows visitors to get close to the country's deadliest predator, the saltwater crocodile, and live to talk about it.

Crocosaurus Cove in Darwin in Darwin features a hexagonal acrylic cage. Two tourists at once, dressed in swimsuits and equipped with face masks and snorkels are lowered in the cage into a tank of crocodiles, The Daily Telegraph reports.

The crocodile collection includes one celebrity, Burt, who supported Paul Hogan in the first Crocodile Dundee movie. Others are Snowy, an albino suspected of having killed a man, and Chopper, who was left toothless after a fight with another crocodile.

The cage is 15 feet high. While there is air at the top, visitors can dive down to get within a few feet of the crocodiles.

Crocosaurus Cove requires visitors to sign an indemnity form with warnings that getting close to the crocodiles might cause panic attacks, hyperventilation and even heart attacks.