Odd News

ST. PAUL, Minn., Dec. 17 (UPI) -- A St. Paul, Minn., woman was being held on $50,000 bail after allegedly stabbing her ex-boyfriend while arguing over control of the TV remote, police said.

Rocket, not lightning, killed Chinese man ... Man's 11 lottery tickets all winners ...Texting surpasses 6,000 monthly limit ... Parking scam victims get tickets ... Watercooler stories from UPI.

Dutch pick penis-shaking term as top word ... Angry gatekeeper blocks busy rail line ... Illegal iguana hiding out in Hawaii ... Disability called into question by race ... The world as we know it from UPI.

UPI Almanac for Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2008.

KYLE, Ireland, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- A woman angry about the prospect of losing her job as a gatekeeper at a railroad crossing blocked traffic on Ireland's busiest rail line Tuesday.

HONOLULU, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- Police and wildlife officials said they were scrambling to catch or kill a 4-foot iguana spotted in a Honolulu neighborhood.

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- A Dutch dictionary company says Web visitors have voted "swaffelen" -- an English slang verb meaning to swing one's exposed penis -- as the word of the year.

MANCHESTER, England, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- A British man who received disability payments after claiming he could walk only a few yards has been found guilty of deception after completing a foot race.

WELLINGTON , New Zealand, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- A 16-year-old New Zealand girl who is allowed a substantial 6,000 text messages per month says she often goes over her limit and has to bum phones from friends.

HOHHOT, China, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- A Chinese man believed to have been killed by lightning was actually done in by a small weather rocket found when it detonated during cremation, police say.

HAMPTON, Va., Dec. 16 (UPI) -- A Virginia man who bought 11 identical lottery tickets for the same drawing has won $1.1 million from a game with a top prize of $100,000, gaming officials say.

GAINESVILLE, Fla., Dec. 16 (UPI) -- Police said they arrested a Florida man who allegedly stole a small refrigerator from a probation office after his urine sample tested positive for drugs.

MILWAUKEE, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- A trio of scam artists charged unsuspecting drivers attending a concert in Milwaukee $10 to park in a county-owned lot, officials said.

MERIDEN, Conn., Dec. 16 (UPI) -- Family members of those honored on a Meriden, Conn., World War II plaque said they are lobbying the city to correct the monument's spelling errors.

PARKLAND , Fla., Dec. 16 (UPI) -- South Florida police said a robber apologized to workers at a Quizno's sandwich shop as he stole a sandwich and a register's worth of money.