UPI NewsTrack Quirks in the News

Octopus predicts Spain World Cup victory

OBERHAUSEN, Germany, July 9 (UPI) -- Officials at a German aquarium said the facility's "psychic" octopus has predicted Spain will win the World Cup finale against the Netherlands in South Africa.

Paul the octopus' keepers at the Sea Life Aquarium in Oberhausen said the 2-year-old cephalopod, which has correctly predicted the outcome of all of Germany's games during the 2010 tournament, favors Spain in Sunday's final game against the Netherlands at Johannesburg's Soccer City Stadium, The Guardian reported Friday.

The octopus also predicted Germany will take third place in the tournament by besting Uruguay in Saturday's game.

Stefan Porwoll, manager of the Sea Life Aquarium, said Paul predicts the games by choosing mussels from boxes marked with the flags of the opposing teams.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero jokingly offered the octopus state protection to guard him against German backlash for predicting the country's previous loss to the Spanish team.

"I am concerned for the octopus. ... I am thinking of sending him a protective team," he said.

Suit: Ex-hubby bugged wife's car

WALSALL, England, July 9 (UPI) -- A British woman's lawsuit against her ex-husband claims he bugged her car to record her private conversations during the final months of their marriage.

Baksho Devi Gora of Walsall, England, filed a High Court lawsuit seeking "substantial damages" from ex-husband Harvinder Singh Gora for allegedly violating her privacy by recording private telephone conversations from her car and playing them for family and friends, The Daily Telegraph reported Friday.

Aidan Eardley, Baksho Devi Gora's attorney, said his client's then-husband "appears to have been acting out of spite or to assert illegitimate pressure on her in the course of their separation and divorce."

Eardley said the alleged bugging took place during the "dying months" of the couple's marriage in 2008. He said Harvinder Singh Gora's actions were "devastating" to his client and "ruined her career."

The suit alleges violations of breach of confidence and misuse of private information laws.

Shoplifter: 'Run, ma, run!'

NAPLES, Fla., July 9 (UPI) -- Police in Florida said a mother-son shoplifting team was arrested after the mother left her debit card behind at the Kmart they targeted.

Collier County sheriff's deputies said Cory Dalton, 19, and Lori Lynn Larocque, 38, were caught shoplifting $71 in merchandise from the Naples Kmart at about 3 p.m. June 24 and while a loss prevention officer was escorting them to an office Dalton shouted, "Run, ma, run," and the pair fled the store, the Naples Daily News reported Friday.

Deputies said Larocque and Dalton fled in a Cadillac but left behind Larocque's debit card and $13 worth of items they had legally purchased.

Investigators said they located the pair Tuesday at Dalton's home and they were both arrested and charged with petty theft. Dalton also had an arrest warrant for failure to appear in court on a marijuana possession charge, authorities said.

Canadian runners turn to 'barefoot shoes'

SASKATOON, Saskatchewan, July 9 (UPI) -- Many runners in Saskatchewan, Canada, say they are forgoing their running shoes in favor of "barefoot shoes," thin, glove-like coverings for the feet.

James Funk, a Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, marathon runner, said he switched from his old running shoes to barefoot shoes about a month ago and he has no intention of switching back, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported Friday.

"Why is it we've only had this explosion of running-related injuries since about the 1960s?" Funk said. "It's because that's when we started putting huge bits of foam under our feet."

Owners of stores carrying the products said they have trouble keeping barefoot shoes on the shelves.

"I wanted to try them off-road and took them for a short run ... and felt like I wanted to take my clothes off and run through the forest naked," said Brian Michasiw, owner of Saskatoon's Brainsport running store. "It was such an exhilarating feeling."

Michasiw said the cushioning and supports in regular running shoes can be detrimental.

"They're so good that they're doing a lot of the work for you," he said. "Which means that you're not using your body, right? And I think we're at such a point with our lives and technology that we need to start using our body or else it's going to atrophy."