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2 charged with TV reality show robbery

INDIANA, Pa., Aug. 6 (UPI) -- Two men were arrested in Pennsylvania for allegedly robbing people, filming their crimes, then telling their victims they were on a reality television show.

Randall J. Smith of Templehill, Md., and Artie Goodwine of Memphis were arrested early Sunday and charged with robbery, simple assault, harassment, and disorderly conduct for the stunt, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported.

Police said they received a report of a robbery at 1:21 a.m. Sunday. When officers arrived at the scene, they and the victims pursued two suspects, apprehended them and identified them as Smith and Goodwine.

During the robbery, one suspect was recording the incident on his cellphone, police said, and told the victims they were filming for a reality television show called "We Just Got Robbed."

The suspects allegedly stole about $20 from the victims, police said.

Frenchman wants crown jewels from Britain

ANGERS, France, Aug. 6 (UPI) -- A Frenchman is petitioning for the British crown jewels to be given back to the folks he says are the "rightful heirs" -- the people of Angers, France.

Artist Calixte de Nigremont has collected the signatures of 2,500 people in Angers and intends to air the town's case at a Sept. 7-9 trial he is arranging to be held during the Accroche-Coeurs street festival, TheLocal.fr reported Monday.

"The petition is serious. It's a bit of a nod towards the British to remind them of the history and relationship between France and the United Kingdom," Nigremont told The Local.

The petition claims the crown jewels rightfully belong to France, as they were taken after Britain's King Henry VII of the House of Tudor had Edouard Plantagenet, the earl of Warwick who was a potential heir to the throne, decapitated in 1499. The House of Plantagenet, a branch of the Angevin family, ruled much of France, as well as England, parts of Ireland, Scotland and Wales from the mid-12th century to the late 15th.

"If we do eventually get back the crown jewels I plan to do with them what you do in the U.K., and display them for the public to see. I like to think if it as giving something back to the French public," Nigremont said.

Nigremont has alerted British lawyers to start preparing for the case.

"I'm in the middle of talks with British lawyers, who are extremely interested in the case and say it is absolutely worth defending," he said. "I have also spoken to British historians who say the petition absolutely has a legitimate grounding."

'Apewoman' to return to Mexico

OSLO, Norway, Aug. 6 (UPI) -- The remains of carnival attraction and "Apewoman" Julia Pastrana will be returned to her native Mexico, Oslo University in Norway said.

Her body has been kept in Norway since the 1920s for research purposes, but a letter from Oslo University to Mexico's Ministry of Education, published in the scientific journal Uniforum, announced plans for a return to her home country for burial, the Norwegian news agency The Local reported Monday.

Pastrana was a dancer, born in 1834 in Mexico with hypertrichosis terminalis, a deformity that includes strong hair growth on the face and an oversized jaw. She was a feature at circuses and carnivals, and died in 1860 while on tour in Moscow, three days after giving birth to a child with similar features. She was mummified and displayed in a glass cabinet for the remainder of the tour. A Norwegian carnival owner bought her remains in 1921. They were stolen from a warehouse in 1979, and have resided in a sealed coffin at the University of Oslo's Department of Anatomy since 1997, the news agency said.

Funeral arrangements are incomplete, but Uniforum said she will be returned to Mexico after final scientific tests.

Woman spends summer as mermaid

PORTLAND, Ore., Aug. 6 (UPI) -- An Oregon woman who has been seen swimming in public pools while dressed as a mermaid said she is living out a childhood fantasy.

Pauline Long, 56, said she wanted to be a mermaid as a child and she decided to spend this summer swimming in Portland pools while wearing her homemade fins, which were inspired by a woman she met a few years ago, KGW, Portland, reported Monday.

Long, who said she is part of a 23-strong group known as The Northwest Mermaids, said she knows she isn't a real mermaid, but her 6-year-old self would be proud.

"I obviously know the difference but it's just fun. It's freedom," she said. "If you don't do it as a child, why not do it as an adult? Who says that you can't?"