UPI NewsTrack Quirks in the News

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Police bust alleged Captain America bandit

MODESTO, Calif., Dec. 14 (UPI) -- Police in California said they arrested a man accused of robbing multiple stores while wearing a Captain America mask.

Modesto police said Aaron Gonzales, 22, was wearing a ski mask instead of the Marvel Comics character's mask Wednesday when he approached Rogers Jewelry while carrying a baseball bat, KTXL-TV, Sacramento, reported Friday.

Officers said police locked the door before the man could enter and he left in a Ford Focus that was soon pulled over. Gonzales was arrested and identified as the man who allegedly robbed the same store Aug. 13 and is suspected in several other thefts. Police said Gonzales used a baseball bat to smash a display counter during the Aug. 13 incident.

Police said a search of Gonzales' home turned up a Captain America mask and other evidence.

Gonzales was taken to the Stanislaus County Jail on theft charges.

Woman sues paper over 'sex' headline

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- A Swedish woman is suing tabloid Expressen for publishing a picture of her with a headline saying she was using her phone "to meet up for sex."

The 22-year-old woman's slander suit against the newspaper alleges the woman gave an interview for the article but the interview had nothing to do with the headline, which read "This is how young people use their mobile phones to meet up for sex," The Local.se reported Friday.

The woman refused a $750 compensation offer from Expressen, seeking a larger payout for what she alleged was the tabloid giving the wrong impression about her comments.

The woman said the newspaper published a second picture of her in the two-page article next to a transcript of a conversation about sexual intercourse from website Badoo. The woman said she had nothing to do with the conversation.

The case has been referred to Sweden's Chancellor of Justice to determine whether it violates press freedom laws.

Police: Car drove 75 mph with man on hood

MALAGA, Spain, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- Spanish police said they arrested a driver who was traveling 75 mph in a 50 mph zone and a second man who was riding on the vehicle's hood.

Police said the man riding on the hood told officers the pair had argued outside a bar in Malaga around 4 a.m. Thursday and he had ended up on the hood of the car to avoid being run over, ThinkSpain reported Friday.

The driver, who police said had twice the legal limit of alcohol in his blood, told police he drove off because he had been attacked by a gang of youths.

Police said the man on the hood of the car has "behaved aggressively" toward officers.

Investigators said the car had traveled more than 3 miles with the man on its hood.

Both men were arrested, police said.

Elephants stranded in cold given vodka

NOVOSIBIRSK, Russia, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- Russian officials said two elephants stranded temporarily by a trailer fire were given vodka to help keep them from freezing in the Siberian cold.

Authorities in the Novosibirsk region said the Asian elephants belonging to a Polish circus were forced out of their wooden trailer when it caught fire and ended up on the highway in minus 40-degree weather, the BBC reported Friday.

RIA Novosti reported the 48- and 45-year-old elephants' handler had the animals jog to keep them from freezing and they were given a mixture of water and vodka to keep them from freezing.

The elephants, which suffered frostbite to their ears, were soon taken to a nearby heated garage.

Scientists say alcohol can make humans or animals feel warmer, but actually lowers their core body temperature.

However, Novosibirsk zoo director Rostislav Shilo said he believes the vodka prevented the animals from suffering hypothermia or pneumonia.