UPI NewsTrack Quirks in the News

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Woman says hypnotists stole her cash

MOSCOW, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- A Russian woman told police two other women robbed her by using hypnotism to trick her into handing over $40,000.

The Moscow woman told police the thieves approached her after she withdrew the money from her bank account and hypnotized her to convince her to hand over the cash to break a spell placed on her husband and son, RIA Novosti reported Friday.

Police said the thieves could face a possible 10 years in jail if they are caught and convicted.

Toddler's eggs hatch into deadly snakes

TOWNSVILLE, Australia, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- An Australian mother said her 3-year-old son found some eggs and hid them in his wardrobe -- and they hatched into seven of the world's most deadly snakes.

Donna Sim of Townsville, Queensland, said she opened the wardrobe belonging to her son, Kyle Cumming, Monday and discovered what she learned were eastern brown snakes in a takeout container she had given him when he found the eggs, Sky News reported Friday.

Experts say the eastern brown is one the most deadly species in the world.

Steve Wilson, Queensland Museum information officer and snake expert, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. the snakes could have been deadly even at their young age.

"Any venomous snake, as soon as it hatches, has all the apparatus to deliver venom because the first thing they have to do is catch and kill prey -- it's a perfect replica of an adult snake," Wilson said. "Brown snakes are highly venomous and a baby brown could potentially kill or at least seriously harm a human being -- adult or child."

The snakes were taken to the Billabong sanctuary, where wildlife rangers said they will be released into the wild.

Students find loaded gun in movie theater

TILLAMOOK, Ore., Dec. 21 (UPI) -- Officials in an Oregon school district said students did the right thing when they discovered a gun while on a field trip to the movies and alerted a teacher.

Tillamook school Superintendent Randy Schild said 125 students were taken to see "The Hobbit" Wednesday morning at the Tillamook Coliseum Theatre as a reward for their good grades, and two seventh-graders spotted a loaded handgun on the ground in the aisle of the theater, KPTV, Portland, Ore., reported Friday.

The boys, Kolton McKinney and Levi Crabtree, quickly alerted a school worker, who called police.

"I'm a boy scout and Kolton and me took a hunter safety class," Crabtree said. "One of the rules is that you treat all guns as if they're loaded."

Police said a 61-year-old man came to the theater Wednesday night to ask if anyone had found his missing gun. He said he called the theater Tuesday night and earlier Wednesday, but there was no answer.

The man, who police said has a concealed carry license, said it did not occur to him to call law enforcement about the missing gun.

Police said the weapon was being held in evidence while the Tillamook County Sheriff's Office prepares a report for the district attorney's office.

Schild praised McKinney and Crabtree for doing the right thing.

"Our students reacted exactly like we would hope and that is they recognized that is was a gun, recognized that they needed to stay away and contact a teacher immediately," Schild said. "I hope this is a learning opportunity not only for our students, but any students that see it on TV or anywhere else."