Doctor Operated the Wrong Knee

State health officials were investigating how a surgeon operated on the wrong knee of a patient Friday at the Miriam Hospital, part of a medical network that was reprimanded and fined $50,000 last year for three mistaken surgeries at another of its facilities.

The latest mistake happened while a surgeon performed a knee arthroscopy, a procedure in which doctors insert a pencil-sized camera into the knee so they can diagnose a malady. In some cases, surgeons will repair or remove damaged tissue.

After the operation was complete, the surgeon realized the mistake and operated on the correct knee, hospital officials said. Miriam spokeswoman Linda Shelton would not identify the doctor or patient, whom the hospital said was "doing well." Lifespan, the not-for-profit corporation that operates the hospital, has started an investigation into the accident.

"We deeply regret that such a mistake occurred," Lifespan said in a written statement. "We have apologized to, and are working closely with, the patient and the family." The state Department of Health was alerted to the mistake Friday and sent a team to investigate, department spokeswoman Helen Drew said.

"We're obviously greatly concerned about the incident and the patient," she said. Lifespan revised its policies following a string of wrong-side surgeries at Rhode Island Hospital, a teaching facility for Brown University's medical school.

In November, the chief resident started operating on the wrong side of an 82-year-old patient's brain, health officials said. A different doctor performed neurosurgery on the wrong side of another patient's head in February.

In August, a patient died several weeks after a third doctor operated on the wrong side of his brain. Afterward, state health authorities ordered the hospital to take steps to avoid similar accidents in the future, including an independent review of its neurosurgery practices and better verification from doctors of surgery plans. (AP via Yahoo)

Woman Finds 'Goldilocks' Snoring in Her Son's Bed

A man was charged with burglary after he allegedly broke into a home, ate cheese from the refrigerator, made a mess in a bathroom and fell asleep on a child's bed. Tracy Mullins, 47, of Billings, was arraigned in District Court on Thursday by video from the county jail.

Mullins pleaded not guilty to burglary. Judge Susan Watters set bail at $5,000 after rejecting a request that he be released without bail. Public defender Richard Phillips, who made the request, said Mullins had been receiving mental-health counseling. Court records indicate a woman awoke in her home Monday at 8:30 a.m. to the sound of snoring coming from her 2-year-old son's bedroom. Her son had slept that night with her and her husband.

The woman said she found a strange man sleeping in her son's bed. She woke her husband and left to call police from a neighbor's house. The husband confronted the man with an unloaded shotgun and held him until police arrived. (Text & Photo: AP via Yahoo)

Donkey Jailed for Theft

An Egyptian donkey has been jailed for stealing corn on the cob from a field belonging to an agricultural research institute in the Nile Delta, local media reported on Thursday.

The ass and its owner were apprehended at a police checkpoint that had been set up after the institute's director complained that someone was stealing his crops, the state-owned Al-Ahram daily said.

The unnamed ungulate was found in possession of the institute's corn and a local judge sentenced him to 24 hours in prison. The man who had his ass thrown in jail got off with a fine of 50 Egyptian pounds (nine dollars, six euros). (Text & Photo: AFP via MSN)

Man Clipped by Train while Lighting Cigarette

A southern Illinois man will probably pay more attention the next time he lights a cigarette near railroad tracks. Authorities said 25-year-old Brandon Robles escaped serious injury early Sunday when he was clipped by a passing Union Pacific train when he stopped near the tracks for a smoke. Workers on the train told authorities they thought they'd hit a man, launching a search that included dogs. But nobody was found. Robles had managed to walk home, only to call emergency dispatchers hours later to report that he couldn't get out of bed. He was treated at a hospital. Robles told investigators he'd been drinking heavily and saw the train approaching when he stopped at the tracks for a cigarette. (AP via Yahoo/ Photo: Hanif Nashrullah)

Man with 86 Wives Detained

A Nigerian Muslim court Monday detained an 84-year-old Islamic preacher with 86 wives after he failed to heed a call by local leaders to divorce all but four of them. The authorities in central Niger state charged Mohammed Bello with "insulting religious creed" and "unlawful marriages" after local chiefs and Muslim leaders gave him until September 7 to comply with Islamic sharia law, which allows a man to have no more than four wives at a time. The preacher, who lives with his wives and some 170 children in the town of Bida, pleaded not guilty to the charges at an Upper Sharia Court in the state capital Minna. Judge Abdul Imam, who rejected Bello's bail application and ordered that he be remanded in prison to allow police complete their investigation, adjourned the case to October 6. Bello's detention came barely a week after he was granted temporary reprieve by a civil court in the Nigerian capital Abuja where he filed a petition against local chiefs and Muslim leaders who threatened to banish him if he failed to divorce 82 of his wives. The preacher said the threats violated his right to life and personal liberty. The court gave Bello temporary protection from banishment, but the Niger State Sharia Commission decided on Monday to charge him at an Islamic court. Bello had received a number of death threats after the Nigerian media began reporting on his unusual marital situation, his spokesman said. Some newspapers said earlier in September that Bello had agreed at a meeting with local officials to divorce all but four of his wives and had asked for time to return them to their families. But his spokesman later denied the reports and said the preacher intended to marry more wives instead. His case has stirred controversy in Africa's most populous nation of 140 million people, roughly half of whom are Muslim. Many Muslim scholars say Islam allows men to have up to four wives at any given time who must be treated equally. (Reuters via Yahoo/ AFP File Photo via MSN)

86 Lawyers for Man with 86 Wives

A coalition of Nigerian human rights groups has mobilized 86 lawyers to defend the country's most married man, currently detained for unlawful marriages and inciting contempt of Islamic religious laws, an activist said Wednesday. "The coalition of 27 human rights groups in the north has mobilized 86 lawyers to defend Bello Masaba against the charges brought against him and the threat of banishment," Shehu Sani, a human rights activist and playwright, told AFP in a telephone interview. "It is our determination to protect his fundamental human rights as enshrined in the Nigerian constitution and international law," Sani added. newly-wed Sani is the director of Civil Rights Congress, a rights group based in the northern city of Kaduna and a member of the coalition. He said the identities of the defence lawyers would not be disclosed for fear of blackmail and intimidation, adding that the coalition "will go to any length to defend Masaba whom we believe is a political prisoner and prisoner of conscience". Masaba, 84, was whisked away from his home town Bidda by police and arraigned before an Upper Sharia court in the state capital Minna "for incendiary contempt of religious laws and contracting unlawful marriage to 86 wives", a court clerk told AFP. Masaba came to the limelight two months ago when he admitted in the media to having 86 wives and 170 children, insisting that his marriages did not contravene Islam which allows a man to get married to up to four wives. The news attracted sharp criticism and indignation from all over the north, particularly from Islamic clerics, with the Jama'atu Nasril Islam (JNI), the Nigerian Muslim umbrella body slamming a fatwa or death sentence on Masaba. Two weeks ago, Masama agreed to divorce 82 of the wives and keep four, the maximum Islam allows, following a two-day ultimatum issued to him by the influential traditional chief of Bidda to either choose four among the 86 wives or leave the town. "The choice of 86 lawyers is deliberate. For each wife, Masaba will have a lawyer," Sani said. (AFP via MSN)

Shortest Man Meet Leggiest Woman

Trafalgar Square routinely serves as a stage for mimes, jugglers and other acts, but the tourist attraction drew an exceptionally curious crowd Tuesday when the shortest man who can walk met the woman with the longest legs.

He Pingping, of China, was born with a type of dwarfism. He, 20, stands precisely 2 feet 5.37 inches tall. The pair met to publicize the release of "Guinness World Records 2009." This year's version of the popular book is due out Wednesday.

He called Svetlana Pankratova's legs "very beautiful." Pankratova, 36, who is Russian but lives in Spain, has legs that are nearly 52 inches long, or more than 4 feet long. Her upper body has nearly typical proportions, giving her a giraffe-like appearance.

Dressed in a bright-blue mini-dress and low-heeled pumps, Pankratova, 36, said she liked her legs, though they can complicate things. "It's hard to find clothes, especially pants," she said. At just over 6-foot-4, Pankratova isn't the tallest woman on record. Sandy Allen, of Shelbyville, Indiana, who died recently, held that title at 7 feet, 7 inches, according to the book. The book said He is the shortest man who can walk.

The latest edition of the book lists pop star Britney Spears as the most-searched person on the Internet and the television show "Lost" as the most-downloaded show of all time. The book has been around for half a century. About 3.5 million copies are sold each year, according to editor-in-chief Craig Glenday. (Text & Photo: AP via Yahoo)

Teenager Arrested for Wearing Low Pants

A Florida judge has deemed unconstitutional a law banning baggy pants that show off the wearer's underwear, local media reported Tuesday.

A 17-year-old spent a night in jail last week after police arrested him for wearing low pants in Riviera Beach, southeast Florida.

The law banning so-called "saggy pants" was approved by city voters in March after supporters of the bill collected nearly 5,000 signatures to put the measure on the ballot.

The teen would have received a 150 dollars fine or community service, but he spent the night in jail due to a history of marijuana use, the Palm Beach Post newspaper said.

"Somebody help me," said Palm Beach Circuit Judge, Paul Moyle, before giving his decision. "We're not talking about exposure of buttocks. No! We're talking about someone who has on pants whose underwear are apparently visible to a police officer who then makes an arrest and the basis is he's then held overnight, no bond."

"Your honor, we now have the fashion police," added public defender Carol Bickerstaff, who asked the law be declared "unconstitutional." The judge agreed with Bickerstaff immediately, reported the Post.

Laws that ban low-slung pants are on the books in several US cities, including Delcambre, Louisiana, where offenders can be fined up to 500 dollars or jailed for up to six months. Dallas, Texas and Atlanta, Georgia are among the larger US cities considering similar measures. (Text & Photo: AFP via Yahoo)

A "Very Fast Fast" Pizza Delivery Man Fined

An Australian pizza delivery man gave fast food a new meaning when he was caught, and fined, for driving 53 km (33 miles) over the speed limit.

The 20-year-old man, driving on a provisional driver's license, said he was speeding because he was 20 minutes late with his delivery in the tropical northern town of Townsville.

Police clocked him driving at 131 kms (82 miles) in an 80 kph (50 mph) zone on Saturday, but waited for him to deliver his pizza before booking him.

On his return journey to the pizza shop, he was caught speeding at 133 km in the same zone.

Police sergeant Brendan White said on Tuesday the delivery man, who was not named, was fined A$1520 (US$1,226) and lost his license for 15 months. (Text & Photo: Reuters via Yahoo)

Teacher Hit a Bear

A middle school teacher suffered some bruising and a big scratch on his back after he struck a bear while riding his bicycle to school. Jim Litz said he was traveling about 25 mph Monday morning when he came upon a rise and spotted a black bear about 10 feet in front of him. He didn't have time to stop and T-boned the bruin. He tumbled over the handlebars, his helmet hit the bear's back and the two went cartwheeling down the road. The bear rolled over Litz's head, cracking his helmet, and scratched his back before scampering up a hill above the road. Litz's wife drove by shortly after the crash and took her husband to the hospital. He hoped to be able to return to teaching science at Target Range Middle School on Friday. (Text & Photo: AP via Yahoo)

Police Chief Condemned for Dressed as Osama at Carnival

A senior British policeman is in trouble after he dressed as Osama bin Laden at a carnival days before the seventh anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Chief Superintendent Colin Terry, who has trained police in Afghanistan, was photographed wearing a bin Laden mask, robes and traditional Arab scarf. He wore the costume at a carnival in the village of Grampound, Cornwall, on Saturday. Devon and Cornwall police said in a statement it took the incident very seriously and had referred Terry to the Independent Police Complaints Commission. "Whilst we believe his actions were misguided rather than malicious, they were clearly inappropriate," it said. Terry is on secondment to the Foreign Office but might have faced disciplinary proceedings had he still been with his local force, the statement added. A Foreign Office spokesman said Terry had been helping to train police in Afghanistan as part of a European Union project. "He will not be returning to the EU mission," he said. The spokesman would not say if the decision was directly linked to the carnival costume. Terry said he had not meant to cause offence. "I am quite horrified that someone would see this negatively," he was quoted as saying in the Guardian. "This is a local event that has been running for many, many years, raising money for charity." Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks in which four hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon in Washington, and a field in Pennsylvania. Al Qaeda leader Bin Laden, who masterminded the attacks, is still at large. (Text & Photo: Reuters)

Lost Cat Returned Home after Nine Years

A couple have been reunited with their missing cat after nine years, the RSPCA said on Wednesday. Dixie, a 15-year-old ginger cat, disappeared in 1999 and her owners thought she had been killed by a car. She was found less than half a mile from her home in Birmingham after a concerned resident rang the animal charity to report a thin and dishevelled cat who had been in the area for a couple of months. RSPCA Animal Collection Officer Alan Pittaway checked her microchip and confirmed it was Dixie. She was returned to her owners, Alan and Gilly Delaney, within half an hour. "In 29 years of working for the RSPCA I have never seen anyone so excited and happy as Mrs Delaney," Pittaway said. "It made my day to return Dixie to her owners." The couple were "overjoyed" to be reunited with their missing cat after so many years. "Dixie's personality, behaviour and little mannerisms have not changed at all," said Gilly Delaney. "We don't think she has stopped purring since she came back through the door." The RSPCA hope the story will encourage owners to have their pets microchipped. (Text & Photo: Reuters)

"Cremated" Father Reunited with Family

A father mistakenly declared dead after going missing eight years ago has been reunited with his family after his son spotted him on television, police said on Thursday. The family of John Delaney thought he had died when he disappeared in April 2000. They held a funeral and cremation after police found what they thought was his body three years later.

But Delaney, 71, from Oldham, Greater Manchester, had in fact been admitted to hospital in a confused state 10 days after he was reported missing. Suffering from amnesia caused by a head injury, he couldn't give police any clues about his name, address or family.

When further police checks failed to uncover his identity, he was given the new name David Harrison and handed over to social services. They put him in a care home where he stayed for the next eight years. Meanwhile, a badly decomposed body found in the grounds of Manchester Royal Infirmary in 2003 was mistakenly identified as that of Delaney. His family was informed and they arranged a funeral and cremation later that year.

The truth of what happened to Delaney only emerged earlier this year when he appeared on a daytime television show about missing people. His son John Renehan, 42, happened to be watching TV after working a night shift. He recognized his father and the pair were reunited after DNA tests confirmed they were related.

"I was in shock. We thought we had cremated my Dad. But I knew it was him," Renehan told the Manchester Evening News. In a statement, Greater Manchester Police said it had made mistakes and the family had been through a "traumatic" ordeal. "At that time, only paper records of people reported missing from home existed," it said.

"Today, Greater Manchester Police has advanced systems in place to ensure that mistakes of this nature are not made. "Robust checks are made to establish the identity of people who cannot immediately confirm who they are." Police are trying to establish the identity of the man who was cremated in 2003. The officer who initially dealt with the case has since retired. (Reported by Peter Griffiths; Edited by Steve Addison/ Reuters via Yahoo/ Image Illustrated by a Photo Model)

"Robin Hoods" Steal at the Store, Given to the Poor?

Greek anarchists stormed a supermarket on Thursday and handed out food for free in the latest of a wave of raids provoked by soaring consumer prices. About 20 unarmed people, mostly wearing black hoods, carried out the midday robbery in the northern city of Thesaaloniki, police said.

Local media have labeled the raiders "Robin Hoods" following previous raids. They take only packets of pasta, rice and cartons of milk which they drop in the middle of the street for people to collect, a police official said.

"They have never stolen money or hurt anyone. They ask people to remain calm but use ambush tactics, jumping over cash desks," he said. "When they attack without hoods, people are surprised to see that they are mostly women."

The rising cost of living has replaced unemployment as Greeks' main concern. Inflation is officially running at a 10-year high of 4.9 percent although many items have risen in price more sharply. (Reported by Renee Maltezou; Edited by Daniel Flynn and Angus MacSwan/ Reuters via Yahoo/ Illustration Photo of Thieve's Carnival, a Theater of Bengkel Muda Surabaya, by Raditya Helabumi/ Kompas)

Naked Hiker Jailed Strip

A hiker, Siegfried Grawert, jailed for walking across Germany naked, has been allowed to go nude because prison clothes depress him. He was sentenced to 10 weeks in Nuremberg prison for failing to pay fines for walking around natural beauty spots in the buff.

Thomas Kranig, a spokesman for the administrative court in Ansbach, said Siegfried Grawert went to jail because he "refused to pay a fine of 500 euros assessed for violating the public nudity code."

Now guards have given him a single cell where he can sit out his sentence without clothes. "I do not offend anyone. Being naked is the most natural thing in the world," said Grawert. A naked German hiker has vowed to carry on rambling in the nude despite spending 10 days in jail for breaking public nudity laws.

Grawert, a janitor, told a local German newspaper he planned to continue campaigning for the right to partake in organized all-natural hikes despite his troubles with the law. Naked hiking has gained a following since the German Society of Nudists joined the German Sports Association.

Nude bathing is accepted and allowed in parts of Germany, especially on designated beaches on the Baltic Sea coast. But naked joggers have been fined in the past for running through forests wearing nothing but socks and shoes. (Annanova/ Reuters via Yahoo/ Grawert Photo by Von Robert Maurer/donaukurier.de)

Homicide Cops Fooled by Doll

Police were trying to determine whether they were the victim of a hoax Tuesday after a "body" they found wrapped at a seaside resort turned out to be a life-sized doll. Investigators found what appeared to be human remains in a forest in Izu City, a seaside resort in central Japan, after an anonymous caller reported seeing it, a Shizuoka state spokeswoman said on condition of anonymity, citing department policy.

Investigators felt it from outside but never actually looked inside, and brought it back to the city police station for a post-mortem examination, she said. Apparently no one doubted a human body was inside until a medical examiner unwrapped it and found a doll there, she said.

The Asahi newspaper said the doll was sophisticated and life-sized, and wore a brown wig, a blouse and a skirt. It appeared to have been wrapped or enclosed in a dark green sleeping bag. The city was participating in nationwide earthquake drills Monday, but the doll was not part of a readiness drill, the spokeswoman said. (AP via MSN/ Illustration Photo: Hanif Nashrullah)

Wedding at Funeral Home

It generally has flowers, and a clergyman is often present, but this was a first for a local funeral home. Jason and Rachael Storm held their wedding at Starks and Menchinger Family Funeral Home, where he is a funeral director.

Their reception, including dinner and dancing, also was held at the funeral home. “This room is usually filled with sadness and contemplation, but today it is filled with joy and celebration,” the Rev. Greg Prather said at the start of Saturday's ceremony.

Jason Storm, 24, doesn't see much difference between getting married in a church or the funeral home. “I look at it as, if you go to a church and get married, how many caskets do you think have been rolled down that aisle?” he told The Herald-Palladium of St. Joseph. Rachael Storm, also 24, said the location did “not creep me out at all”. “I'm very accustomed to what he does. The one thing I'm very much about is being unique,” she said.

Not everyone was entirely comfortable with the idea. Rachael Storm said some invited guests initially refused to attend, but the couple assured family and friends there would not be any caskets or corpses in the room. (AP via MSN/ Illustration Photo: Hanif Nashrullah)

A Nut Stucks on a Malaysian Man Penis

A Malaysian welder had to have a nut removed from around his penis after an attempt to lengthen it before he gets engaged next week went embarrassingly wrong, a news report said Sunday.

The nut got stuck on his penis following an erection, the Star newspaper said, forcing him to seek help at a hospital in southern Johor state. Staff from the Sultanah Aminah hospital had to drain some blood from the penis and cut away a top layer of skin before the object could be removed, the newspaper said.

It said the fire and rescue department were also involved in trying to remove the nut from the unnamed welder, who is in his 20s and hoped the nut would weigh down his penis to make it longer. "The patient is now recovering and we hope to discharge him today (Sunday)," hospital director Daud Abdul Rahim told the Star.

On August 25, another young man in Kuala Lumpur had tried to increase his sexual prowess by slipping a steel ring around his penis, forcing the fire department to cut off the ring after doctors were unable to remove it, the newspaper said. (Text & Photo: AFP via Yahoo)