A retired beer taster is suing a major Brazilian brewer which, he claims, is responsible for his becoming an alcoholic.

Three people in Thailand became seriously ill after eating soil from a temple compound that was said to possess magic therapeutic powers.

A polite thief apologized for stealing a London womans car in a note saying he had to take his pregnant wife to the hospital.

Casinos in Atlantic City, N.J., accepted bogus $100 bills for a whole weekend till a sharp-eyed prostitute noticed and helped police bust the counterfeiters.

A Sri Lankan government official popped a bribe into his mouth when detectives pounced on him, then bit a policeman who tried to retrieve the money.

A young hummingbird that considered an 11-year-old California boy a likely nesting spot clung to his curly hair for three hours before teachers were able to pluck it free.

A would-be car thief in Hammond, La., who spotted an unlocked car with the motor running changed his mind in a hurry when he came face to face with the owners 9-foot python.

The Internal Revenue Service center in northern Kentucky has been selling unused income-tax forms to be recycled into toilet paper.

A researcher says Fiji was populated by a race of cheerful, mountain-dwelling dwarfs before the arrival of the Melanesians, who are generally regarded as the South Pacific nations first settlers.

New Delhi burglars dug a tunnel to rob a jewelers shop but ended up in a washing-machine store next door.

Toronto art critics are going ape over paintings by Charles, a 440-pound gorilla that commands up to $585 a painting.

Compiled by Ivan Weiss

From The Seattle Times, Saturday, June 3, 1995