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Giant pink snails dot Milan

MILAN, Italy, Nov. 21 (UPI) --

Milan, the Italian city of high fashion and fine art, is now also the home of a dozen giant, pink, plastic snails.

What's the meaning of the 6 1/2-foot-tall, 10-foot long mollusks? They're an artsy message to the people of Milan: Slow down, you move to fast, the Italian news agency ANSA reported Friday.

Speed isn't always a virtue, said Finazzer Flory, Milan's culture councilor who who pushed for the exhibit created by the Italian Cracking Art group.

"We need to play with the city to break with our obvious daily urban routine and rediscover the experience of moving about the city.

These snails are in the streets not only as an invitation (for people to) slow down, but also to listen, since their shape is reminiscent of an ear.

The big pink snails have been placed around Piazza Scala outside Milan's opera house and nearby in front of the Church of San Fedele. They will be moved periodically -- and slowly -- to the front of Milan's Palazzo Reale and then to the central train station in January, ANSA said.

From there, plans are for them to go international, with visits to Amman, Jordan, Tel Aviv, Israel, and Chicago. Then they are to return as part of a 120-snail army for an expo the city will host in 2015.

Sisters seeking damages for dropped coffin

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Nov. 21 (UPI) --

Two sisters said they want a district court Stockholm, Sweden, to force a group of undertakers to pay them damages for dropping their father's coffin.

The lawyer for the two sisters, whose identities were not reported, alleges the undertakers carrying the coffin during the February 2008 funeral were drunk and dropped the casket on its side inside the grave, The Local reported Saturday.

Both daughters were in shock and ran away in tears from the cemetery, attorney Michael Abejon alleges in the Sodertorn District Court claim filed by the sisters.

They didn't dare to look in the grave as they were convinced the coffin had opened and their dead father had fallen out.

The Local said both sisters have been on sick leave since the funeral incident occurred. The two siblings want the funeral directors, whose identities were also not reported, to pay them $2,895 in compensation.

Meat on the menu for Connecticut thieves

NEW HAVEN, Conn., Nov. 21 (UPI) --

Meat and poultry companies in New Haven, Conn., have become a popular target of thieves, company representatives said.

The New Haven (Conn.) Courant reported Saturday three businesses have experienced six break-ins in the last month, with thieves stealing pounds upon pounds of meat.

Police said most recently Onofrio's Meats was hit Thursday by thieves who took an estimated $5,000 worth of meat and sauces from two delivery trucks.

An owner of the meat business confirmed the theft was the third at the company during the last month.

The owner of New Haven's Statewide Meats & Poultry Inc. told police he lost $15,000 worth of meat in an early November robbery and was the target of an attempted robbery days later.

An owner of Carl's Boned Chicken said the New Haven business was also robbed once, but would not specify his losses, the Courant said.

No arrests were reported as authorities were attempting to determine how the thieves dispose of their meat bounties.

Mothers among loyal 'Twilight' fans

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 21 (UPI) --

Some U.S. mothers say they are die-hard fans of the two Twilight vampire romance movies despite being decades older than the usual fan.

Melissa Peterson, one of more than 30,000 members of a Twilight Moms fan group, said while teenage girls remain the fan base of the vampire films, women also can be fervent fans, ABC News reported Friday.

We don't act like teenagers. I mean, we are still moms, we're still adults, Peterson, 42, said of the group's Twilight Moms conventions.

It takes you back to when you were 17 and had your whole life in front of you, she added of the films, which are based on novels by Stephenie Meyer that focus on a teenage girl and her love for a vampire.

Group member Sarah Clark said Twilight and its sequel New Moon, which opened at midnight Thursday, offer her an emotional lift.

It's like I'm alive again. I'm awake again, you know, in all different areas of my life. It just makes you, you just feel so happy, Clark told ABC News.

Train problems left boy, 3, alone

PORTLAND, Ore., Nov. 20 (UPI) --

Oregon transportation officials said they were investigating after a 3-year-old boy was stranded briefly at a train station when separated from his father.

Aaron Bailey said he was riding the Green Line of Portland's Metropolitan Area Express train system Thursday when his son, Aiden, accidentally hit the disabled access ramp button while getting off the train at the Main Street station, The (Portland) Oregonian reported Friday.

Bailey said the button caused the door to close before he could follow his son off the train and his attempts to open it failed. He said hitting the car's emergency intercom failed to elicit a response from the driver and the train pulled away.

The father said he got off the train at the next stop and demanded answers, but the driver pulled away with the train. He returned to the Main Street stop 7 minutes after the train left and found Aiden with a woman who had witnessed the door problem.

TriMet, which operates Portland's trains, said the train had mechanical problems with its door and intercom system.

Model claims abuse over ex-doorman hubby

NEW YORK, Nov. 20 (UPI) --

A renowned hand and foot model claims employees of her New York apartment building have been abusive since she married a former doorman.

Christina Ambers, once dubbed the Heidi Klum of foot models by New York magazine, said workers at 340 E. 74th St., where her husband, Angel Rotger, once worked and now lives with her, have been forcing her to hail her own cabs and retrieve her own packages since the wedding, the New York Daily News reported Friday.

It seems that Christina has breached some type of social order that existed in that building, said Joshua Price, a lawyer for the newlyweds. There's no question that they've been made to feel like outcasts.

Ambers' $10 million lawsuit against building managers claims Kristin Purcell, the building superintendent's wife, struck Rotger in the groin with a handbag.

He made his way to the hospital and was diagnosed with a contusion, Ambers said. Can you imagine how hard she must have hit him to have caused a contusion?

Lawyers for the building said the couple's claims have no merit.

Police: Dye pack ruined bus escape

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Nov. 20 (UPI) --

A suspected bank robber in St. Petersburg, Fla., who fled on a city bus was arrested not long after the dye pack in his haul exploded, police said.

Investigators allege Thomas John Castro, 54, entered a Wachovia branch Thursday in St. Petersburg wearing a disguise and handed a note demanding money to a teller. He left the bank with an undisclosed amount of cash and boarded a city bus, where the red dye pack went off.

Police said information from a tip led them to Castro's room at the Landmark Motel, where officers allege the suspect was holding a bag of crack cocaine. He was arrested shortly before midnight and charged with armed robbery and possession of cocaine.

Survey: 58 percent plan turkey day naps

CANTON, Mass., Nov. 20 (UPI) --

Massachusetts-based Dunkin' Donuts said its survey suggests 58 percent of U.S. adults plan to take a nap on Thanksgiving Day.

The company said its survey of 500 adults, conducted this week, found 58 percent of respondents are already planning a Thanksgiving nap, with 60 percent of men plotting a brief siesta and 58 percent of women doing the same.

The survey found 76 percent of those planning naps prefer to doze off after dinner while 24 percent plan to rest up before the big meal.

Two monkey sightings reported in Tampa

TAMPA, Fla., Nov. 20 (UPI) --

Authorities in Florida said they do not know if two monkey sightings Friday morning in Tampa were of the same loose primate.

Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Vida Morgan said the monkey sightings were reported about 2 miles apart at 7:50 a.m. and 10:15 a.m., the St. Petersburg Times reported.

Morgan said authorities did not know if there was one monkey or two, or if either sighting was related to a monkey that escaped capture in the area last week.

The spokeswoman said Florida Fish and Wildlife officials had been notified.

'Bo Obama' comic gets book treatment

BELLINGHAM, Wash., Nov. 20 (UPI) --

A Washington state publisher said an extended version of the educational comic book starring presidential pooch Bo Obama is on the way.

The Portuguese water dog, adopted by President Barack Obama and his family in April, starred in Bo Obama: The White House Tails, published in September by Bluewater Productions Inc. The publisher said an extended book version of the comic is due out in March, The Chicago Tribune reported Friday.

Officials with the company said the tome, which it described as an educational tool to teach children about past presidential pets, will be released to book stores nationwide.

Bluewater said distributors sold out of the first printing of Bo Obama: The White House Tails, but the comic book can still be found at some stores.

Carjacking brings debt to victim

ROSELLE, Ill., Nov. 20 (UPI) --

An Illinois woman whose car was stolen and totaled by an escaped suspect says she is facing thousands of dollars of debt from the incident.

Domenica Saverino, 32, of Roselle, Ill., said she still owes $10,600 on the 2004 Volkswagen Jetta stolen Sept. 18 by Robert Maday, a bank robbery suspect who escaped from authorities as he was being taken to court Sept. 17. The carjacked vehicle was totaled at the end of a police chase, the Arlington Heights (Ill.) Daily Herald reported Friday.

Saverino said she has also received a $3,369 bill from a collection agency for a car damaged by Maday while he was driving the Jetta.

The woman said her insurance company agreed to pay $6,400 minus her $500 deductible toward the $10,000 she owes on the car. However, Saverino said she believes the car is worth more than the sum offered by Direct Auto Insurance Co. and has hired a lawyer to look into increasing the payout.

Web sites blamed for sex industry slump

CANBERRA, Australia, Nov. 20 (UPI) --

Experts said Australia's sex industry, which has experienced a 6 percent drop in revenue during the past year, is being hurt by online dating sites.

Edward Butler, a senior analyst for independent business information analysis firm IBISWorld, said Australia's $1.09 billion sex industry lost $67.6 million during the past financial year while the market for strippers and exotic dancers grew, the Sydney Morning Herald reported Friday.

Butler said the drop in revenue could be attributed to the growing popularity of online dating sites that make it easier for people seeking casual sex to find one another.

The rapid growth in online services means it has never been easier for like-minded individuals to organize casual liaisons for little or no cost, Butler said.

Chris Seage, spokesman for the Adult Business Association of New South Wales, agreed that Web sites are likely negatively impacting the sex industry.

It's a lot cheaper to hook on a matchmaker site, pay a much smaller fee and engage in casual sex that way. It's an emerging issue for the industry, he said.

Web site lists 'Great Airport Museums'

MANHATTAN BEACH, N.Y., Nov. 20 (UPI) --

A California-based tourism Web site's list of Five Great Airport Museums includes destinations in San Francisco and the Netherlands.

VirtualTourist.com said the San Francisco Airport Museum topped the list with exhibits including Mediterranean pottery and an analysis of the evolution of eyeglasses in the 20th century.

The Rijksmuseum Amsterdam Schiphol in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, which was second on the list, has hosted works by renowned artists including Mondrian and Van Gogh. The museum also features a large museum gift shop.

The No. 3 spot on the list, Arizona's Phoenix Sky Airport, has a permanent collection, including mixed media, ceramic sculpture and fine-art prints as well as pieces on loan from other museums.

McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, chosen as fourth by the Web site, features aviation-themed exhibits including airline ashtrays from the mid-20th century.

Finishing off the list was the Albany International Airport Gallery in Albany, N.Y., which features innovative artwork including exhibits on everyday objects as art.

Students told not to ditch for 'Twilight'

SANTA ANA, Calif., Nov. 20 (UPI) --

School officials in California's Orange County said students were warned not to ditch school to see the new entry in the Twilight film series.

Officials with the individual school districts said students were told they would be marked truant if they were absent without a valid excuse and teachers have been instructing students to wait until the evening to see The Twilight Saga: New Moon, the latest entry in the film series based on the popular novels for teens, the Orange County Register reported Friday.

I would think the best time to see the movie is in the evening, so it's a 'bad' idea to miss school, said Mark Eliot, the spokesman at Tustin Unified School District.

Administrators said school districts loses $20 to $40 in state funding for each student absence.

'Christmas ornaments' were bongs, pipes

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 19 (UPI) --

Customs officials at Los Angeles Harbor said a shipment of cargo labeled as Christmas ornaments was actually bongs, pipes and other drug paraphernalia.

The shipment of almost 860 boxes from China arrived about a month ago, addressed to a recipient in Los Angeles County, but was seized Tuesday, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman Cristina Gamez said agents found 316,000 bongs and pipes, worth an estimated $2.6 million.

They're very colorful and big, Gamez said. Some of them are like 2 feet tall.

The items are not going to wind up on, or under, anyone's tree. They're going to be destroyed, Gamez said.

Importing or exporting drug paraphernalia is illegal in the United States. The matter is under investigation and no arrests have been made, the newspaper said.

Schumer backs deduction for deer donation

WASHINGTON, Nov. 19 (UPI) --

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., is proposing a new tax deduction for hunters who donate their kills to food banks.

Schumer's plan would allow hunters to claim processing venison and other game as tax deductions if the meat is for donation to a food bank, the Albany (N.Y.) Times Union reported Thursday.

The senator said his proposal would fight deer overpopulation while giving needed relief to hunters and the poor. He said the legislation would be a win for our hunters, a win for the hungry, a win for our state economy and a win for conservation.

Experts said professionally processing a deer for consumption can cost between $65 and $80 and an average deer provides about 160 servings of meat.

Toilet Day marked with plea for prisoners

NEW YORK, Nov. 19 (UPI) --

United Nations officials marked World Toilet Day in New York Thursday with a plea to provide proper sanitation for the world's prisoners and detainees.

With 2.5 billion people worldwide without access to proper sanitation, which leads to 1.8 million deaths a year, access to sanitation itself is clearly a human rights issue, U.N. experts on sanitation, health and torture said in a joint statement.

Manfred Nowak, the special rapporteur on torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, said prisoners and detainees in some state institutions are forced to defecate in plastic bags or buckets.

States must ensure that everyone, including people in detention, have access to safe sanitation. Without it, detention conditions are inhumane, and contrary to the basic human dignity which underpins all human rights, Nowak and the other experts said in the statement.

Shumer backs deduction for deer donation

WASHINGTON, Nov. 19 (UPI) --

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., is proposing a new tax deduction for hunters who donate their kills to food banks.

Shumer's plan would allow hunters to claim processing venison and other game as tax deductions if the meat is for donation to a food bank, the Albany (N.Y.) Times Union reported Thursday.

Experts said professionally processing a deer for consumption can cost between $65 and $80 and an average deer provides about 160 servings of meat.

Swedish city computers used for porn

JONKOPING, Sweden, Nov. 19 (UPI) --

Officials in a Swedish city say they were shocked to discover the amount of file sharing and pornography viewing on city-owned computers.

Jonkoping city leaders said they analyzed use of the city's 8,000 computers by employees and students during a single month and discovered 1,300 hours had been spent visiting inappropriate Web sites, including pornography, games and gambling, The Local reported Thursday.

The officials said file sharing, which is often used to trade illegally pirated files, occasionally accounted for 80 percent of the city's Internet capacity.

I would have never thought the problem would be this widespread, city director Martin Andreae said. If we had realized how big the problem was, we would have done something to address it sooner.

Andreae said the city is now spending $72,600 on technology to block unapproved online activities.

Baby born in car named after vehicle

POOLE, England, Nov. 19 (UPI) --

A British couple said they decided to give their baby the same name as the unusual place of her birth -- Kia.

Tony Richardson, 24, and Samantha Smyth, 23, said they named baby Kia after the seven-seat Kia Carens that served as the birthing room when they arrived at a Poole, England, hospital moments too late, the Bournemouth Daily Echo reported Thursday.

The Parkside, England, couple said they had originally planned to name their baby Tilly, but changed their minds after the unusual birth.

We have decided she doesn't look like a Tilley and settled on Kia, Richardson said.

I don't think we would have used Volkswagen or Citroen, Smyth said.