Pope Benedict XVI Livin' Large in Kangaroo Shoes
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Notice a spring in Pope Benedict XVI's step? It might have something to do with the kangaroos.
The leader of the Roman Catholic Church has been turning heads with his bright red leather loafers, leaving papal fashionistas wondering if they're Prada or Gucci.
It turns out they're neither. On Saturday, the pope made a visit to Italy's shoe capital, Vigevano, where he received 150,001 pairs of shoes from Moreschi, including a red pair made of kangaroo hide, Reuters reports.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}All but the 'roo shoes will be donated to the poor through various Vatican charities, with the pope holding on to his pair for official functions.
Traditionally, papal footwear is referred to as the "Shoes of the Fisherman" — all popes are seen as successors to St. Peter the Apostle, a man who made his living fishing. Times change, though, affording this German pope the chance to don a more exotic pair of shoes.
Papalship, after all, has its privileges.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Santa Bides His Time With Rock, Paper, Scissors
MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — A burly 64-year-old retiree who resembles jolly old St. Nick will be going mano a mano with other contestants in a national title bout — in Rock, Paper, Scissors.
Ray Scott won the New Hampshire title by advancing through eight rounds of tournaments at Manchester bars and pubs. With his white beard and spectacles, fans cheered "Go, Santa, Go" during the New Hampshire finals earlier this month.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Next month Scott heads to Las Vegas to compete in the USA Rock, Paper, Scissors League's national competition. If he makes the right move, he wins the $50,000 grand prize. The competition will be broadcast on ESPN.
Scott says he focuses more on showmanship than strategy.
"I don't have a strategy. I can't be thinking 'What's he gonna throw?"' he said. "I just throw something."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He said he enjoys hamming it up for the crowd, walking into a room with a coat draped over his shoulders like a cape, having a friend put lotion on his hands and his daughter dab sweat from his brow. He plans to step it up for Las Vegas.
"I'm wrestling with the costume issue," he told the New Hampshire Union Leader.
"I have a very nice Father Christmas outfit — not one of those tacky Santa suits — but I wonder about little kids seeing Santa in Vegas. What would I say to them?"
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}And, Boy, Are Her Thumbs Tired!
NEW YORK (AP) — Thirteen-year-old Morgan Pozgar, of Pennsylvania, was crowned LG National Texting champion on Saturday after she typed "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" from "Mary Poppins" in 15 seconds.
"I'm going to go shopping and buy lots of clothes," the teen said after winning her $25,000 prize from the electronics company LG.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Morgan defeated nearly 200 other competitors to become the East Coast champion and then beat West Coast champion Eli Tirosh, 21, of Los Angeles.
Morgan estimated that she sends more than 8,000 text messages a month to her friends and family.
Granny Crash Lands, Lamenting, 'I Love That Plane'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}NEW MELLE, Mo. (AP) — A grandmother of five was flying her small plane cross-country when the engine quit in mid-air and she was forced to make an emergency landing in a muddy field.
Emma Hanner, 78, was flying her two-seater plane home to Denver from Lexington, N.C., when the propeller stopped suddenly west of St. Louis.
"It just quit," said Hanner. "When the propeller on the front of the plane goes around, it keeps the pilot cool. But when it stops, that's when the pilot starts to sweat."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fortunately, there were plenty of open spaces below her.
As the plane hit the ground, one wheel dipped into an irrigation ditch and buckled underneath the plane. That bent the plane's nose down and spun it around, Hanner said, jolting her forward with her face hitting the steering yoke. A cut below her nose was her only injury.
Hanner said it was her first emergency landing in nearly four decades of flying. She described the 1970 Grumman AA1 "like a Cessna 150, but it's got a bigger engine — more powerful."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}She flies several times a week and planned to have the plane repaired. She plans to return to Missouri and get it, then fly home.
"I love that plane," she said.
Political Night of the Living Dead
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}AZAMGARH, India (AP) — A small political party in northern India is pushing for the reinstatement of the legal rights of people who have been declared dead by unscrupulous relatives trying to steal their assets.
The Mritak Sangh, or Association of the Dead, knows it is unlikely to win polls running through to next month in Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous, and frequently lawless, state.
But Lal Bihari, 48, the party's founder and president, said Saturday he hopes to highlight the plight of thousands of people who have had their lives taken away from them, usually by relatives in cahoots with corrupt government officials.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"We are using elections to highlight the problems of living dead," said Bihari. "We know we cannot win elections but through election we can sensitize people and officials about this problem."
His reasons for pursuing the cause stem from his own experience.
He was declared dead in 1976 by his uncle who connived with officials and took over his property, he says.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"To tell the world I am alive I lodged complaints with the police," he told the Associated Press. "My efforts bore fruits and in 2004, I was declared alive by the government."
The middle-aged man, usually dressed in crisp white clothes, frequently addresses small crowds who listen carefully to his election speeches.
He says there are at least 40,000 people who are facing this problem in Uttar Pradesh.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Nearly 110 million people are expected to vote in Uttar Pradesh's seven-phase election that began on April 7. Results will be announced on May 11.
Bihari's district Azamgarh, a dusty and impoverished area, is 300 kilometers southeast of Lucknow, the state capital, and will go to the polls May 3.
This Thief Really Is a Pig
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — This little piggy had $600. Its rightful owner now has none.
A pink ceramic piggy bank filled with quarters, dollar coins and some bills was stolen from the counter of the Smokehouse Deli, the owner reported Friday.
The 8-inch-tall pig weighed about 30 pounds and was filled about halfway with personal change, owner Beth Borgmann said Saturday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Lincoln police had no suspects but believed the pig was stolen sometime Wednesday evening or early Thursday, Capt. Genelle Moore said.
"It was just my personal loose change," Borgmann said. "That was my vacation money."
Borgmann said she had spent between 1-1/2 and two years avidly filling the bank. She had planned to visit the Bay Islands of Honduras, where she has a house, she said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It's hard to get away when you run your own business," Borgmann said.
Compiled by foxnews.1eye.us's Sara Bonisteel.
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