HOUMA, La. - A 6-foot-3, 265-pound man says a restaurant overcharged him for his trips to the buffet line, then banned him and a relative because they're hearty eaters. A spokesman for the restaurant denies the claim.

BOZEMAN, Mont. - It started out as a joke - a lawyer putting a shark tank in his office. "I said, 'What would it take to put a shark in a lawyer's office?'", and it kind of took off from there, said attorney Christopher Gillette.

JACKSON, Wyo. - Everyone's heard of a bicycle built for two, but how about a two-person snowboard? Butch Brady built one and recently teamed up with another snowboarder, Eric Sweet, to make some two-man turns down the Teewinot run at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - A 12-year-old Connecticut boy may be the new Florida state record holder for catching the heaviest bull shark. Aidan Murray Medley had a spent a half day at sea Tuesday when he reeled in the 551-pound bull shark just north of the Palm Beach Inlet.

GETTYSBURG, Pa. - A central Pennsylvania couple has a new tradition for ringing in the new year: spending it in the maternity ward. For the second year in a row, Kyle and Becky Armstrong welcomed the first baby of the year at Gettysburg Hospital.

By RAPHAEL G. SATTER LONDON - From baggy briefs to the ultimate hotpants: A British woman's underwear saved the day by doubling as an emergency fire blanket when her kitchen caught fire.

Reuters - Priests offering New Year's prophecies from Cuba's Afro-Cuban religion on Wednesday gave few hints on the future of convalescing leader Fidel Castro and instead warned about dangerous climate change and epidemics.

The head of a Portuguese agency in charge of enforcing a smoking ban has been caught out by the new law.

A TV reporter turned political candidate plans to remain on a small scaffold near the top of a tower to focus attention on his long-shot bid.

Some college students will do anything for extra cash, even if it means sniffing livestock excrement.

Australia's new government has banned taxpayer-funded massages for pampered bureaucrats as part of an austerity drive.

What looked like litter on a sidewalk turned out to be an envelope containing a $185,000 check.

A snake was saved by surgery in Australia after mistaking four golf balls for chicken eggs.

A snake has been saved by surgery after mistaking golf balls for chicken eggs. A couple had placed the balls in their chicken coup at Nobbys Creek in New South Wales, Australia, to encourage their hen to nest.

A 75-year-old man proved that age does not always bring wisdom when he rode one of his pet buffaloes and got trampled.

Newlyweds kissing on the backseat of a car were unaware their chauffeur was street drag racing, until a police siren broke their romantic bliss.

A television reporter turned political candidate said he plans to remain on a small scaffold near the top of a tower to focus attention on his long-shot bid to unseat a U.S. senator.

A snake was saved by surgery in Australia after mistaking four golf balls for a meal of chicken eggs, a veterinarian said Wednesday.

A British woman's underwear saved the day by doubling as an emergency fire blanket when her kitchen caught fire.

Reuters - A roller coaster stalled at the top of a loop at China's biggest amusement park, leaving passengers stranded upside down, their legs pointed toward the sky.