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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: escape

escape stories: 18 news summaries

 'Roo On the Lam in Germany 


Aug 26, 09 3:32 AM CDT
(Newser) - The silly season has reached its peak: Der Spiegel reports a lost kangaroo hopping through the western German countryside. Locals have spotted the stray marsupial on a highway and a sports ground, but nobody has been quick enough to catch it. With no zoos or kangaroo farms reporting a lost... More »

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escape • kangaroo

Brit Tycoon Murder Suspect
Tried to Flee by Sea

Visited marina day after girlfriend found dead

May 31, 09 8:47 AM CDT
(Newser) - A British millionaire sought in the murder of his Polish girlfriend in a tony Paris hotel tried to buy a cabin cruiser to flee, reports Times of London. Ian Griffin visited a British marina earlier this week after his girlfriend was found beaten to death and tried buy a vessel—... More »

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crime • murder • boat • escape • Britain • beatings • Polish • Ian Griffin • Kinga Legg

 Sri Lankan Refugees 
 Describe Deadly Escape 

10 of 21 make it to safety in India; refugees tell their story

May 5, 09 2:35 PM CDT
(Newser) - As fighting raged between the Sri Lankan army and the rebel Tamil Tigers last month, 21 people managed to escape on a boat. But by the time they arrived in India, nine days later, only 10 remained. “One by one. Dead babies, children. No food. No drink,” one... More »

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India • Sri Lanka • Tamil Tigers • boat • refugee • escape

OPINION

 The Best Prison Breaks 

Frenchman's joins infamous company with clever escape

Mar 31, 09 4:43 PM CDT
(Newser) - A Frenchman’s daring escape from a London prison—Julien Chautard turned himself in yesterday after busting out by gripping the bottom of a prisoner transport van as it left the courtyard—gets Jon Henley, in the Guardian, thinking about the best such tries ever. His highlights: More »

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San Francisco • France • criminal • Jesuit • escape • Alcatraz • prisons

Greek Convicts Stage Daring Prison Break—Again

Fugitives use helicopter to escape Athens facility, as they did in 2006

Feb 22, 09 2:34 PM CST
(Newser) - Two Greek criminals escaped the most secure prison in Athens for the second time, the BBC reports. Vassilis Paleokostas and Alket Rizai fled the Korydallos prison after accomplices picked them up using a helicopter they landed on the building’s roof. The escape is similar to their 2006 breakout, when... More »

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prison • convict • Greece • fugitive • escape • criminal justice • criminal justice system

 Carrey Gambles on 
 Gay Jailbird Role 

Ventures outside comedy, like I Love You Phillip Morris, haven't been big at box office

Jan 21, 09 11:35 AM CST
(Newser) - Jim Carrey is getting rave reviews for his new film, I Love You Phillip Morris, but the story of a cop-turned-con man who repeatedly breaks out of jail to be with his former cellmate is a gamble for the actor, Reuters reports. “I don’t think it’s a... More »

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homophobia • prison • escape • Sundance Film Festival • Ewan McGregor • Jim Carrey • gays • con man • I Love You Phillip Morris

23 Years in a North Korean Prison Camp

Escapee, born in prison, tells of routine, stunning torture

Dec 11, 08 7:27 AM CST
(Newser) - There are 14,431 North Korean defectors living in South Korea, but only one, Shin Dong-hyuk, who escaped from a Northern prison camp. In an interview with the Washington Post, Shin describes the daily horrors of life inside Kim Jong-Il's gulags, from fire torture to mutilation. He committed no crime—... More »

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North Korea • torture • South Korea • escape • Koreans • political prisoner • mutilation

 German Inmate 
 Mails Himself Free 

Warden unsurprised by crazy escape, calls for more guards

Nov 15, 08 1:03 PM CST
(Newser) - German police are on a manhunt for a convicted drug dealer who escaped from prison by mailing himself in a cardboard box, the BBC reports. The 42-year-old man crawled into the box after a long shift of making stationery. An unwitting express courier then loaded the box onto his truck... More »

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prison • Germany • escape • escaped criminal

Zoo Tries to Lure Stranded Polar Bear Out of Moat

Zero has been stuck in Milwaukee park's moat for 2 weeks

Oct 27, 08 4:01 PM CDT
(Newser) - Staff members at the Milwaukee County Zoo are taking new action to rescue a polar bear named Zero who has been stuck in the moat that surrounds his habitat for 2 weeks, the Journal Sentinel reports. Using a crane, handlers lowered a big plastic crate filled with Zero’s favorite... More »

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zoo • polar bear • rescue • escape • apple • animal • crane • Milwaukee County Zoo • Zero

 Cops Tase, Kill Renegade Emu 

Bird dies after state troopers are forced to tase it

Sep 3, 08 1:31 PM CDT
(Newser) - An Emu ran wild on the Pennsylvania Turnpike for two hours Monday and died after state troopers used a taser on it, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports. Motorists said the bird ran up and down the shoulder of the road until getting stuck in traffic lanes with high barriers on either... More »

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birds • Pennsylvania • state police • animal attack • emu • escape • Taser • Pittsburgh • animal • exotic animals

 Emu Fought
 the Law, Law Won

Plop-plop spent days on the lam

Aug 21, 08 1:25 PM CDT
(Newser) - A pet emu is cooling its heels in jail today after leading police on a wild chase around Bay County, Fla., the News Herald of Panama City reports. Set free by a harsh storm and a low fence, Plop-plop was finally captured Monday, when police got a call from... More »

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storm • animal attack • emu • escape • animal

 Illusionist Escapes
 Imploding Building
 —Barely

Vows never to try another dangerous stunt

Jul 31, 08 11:17 AM CDT
(Newser) - Goth illusionist Criss Angel escaped an imploding hotel in Florida last night, reports Central Florida News. During the stunt, which aired live on A&E's Mindfreak, the daredevil had three and a half minutes to pick handcuffs and four padlocked doors before catching a helicopter on the roof. While... More »

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Florida • publicity stunt • magic • Criss Angel • illusion • escape • stunts • A&E

9 Terrorists Escape From Moroccan Prison

Militants were guilty
of 2003 Casablanca bombings

Apr 7, 08 6:45 PM CDT
(Newser) - Nine Moroccan terrorists convicted of involvement in the 2003 Casablanca suicide bombings escaped from prison today, AFP reports. The men, Islamist extremists who were serving 20 years to life, tunneled out of Kenitra detention center, near Rabat. They left a note explaining that, having exhausted the appeals process, they resorted... More »

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terrorism • prison • Morocco • suicide bombing • Casablanca • escape • escaped criminal • Islamist extremists • Islamic terrorism

Holocaust Memoir Mostly Fiction: Author

Best-seller on Jewish girl saved by wolves a fantasy, Belgian admits

Feb 29, 08 6:15 PM CST
(Newser) - A best-selling Holocaust memoir, which follows a 7-year-old Jewish girl who lived with wolves after losing her parents to the Nazis, is mostly fictional, its author confesses—in particular, the parts about the wolves and her being Jewish, Reuters reports. Misha Defonseca says she "always felt Jewish," but,... More »

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Holocaust • fiction • Nazi • memoir • escape

Gutsy Cons Bust Out, Leave Thank-You Note for Guard

Pair leap 30 feet over razor wire to escape

Dec 18, 07 3:30 AM CST
(Newser) - One of two prisoners who staged a Hollywood-style escape from a New Jersey jail left behind a thank-you note to a prison guard, the Newark Star-Ledger reports. "Thank you officer for the tools needed. You're a real pal! Happy holidays," it said. The jailbirds chipped away cinder blocks... More »

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Bloods • jail • escape • Jose Espinosa • Otis Blunt

Feds to Charge Hsu on Pyramid Scheme, Dem Fundraising

Some of missing money said to be donated

Sep 20, 07 11:15 AM CDT
(Newser) - Rogue Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu’s troubles are deepening today, as federal officials are expected to charge the twice-on-the-lam financier with running a $60 million pyramid scheme and breaking campaign-finance laws. Hsu faces accusations that he falsely told investors their money was going into a clothing operation; some of was... More »

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private equity • pyramid scheme • campaign finance • Norman Hsu • escape • campaign fundraising

Jailbird Heads to Hooters

Inmate fled jail while taking out the trash

Aug 31, 07 6:17 PM CDT
(Newser) - A convict who managed to extract himself from the county jail in an Indiana town Sunday while taking out the trash was caught yesterday after he was unable to resist bragging about the caper to new-found friends at a nearby Hooters. Charles Smith, the 56-year-old escapee, wasn't even missed until... More »

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Indiana • criminal • jail • escape • Hooters • escaped criminal • Charles Smith

Circus Elephant Elopes With Wild Suitor

Escape from Indian
pen makes for mammoth romance

Aug 30, 07 1:14 PM CDT
(Newser) - In perhaps the heaviest love story ever told, a wild bull elephant broke into a traveling circus in India and snatched away a tame but captivated female. Wildlife experts say the male was probably in must when he broke a gate to free his beloved; three other elephants also escaped,... More »

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romance • escape • West Bengal • elephant • circus

18 Stories


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