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Now biologists are working on a necropsy plan and will determine how to dispose of the whale's large body; the finback whale is the second-longest animal on Earth, behind the blue whale.

Video of the beached whale via the New York Post, below:

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h/t Huffington Post

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The Full Bench of the Federal Court ruled Dec. 13 in favor of the woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, and rejecting the appeal of the federal government's insurer.

The woman was hospitalized after being injured in 2007 during sex with a male friend while staying in a motel in the town of Nowra, 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of her hometown of Sydney.

During the sex, a glass light fitting was torn from its mount above the bed and landed on her face, injuring her nose and mouth. She later suffered depression and was unable to continue working for the government.

Her claim for worker's compensation for her physical and psychological injuries was initially approved by government insurer Comcare, then rejected after further investigation.

An administrative tribunal agreed with Comcare that her injuries were not suffered in the course of her employment, saying the government had not induced or encouraged the woman's sexual conduct. The tribunal also found the sex was "not an ordinary incident of an overnight stay" such as showering, sleeping and eating.

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With a once-a-century date arriving Wednesday, some people across the United Stated are betting on good fortune for 12-12-12.

In New England, Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut will offer $12 in free slots play to rewards cards members who sink $12 into the slots.

A southwestern Michigan casino is also betting that 12-12-12 is going to be a lucky day for opening its new hotel. A ribbon-cutting is planned for 12:12 p.m. Wednesday for the eight-story, 242-room hotel at FireKeepers Casino near Battle Creek.

Hours later, Anna Gandy, of Battle Creek, Mich., will head to the Lakeview Square Mall after school lets out. She realized last year that she would turn 12 on 12-12-12, her father Bryan Gandy said Tuesday. But between her sports team commitments and nerves, Anna decided to wait until Wednesday to get her ears pierced.

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Customers spotted a monkey - clad in a pint-sized shearling coat - wandering around the store's parking lot Sunday afternoon. The baby monkey, named Darwin, made its way through rows of parked cars and ended up outside a set of store doors.

Ikea staff lured the primate into a corner before calling police, who contacted the city's Animal Services department, said Staff Sgt. Ed Dzingala.

"It was just outside the store, just in a corner area where the monkey had nowhere to go, but it was pretty scared," Dzingala said. He said the monkey had escaped its crate in a parked car.

The monkey, which reportedly wore a diaper as well, never made it inside the store and was picked up by Animal Services officers within half an hour. The animal's owner later contacted police and was reunited with the pet, Dzingala said.

Word of the incident sparked a flurry of comments and photos on Twitter, as well as two parody Twitter accounts which took on the persona of the wandering monkey.

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Trumpeted as earthy in flavor and smooth on the palate, the exotic new brew is made from beans eaten by Thai elephants and plucked a day later from their dung. A gut reaction inside the elephant creates what its founder calls the coffee's unique taste.

Stomach turning or oddly alluring, this is not just one of the world's most unusual specialty coffees. At $1,100 per kilogram ($500 per pound), it's also among the world's priciest.

For now, only the wealthy or well-traveled have access to the cuppa, which is called Black Ivory Coffee. It was launched last month at a few luxury hotels in remote corners of the world -- first in northern Thailand, then the Maldives and now Abu Dhabi - with the price tag of about $50 a serving.

The Associated Press traveled to the coffee's production site in the Golden Triangle, an area historically known for producing drugs more potent than coffee, to see the jumbo baristas at work. And to sip the finished product from a dainty demitasse.

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Reuters reports:

"We've got the lobsters feeding back on themselves just because they're so abundant," said Richard Wahle, a marine sciences professor at the University of Maine, who is supervising the research. "It's never been observed just out in the open like this," he said.

Maine's lobster catch rose to a record 104 million pounds (45 million kilograms) last year, compared with 23 million pounds in 1981. The 2012 catch is expected to shatter that record as overfishing and other factors have led to the collapse of populations of cod, halibut and other groundfish that feed on lobsters.

Warming waters in the Gulf of Maine due to climate change have also bolstered the population even as the same phenomenon has led to more disease and lower populations in Long Island Sound and southern New England, Wahle said.

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Or so say villagers in the tiny western Serbian hamlet of Zarozje, nestled between lush green mountain slopes and spooky thick forests. They say rumors that a legendary vampire ghost has awakened are spreading fear - and a potential tourist opportunity - through the remote village.

A local council warned villagers to put garlic in their pockets and place wooden crosses in their rooms to ward off vampires, although it appeared designed more to attract visitors to the impoverished region bordering Bosnia.

Many of the villagers are aware that Sava Savanovic, Serbia's most famous vampire, is a fairy tale. Still, they say, better to take it seriously than risk succumbing to the vampire's fangs.

"The story of Sava Savanovic is a legend, but strange things did occur in these parts back in the old days," said 55-year-old housewife Milka Prokic, holding a string of garlic in one hand and a large wooden stake in another, as an appropriately moody mist rose above the surrounding hills. "We have inherited this legend from our ancestors, and we keep it alive for the younger generations."

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He uses his mouth to hold and ring a red bell, and he picks up with his mouth a "Thank You Merry Christmas" sign. He can also bow and give kisses.

Major Roger Ross, a Salvation Army commander, said Tinker is one of their biggest money raisers in the area: He brings in 10 times the amount of a regular bell ringer.

"A good kettle for a couple of hours brings in about $250, and for the same time period (Tinker and his owners) have been known to bring in $2,500," he said. "They line up to put money in the kettle."

The 13-year-old horse, who's brown, black, grey and white, has been ringing for four seasons.

"I actually save up all my donation and give it to Tinker because I have such a soft place in my heart for him," said Karen Hammen, who gave money while Tinker stood outside a West Bend craft show on a recent Saturday morning.

One of Tinker's owners, Carol Takacs, said she and her husband got Tinker 12 years ago. She said she went to look at a property, fell in love with the miniature horses there and asked that one be part of the deal.

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The photos were taken on a hunt last year, when Delgado served as the mayor of the Calvià municipality.

Chesús Yuste, of the Parliamentary Association in Defense of Animals, has deemed the picture an example of "animal abuse," saying, “This kind of action should disappear for the good of society and for the mental health of all. This is harming Spain's image and dragging the country back to the 11th Century."

“He is a minister for tourism, but what kind of tourism is he promoting here?” Yuste asked.

h/t Daily News

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Prosecutors in the central Yaroslavl region said the unidentified woman, described as a devout Pentecostal Christian with a psychiatric record, was so distraught when her husband died of natural causes in 2009 that she believed he "was bound to resurrect."

An investigation was opened after the body was found in a dumpster in a plastic bag in July.

The prosecutors' office said Monday that the woman kept the cadaver in a bed in a room of her apartment and asked her children to talk to it and feed it.

The office says two children decided to dispose of the body when the family moved to another apartment.

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At least 40 people paraded their candidate through the city's streets to the electoral council offices. Mr. Burro even wore a tie. But officials refused to even let them in the door on Thursday even though backers had dummied up a mock voter registration card showing the candidate's photo superimposed on a man wearing a business suit.

Donkey backer Daniel Molina told local television stations the goal was to call voters' attention to the seriousness of the February election, not to insult any party.

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A newly redistricted precinct map shows 3B is located entirely in the eastern half of Lake Calhoun - the biggest lake in Minneapolis. City Clerk Casey Carl says the watery precinct is the "unintentional result of a programming error" made in drawing new ward boundary lines.

Charter Commission chairman Barry Clegg tells the Star Tribune that the mapping software couldn't draw a line around the edge of the lake without putting a census block in the wrong ward. Clegg says it was supposed to be cleaned up for the final map, but never was.

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In addition to issuing Hardin a fine for $250 and suspending her license for 30 days, a judge has ordered that Hardin wear a sign that says "Only an idiot would drive on the sidewalk to avoid the school bus." Hardin must wear the sign "near the location of the crime for an hour per day, next Tuesday and Wednesday morning," according to Fox 8.

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The Flint Journal reports that the statue of Don Williamson in Genesee County's Davison Township, near Flint, is surrounded by six bronze lions.

On the base of the statue are the words: "The Colonel's Inc. Founded by Donald J. Williamson May 10, 1984. His motto 'Success is the best revenge.'"

Williamson says the statue was made 20 years ago and was originally displayed at The Colonel's Inc., the auto parts firm where he made his fortune.

Williamson says the lions were imported by his wife. Of the lion statues, he joked: "Careful, one of them is alive."

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The news site Al.com reports that a passerby called 911 in Birmingham on Thursday morning after seeing the woman slumped over her steering wheel at a traffic light.

Police say officers roused the woman and removed her from the SUV. Authorities say she was handcuffed and taken to the city jail on a DUI charge.

A photo of the woman by al.com showed fake blood covering much of her torso as she was apprehended.

Details on her identity weren't immediately available.

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So far, authorities believe the cases are related. They suspect the delivery driver, who they believe to have been an impostor (although they remained puzzled, as he was able to obtain the correct purchase numbers for the walnuts). Authorities describe him as a "suspicious" 6-foot-2-inch tall man with a strong Russian accent, driving a white semi.

h/t HuffingtonPost

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