prison break

LONDON - A list of the silliest insurance claims against local governments in Britain includes a shoplifter who sprained her ankle while running away. Others on Zurich Municipal's annual list are a man who claimed he dirtied his trousers because a municipality failed to provide enough public toilets and another man who sued the Archbishop of Canterbury and local authorities "on behalf of all the homeless people in Britain," the BBC reported. Then there's the sanitation worker who claimed he was "startled" by a dead badger that fell out of a bag while he was making a pickup. Zurich Municipal, which is part of the Swiss-based Zurich Group, one of the world's largest insurers, provides insurance for local government authorities in Britain. The company says that spurious claims are on the rise. "We are constantly amazed at some of the excuses people use to try to claim against public bodies," said claims director Iwan Borszcz. "It just goes to show that working in insurance is more interesting than people may think."

LINCOLN, Neb. - A Nebraska grandmother wants Ronald McDonald returned to her backyard after thieves made off with the 8-foot fast food icon. The 8-foot statue of the McDonald's clown stood behind Marie Siefker's house in Lincoln for 15 years. But last Saturday, when she pulled into her driveway, the statue was gone. "That was very devastating," she told the Lincoln Journal Star. "I don't know who could be so mean." Siefker, a longtime McDonald's employee, acquired Ronald when the restaurant where she worked was redecorated. The person who was supposed to pick up Ronald failed to show up so she gave him a good home. Ronald has been a popular figure at birthday parties for her grandchildren and at Easter egg rolls and other festivities. She does not know if the thief stole Ronald as a prank or to sell him to a collector.

SYDNEY, Australia - A prison inmate found a great reason to lose weight - so he could squeeze through the walls of his cell and escape. Robert Cole was serving time in a prison hospital when officials noticed he was missing earlier this week. Cole, who had lost a dramatic amount of weight, was able to slide his 123-pound frame through a space between the bars on a cell window and a brick wall. He had been chipping away at the wall. "Because he's lost a lot of weight, he's a very narrow person, so he squeezed his way through the gap in the brick wall," an unidentified Corrective Services spokeswoman was quoted as saying.