Dr. Oliver Di Pietro of Bay Harbor Islands, Fla., is a leading prescriber of the "K-E diet" that offers desperate people drastic short-term weight loss by threading a feeding tube through the nose to the stomach and dripping in a protein-fat solution, as clients' only "meals," for 10 straight days. "Within a few hours," Di Pietro told ABC's "Good Morning America" in April, "your hunger and appetite go away completely." Fat is burned through "ketosis," he said, and a loss of 10 to 20 pounds in 10 days is possible. One client said she doesn't have "all of the time on the planet" just to exercise, "so I came to the doctor."

Great architecture!

There are big plans in the city of Chiang Rai, Thailand, for a massive Buddhist temple that priests aim to make one of the world's most beautiful structures. Artist Chalermchai Kositpipat plans to design it in all-white with glittering glass and arrangements of "rich symbolism derived from Buddhist and Hindu traditions." If Kositpipat has his way, according to an April Huffington Post dispatch, the temple will also have images of Superman, Batman and the character of Neo from the movie "The Matrix," all of which, Kositpipat said, further Lord Buddha's "message."

Layover crime spree

William Todd arrived in Nashville on April 9 via Greyhound bus and faced a nine-hour layover. According to police, Todd committed at least 11 felonies during that time, with more charges still possible. Among Todd's alleged diversions: shooting up a restaurant, setting it on fire, robbing four people at a bar, carjacking, trolling hotel rooms seeking theft opportunities, and stealing a taxicab and robbing the driver. A police sergeant said, "I've never seen anything like this before." Todd was finally captured at Opryland, where he had hidden by submerging himself in water up to his nose.

Ticket-writing frenzy

In March, WTNH-TV in New Haven, Conn., obtained an internal police memorandum referencing a challenge from state troopers in one barracks to "outperform" colleagues in another barracks -- in writing traffic tickets. The memo, from Lt. Anthony Schirillo, refers to the need "to issue at least 60 infractions/misdemeanors each shift." "One day Troop F issued 301 tickets. Troop G responded by issuing 345 ... We can do better," it read. "I am asking that everyone, myself included, contribute to this effort." The station spoke to Lt. Paul Vance of the Connecticut State Police, who denied that quotas are given.

Stinky capture

In March, a 34-year-old Lithuanian-born man led police in Wiltshire, England, in a nighttime foot chase after he had aroused their suspicion. Thermal imaging equipment was used from a helicopter to spot the man in the darkness. He was arrested "hiding" face-down in a manure pit. (Though he originally fled, there was little evidence against him, and he was released.)

Sunlight-only

In April, a woman in Switzerland identified as "Anna Gut," in her early 50s, starved to death after trying to prove that she could survive by "consuming" only sunlight. An earlier practitioner, Australian Ellen Greve, died in 1999 at age 54 following a short career promoting "breatharianism," which she described as "liberation from the drudgery of food and drink."

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