LONDON (AP) - Police in Coventry are looking for a mugger armed with a toaster. A 21-year-old man reported that he was attacked Thursday evening by a man who threatened to hit him with a toaster. The suspect then bit the victim's hand, police said. The robber fled with $18 in cash and a gold chain valued at $75. Coventry is 95 miles northwest of London. ###

The following is reprinted with permission from Randy Cassingham (copyright 2002) of

THIS IS TRUE

TALKIE TOASTER: Residents in Hooke, Dorset, England, were a bit shocked
  when toasters and other appliances began talking. In Russian. "It's
  unnerving," says  John Dalton, chair of the Hooke Parish Council.
  "Normally it just makes toast." The problem has been traced to a high-
  power BBC radio station a mile outside town. The station's spokesman
  notes that "two different types of metal next to each other can pick up
  a radio signal. The two bits of metal act as a very basic diode and
  turn the signal into sound." He promises technicians will help
  homeowners clear up the interference, but first "I'd love to hear the
  toaster." (PA) ...Maybe later -- it just left on a world tour.