dude...

A wakeboarder performs in a fountain in downtown Belgrade, Serbia, September 3, 2007.

sausage workshop ...barf..blah...image the smell!

A labourer works at a sausage workshop at a pork-processing factory in Suining, southwest China's Sichuan province, September 4, 2007.

toy parts

A laborer works on a production line at a toy factory in Panyu, south China's Guangdong province, September 4, 2007.

yucky cookie...eat it I dare you!

Jibachi senbei, or a digger wasp rice cracker, is held at a factory in Omachi town 200 km (124 miles) northwest of Tokyo September 4, 2007. A Japanese fan club for wasps has added the insects to rice crackers, saying the result adds a waspish scent to the traditional fare.

three-legged duckling

A man watches a three-legged duckling at a farm in Tancheng county, east China's Shandong province September 4, 2007. Experts told local media that a gene mutation contributed to the aberrance.

two-headed Greek turtle

A two-headed Greek turtle named Janus eats some salad leaves at the Natural History Museum in Geneva September 5, 2007. Janus, named after the Roman god with two heads, officially celebrated its 10th birthday on Wednesday.

Leech invasion makes residents see red

Long confined to the mountains, Japanese leeches are invading residential areas, causing swelling, itching and general discomfort with their blood-thirsty ways. Yamabiru, or land leeches, have become a problem in 29 of Japan's 47 prefectures, according to the Institute for Environmental Culture, a private research facility in Chiba prefecture, east of Tokyo. The little suckers are riding into towns and villages, hitching lifts on deer and boar whose numbers have grown due to re-forestation and dwindling rural populations. Once there, the leeches, which measure in at about 1.5 cms before a meal, take to feasting on warm human flesh. "Yamabiru will climb into people's socks and stay for about an hour, growing five to 10 times in size. Unlike with water leeches, people don't immediately realize they've been bitten. Only later when they see their blood-soaked feet, do they realize what has happened," said Shigekazu Tani, the institute's director. "The real problem is that the bleeding won't stop and the affected area swells up and really itches," he added. The best way to deal with the tiny vampires? "We can cut down trees and mow long grass to dissuade wild animals from coming too close, and create sunny habitats that are inhospitable to leeches. We can also spread pesticides that kill the leeches," Tani said. "Or we can just tough it out."

Woman fired for talking back to her boss

A Chinese woman is suing her former employer after falling victim to the company policy of firing staff who contradict their boss three times, local media reported on Thursday. HWA-1 Enterprise Co Ltd, a light industrial manufacturer based in China's southeastern port city of Xiamen, sacked a woman surnamed Ni for refusing to pay fines she incurred for talking back to superiors, Xinhua news agency said, citing a local newspaper. The company's policy held that a "first contradiction of superiors" would incur a fine of 30 yuan ($4), a second would incur 100 yuan, and a third would warrant dismissal, the agency said. Ni incurred a 30 yuan fine after taking umbrage with her factory supervisor for reprimanding her for not filling in a form. "The factory head told me that, according to company rules, no matter whether management is right or wrong, employees are not allowed to contradict them and must obey," Xinhua quoted Ni as saying. Ni was then threatened with a 100 yuan fine for refusing to pay the first fine, and was sacked after she threatened to report her supervisor to the company's human resource's department. The factory's supervisor, surnamed Cao, said it was his legal right to sack Ni. "The company can terminate the contract of employees who seriously breach labor discipline or the company's rules," Xinhua quoted Cao as saying.