Hurricane uncovers buried rocket-powered explosives

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida- Military explosives from the Second World War training exercises have been found four times along Florida's Atlantic Coast since hurricane Jeanne blew through the area last month and uncovered them. The latest find came Monday when U.S. army explosives experts from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station removed a three-metre-long, rocket-powered explosive nicknamed Tiny Tim from the sands of Vero Beach. "It's a 500-pound, semi-armour-piercing bomb fitted with a rocket motor," said Sgt. 1st Class Jake Holland of the army's 766th Ordnance Company. "The rocket had been fired but the warhead was live." The coast stretching along Volusia, Brevard and Indian River counties was used in the Second World War for amphibious landing and other military training. Tank obstacles and other military gear have been found as well. After bomb experts dug up the bomb by hand Monday, they placed it in a truck on a bed of sand. The bomb was driven five kilometres away, placed in a four-metre-deep hole, covered with sand and detonated with other explosives.

American  buys 1,200-year-old penny for $515,000 at an auction

LONDON, UK- A 1,200-year-old Anglo-Saxon penny sold for 230,000 pounds ($515,000 Cdn) on Wednesday, setting what the auction house said was a new world record for the most expensive British coin. Spink auction house had expected the 4.33-gram gold coin to fetch between 120,000 pounds and 150,000 pounds ($269,000 to $336,000). American collector Allan Davisson purchased the coin, which was found in 2001 by an amateur searcher using a metal detector near the River Ivel in Bedfordshire, north of London. It is the only known coin to bear the name of King Coenwulf of Mercia, who ruled a region of southern England from 796 to 821. The previous auction record for a British coin was a gold piece bearing an image of George III's crown, which sold for 170,500 pounds ($382,000), Spink said.

 The ultimate self-defence weapon

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota - Don't leave home without it. In a new twist on the idea of concealed weapons, a local gun maker and gun shop are debuting a new type of firearm: one that could almost fit in your wallet. It's a two-shot weapon made from a piece of metal the height and width of a standard credit card, and about a centimetre thick. Each barrel fires seven standard steel BBs. It will retail for $100 US. "This I can see being the ultimate self-defence weapon," said Mark Koscielski, owner of Koscielski's Guns and Ammo, the only gun shop in Minneapolis. Koscielski and Patrick Teel, who makes the guns in suburban Blaine at his company AFT Inc., gave The Associated Press a preview on Tuesday, a day before they planned to officially unveil the device. The credit card-sized shotgun is a muzzleloader, meaning it doesn't use shotgun shells. The user has to measure out some gunpowder, pour it in each barrel, drop seven BBs in each barrel, and tamp in a small wad of paper. A knob on one end serves as a safety, and two buttons set into a hole in the body are the electrical triggers. Each barrel fires with a loud pop. But another gun salesman was skeptical of the weapon's self-defence value. Mike O'Brien, of Joe's Sporting Goods in St. Paul, wasn't familiar with the new devices, but said muzzleloading is a "slow and tedious" process. "Us guys here would consider something like that useless," said O'Brien. "A .177 calibre BB is ballistically a joke, OK? I'm sure it could cause injury and damage, but as a self-defence weapon, no. Not to anyone familiar with firearms." A spokesman for the Brady Center To Prevent Gun Violence was also dismissive. "It's a silly, silly idea," spokesman Peter Hamm said. "I don't know that I would want to have one of these in my pocket for my own personal safety, never mind the safety of those around me." Guns that small have been around in various styles for a long time, and some have become curiosities and collector's items, but have failed as weapons, said O'Brien. "It might do damage to eyes, that sort of thing. But serious damage to a 200-pound drug-crazed evildoer, no - it'd just make them mad," he said. Teel said the main value of the new gun is that it gives the owner a chance to get away from an attacker. "This is no more deadly than a .22," Teel said. "But the difference is you have multiple wounds, which means you'll try to get away quicker, and it will cause more pain. ... There will be more blood, which the cops will be able to see."