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California judge allows San Diego strip clubs to stay open

Los Angeles (AFP) - A San Diego judge has ruled that two local strip clubs can stay open, despite an explosion in Covid cases in California that has forced authorities to severely restrict "non-essential" activities. Judge Joel Wohlfeil of the San Diego County Superior Court went further in his preliminary injunction, saying that all "businesses with restaurant service" are exempt from health restrictions imposed by the state. Currently, restaurants are limited to take-out service only, and people from different households are technically prohibited from gathering. Pacers Showgirls Internation...

US politician who died of Covid wins North Dakota seat

Washington (AFP) - A Republican candidate was elected to the state legislature in North Dakota, despite the fact that he had died a month earlier of coronavirus, officials said Wednesday.David Andahl, a farmer and businessman, died on October 5 at the age of 55 "after a short battle with COVID-19," his family said on the Facebook page of his campaign for the local assembly."He has been a public servant for many years and was looking forward to the opportunity to serve in the state legislature," the family statement said.That ambition was fulfilled posthumously when the former race car driver w...

Zombies, twerks and platform boots: the last week on the US campaign trail

Washington (AFP) - With the election just days away, the final sprint of the campaign has thrown up a bumper crop of offbeat news as Americans head to the polls, some of them dressed up to the nines.George who?Does Joe Biden know the name of the president he is running against?The Democratic contender seemed to grope for his opponent's name when speaking at a virtual concert in support of his campaign."Four more years of George, uh, George, uh, he, uh, are going to find ourselves in position where if, uh, Trump gets elected, uh, we are going to be uh, going to be in a different world," Biden s...

Cheesesteaks, bugs and obligatory chastity: life on the US campaign trail

Washington (AFP) - Drive-in stump speeches, enforced chastity on a rapper's campaign trail, pesky critters and a Philly cheesesteak on Air Force One -- with fewer than 50 days before November 3, the run for the White House is in full swing.Driving the agenda - After movies and concerts took a leap back to the 1950s with a return to drive-ins to avoid infection from Covid-19, Democratic hopeful Joe Biden adopted the model Thursday for a speech to voters in Pennsylvania.Around 100 people drove in to the speech and set up camping chairs next to their cars so they could sit at a safe distance from...

Dentist jailed after extracting tooth while on hoverboard

Washington (AFP) - An American dentist who extracted a tooth from a sedated patient while balancing on a hoverboard has been sentenced to 12 years in jail for crimes including illegal dentistry, fraud and reckless endangerment.Seth Lookhart, 35, sent phone footage to friends that showed him taking a patient's tooth out while standing on the two-wheeled hoverboard before riding away as he stripped off his gloves and held his hands up in triumph.The Alaska State Department of Law said that Anchorage Superior Court Judge Michael Wolverton stressed that the hoverboard incident was not the most ser...