A Japanese research team is planning to run a campaign on environmental awareness by entering a racecar that runs on cooking oil, used to fry tempura, in the Dakar rally. Hidefumi Onaka, a lecturer at the Osaka Sangyo University, said Toyota's Land Cruiser 100 would be the first racecar to run on bio-diesel in the prestigious sporting event. Onaka told the Canadian Press, "We want to show what tempura oil can achieve, as a way to raise environmental awareness. . . We're not doing it just for fun, so we decided to enter an internationally acclaimed event and appeal to the world. "

Conservationists plan to burn the carcass of a 47-foot whale that washed onto a beach near Cape Town, South Africa. Officials are unsure how the 34-ton southern right whale died. Its body washed up onto Kommetjie beach, located about 25 miles south of Cape Town.

A man acquitted of assault after being accused of poisoning an assistant prosecutor, a bailiff, and a police officer by shaking their hands. John Curtis Ridgeway, 42, was found guilty in December for driving uninsured. After court he insisted on shaking the hands of Assistant Prosecutor Amanda Swanson, the police officer who pulled him over and the bailiff.

A bidder has paid $30,000 to win a lunch date with actress Jessica Biel, recently named Esquire magazine's "Sexiest Woman Alive. " The date was auctioned to raise money for a Colorado teen who lost her leg and part of her pelvis in an accident. Molly Bloom was run over by a Hummer stretch limousine on the night of her prom. The money will be used to pay for Bloom's medical expenses. A man identified as "John" made the $30,000 bid for a date with Biel, who is a Boulder native. "John" says he is a senior vice president for an oil and gas company in Denver. Biel, 24, says in a taped message, "I promise, I'm a cheap date. " Her father says the lunch date was the actress' idea.

Cornwall, CT (AHN)-Authorities say the son of billionaire oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens was charged with burglary after he was found hiding under a table in a fly fishing shop. Following his arraignment in Bantam Superior Court on Monday, 51-year-old Michael Pickens spent three days in jail.