Nutty nude

Gonzales (Louisiana), June 26 (AP): A nude driver allegedly hit a Louisiana state trooper at a traffic stop in East Baton Rouge Parish and tried to run over two more in another area before they ended the early morning chase by deflating a tyre, state police said.

Batulis Jr, 25, was booked with three counts of attempted first-degree murder of a police officer, two each for reckless driving and aggravated flight from an officer and one for resisting arrest and driving while impaired by a drug.

Lohan luck

New York (AP): Lindsay Lohan, who checked into rehab after a wild Memorial Day weekend, plans to extend her stay, said her mother, Dina Lohan. “She’s going to be doing extended care,” Dina Lohan said in the Daily News. “It was her choice.” The actress, who turns 21 on July 2, checked into rehab in California after she crashed her car into a curb and was photographed slumped in the passenger seat of a friend’s car. It was her second rehab stint this year.

Veggie win

New York (AP): Carrie Underwood and Kevin Eubanks have been named the “world’s sexiest vegetarians” in PETA’s annual contest. Results were released on Tuesday by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Underwood, 24, a Grammywinning country singer, won the title in 2005. Eubanks, 49, leader of NBC’s Tonight Show band, is a newcomer to the winner’s circle. Eubanks leapt ahead of his competitors with help from Jay Leno.

Tax trick

Berlin (Reuters): A German tax official who stole more than $230,000 from the state by inventing taxpayers and claiming money owed to them has been jailed for three years and three months, authorities said on Tuesday. Between 2003 and 2006, the man embezzled nearly $234,200 from tax authorities in the southern city of Wuerzburg by cashing in rebates due from income tax returns he had filed for three imaginary taxpayers.

False bless

Lisbon (Reuters): A man pretending to be a priest was arrested by police as he prepared to baptise a baby in a small town in the north of Portugal. “When the man said: ‘In the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit’ police came in and grabbed him,” a member of the church said.