Today's Odd News - Reuters News Headlines - Yahoo! News:
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Hello Heidi to bye bye bunga bunga in 2011 odd news
Fri,30 Dec 2011 07:09 AM PST
Reuters -  LONDON (Reuters) - Bunga Bunga, Zenga Zenga, a tweeting cobra and other wacky news capped a year that saw the capture of America's most wanted man and the overthrow of dictators. 2011 was filled with animal antics that began with the introduction of Heidi, the cross-eyed opossum, as the latest feral German celebrity to capture hearts around the world. The star of Leipzig Zoo made an appearance on U.S. ...
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New Year's Day to come early as Samoa leaps ahead
Thu,29 Dec 2011 05:20 PM PST
Reuters - CANBERRA (Reuters) - If you are reading this on Friday you cannot be in Samoa. Friday, December 30, has been cut this year for the tiny South Pacific island nation as it ditched a time-zone alliance with the United States and moved its time zone 24 hours ahead to catch up with Asia, New Zealand and Australia. ... Full Story | Top |
Stressed Chinese fight back - with pillows
Wed,28 Dec 2011 12:44 PM PST
Reuters - SHANGHAI (Reuters) - A whirlwind of pillows bearing the names of bosses and teachers filled the air as hundreds of Chinese gathered to blow off stress in Shanghai, staging a massive pillow battle. The annual event marked its fifth year with such a surge in interest from stressed young office workers and students that organizers held two nights of pillow fighting before Christmas Day and plan another for Dec 30. ... Full Story | Top |
For the not-so-serious drinker: Marshmallow vodka
Wed,28 Dec 2011 12:29 PM PST
Reuters -  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Vodkas flavored with citrus and berry have been around for years and recently some newer brands have been trying to create buzz with unusual flavors. But this holiday season, for the first time, the world's largest vodka brand is trying to appeal to Americans' sweet tooth with zany flavors like "fluffed marshmallow" and "whipped cream." Faced with relentless competition from established and upstart brands, Smirnoff's owner -- the London-based beverage group Diageo Plc -- took inspiration from things like cookie-scented candles and vanilla-scented laundry soap. ...
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Venezuela's Chavez: did U.S. give Latin American leaders cancer?
Wed,28 Dec 2011 12:09 PM PST
Reuters -  CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez speculated on Wednesday that the United States might have developed a way to give Latin American leaders cancer, after Argentina's Cristina Fernandez joined the list of presidents diagnosed with the disease. It was a typically controversial statement by Venezuela's socialist leader, who underwent surgery in June to remove a tumor from his pelvis. But he stressed that he was not making any accusations, just thinking aloud. "It would not be strange if they had developed the technology to induce cancer and nobody knew about it until now ... ...
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Now or never for workers as "Elvis" the croc strikes again
Wed,28 Dec 2011 10:17 AM PST
Reuters -  SYDNEY (Reuters) - Two workers at a reptile park near Sydney were all shook up Wednesday, running for their lives when a 500 kg crocodile named Elvis suddenly lunged at them, making off with their lawnmower. Five-meter long Elvis was already not exactly a hunk of burning love, having eaten two girlfriends at another crocodile park where he lived. He struck again Wednesday, surging out of the water while the workers performed routine maintenance nearby. ...
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Whale sperm, orgasmic feet top 2011 bad science list
Wed,28 Dec 2011 05:07 AM PST
Reuters -  LONDON (Reuters) - From whale sperm to colon cleansers to the shape of a woman's foot when she has an orgasm, celebrities did not disappoint during 2011 with their penchant for peddling suspect science in the world's media. In its annual list of what it considers the year's worst abuses against science, the Sense About Science (SAS) campaign named reality TV star Nicole Polizzi, Republican presidential candidate Michelle Bachmann and American singer-songwriter Suzi Quatro as top offenders, with their dubious views on why the sea is salty, the risks of cervical cancer vaccines and the colon. ...
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Crime scene cleanup ad lifts Handel's Messiah
Tue,27 Dec 2011 09:26 AM PST
Reuters - BOSTON (Reuters) - Who says beautiful music and blood spatter cleanup can't go together. When Chorus North Shore performs Handel's Messiah or Verdi's Requiem, the Boston-area group usually can count on Timothy Riley and his crime scene cleanup business for moral and economic support. Riley, for example, recently advertised his company's "crime and death scene cleaning" in the playbill of Chorus North Shore's Handel's Messiah performance at two Catholic churches north of Boston. ... Full Story | Top |
Boston student re-united with $170,000 violin
Sun,25 Dec 2011 08:53 AM PST
Reuters - (Reuters) - Christmas came early for a Boston music student who was reunited with the $170,000 violin she forgot in the overhead compartment of a regional commuter bus she rode last week, police said. Muchen Hsieh, a student at the New England Conservatory in Boston, had traveled to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, arriving at roughly 11 p.m. on Tuesday. Christine O'Brien, a spokeswoman for the Philadelphia police, who helped Hsieh track down the missing instrument, said then came a moment of sheer panic for the student. ... Full Story | Top |
Waiting for Congress, Obama takes dog Bo shopping
Wed,21 Dec 2011 01:50 PM PST
Reuters -  ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (Reuters) - With his wife and daughters already in Hawaii for the holidays, President Barack Obama took his dog Bo shopping on Wednesday as he waited for congressional leaders to mop up a payroll tax mess that has kept him in Washington. Obama travelled with Bo, and an entourage of aides, Secret Service agents, doctors and reporters, to a Northern Virginia strip mall to buy treats for the three-year-old Portuguese Water Dog featured on the White House holiday cards this year. Bo accompanied him to PetSmart, where the dog made friends with a brown poodle named Cinnamon. ...
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Canadian charity throws doomed bunnies a lifeline
Wed,21 Dec 2011 12:00 PM PST
Reuters - (Reuters) - A Canadian charity, appropriately named EARS, is offering to help a Rocky Mountain town deal with its bunny problem, promising to neuter and spay the unwanted rabbits rather than let the city carry out its trap-and-cull proposal. The estimated 2,000 rabbits of Canmore, Alberta, are the black, white and brown descendents of pets released into the wild. "They are not a native wildlife species," the city said sternly in a news release on Wednesday. ... Full Story | Top |
Florida town seeks nudist vacationers from Europe
Wed,21 Dec 2011 09:49 AM PST
Reuters - ORLANDO, Fla (Reuters) - A west Florida community is spending $3,800 in tax dollars to entice naked Germans to spend their summer vacations there. The advertising grant was awarded Tuesday by the Pasco County commission to Pandabare, a local nudist organization representing 16 resorts, campgrounds and clubs located in the largely rural county north of Tampa. The ads, to be placed in European publications, will promote the county's longstanding reputation as the nudist capital of America. ... Full Story | Top |
California sperm donor at odds with federal regulators
Tue,20 Dec 2011 01:17 PM PST
Reuters -  OAKLAND, Calif (Reuters) - An electronics company engineer who the U.S. government considers a one-man sperm bank has fathered an estimated 14 children through free donations of his semen that he advertises over the Internet. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says the San Francisco Bay-area sperm donor poses a threat to public health and has ordered him to stop or face up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine. ...
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Disgraced duke's figure moved in Madrid wax museum
Mon,19 Dec 2011 10:47 AM PST
Reuters -  MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's royal family has lost one of its members, at least in Madrid's Wax Museum. The museum has moved the figure of the Duke of Palma, who is married to King Juan Carlos's younger daughter and whose non-profit organization is under investigation for alleged misuse of public money, out of the royal family display. "He's now situated across from the sports gallery," the museum's spokesman told Reuters. The Duke, whose name is Inaki Urdangarin, played handball in the Olympics. The museum has changed his look, as well. He's now wearing sports gear. ...
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"Whatever" deemed most annoying word: poll
Fri,16 Dec 2011 11:20 AM PST
Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters) - Do you want to kill a conversation? Try saying "whatever." Words like "you know" and "like" might be irritating to hear, but for the third year in a row, it's "whatever" that holds the most power to annoy, according to an annual survey by the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion. Nearly four in ten adults named "whatever" as the most annoying verbal filler in casual conversation, while one in five adults had similar disdain for "like" and 'you know." "Just sayin'" and "seriously" were more forgiving to the ears, though still quite irritating, Marist found. ... Full Story | Top |
How watching football was nearly the death of a fan
Fri,16 Dec 2011 07:32 AM PST
Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - Watching your favorite football team trying to hang on to a precarious lead in the dying minutes of a match is enough to frazzle anyone's nerves, but for one Manchester United fan the stress was nearly too much. The 58-year-old woman gets so anxious she has to take treatment for a life-threatening condition brought on by watching knife-edge games at the Old Trafford stadium. ... Full Story | Top |
Rostock want sellout virtual crowd in closed doors match
Fri,16 Dec 2011 03:37 AM PST
Reuters - BERLIN (Reuters) - Hansa Rostock are hoping their German second-division match against Dynamo Dresden will be a sell-out Sunday even though they have been ordered to play behind closed doors. Rostock, who are bottom of the table with one win from their 18 matches, were punished by the German FA (DFB) after crowd trouble marred their 3-1 defeat to St Pauli last month when eight police officers were injured. ... Full Story | Top |
Dutch pot sales to foreigners go up in smoke
Thu,15 Dec 2011 04:13 PM PST
Reuters - AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The reputation of the Netherlands as the go-to country for a legal joint will begin to vanish like a puff of smoke next year as sales to foreigners of cannabis and hashish in coffee shops are banned. The Dutch government has been clamping down on the sale of soft drugs since 2007 because of gang-related crime and concern about the risk to health, particularly as stronger forms of cannabis have been introduced. "The Dutch drugs policy's appeal to foreign users has to be reduced," Dutch Security and Justice Minister Ivo Opstelten said in a letter to parliament. ... Full Story | Top |
Greek man claims for 19 kids-none real, police say
Thu,15 Dec 2011 05:37 AM PST
Reuters - ATHENS (Reuters) - A former Greek policeman who invented 19 fictional offspring to claim benefits for what would have been the largest family in Greece has been arrested for benefit fraud, police said. The former police officer, divorced and with no children of his own, quit his 1,000-euro-a-month ($1,300) job in 2001 and has been living solely on benefits ever since, police said on Thursday. Using photographs of children he found online, the 54-year-old man forged birth certificates and other documents needed to claim benefits for at least one child a year since 1996. ... Full Story | Top |
Missouri woman gets $6.1 million from unclaimed property
Wed,14 Dec 2011 12:26 PM PST
Reuters - KANSAS CITY, Mo (Reuters) - The holidays this year will be especially memorable for a Kansas City woman who has received a state record $6.1 million from a Missouri unclaimed property fund consisting of a single security. The Missouri state treasurer maintains some $600 million of unclaimed property, most of it cash from bank accounts, the contents of safe deposit boxes, stocks and bonds, according to the treasurer's office. The average payout is about $300. ... Full Story | Top |
Take off that tie to save energy, Chilean men told
Wed,14 Dec 2011 12:10 PM PST
Reuters - SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Chile's government wants men in the South American country to take off their ties to help fight global warming, hoping the campaign will save on air conditioning as summer starts in the southern hemisphere. "Let's all take our ties off this summer to save energy," Economy Minister Pablo Longueira says in television spots airing around the country. In the commercial, he undoes the knot of his pink and white tie and whips it off with gusto, unbuttoning the top of his shirt and smiling. ... Full Story | Top |
Chinese man arrested for hiring wedding strippers
Tue,13 Dec 2011 06:13 PM PST
Reuters - BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese police have arrested a man who hired two strippers to perform at his son's wedding after the performance was mobbed by villagers, a newspaper reported on Wednesday. Zhang Cheng, from Xuzhou in eastern Jiangsu province, had originally wanted a band to play at the nuptials, but was then advised he could get performers whose show would have "special features," the Global Times said. "After watching the show, Zhang decided it would be appropriate for his son's wedding and requested two strippers for the event," it added. "... ... Full Story | Top |
Hanover 96 pass flare-lighting fine on to fan
Tue,13 Dec 2011 11:56 AM PST
Reuters - BERLIN (Reuters) - Hanover 96 have passed on a 4,000 euro fine for flare lighting to the fan responsible for the regulation breach, the Bundesliga club said on Tuesday. Hanover were fined by the German football association (DFB) after flares were lit in the stands during their league game against Augsburg in September. Flares are banned in all German stadiums. The fan, who was identified and has signed a document admitting his guilt, will now have to come up with the money, the club said. ... Full Story | Top |
Take care selling the family silver, hard up Greeks told
Tue,13 Dec 2011 11:55 AM PST
Reuters -  ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece published guidelines on Tuesday to protect its austerity-hit citizens from being ripped off by pawn shops buying their family gold and silver. The consumer protection agency issued the unusual notice as new pawn shops spring up across Athens to meet demand for instant cash in Greece's contracting economy. But crisis-hit families may be getting a poor deal from unscrupulous traders. "We urge consumers to weigh their objects at home," a statement from the agency said. "Fliers and advertising material promising particularly high prices should be treated with caution. ...
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Albanian makes world's largest coffee bean mosaic
Mon,12 Dec 2011 02:18 PM PST
Reuters -  TIRANA (Reuters) - A mosaic made with a million coffee beans by Albanian artist Saimir Strati, depicting five musicians, entered the Guinness World Records Monday as the world's largest coffee bean mosaic. Strati used 140 kg (309 pounds) of coffee beans, some roasted black, some averagely and some not roasted at all, to portray a Brazilian dancer, a Japanese drummer, a U.S. country music singer, a European accordionist and an African drummer. ...
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Actor Alec Baldwin mocks airline industry in SNL skit
Sun,11 Dec 2011 10:27 AM PST
Reuters -  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Alec Baldwin dropped in on "Saturday Night Live" this weekend for a skit mocking the airline industry, issuing a fake apology from a pilot who kicked him off an American Airlines flight for playing a smart-phone game before departure. During a "Saturday Night Live" satirical news skit, Baldwin posed as the pilot of a plane he was forced to disembark earlier in the week at Los Angeles International Airport for refusing to stop playing 'Words With Friends' on his mobile phone. ...
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Jewel of a gift lands in Kansas City area Salvation Army kettle
Fri,9 Dec 2011 10:25 AM PST
Reuters - KANSAS CITY, Mo (Reuters) - Tossing a stone into a Salvation Army kettle at Christmas wouldn't be a nice thing to do. Unless it's a diamond, of course. Someone recently put a 3/4-carat diamond in a kettle outside a Walmart in Shawnee, Kansas, a suburb of Kansas City. It was appraised Thursday at $2,000. A Salvation Army employee found the loose diamond wrapped in paper, said Major Michele Heaver, a spokeswoman for the group. "First he thought it was trash and then he discovered it was quite the opposite," Heaver said Friday. "He told us about it and we put it in a safe. ... Full Story | Top |
"Chavez Nativity" creates controversy in Venezuela
Fri,9 Dec 2011 09:28 AM PST
Reuters -  CARACAS (Reuters) - In the Bible, shepherds and wise men paid homage to the newborn baby Jesus. In Venezuela, it seems Hugo Chavez turned up in the manger, too. A Nativity scene in Caracas showing the socialist president standing before the traditional crib-in-a-manger has stirred up a pre-Christmas controversy in the politically polarized country. "It has nothing to do with the real Nativity, with religion. I don't like it," said passerby Arnaldo Amundaray, tutting as he took a close look at the model. ...
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Cannonball hits home in "MythBusters" TV shoot
Thu,8 Dec 2011 10:56 AM PST
Reuters -  SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A cannonball shot during an experiment gone awry on the television show "MythBusters" crashed into a home in Northern California, but no one was injured, the company behind the program said on Wednesday. The mishap took place one day earlier during filming at an Alameda County Sheriff's Department bomb range in Dublin, California, which is about 25 miles east of San Francisco. "During the testing, a cannonball took an unforeseen bounce from a safety berm," Discovery Channel, which airs the "MythBusters" show, said in a statement. ...
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Jennifer Aniston preferred guest at holiday table
Wed,7 Dec 2011 08:12 AM PST
Reuters -  (Reuters) - Actress Jennifer Aniston and her ex-husband Brad Pitt would be the preferred guests at a holiday meal for many Americans, along with the Duchess of Cambridge. Aniston, the former "Friends" star, topped the list with 30 percent in the survey that asked Americans which celebrity they would like to sit next to at a holiday meal. Pitt polled third with 16 percent, while the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, came in second with 21 percent. Actors Charlie Sheen and Ashton Kutcher and reality television star Kim Kardashian rounded out the top choices. ...
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Forget the Christmas parties, employees want cash
Wed,7 Dec 2011 08:10 AM PST
Reuters -  (Reuters) - Companies planning to spend thousands of dollars for staff Christmas parties, even with open bars, shouldn't bother because most U.S. employees would prefer money. Nearly three quarters of 2,574 workers questioned in a Harris poll said they would opt for a cash bonus, followed by 62 percent who would prefer a salary increase and 32 percent who wanted more paid time off. Only four percent put a Christmas party on the top of their holiday. ...
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Disarmed grenades found in woman's luggage at airport
Tue,6 Dec 2011 09:29 AM PST
Reuters -  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Authorities at Newark Liberty Airport in New Jersey discovered five disarmed grenades in the luggage of a woman seeking to board a flight to Belgium, the Transportation Security Administration said on Monday. The TSA said baggage screeners had found the grenades while X-raying the woman's checked luggage on Saturday. TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said the woman, who has not been named, surrendered the items to authorities without incident and was then allowed to board the flight. Farbstein did not say why the woman was carrying the grenades. ...
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AIDS group seeks LA vote on condoms in porn films
Tue,6 Dec 2011 09:28 AM PST
Reuters -  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Voters in Los Angeles, home to the U.S. porn industry, could soon be asked to decide whether condoms should be required in adult films to reduce sexually transmitted diseases. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation said on Monday it submitted far more than the required number of signatures on a petition for a public ballot that could go before voters in June 2012. If the signatures are officially certified and a vote is held, Los Angeles residents would be asked whether adult film producers must require the use of condoms on porn sets as a condition for getting movie permits. ...
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App helps viewers shop while watching TV
Mon,5 Dec 2011 08:50 AM PST
Reuters -  TORONTO (Reuters) - Looking for the dress you saw on a hit television show or the jerseys worn during a football game or soccer match? An iPad app aims to help viewers shop while watching TV. Unlike television shopping channels, Watch with Ebay is a new feature in eBay's iPad app that lets users buy items related to the program they're currently viewing. ...
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Professor is dumpster-diving urban Robin Hood
Fri,2 Dec 2011 06:57 AM PST
Reuters -  FORT WORTH, Texas (Reuters) - University professor Jeff Ferrell is something of a U.S. urban Robin Hood, although what he gives away is not stolen but the result of dumpster diving. The Texas Christian University (TCU) professor of sociology sifts through dumpsters and gives the vast majority of what he finds to the needy or to friends. He has also managed to furnish his living room with what is left, filled a tool shed with a collection of everything from screws to power tools and never pays for a bar of soap or office supplies. ...
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Mayans never predicted world to end in 2012?
Fri,2 Dec 2011 06:55 AM PST
Reuters - PALENQUE, Mexico (Reuters) - If you are worried the world will end next year based on the Mayan calendar, relax: the end of time is still far off. So say Mayan experts who want to dispel any belief that the ancient Mayans predicted a world apocalypse next year. The Mayan calendar marks the end of a 5,126 year old cycle around December 12, 2012 which should bring the return of Bolon Yokte, a Mayan god associated with war and creation. ... Full Story | Top |
Funny Finnish bunny thinks he's a chicken
Thu,1 Dec 2011 08:45 AM PST
Reuters - HELSINKI (Reuters) - Otto would make the perfect chicken, except for a few hiccups. Hatching eggs, scratching around the coop and roosting on a beam with the rest of the hens are great habits for chickens, but rather unusual for an eight month old male rabbit. The confused bunny came as a free gift to Ville Kuusinen's home, when he bought nine Silkie hens and a rooster from a farm. The Kuusinens and their three children live on a small island in Velkua some 210 km (130 miles) northwest of Helsinki. "When I went to the hen house, I noticed he was sitting on the eggs. ... Full Story | Top |
Top Gear presenter in hot water over "silly" remarks
Thu,1 Dec 2011 08:41 AM PST
Reuters -  LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron has criticized comments made by "Top Gear" television show presenter Jeremy Clarkson after he said the country's striking public sector strikers be "shot in front of their families." Clarkson, whose mocking personality helped make the Top Gear automobile show a popular broadcast around the world, was speaking Wednesday as state workers like nurses, teachers and civil servants were staging a 24-hour strike against government plans to make them pay more and work longer for their pensions. ...
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How a Chinese cave got listed on the U.S. stock market
Wed,30 Nov 2011 08:02 AM PST
Reuters -  YISHUI, China (Reuters) - A Chinese tourism company listed in the United States wants investors to pour their money down a dark hole. Literally. China's "Underground Grand Canyon," about an hour's drive outside the smoggy city of Linyi in the eastern province of Shandong, promises visitors 3 km (2 miles) of grand stalactites, multicolored lights and an exciting luge ride. Tracing the attraction's ticket receipts back to investors in the United States proves an even more complex labyrinth to navigate. ...
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Amy Winehouse dress fetches $68,000 at auction
Wed,30 Nov 2011 07:15 AM PST
Reuters -  LONDON (Reuters) - A printed chiffon dress worn by the late singer Amy Winehouse for the cover of her chart-topping album "Back to Black" has sold for 43,200 pounds ($68,000) at auction. The hammer price, minus buyer's premium, was 36,000 pounds, still well above pre-sale estimates of 10-20,000 pounds, said a spokeswoman for Kerry Taylor Auctions which specializes in high-end vintage fashion. Proceeds from the Disaya-designed dress will go to the Amy Winehouse Foundation, a charity set up by her father Mitch to help young people struggling with ill health, poverty or addiction. ...
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