Reuters: Oddly Enough News

Bulgarians name brandy after PM after tax victory

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 11:22:17 +0000

SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgarian villagers have named their home-made rakia brandy "Borisovka," playing on the name of Prime Minister Boiko Borisov to thank him for stopping parliament from raising taxes on alcohol.

Uninvited guests crash White House dinner

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 09:20:54 +0000

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Secret Service is investigating how an uninvited couple was admitted to U.S. President Barack Obama's White House state dinner, penetrating layers of security, a spokesman said on Wednesday.

"Coffee police" fight fraud on shop shelves

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 16:34:03 +0000

GUARAJUBA, Brazil (Reuters) - Brazil's coffee industry is engaged in a tireless battle against rogue roasters who cut corners and costs by bulking up their products with corn, soy or even wood, the ABIC industry association says.

Hold your nose: garlic is best investment in China

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 09:39:15 +0000

BEIJING (Reuters) - The price of garlic in China has nearly quadrupled since March, propelled by its very pungency to rank ahead of gold and stocks as the country's best-performing asset this year.

Police nab dozens of gambling seniors in Cyprus

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:14:30 +0000

NICOSIA (Reuters) - Police in Cyprus detained dozens of elderly women for gambling, a popular but banned past-time on the east Mediterranean island.

Italy finds proposal to skip lunch hard to digest

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:55:19 +0000

ROME (Reuters) - Food-loving Italy responded with indignation on Tuesday to a minister's comments that lunchbreaks -- still a sit-down ritual for many Italian workers -- are bad for waistlines and the economy, and should be skipped.

Houston, we have a baby

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 06:08:30 +0000

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Shuttle Atlantis astronaut Randy Bresnik awoke early on Sunday to a much-anticipated call that his new daughter had been born.

Don't kiss Santa, he may have the flu

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 10:44:18 +0000

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Santa Claus should avoid kissing children and shaking their hands to prevent spreading the flu and should get vaccinated against the illness, Hungary's state health authority said.

New EU president wins fans in Japan -- as a poet

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 09:09:31 +0000

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Herman Van Rompuy, the European Union's new president, may not be very well known around the world but he's already winning fans in Japan -- as a poet rather than a politician.

New fossils reveal a world full of crocodiles

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:50:46 +0000

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New fossils unearthed in what is now the Sahara desert reveal a once-swampy world divided up among a half-dozen species of unusual and perhaps intelligent crocodiles, researchers reported on Thursday.