Reuters: Oddly Enough

Naked gymnast faces charges over San Francisco transit stop antics

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:49:22 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A trained gymnast whose naked acrobatics and harassment of passengers at a San Francisco public transit station were captured on video and circulated widely on the Internet is facing criminal charges over his antics, authorities said on Tuesday.

Gravestone of late Mayor Koch had birth date wrong

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:19:56 GMT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former Mayor Ed Koch was 88 years old when he died in February, despite what his gravestone said.

U.S. patent case climaxes with win for Canadian vibrator maker

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:07:26 GMT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Couples in the United States looking to spice up their sex lives will have to do without certain adult toys after a U.S. trade panel ruled on Monday that some companies are violating a patent held by a Canadian company for a two-armed vibrator.

Kimberly-Clark moves to ease Venezuelan toilet paper shortage

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:50:05 GMT

CARACAS (Reuters) - Kimberly-Clark Corp is planning a 234 million bolivar ($37.1 mln) investment to expand operations in Venezuela, the state news agency said, in a move that should help ease an embarrassing national shortage of toilet paper.

'Drunk' claims upset Ukraine parliament budget hearing

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:11:03 GMT

KIEV (Reuters) - A parliamentary hearing on Ukraine's budget was suspended for several hours on Tuesday after opposition deputies alleged that a deputy finance minister presenting the budget report was drunk.

Belgian who says she is king's daughter asks him to testify

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:29:44 GMT

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A woman who says she is the unrecognized daughter of Belgian King Albert II has summoned the monarch and two of his children to appear in a Brussels court in her bid to prove he is her father, her lawyer said on Tuesday.

Mexican politicians: going to the dogs, er, cats?

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 23:27:52 GMT

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Fed up with politicians they call "rats," a group of friends in the eastern Mexican city of Xalapa have put forward their ideal candidate for mayor: a cat named Morris.

Virginia governor billed taxpayers for sunscreen, dog vitamins -report

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 21:07:37 GMT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Virginia Governor and possible Republican presidential candidate Bob McDonnell used taxpayer money to pay for sunscreen and dog vitamins, the Washington Post reported on Monday, adding to other improper spending the paper says the FBI is investigating.

Jury finds no negligence in trial over man's 8-month erection

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 20:02:05 GMT

WILMINGTON, Delaware (Reuters) - A jury on Monday cleared a doctor of negligence in a lawsuit filed by a Delaware truck driver who underwent a penile implant procedure and ended up with an erection that lasted eight months.

Royal baby to give almost $400 million bump to British economy

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:42:48 GMT

LONDON (Reuters) - From Union Jack booties to "Born to Rule" sleepwear, the British royal family has joined retailers in offering baby products to mark the arrival of the royal heir.

Zimbabwe may have to field two goalkeepers in qualifier

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 14:56:19 GMT

CAPE TOWN (Reuters)- Cash-strapped Zimbabwe may have to field two goalkeepers in their 2014 World Cup soccer qualifier against Guinea in Conakry on Sunday.

Famed Milwaukee tavern rehangs bras on ceiling

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 13:20:50 GMT

MILWAUKEE (Reuters) - Standing on a foot ladder, Jeff Scanell bent down, pinched his girlfriend's red lace brassiere between his thumb and index finger and gently lifted it out of the front of her shirt as a cowbell wildly rang and a raucous crowd roared.

Arizona nonagenarian sets weightlifting world record

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 04:46:18 GMT

PHOENIX (Reuters) - A barrel-chested 91-year-old strongman from Arizona shattered the world record for the bench press in his dwindling age group, with a lift of 187.2 pounds - some 50 pounds more than the previous record.

Fake label, wrong glass among clues in alleged bogus wine case

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 22:58:50 GMT

CHICAGO (Reuters) - An artificially aged label was among the clues that a pricey magnum of French wine sold by celebrity chef Charlie Trotter last year was a fake, a wine expert involved in the case said Friday.

Long-lost diary of top Hitler aide offers window into Nazi soul

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 21:54:24 GMT

WILMINGTON, Delaware (Reuters) - U.S. officials on Thursday unveiled the 400-page diary of Alfred Rosenberg, a top aide to Adolf Hitler, who oversaw the genocide against Jews and others during World War Two.

'Happy Birthday to You' belongs to us all, lawsuit says

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 20:37:10 GMT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - "Happy Birthday to You," the ditty sung around the world in tribute to everyone from toddlers to centenarians, belongs to the public, according to a lawsuit filed on Thursday.

'Desperate father' spray paints British queen's portrait

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 15:25:59 GMT

LONDON (Reuters) - A man defaced a portrait of Britain's Queen Elizabeth with paint at London's Westminster Abbey on Thursday, with a campaign group for fathers' rights saying he was one of its members making a "desperate" plea to the monarch for help.

New diet craze offers five days of feasting for two days of famine

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 13:52:11 GMT

LONDON (Reuters) - Forget abandoning carbohydrates or detoxing. The new dieting craze sweeping Britain and taking off in the United States lets people eat whatever they like - but only five days a week.

Visitor sprays paint on UK queen portrait at Westminster Abbey

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 13:24:44 GMT

LONDON (Reuters) - Police said they had arrested a man after a portrait of Britain's Queen Elizabeth was defaced with paint at Westminster Abbey on Thursday.

Could school gate politics replace mommy porn for women readers?

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 18:33:35 GMT

LONDON (Reuters) - A British writer whose debut novel about mothers at the school gate sparked a seven-way bidding war between publishers has attributed the overnight success of her book to striking a chord with women used to negotiating the politics of female groups.

Irish PM says received letters in blood over planned abortion law

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 17:39:34 GMT

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland's prime minister said he had been sent letters written in blood and been branded a murderer by opponents of his government's plans to allow limited access to abortion, an issue that has polarized the country for decades.

Nigerian cook survives two days under sea in shipwreck air bubble

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 16:27:49 GMT

WARRI, Nigeria (Reuters) - After two days trapped in freezing cold water and breathing from an air bubble in an upturned tugboat under the ocean, Harrison Okene was sure he was going to die. Then a torch light pierced the darkness.

Video game puts coach on road to World Cup glory

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 15:31:27 GMT

WINDHOEK (Reuters) - A coach whose enthusiasm for the trade was forged by the 'Football Manager' video game will be thrown into the deep end on Wednesday when Nambia host African champions Nigeria in a World Cup qualifier.

Villagers in last stand to save Belgian ghost town

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 13:36:27 GMT

DOEL, Belgium (Reuters) - The Belgian village of Doel is facing its final battle for survival against plans to expand the adjacent port of Antwerp that will erase it from the map to make way for a new dock.

Elderly women safely scramble from burning limo in California

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 22:35:15 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A group of mostly elderly women, half of them in their 90s and some using canes, escaped unharmed from a stretch limousine that burst into flames at a gated senior community in Northern California, police said on Monday.