The Other Side of Life 24/7: Reuters Oddly Enough Report

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Reuters Oddly Enough Report

Reuters » Oddly Enough

03/27/2012

Reuters Election 2012 Daily round-up of the day's top news from the campaign trail, the White House and all the politics in between

Ready, steady...stack at Japan competition

TOKYO (Reuters) - More than 100 people gathered to vie for the title of Japan's fastest hands, competing to stack a set of plastic cups into a pyramid in the shortest time possible.

"Cash Mobs" gather to splurge in locally owned stores

CLEVELAND, Ohio (Reuters) - Flash mobs have been blamed as a factor in looting during urban riots. But now a group of online activists is harnessing social media like Twitter and Facebook to get consumers to spend at locally owned stores in cities around the world in so-called Cash Mobs.

Borat anthem played by mistake at medals ceremony

(Reuters) - Kazakhstan's shooting team demanded an apology after a spoof national anthem from the comedy film Borat was played instead of the real one at a medal ceremony in Kuwait, the BBC reported on Friday.

Austrian saws off own foot to avoid work - report

VIENNA (Reuters) - An unemployed Austrian man sawed his foot off, apparently to avoid being found fit to go back to work.

Danish lottery winners go from riches to rags

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Three hundred Danes who thought they'd won enough money on the lottery to last them several lifetimes were brought down to earth with a bump minutes later when they learnt their actual prizes wouldn't even pay for a weekend break.

Pink-haired student invited back to school

(Reuters) - A school that barred a sixth grader after she dyed her hair pink with her parents' blessing to celebrate her good grades lifted its ban on Tuesday following an outcry from civil rights advocates.

Messi's footwork part of anti-Syria conspiracy: TV

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Barcelona footballers don't just have a slick passing game, they can also secretly indicate arms smuggling routes to Syria, a pro-government Syrian television channel claimed this week.

Great-great grandmother, 101, breaks paragliding record

SALT LAKE CITY (Reuters) - A great-great grandmother in America was declared the oldest woman to paraglide tandem on Tuesday after taking to the air to celebrate her 101st birthday.

400-pound gorilla escapes, bites zookeeper at Buffalo Zoo

BUFFALO, New York (Reuters) - A 400-pound adult male gorilla escaped his cage at the Buffalo Zoo on Monday, biting a female zookeeper before being tranquilized and captured in what a SWAT team leader called, "the scariest thing I've ever done."

Norwegian gains instant fame as taxpayers' everyman

OSLO (Reuters) - A 36-year-old business consultant became Norway's best known taxpayer this week after the government accidentally displayed his records to everyone who logged onto its tax website.