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

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Reuters Oddly Enough Report

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07/31/2012

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

German trainee fined 227,000 euros for illegal Facebook party

BERLIN (Reuters) - A German court has handed a 20-year-old apprentice a 227,000-euro ($280,000) bill to cover police costs after he organized an illegal party through the Facebook social network in the southern German town of Constance.

Japanese men drop inhibition, turn to parasols to beat the heat

TOKYO (Reuters) - It's summer in Japan, which means shaved ice, cold noodles and parasols against the blinding sun - for men.

Red Sox fans, fearing loss of mascot, see Yankee conspiracy

BOSTON (Reuters) - As if fans of the cellar-dwelling Boston Red Sox aren't downtrodden enough, for a spell on Friday the costume of Wally the Green Monster, the team's popular mascot, was missing. Fearing it was swiped, the team alerted the police.

Opticians see advertising gold in Korean flag flap

LONDON (Reuters) - A British chain of opticians saw publicity gold on Friday after Olympic officials blundered by showing the South Korean flag instead of North Korea's at a women's soccer match.

Man charged with manslaughter in Florida butt-injection case

ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - A man who injected a woman in the buttocks with unknown substances during an illegal cosmetic surgery was arrested on Thursday and charged with manslaughter in the woman's death, authorities said.

U.S. Olympic swimming team show off dancing skills in spoof video

LONDON (Reuters) - It's not all hard work and no play for the U.S. swimming team at the London Olympics.

Austrian admits making up story to get rid of snake

VIENNA (Reuters) - An Austrian applauded for capturing a 2.3-metre (7.5-foot) boa constrictor he said he discovered on a riverbank has admitted he made up the story to get rid of a pet snake he found too big to handle, an animal rescue group said on Thursday.

Taiwanese vegetable vendor among Asia's Nobel winners

MANILA (Reuters) - A Taiwanese vegetable vendor, who has personally given away over 7 million Taiwanese dollars ($231,800) to several charities for children, was among six winners of Asia's equivalent of the Nobel prize this year, its foundation said on Thursday.

In New Mexico, daredevil skydives from 18 miles above Earth

(Reuters) - An Austrian daredevil jumped from a balloon flying at an altitude more than 18 miles above Earth on Wednesday, falling at speeds topping 500 miles per hour (805 kilometers per hour) in a training run for his attempt to make the world's highest skydive.

Germans blow off steam with swearing hotline

BERLIN (Reuters) - Two German entrepreneurs have devised a way for passive-aggressive citizens to blow off some steam - dial a telephone number and give the person on the other end a verbal lashing.