Reuters - Oddly Enough

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Monday, October 16, 2017

Swiss flushing away millions in gold and silver every year

ZURICH (Reuters) - While London's sewers can get clogged with fatbergs made up of grease and diapers, it seems Switzerland's waste system is flecked with silver and gold.

Exorcism excise: U.S. psychic pleads guilty to $3.5 million tax evasion

BOSTON (Reuters) - A self-proclaimed psychic who was paid $3.5 million by an elderly Massachusetts woman in exchange for claiming to cleanse her of demons pleaded guilty on Thursday to trying to avoid paying taxes.

Having the right name at the right, or sometimes wrong, time

NEW YORK (Reuters) - When reporters descended on upstate New York to ask about a stunning prison break in 2015, state police spokesman Major Charles Guess took their questions.

Hospital allow kids to drive themselves to operating room

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A San Diego children's hospital unveiled a collection of remote controlled luxury mini cars on Tuesday that allow its young patients to 'drive' themselves to the operating room.

Crayfish staff help Czech brewery keep its water as pure as can be

PROTIVIN, Czech Republic (Reuters) - Crayfish equipped with high-tech sensors have been drafted in by a Czech brewery in its quest to keep their water supply pure.

Geneva toilets flush with cash

GENEVA (Reuters) - Geneva prosecutors are investigating after toilets in a bank and three restaurants were blocked by about $100,000 in high-denomination euro banknotes, they said on Monday.

Staying fit: Japan's elderly hits record in challenge to labor market

TOKYO (Reuters) - Swinging dumbbells and chewing gum, several elderly Japanese gathered at a shrine in downtown Tokyo on Monday in sweltering temperatures, belying their age and importance in one of the world's most rapidly aging societies.

Pet deaths in Japan: dignified but dog-gone expensive

At Pet Rainbow Fiesta, a pet funeral expo, held in Tokyo on Monday, visitors were given a host of options on performing rites for dead pets, including cremation, constructing a household altar and making offerings of incense.

Venezuela's new plan to beat hunger: Breed rabbits

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's government this week urged citizens to see rabbits as more than "cute pets" as it defended a plan to breed and eat them even as the opposition says this would do nothing to end chronic food shortages.

Liquid cats, crocodile bets and didgeridoos win Ig Nobel science prizes

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (Reuters) - Scientists taking on the deep questions of whether cats are liquid or solid, how holding a crocodile influences gambling and whether playing the didgeridoo can help cure snoring were honored Thursday at the Ig Nobel Prize spoof awards.