Reuters - Oddly Enough

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Tuesday, September 19, 2017

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.

Sock horror! Terrifying lizard turns out to be dirty clothing

LONDON (Reuters) - It was seven inches long, two inches wide, pink, stripy and the English family who discovered it hiding under a bed thought it could be a dangerous lizard.

Monster "fatberg" found in east London sewer

LONDON (Reuters) - One of the biggest "fatbergs" ever seen in Britain - a ball of fat as long as three soccer pitches - has been found blocking a Victorian-era, east London sewer.

No more monkey business: lawsuit over macaque's 'selfie' is settled

(Reuters) - A novel U.S. legal battle over who owned a famous smiling "selfie" taken by a critically endangered monkey six years ago - the animal who snapped the picture or the nature photographer who owned the camera - has been settled out of court.

Portable Czech brewery brings home-made beer garden dreams a step closer

PRAGUE (Reuters) - For beer lovers who dream of brewing their own pint, a portable brewery from the Czech Republic may be just the thing - if they have $124,000 to spare.

Tree surgeon branches out with own 'Little Britain' in Germany

KRETZHAUS, Germany (Reuters) - An English tree surgeon has reacted to Brexit by transforming his German home into a quirky homage to Britain, complete with red telephone boxes and a life-size model of Queen Elizabeth.