Newsletter BOX: Reuters Oddly Enough Report

09/16/2013

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

UK government tax adviser quits after giving avoidance tips

LONDON (Reuters) - A tax adviser to the British government has been forced to resign after he was recorded giving tips at a conference on how to pay less tax and "keep money out of the Chancellor's grubby mitts", a Treasury minister said.

Man shot in Russia in argument over Kant

MOSCOW (Reuters) - An argument over the theories of 18th century philosopher Immanuel Kant ended in a man being shot in a grocery store in southern Russia.

Greece scraps extra holiday for civil servants using computers

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's austerity drive has cost public sector workers a privilege they have enjoyed for more than two decades - six extra days of paid holiday every year if they use a computer.

One-armed clapper, parboiled shrew earn Ig Nobel spoof awards

BOSTON (Reuters) - Researchers who swallowed a parboiled shrew, discovered that dung beetles navigate by the stars and invented a machine to launch hijackers from airplanes were among the winners of this year's Ig Nobel prizes for comical scientific achievements.

Loose baggy pants foil Florida church robbery suspect's getaway

ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - A robber who was running away with his hands full of loot from a Florida church was caught when his baggy pants started slipping off, a sheriff's spokeswoman said.

Language row erupts over planned Belgian stadium

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A day after agreement was finally reached to build a new national stadium in Belgium, a dispute has broken out in the linguistically split country over the language to be used there.

Saucy party ad spices up dull German election campaign

BERLIN (Reuters) - A satirical party has spiced up a dull German election campaign with a television advert depicting a 90-second sex scene, blurred but leaving little to the imagination.

Japan upset by French cartoon linking Fukushima to Olympics

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan is to formally complain about a cartoon that appeared in a French weekly newspaper showing sumo wrestlers with extra limbs in front of the Fukushima nuclear plant and linking this to the Olympics, the top government spokesman said on Thursday.

Punch-up over giant pandas divides Belgium

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - China's latest round of panda diplomacy has triggered a row in linguistically divided Belgium - leaving Dutch speakers angry that two loaned bears will go to a zoo in the French-speaking region.

Florida governor calls off alligator hunt campaign fundraiser

TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) - Florida Governor Rick Scott has called off a "private" alligator hunting trip on October 18 to raise funds for his 2014 re-election campaign.