Odd News

Angry truck driver tries to tow cruiser

AP - 1 hour, 19 minutes ago

PORTLAND, Ore. - A tow truck driver, upset over a recent ticket, tried to tow a Gresham police cruiser Thursday. Police said Steven Syverson, 32, was arrested after he hooked his truck to the marked police vehicle while the officer was responding to a domestic disturbance call. The police press release said the arrest unfolded this way:

Video Report

Clerk's tale

Doughnut clerk explains why he fought back a thief with a mug.

SCIENCE

Eel-lectric lights

An inventor uses an electric eel to light up a Christmas tree.

USATODAY.com

Offbeat Digest

Latest news on the strange, quirky and just plain odd.

CNN.com

Offbeat News

News, photos and video of the funky, and weird.

  • Keep Christmas cake Italian, panettone makers say Reuters - Wed Dec 12, 10:29 AM ET

    ROME (Reuters) - Italy already has strict rules governing the origin and quality of its wine, while Parmigiano parmesan cheese can only be made in Parma and regulations on "Italian" olive oil are being tightened.

  • "w00t" crowned word of year by U.S. dictionary Reuters - Wed Dec 12, 10:31 AM ET

    BOSTON (Reuters) - "w00t," an expression of joy coined by online gamers, was crowned word of the year on Tuesday by the publisher of a leading U.S. dictionary.

  • A cockroach is trapped on a sticky card after escaping from the race tracks during the Great Cockroach Derby in Singapore August 10, 2006. An Israeli judge has ordered the country's prison authority to pay an inmate over $1,000 in compensation after he complained of having to share a cell with cockroaches. (Kimitsu Yogachi/Reuters)
    Prisoner gets compensation over cockroaches Reuters - Tue Dec 11, 10:59 AM ET

    JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An Israeli judge has ordered the country's prison authority to pay an inmate over $1,000 in compensation after he complained of having to share a cell with cockroaches.

  • Former Formula One driver Michael Schumacher of Germany sits in a Ferrari F1 car during a training session at the Jerez racetrack in southern Spain December 6, 2007. Schumacher can add the unofficial title of Germany's fastest taxi driver to his other achievements after taking over behind the wheel to get his family to the airport on time. (Anton Meres/Reuters)
    Race car driver taxi driver to catch flight Reuters - Tue Dec 11, 11:01 AM ET

    BERLIN (Reuters) - Michael Schumacher can add the unofficial title of Germany's fastest taxi driver to his other achievements after taking over behind the wheel to get his family to the airport on time.

  • Pilot recounts eight days lost in bush Reuters - Tue Dec 11, 11:01 AM ET

    NAIROBI (Reuters) - A Kenyan pilot who survived more than a week eating leaves and drinking his urine after crashing in dense forest says he will continue flying, despite cheating death in his second accident in two years.

  • Vuitton-clad Venezuela minister spouts socialism Reuters - 2 hours, 19 minutes ago

    CARACAS (Reuters) - A video of a Gucci- and Louis Vuitton-clad politician attacking capitalism then struggling to explain how his luxurious clothes square with his socialist beliefs has become an instant YouTube hit in Venezuela.

  • Without a wing and prayer, four walk free after crash Reuters - 2 hours, 34 minutes ago

    CANBERRA (Reuters) - Three people celebrating a 40th birthday with a joyflight had a miraculous escape after their pilot was forced to crash-land his plane on a quiet Australian road, despite losing the aircraft's wings on the way down.

  • Latvians seeking free Christmas trees anger rangers Reuters - Thu Dec 13, 12:27 PM ET

    RIGA (Reuters) - Latvian authorities have given residents something to cheer about when they invited them to cut their own Christmas trees for free -- only to be chased away by forest rangers.

  • In this file photo competitors run in front of a portrait of former Chinese leader Mao Zedong at the Tiananmen Gate during the 2006 Beijing International Marathon in Beijing October 15, 2006. China has punished four of its athletes who failed to properly display a sponsor's trademark on their chests while running in the Beijing Marathon in October. REUTERS/Grace Liang
    China fines runners out of respect for sponsors Reuters - Thu Dec 13, 7:49 AM ET

    BEIJING (Reuters) - China has punished four of its athletes who failed to properly display a sponsor's trademark on their chests while running in the Beijing Marathon in October.

  • An undated file photo of a person typing on a computer keyboard. REUTERS/Sherwin Crasto
    Computer programme fakes chatroom flirting Reuters - Thu Dec 13, 3:19 AM ET

    MOSCOW (Reuters) - Internet chatroom romantics beware: your next chat may be with a clinical computer, not a passionate person, trying to win your personal data and not your heart, an online security firm says.

  • Jurors find overlooked evidence in coat AP - Thu Dec 13, 6:49 PM ET

    A convicted robber has won a new trial in Frederick, Md., after jurors found more than $1,300 in the pocket of a coat he allegedly wore while robbing several businesses at gunpoint.

  • Presidential candidate of the conservative main opposition Grand National Party, Lee Myung-bak, poses for students during his visit to Yonsei University in Wonju, about 50 miles east of Seoul, December 12, 2007. REUTERS/Jo Yong-Hak
    Candidate secretly sniffs out voters Reuters - Thu Dec 13, 2:04 AM ET

    JECHEON, South Korea (Reuters) - If South Korean voters think they can scent victory when they go to the ballot box next week, they are absolutely right.

  • Romanian discovers he was declared dead AP - Thu Dec 13, 4:40 PM ET

    TIMISOARA, Romania - A Romanian man had his bid to renew his identity papers rejected because official records said he had died more than eight years ago. Gheorghe Stirbu, 61, a retiree, went to authorities last week to have his identity card reissued because the old one had expired.

  • The new chip-in-ball model is displayed during a news conference in Yokohama, south of Tokyo December 13, 2007. REUTERS/Yuriko Nakao
    FIFA says bionic ball a big hit in Japan Reuters - Thu Dec 13, 4:53 AM ET

    TOKYO (Reuters) - A new "bionic ball" being tested at the Club World Cup in Japan could soon be a regular feature at FIFA tournaments, its developers said on Thursday.

  • Burglary suspect flees in squad car AP - Thu Dec 13, 4:38 PM ET

    MAPLEWOOD, Minn. - A woman suspected in a burglary found a convenient getaway: the squad car of the officers who arrested her.

  • An undated file photo of a pregnant woman. Pregnant women may stand out a mile away with their characteristic backward-leaning stance, but that clumsy-looking position is a unique adaptation that evolved over millennia, anthropologists said on Wednesday. REUTERS/Files
    Pregnant? Backache? Thank evolution Reuters - Thu Dec 13, 1:44 AM ET

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pregnant women may stand out a mile away with their characteristic backward-leaning stance, but that clumsy-looking position is a unique adaptation that evolved over millennia, anthropologists said on Wednesday.

  • Man rescued from dangling car on deck AP - Thu Dec 13, 4:34 PM ET

    ATLANTA - Emergency workers rescued a man who was trapped in his car after it went over the railing in a parking deck and dangled seven floors above the ground.

  • Argentine football great Diego Maradona cheers for La Dolfina polo team in the Argentine Open Polo Championship at the Campo Argentino de Polo in the Buenos Aires' neighborhood of Palermo December 8, 2007. Maradona wants to add an image of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to his well-known collection of tattoos of leftist leaders. REUTERS/Enrique Marcarian
    Maradona wants tattoo of Chavez Reuters - Thu Dec 13, 1:38 AM ET

    BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentine football great Diego Maradona wants to add an image of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to his well-known collection of tattoos of leftist leaders.

  • Mayor's free weddings draw scrutiny AP - Thu Dec 13, 4:32 PM ET

    VALLEY VIEW, Ohio - An Ohio mayor will marry couples for free — but perhaps the bride and groom might consider a donation to his campaign fund?

  • Sting in the tail for ant aphrodisiac scheme Reuters - Thu Dec 13, 1:33 AM ET

    BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese company that raked in billions of yuan raising ants to make an aphrodisiac tonic has filed for bankruptcy, an official Web site said.

Most Popular Odd News

  • Man drinks liter of vodka at airport line AP - Wed Dec 12, 10:42 PM ET

    BERLIN - A man nearly died from alcohol poisoning after quaffing a liter (two pints) of vodka at an airport security check instead of handing it over to comply with new carry-on rules, police said Wednesday.

  • Man accidentally shoots self in buttocks AP - Thu Dec 13, 6:15 PM ET

    SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - A Scottsdale man inadvertently shot himself in the buttocks Thursday morning. Scottsdale police Sgt. Mark Clark said Daniel Leatherman, 26, heard a disturbance outside his apartment and saw a man he knew fighting with a cab driver.

  • In an undated photo provided by the Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch, a warning on a compact tractor that reads 'Danger: Avoid Death' has been chosen as the nation's wackiest warning label by the anti-lawsuit group. The' Wacky Warning Label Contest,' now in its 11th year, is conducted by the Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch as part of an effort to show the effects of lawsuits on warning labels. (AP Photo/Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch, Robert B. Dorigo Jones,)
    'Danger: Avoid Death' contest winner AP - Wed Dec 12, 10:42 PM ET

    DETROIT - Words to live by, from a warning label on a small tractor: "Danger: Avoid Death." That warning was selected Wednesday as the winner of the 11th annual "Wacky Warning Label Contest," sponsored by Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch. The contest is part of an effort to show the effects of lawsuits on warning labels.

  • Pregnant women may stand out a mile away with their characteristic backward-leaning stance, but that clumsy-looking position is a unique adaptation that evolved over millennia, anthropologists said on Wednesday. (Graphics/Reuters)
    Pregnant? Backache? Thank evolution Reuters - Thu Dec 13, 10:04 AM ET

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pregnant women may stand out a mile away with their characteristic backward-leaning stance, but that clumsy-looking position is a unique adaptation that evolved over millennia, anthropologists said on Wednesday.

  • Loudspeaker karaoke scares Conn. teacher AP - Thu Dec 13, 4:10 PM ET

    ROXBURY, Conn. - Karaoke can be scary, but threatening? A school custodian's impromptu after-hours karaoke performance prompted a police response when a teacher thought she was being threatened over the loudspeaker.