Odd News

SALT LAKE CITY - A rap by four teenagers at a McDonald's has gotten them a bad rap in one Utah city. Full Story »

JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. - It's one thing for shoplifters to hide plunder in their pants. But a live ferret? Police said a homeless man in north Florida did just that. And he made it out the door before being challenged. Rodney Bolton, 38, was charged with theft over the $129 animal that police say he took from a pet store in Jacksonville Beach. Full Story »

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Five Filipino transvestites have gone on trial in Shanghai, accused of drugging men with adulterated foods before robbing them in a city with a reputation for an adventurous nightlife. Full Story »

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The U.S. economy may have begun to recover in 2009, but holiday office parties are sinking even further into the dumps. Full Story »

OSLO (Reuters) - A man was caught by Norwegian customs carrying a tarantula in his bag, and a further 14 royal pythons and 10 albino leopard geckos taped to his body, media reported Monday. Full Story »

BEIJING (Reuters) - A mob of angry parents lynched a book salesman and badly injured four of his colleagues after rumors spread that the men were part of a human smuggling ring, the official Xinhua agency said late Monday. Full Story »

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (Reuters) - Women may soon be banned from wearing tight trousers in parts of an Indonesian province that practices strict Islamic law, and offenders could see their attire cut up. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A US military officer who fled Vietnam as a boy and was picked up by an American ship will soon visit the country in command of a destroyer, the US Navy said on Friday. Full Story »

ADRIAN, Mich. - Police say a burglar broke into an Adrian home before fleeing in only his boxer shorts and a pink baseball cap. The Daily Telegram reported the 25-year-old Detroit man broke into the home through a front window and removed valuables from the woman's bedroom. Full Story »

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Residents of one Ohio city are complaining that police officers are telling them if they're fed up with crime in their neighborhoods they should move out. At least two Columbus city council members have heard the complaint. Full Story »

WASHINGTON - The folks in Lantana, Fla. think the Postal Service would have to be nuts to close their post office and they're trying a coco-nutty way to prove it. Lantana's post office is one of more than 350 being studied for closure and residents have been mailing coconuts to Postmaster General John Potter along with requests that he spare their office. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - No need to curse that bad driver weaving in and out of the lane in front of you -- he cannot help it, U.S. researchers reported on Wednesday. Full Story »

WARSAW (Reuters) - Patrols of two, wearing white overalls, are boldly entering toilets across Poland to check whether the country is loo-ready for the 2012 EURO soccer championships. Full Story »

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Financial woes often drive couples apart but the current recession seems to be having the opposite effect, with less couples able to afford the cost of a divorce. Full Story »

SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgarian prosecutors are investigating a new gambling game in which drivers defy death by speeding through red lights for bets of up to 5,000 euros ($7,400), the chief prosecutor's office said Thursday. Full Story »

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian legislators in the poor conservative Muslim northeastern state of Kelantan should marry single mothers to help care for their children, a state representative suggested. Full Story »