UK-Odd Summary

Punxsutawney Phil charged with fraud for early spring forecast

CLEVELAND (Reuters) - With a snow storm expected to batter the Plains, Midwest and East Coast this weekend, a spring-deprived Ohio prosecutor is taking out his frustration with the long winter on a famous prognosticating groundhog. "I decided it was about time we indicted Punxsutawney Phil afor fraud," said Mike Gmoser, prosecutor in Ohio's Butler County, in an interview Friday.

Harvard stripped of quiz tournament titles

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts (Reuters) - Harvard University will be stripped of four national quiz championship titles after organizers found a competitor from the Ivy League school inappropriately accessed information about questions used in the tournament. The National Academic Quiz Tournaments said that a security review found that Harvard competitor Andy Watkins accessed pages on its administrative Website just before the 2009, 2010 and 2011 Intercollegiate Championship Tournaments or "Quiz Bowls".

100,000 Portuguese sign petition to keep ex-PM Socrates off TV

LISBON (Reuters) - Portuguese state television channel RTP's plan to give former premier Jose Socrates a weekly commentary spot has sparked outrage, with 100,000 people signing a petition citing his "bad management" that led the country to take a bailout in 2011. "We, citizens and tax-payers, declare that we reject the presence of former Prime Minister Jose Socrates on any programme at RTP, television paid for by public funds of taxpayers suffering from the bad management of this gentleman," the Internet petition said.

Swiss court jails "healer" for infecting 16 with HIV

ZURICH (Reuters) - A self-styled healer was sentenced to 12 years and nine months in jail on Friday after a Swiss court found the acupuncturist guilty of infecting 16 people with HIV. A Berne court found the man guilty of causing bodily harm and spreading the virus which can cause Aids, court secretary Rene Graf told Reuters. He did not give any further details.

Tunisian rapper gets jail term for calling police dogs in song

TUNIS (Reuters) - A Tunisian court has sentenced a rap singer to two years in jail in absentia for insulting the police in a case likely to fuel debate over free speech under the Islamist-led government. The singer, known as Weld el 15, is on the run. Two of his associates, singers Mohamed Hedi Belgueyed and Sabrine Klibi, were in court when they received suspended sentences of six months each, a Justice Ministry source said on Friday.

Russian serial killer sentenced to life for nine murders

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian serial killer who butchered his nine victims with a knife and hammer, and said he ate the hearts of two of them, was sentenced to life in prison on Friday. Prosecutors said Alexander Bychkov targeted alcoholics and the homeless out of disdain for their way of life, lured them into deserted areas, killed them, dismembered them and hid the body parts.

Manual to "goblinproofing" chicken coops named Oddest Book Title

LONDON (Reuters) - A book offering advice on how to protect chicken coops from goblins has won the Oddest Book Title of the Year award, organisers of the contest said on Friday. "Goblinproofing One's Chicken Coop" by Reginald Bakeley and Clint Marsh attracted 38 percent of 1,225 online votes to beat craft manual "How Tea Cosies Changed the World" with 31 percent to win the 35th annual Diagram Prize.

Yoko Ono tweets against guns showing Lennon's bloody glasses

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Yoko Ono has taken up arms against gun violence with a raft of Twitter postings, including a photograph of blood-stained glasses apparently worn by John Lennon when he was shot and killed more than 30 years ago. "Over 1,057,000 people have been killed by guns in the USA since John Lennon was shot and killed on 8 Dec 1980," Ono, the former Beatle's widow, tweeted.

Would-be thieves camped out above Toronto-area bank

TORONTO (Reuters) - Toronto-area police say they have foiled a Hollywood-style heist, arresting five men they say camped out in vacant office space above a bank branch and, under cover of night, cut through a thick concrete ceiling to gain access to the vault below. Halton Regional Police arrested the men with C$300,000 (193,055.28 pounds) jammed into two hockey bags after discovering them hiding in a field not far from a Toronto-Dominion Bank branch in Burlington, Ontario.

Museum cancels heavy metal gig, fearing noise damage

LONDON (Reuters) - The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) has cancelled an experimental concert by extreme metal band Napalm Death, fearing the noise level could damage the 104-year-old building. Ceramic artist Keith Harrison from the V&A, the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, collaborated with Napalm Death on a set to be played through a sculptural sound system which would disintegrate under decibel stress.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/uk-odd-summary-000519701.html

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