Offbeat
Latest stories
Philippine Jailbirds Perform 'Gangnam Style'

Philippine convicts who became famous for dancing to Michael Jackson's hits have added South Korean spice to their repertoire, with a performance of the popular "Gangnam Style" rap.

A video posted by prison authorities in the central city of Cebu on YouTube showed about 1,000 inmates clad in orange uniforms doing the horse-riding dance made famous by South Korean rapper Psy.

W140 Full Story
Iranian News Agency Picks Up Onion Article as Fact

A joke by the satirical newspaper The Onion appears to have gotten lost in translation.

An Iranian news agency picked up — as fact — a story from the paper about a supposed survey showing an overwhelming majority of rural white Americans would rather vote for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad than President Barack Obama. But it was made up, like everything in the just-for-laughs newspaper, which is headquartered in Chicago.

W140 Full Story
British PM Fluffs 'Britishness' Test on U.S. Chat Show

British Prime Minister David Cameron was mocked by the press on Thursday after U.S. chat show host David Letterman left him stumped on questions about British history and culture.

In an awkward appearance on Letterman's "Late Show" on Wednesday, filmed in New York, Cameron failed to guess the composer of the hymn "Rule Britannia" or the meaning of "Magna Carta", an early English charter of rights.

W140 Full Story
Hong Kong Tycoon Swamped with Offers for Gay Daughter's Hand

A Hong Kong tycoon who offered a $65 million "marriage bounty" to any man who can win the heart of his lesbian daughter has been inundated with applications from around the globe, a report said Friday.

Cecil Chao told the South China Morning Post newspaper that around 100 would-be suitors of his 33-year-old daughter, Gigi, had poured into his office since he went public with his offer on Wednesday.

W140 Full Story
Putin Gives Chavez 'El Ruso' the Puppy

Vladimir Putin has sent a Black Russian Terrier puppy to his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez, who joked the Russian strongman would receive a capybara, the world's largest rodent, in return.

The three-month-old puppy was given to Chavez by Igor Sechin, one of Putin's most trusted lieutenants and chief executive of Rosneft, Russia's largest oil company.

W140 Full Story
Chinese Man Warned after in-Flight Door Mistake

A Chinese man needed to be restrained after he tried to open the emergency exit thinking it was the toilet door during a flight to Hong Kong, an airline said Friday.

Crew of the Hong Kong Airlines flight from Bali, Indonesia, were shocked to see the 52-year-old man rise from his seat halfway through the journey and start pulling on the emergency door handle, the airline said.

W140 Full Story
Canada, U.S. Police Bust Major Cheese Smuggling Ring

Canadian and U.S. authorities have busted a cross-border cheese smuggling ring that brought Can$200,000 worth of mozzarella into Canada undeclared and without paying duties.

Four men, including two Canadian policemen, were foiled in the caper to also distribute the dairy products -- as well as chicken wings and pickles -- to pizzerias and other restaurants in southern Ontario for an estimated profit of Can$165,000, Niagara Regional Police said.

W140 Full Story
U.N. Chief Gets Pranked by Quebec Radio Station

This week, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon joined the ranks of those pranked by a Quebec radio station, his office confirmed Thursday.

Montreal comedy duo Marc-Antoine Audette and Sebastien Trudel called Ban on Wednesday afternoon and pretended to be Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

W140 Full Story
Gay Hong Kong Woman Says Marriage Bounty 'Distracting'

A gay Hong Kong woman on Friday implored her tycoon father to rescind a $65-million "marriage bounty" for any man who can win her heart, as applications poured in from around the globe.

"For your family's sanity's sake, Daddy please rescind the notice!!!!" Gigi Chao, 33, wrote on her Facebook page, adding that she would no longer accept Facebook friend requests.

W140 Full Story
U.S. Chef Guilty of Cooking Dead Wife for 4 Days

A U.S. chef was convicted of second degree murder Thursday after he admitted to slow-cooking his wife's body for four days to get rid of the evidence, while claiming she had died accidentally.

During a grisly six-day trial David Viens, 49, told police he had bound his 39-year-old wife Dawn with duct tape to stop her from escaping, and then went to sleep. He awoke four hours later to find her dead, and panicked.

W140 Full Story