Reuters Odd News Summary
Following is a summary of current odd news briefs.
Cult of personality: Turkmen leader gets park tribute on birthday
Turkmenistan, which rights groups view as one of the most repressive countries in the world, celebrated President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov's 58th birthday on Monday by opening a park in the capital Ashgabat bearing his name. It was the latest tribute to the leader who took over the Central Asian nation after the death of his predecessor in December 2006. Last month, Turkmenistan unveiled a gilded 6-metre-high statue of Berdymukhamedov on horseback perched on a white cliff.
Paris time lords extend Greek deadline - by a second
By pure chance, Greece will gain fractionally more time to meet a midnight deadline on Tuesday to pay its IMF debts - thanks to a move by international time arbiters in the Paris Observatory to add one second to the world's clocks. The so-called International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service charged with ensuring that earth time keeps pace with time measured by super-accurate atomic clocks ruled earlier this year that a tiny pause was needed to account for a gradual slowing-down in the earth's rotation.
Will pope chew coca leaves in Bolivia? 'Wait and see,' Vatican says
Pope Francis will decide for himself if he chews coca leaves in order to ward off altitude sickness when he lands next week at La Paz, Bolivia, the highest international airport in the world, the Vatican said on Tuesday. A Bolivian minister said on Sunday that Francis had told government officials that he would like to chew coca leaves - the major ingredient of cocaine - when he visits..
Man in wheelchair robs New York bank, gets away
Police on Tuesday were searching for a man in a wheelchair who is suspected of robbing a New York bank and rolling out of the building with $1,200 cash to make a clean getaway. The man, who wore a gray hoodie and appeared to be about 30 years old according to surveillance video, is accused of passing a note to a Santander Bank teller in the New York City borough of Queens on Monday afternoon and demanding money, a New York Police Department spokesman said.
Milwaukee museum to display portrait of pope made of condoms
The Milwaukee Art Museum says it hopes a portrait of Pope Benedict XVI made of condoms will ignite a conversation about the AIDS epidemic in Africa and the role art plays in public discussions, director Dan Keegan said on Monday. The museum said that about 200 callers have complained about the portrait. Milwaukee Catholic Archbishop Jerome Listecki called the museum callous and the portrait insulting in a blog last week on the Archdiocese website.
Egg throwing contest claims centuries-old tradition
"Caution!!!!!! Flying Eggs!" warns a sign on a field in the English village of Swaton, host last Sunday to the annual World Egg Throwing Championships. Drawing hundreds of competitors and cheering spectators, it's a messy game claiming a 700-year history and egg-streme puns.
Decapitated animal carcasses stymie investigators in California capital
Authorities in California are trying to determine why someone has been dropping bags filled with the bodies of decapitated animals near railroad tracks in the capital city of Sacramento. On Monday, the city released a surveillance video of what appeared to be a woman dropping off the headless carcass of a goat, along with a similarly mutilated rat and catfish, and a bag of decapitated red hens, said Gina Knepp, spokeswoman for the Sacramento Department of Animal Control.
