News from a Weird World - Offbeat News 29 December 2010

The latest edition of News From A Weird World (previously known as Offbeat News) is published, with a selection of bizarre stories, strange stories, odd stories and weird news stories from the past week, that have been cleverly extracted by scouring news sites from around the world.

The stories to be found on News From A Weird World are the kind that are just so bizarre, they make you realize that fact is often stranger than fiction, and make you wonder what on earth people were thinking to get into the news in this way.

This is a selection of weird news stories from the past week that I hope you enjoy, and if you do, please can you help spread the word by sharing the stories with your friends.

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It's Now Ok To Foresee The Future In Romania

Making money from Fortune Telling has not been recognized as being a real profession for many years, but last week a new law was passed that made it possible for people to earn a living from this profession legally.

The matter of whether fortune tellers should be taxed and have to declare their earnings was discussed, and some lawmakers from the ruling Liberal-Democrat Party did propose a bill, however following threats of being cursed, they are reported to have backed down.

It's a shame that doesn't apply to more professions in other parts of the world isn't it.

Read the full story HERE.

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Beckham Is Now Allowed To Bend It In North Korea

North Korea is one of those countries that has gone out of it's way to be different, and amongst the things that are banned in the country are movies from the Western world.

However, people in North Korea love football (soccer), and now one movie about football, the 2002 movie "Bend It Like Beckham", starring Keira Knightley, has been allowed to be shown on television on North Korea.

However, the film did have to be censored, since it includes topics that are still taboo in North Korea , such as homosexuality and inter-racial relationships.

Still, it's a small step forward in improving relations between the UK and North Korea .

Read the full article HERE.

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North Korean's Find Where There's Muck There's Money

Well since we are on the topic of North Korea , let's continue with the oddball events in that country shall we.

It seems that since South Korea suspended shipments of rice and fertilizer to North Korea in 2008, there have been shortages of fertilizer in the country, and the economy has responded to this in a very unique way.

Although individual households have used human excrement as fertilizer in the past, the demand has now become so great that shops have opened in the country to sell human manure.

This does raise a few questions though, for example how do they combat the awful stench, or maybe they don't! Also, how to people package their "produce" to take it to the shop to sell it? Do they just wander down the road with a bucket full, or do they package it in airtight containers?

The mind boggles doesn't it. Well at least mine does.

Read the full story HERE.

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You Want Loyal Ling? Only Three Dollar

Moving away from North Korea now to neighboring China , where manufacturers have been busy trying to cash in on the forthcoming royal wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton.

It seems that the Chinese have been mass producing copies of their engagement ring, which was once worn by Princess Diana, and these are on sale for about $3.

The ring and other souvenirs for the royal wedding are being churned out by the thousand at factories in Yiwu in East China , which is the largest wholesale market in the world for small products.

Read the full story HERE.

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When Not To Punch A Homeless Man

Enough of the Far East for now, and off we trek across the oceans to one of the world centers for strange news stories, the State of Florida .

The Orlando Sentinel reported that a homeless man was beaten up by a 21 year old, resulting in him being taken off to hospital for treatment.

However, not only did a witness to the attack take a video of the offence, but the person who committed the attack was the son of a police lieutenant. Oops...

The full story has a link to the raw video.

Read the full story HERE.

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You can now also find links to all of the News From A Weird World and Offbeat News editions at Squidoo, and if you do enjoy these weekly Offbeat News articles, please could you help share them with your friends etc. I am sure they could use a good laugh too.

For more fun at the expense of victims around the world, take a look at the previous editions of News From A Weird World:

1 December 2010 - 8 December 2010 - 15 December 2010 - 22 December 2010

3 November 2010 - 10 November 2010 - 17 November 2010 - 24 November 2010

6 October 2010 - 13 October 2010 - 20 October 2010 - 27 October 2010

1 September 2010 - 8 September 2010 - 15 September 2010 - 22 September 2010 - 29 September 2010

25 August 2010 - 18 August 2010 - 11 August 2010 - 4 August 2010

28 July 2010 - 21 July 2010 - 14 July 2010 - 7 July 2010

30 June 2010 - 23 June 2010 - 16 June 2010 - 9 June 2010 - 2 June 2010

26 May 2010 - 19 May 2010 - 12 May 2010 - 5 May 2010

28 April 2010 - 21 April 2010

31 March 2010 - 24 March 2010 - 17 March 2010 - 10 March 2010 - 3 March 2010

2 February 2010

As always, your comments on any of these news stories are appreciated, and if you enjoy News From A Weird World, please share this edition with your friends.

News Reports Are Taken From The Following Sources:

Digital Spy

ABC News Australia

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

The Bournemouth Echo

The London Evening Standard

The Daily Telegraph

Courthouse News

The Daily Mail