Offbeat News - Weird News from Around the World

It's time to present to you some more weird news stories from around the world .

What Is Offbeat news?

Offbeat news stories are those weird news items that make you realize that fact is stranger than fiction. These are the odd but true bizarre news stories that make you wonder how, why, what on earth were they thinking, and that's just amazing!

In case you were wondering why this is still called Offbeat News after my quest for a new name last week. Well, I just ran out of time trying to come up with a new name and a new logo, but I want to thank everyone for their suggestions and these are helping me to make a decision. With Luck, next week will see a new name and a new identity for Offbeat News.

This is a selection of the Offbeat News stories from the past week that had me bemused and amazed...

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Marauding Monkey Menace In Foothills Of Mount Fuji

A band of monkeys have been causing chaos in Japan, with over 60 people having been attacked since 22^nd August in two towns, west of Tokyo.

The towns, which are in the foothills of Mount Fuji, have as a result declared war on the monkeys, which have become a hazard to people living in the area.

A team of 150 people has been set up to take on the monkeys, and a local web site is logging sightings, but the biggest problem is that after an attack, the monkeys disappear back into the deeply forested areas of the mountains.

It just goes to show that in Japan, sometimes there is no getting away from monkey business.

Read the full story HERE.

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The Slowest Pub Crawl In The World

A major motorway expansion in Auckland, New Zealand, requires that a historic pub be moved to a new location.

Instead of demolishing the pub, it was decided to move the building in it's entirety, and so a massive reinforcement of the "brick and mortar" building was undertaken, which included the insertion of carbon fiber rods into the walls.

The move took six months to plan and prepare, and two days to actually move the pub, which was done at a snail's pace.

Strangely enough, in six months time the building should have been moved back to it's original location, once the roadworks have been completed.

Read the full story HERE.

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Lennon's Loo Fetches A Lot

A toilet that once belonged to John Lennon was sold at an auction in Liverpool last week for £9,500 (US$14,000).

The toilet was previously installed in a house in Tittenhurst Park in Berkshire, where the famous Beatle lived from 1969 to 1972.

When John Lennon was refurbishing the house, he apparently told the builder to take the toilet home and "put some flowers in it".

Instead, the builder stored it carefully in a garden shed, and following his recent death, his son-in-law put it up for auction.

I guess the son-in-law got a bonus from a bog where a Beatle bum had been.

(a "bog" is English slang for toilet, as is "loo").

Read the full story HERE.

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Former Florida Gators and Patriots Linebacker In Naked Video On Chatroulette

Brandon Spikes, who is a linebacker for the Patriots and a former Florida Gators star, has apparently been recorded on a Chatroulette session, naked.

The video was offered to a website, Deadspin for $1,500, but the website declined the offer.

Chatroulette (learn more HERE) is a fun random chat site, however a survey shows that one in ten people on the site, predominantly men, are showing bits of their bodies that they shouldn't.

Although there is no proof at this time that the person in the video is Brandon Spikes, there is a good likeness and even the same tattoo.

Could this just be a setup, or yet another case of someone with celebrity status showing how dumb they really are.

Read the full story HERE.

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Man Caught Watching Porn On Laptop Outside Hotel

When employees at the Holiday Inn in Silver Springs, Florida, took a closer look at a man sitting in a car outside the hotel, they saw that he was watching pornography on a laptop computer, while smoking a cigarette.

Apparently his pants were also unzipped, and so the local Sheriff was called to the scene.

The man was given a trespassing notice, and the employees said that this wasn't the first time the man had been seen doing this.

It makes you wonder doesn't it. You would at least normally want some privacy if you are going to, well you know... By doing it in public you are asking for trouble.

Read the full story HERE.

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Doctor Dies In Her Lovers Chimney

If this sounds bizarre, that's because it is, and a mystery movie would find it hard to come up with a scenario that was stranger than this.

Dr. Jacquelyn Kotarac, who was 49, had been involved in an on and off relationship with her boyfriend, and she decided for some reason to try and break into his house.

When she was unable to get in through a door or window, she decided to climb onto the roof, and to lower herself down the chimney to gain entrance.

Her boyfriend had seen her trying to break into his house, and he sneaked out quietly, not realizing that she was going up to the roof, and as you probably guessed, she got stuck in the chimney, and the decomposing body was found three days later.

That's about as strange as it gets, and for the victim to be a middle aged woman is really hard to understand.

You would have thought that a doctor would understand the dangers of what she was doing, but then when love and emotions take over, a woman can become completely irrational.

Read the full story HERE.

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Golf Club Spark Causes A 12 Acre Brush Fire

When a golfer in Southern California struck a rock with his club when trying to get his ball out of the rough, the spark that was created made the grass catch fire, and by the time it was extinguished, a full 12 acres had burned.

This happened at Shady Canyon Golf Course, in Irvine, which after the fire is probably not going to be quite as shady as it was.

The dry hot summer has led to brush being exceptionally dry, and as is often the case at this time of the year in Southern California, the risk of brush fires is high.

Read the full story HERE.
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Well you heard these stories first on Offbeat News, and if these aren't proof enough that the truth is stranger than fiction, check the previous installments of this weekly series.

You can now also find links to all of the 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 Offbeat News:

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

28th July 2010 - 21st July 2010 - 14th July 2010 - 7th July 2010

30th June 2010 - 23rd June 2010 - 16th June 2010 - 9th June 2010 - 2nd June 2010

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

28th April 2010 - 21st April 2010

31st March 2010 - 24th March 2010 - 17th March 2010 - 10th March 2010 - 3rd March 2010

24th February 2010

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

Sources

Digital Spy

ABC News Australia

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

The Bournemouth Echo

The London Evening Standard