Archive for December, 2009

Tweets, sexting “unfriended” in U.S. banned word list (Reuters)

Reuters - If you recently tweeted about how you were chillaxin for the holiday, take note: Fifteen particularly over- or mis-used words and phrases have been declared "shovel-ready" to be "unfriended" by a U.S. university's annual list of terms that deserve to be banned.

No New Year’s toasts in sauna, Russians urged (Reuters)

People enjoy a steam in the mobile Russian baths in the village of Bobrovka, about 400 km (249 miles) north of the Siberian city of Omsk December 27, 2009. REUTERS/Alexei MalgavkoReuters - Russia has urged revelers celebrating the New Year in saunas on Thursday night to refrain from popping open the champagne until they have left the steam houses, warning it could prove fatal.


New Year drunks should pay for hospital care? (Reuters)

A customer poses for the camera with a pint of beer in a public house in Leeds, northern England October 13, 2008. REUTERS/Nigel RoddisReuters - Excessive drinking over New Year's Eve could cost Britain's National Health Service as much as 23 million pounds, according to a report on Thursday which recommends drunks be charged a hospital admission fee of 532 pounds ($845.9).


Errant Chinese smoker stops world’s fastest train (Reuters)

A high-speed train travels on the new Wuhan-Guangzhou railway in Wuhan, Hubei province, December 26, 2009. REUTERS/StringerReuters - The world's fastest train hit its first speed bump in the form of a disobedient smoker less than a week after it began running in southern China.


Afghanistan’s first skatepark mixes rich and poor (Reuters)

Afghan children hold their skateboards as they wait in line to enter the skateboarding park in Kabul December 29, 2009. REUTERS/Marko DjuricaReuters - Afghanistan's first skateboarding park and school opened in Kabul on Tuesday with a boarding showdown between dozens of youngsters -- ranging from ministers' children to streetkids -- that it aims to bring together.


North Korea New Year wish: tear down imaginary wall (Reuters)

South Korean Army soldiers patrol along barbed wire fences while the sun rises during a photo opportunity for the media in Yangyang, about 270 km (168 miles) east of Seoul, December 29, 2009. REUTERS/Yoo Hyung-Jae/YonhapReuters - North Korea's New Year's wish of seeing the destruction of a massive concrete wall dividing the Korean peninsula never seems to come true -- mostly because there is no such barrier.


Obamas in, reality stars out in desirable neighbors poll (Reuters)

President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama, and their two children, Sasha and Malia, arrive for their vacation aboard Air Force One at Hickam Air Force Base in Honolulu, Hawaii, December 24, 2009. REUTERS/Larry DowningReuters - Americans would most like to live next door to the Obama family. But a reality star like California's "Octomom", or Jon and Kate Gosselin and their brood of eight would be a big turn off, according to a poll released on Tuesday.


Facebook, Twitter top list of weird stories in 2009 (Reuters)

Reuters - From the German town that unwittingly advertised pornography on its website to the American who interrupted his wedding to update his Facebook and Twitter accounts, the world was full of weird stories in 2009.

Polanski thanks backers as extradition wait goes on (Reuters)

Reuters - Roman Polanski has thanked people who have sent messages of support during his battle to avoid extradition from Switzerland to the United States over a case of having sex with a 13-year-old in 1977.

Aussies say “no thanks” to 20 million gifts (Reuters)

Reuters - How many unwanted gifts did you get under the Christmas tree? If you're Australian, the number is likely to be more than one, amounting to a nationwide total of 20 million "useless" presents, according to a survey.

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