Offbeat news
Austria's Salzburg resists "Sound of Music" hotel
"The Sound of Music" has faded in the Austrian city of Salzburg, which has blocked plans to turn the original von Trapp family villa portrayed in the Hollywood favourite into a hotel, says the company behind the idea. ...more
Other news in this section
- Obama ribs Richardson with beard barb... 5 hours ago
Bill Richardson had the first close shave of his tenure as Barack Obama's commerce secretary Wednesday -- becoming the butt of the president-elect's razor-sharp jokes about his missing beard. ...more
- Portuguese stars go back to school 6 hours ago
Hundreds of Portuguese football stars, including Benfica's international striker Nuno Gomes, are going back to school to complete their education, the players union said on Wednesday. ...more
- Towering fraud: newspaper steals Empire... 7 hours ago
City crime is one thing, but a New York tabloid upped the ante Wednesday -- stealing the entire Empire State Building. ...more
- Jordanian duped into paying $1.2... 7 hours ago
Three Jordanians duped a man into paying them more than one million dollars to extract gold from his Amman farm by "using magic", police said on Wednesday. ...more
- Moped thief aims to clear conscience... 7 hours ago
A man who stole a moped in Austria 25 years ago has sent an anonymous confession letter to police, enclosing 1,400 euros (1,202 pounds) cash to compensate his victim. ...more
- Orthodox priests join Russian cops in... 9 hours ago
Orthodox priests are teaming up with Russian traffic police to lecture sinful drivers and even pour holy water on dangerous intersections, the Noviye Izvestia daily newspaper reported on Wednesday. ...more
- Greenpeace behind Paris 'SarkObama'... 10 hours ago
Greenpeace admitted Wednesday it was behind a mystery poster campaign that saw walls across Paris plastered with pictures of President Nicolas Sarkozy modelled on an iconic Barack Obama election image. ...more
- Thief offers damages for stolen moped... 11 hours ago
An anonymous thief in western Austria has offered 1,400 euros (1,770 dollars) in damages to the former owner of a moped they stole... 25 years ago. ...more
- Forget socks, adopt a koala for Christmas... 16 hours ago
They're cute, they're cuddly and, in these times of financial woe, they make an affordable festive gift that's also good for the soul -- adopt a rescued koala. ...more
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