Oddities:  Odd and offbeat news from across the wires


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Virtual Santa brings the holidays to sick children

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For children in hospital over Christmas a visit from Santa Claus -- especially a cool, virtual Santa beamed in from the North Pole -- is like a breath of fresh air.

 

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Gift Giving

Prepare to pay up to insure ’12 Days of Christmas’

Everyone knows it would be prohibitively expensive to gift someone the treasures from the "12 Days of Christmas," but it would be even more pricey to insure - nearly 20 times the cost of buying the presents from the famed holiday carol.


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Snow covered road

Dutch police welcome snow as crime busting aid

While commuters complain of disruptions caused by recent heavy snow, Dutch police have welcomed it as an unusual aid in catching illegal cannabis growers and other criminals.


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Lottery ticket

World's richest lottery spreads yule cheer in Spain

A town in Spain, the country with Europe's highest jobless rate, has won $3.08 billion in prizes in 'El Gordo', an annual Christmas lottery which has the world's highest payouts.


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Don't come to my village for the end of the world, says mayor

The mayor of a French village has threatened to call in the army to seal it off from an influx of New Age fanatics and UFO watchers, who are convinced it is the only place on Earth that will be spared Armageddon in 2012.


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Mistletoe farmer

New mistletoe species found in time for Christmas

Scientists have discovered a new tropical species of mistletoe, the plant under which revellers traditionally kiss at Christmas, Britain’s Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew said Monday.


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3-D

3D printer 'like Star Trek replicator'

For one Canadian entrepreneur, creating a hot new product can be as simple as pressing a button.


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A strange plastic disc, which washed up on Long Beach at Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, advertised a 50-cent reward for its return, but the story behind the yellow floater was far more interesting. It had been dropped off in various locations near the Golden Gate Bridge in March 1970 as part of a study on water circulation in San Francisco Bay and the adjacent Pacific Ocean.

Research disc makes 40-year voyage at sea from San Francisco to Vancouver Island

The 50-cent reward advertised on a strange, yellow disc, found propped against a recycling bin after washing up on Long Beach on Vancouver Island, made Jacki Aubertin laugh.


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Calgary alderman calls for closure of Savory Lodge after another drug bust

There's no single problem and no single solution, but shutting the motel down would be a good first step.