Offbeat - AFP

ISTRES, France (AFP) - Blind Belgian daredevil Luc Costermans won a world record Saturday when he hit 308.78 kilometres (192 miles) per hour driving a Lamborghini Gallardo supercar on a French airstrip.

MADRID (AFP) - Spain's opposition leader was left embarrassed Saturday after he expressed his annoyance at having to attend the country's national day parade, in a remark picked up by microphones at a party meeting.

MADRID (AFP) - A Spanish property developer is giving away two homes for the price of one in a bid to find takers on the collapsed market.

RIGA (AFP) - If Russian president Dmitry Medvedev were to visit the zoo in Latvia's capital Riga this weekend, he would be sure to get a discount -- not because of his position, but because of his name.

MUMBAI (AFP) - An Indian man escaped a possible death sentence for drug trafficking after his lawyer told a court it was impossible to walk with a stash of heroin in his underpants, a newspaper reported Friday.

LONDON (AFP) - British glamour model Katie Price swapped her G-strings for jodhpurs on Friday and dazzled the sober world of dressage at the Horse of the Year Show.

LONDON (AFP) - A woman who celebrated her 105th birthday this week said the secret to long life was celibacy, adding that she imagined sex was a "lot of hassle."

BEIJING (AFP) - The world's tallest man, China's Bao Xishun, has become a father but his normal-sized son could have trouble filling his Dad's big shoes.

OSLO (AFP) - A Norwegian politician said Thursday she would not be seeking re-election after being forced to admit she had ran up a large phone bill making calls to fortune-tellers.

PHNOM PENH (AFP) - A Cambodian couple hoping to avoid the country's convoluted divorce process have separated by sawing their house in half, local authorities said Thursday.

MADRID (AFP) - The Spanish capital on Thursday banned the use of human billboards, calling them an "assault on people's dignity".

SYDNEY (AFP) - A cartoon on the front page of Australia's national newspaper Thursday neatly illustrates an irony admitted by the government: communist China could save capitalism.

PHILADELPHIA (AFP) - Sarah Palin, the Republican candidate for the vice presidency of the US, will drop the ceremonial puck when the Philadelphia Flyers host New York in a National Hockey League game on Saturday.

LONDON (AFP) - A British couple who met on a dating website turned out to be neighbours who had lived only a few houses apart for 17 years, a report said Wednesday.

GENEVA (AFP) - Got a poorly pooch? Swiss vets stand ready to rush to aid but please no flashing lights or sirens, the country's supreme court ruled Wednesday.

TOKYO (AFP) - Police on Wednesday released a British tourist who shocked onlookers by swimming naked in the moat of Japan's Imperial Palace, concluding he had mental problems.

SEOUL (AFP) - South Korean prosecutors said Tuesday they have arrested a florist for pruning his rivals' business by clicking repeatedly on their online advertisements.

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Google has adapted its free email service to help those letting loose after a few evening cocktails or succumbing to lovelorn moments from firing off messages they might regret in the morning.

LONDON (AFP) - A top BBC presenter, known for his aggressive interviews, slammed the publicly funded broadcaster Tuesday for "fawning" over Britain's royal family in its news coverage.

TOKYO (AFP) - A British tourist in Tokyo caused havoc on Tuesday after he swam stark naked in the moat around the Imperial Palace, one of Japan's most sacrosanct sites, television footage showed.

RIGA, Latvia (AFP) - As Latvia struggles with recession, betting on official monthly inflation figures has become an opportunity to strike it rich with bookmakers offering attractive odds.

BRASILIA (AFP) - Barack Obama, Bin Laden, Zidane and Father Christmas all failed in bids to win local elections held in Brazil on the weekend, officials here said.

LONDON (AFP) - British department store Selfridge's on Sunday launched a new up-scale chocolate treat -- the "Credit Crunch" -- for shoppers looking for comfort food amid the international financial crisis.

JERUSALEM (AFP) - French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said on Sunday he was misquoted by Israel's Haaretz newspaper which reported him as saying Israel would "eat" Iran before Tehran developed a nuclear bomb.

SYDNEY (AFP) - Australians who sound like crocodile hunter Steve Irwin or Crocodile Dundee actor Paul Hogan could soon be a relic of the past, a report said on Sunday.

KATHMANDU (AFP) - Three skydivers in Nepal entered the record books on Sunday, plunging from above the height of Mount Everest to land at the world's highest drop zone.

TOKYO (AFP) - As the economic might of Japan faces up to the global banking crisis a single cat has boosted the finances of a small Japanese city by millions of dollars, according to a study.

BERLIN (AFP) - Porsche boss Wendelin Wiedeking has managed to steer clear of the immediate fallout of the global financial crisis, telling a German newspaper that he has avoided investing in shares.