Japan's former premier Junichiro Koizumi, known for crooning Elvis Presley songs while in office, is lending his voice to a superhero movie, reports said yesterday.
Lion-maned Mr Koizumi, 67, has provided the voiceover for the extraterrestrial hero who fights not political opponents in the Diet legislature but monsters and aliens from outer space, according to the movie's producers.
Mr Koizumi, now retired from politics, used his offbeat charisma to rule Japan for more than five years until 2006, in contrast to his three conservative successors who each quit the post of Prime Minister within a year.
While in office, Mr Koizumi displayed his media savvy by singing Elvis hits during a visit to Graceland, Tennessee, with then US President George W. Bush.
His next performance will be in "MegaMonsterBattle - Ultra Galaxy," which is due to be screened in Japan on December 12. His character fires a flash of light to attack evil enemies and shouts: "Pay for your transgression!"
Mr Koizumi's eldest son, Kotaro, is a professional actor. (AFP)
Man charged over damaged burgers
A man has been charged with causing criminal damage to two hamburgers worth £5 after an alleged doorstep dispute with a fast food firm.
Stephen Morgan, 31, of South Wales, underwent a police grilling after he was arrested and taken from his home in handcuffs at the weekend.
He is due to appear at Swansea Magistrates' Court, in south Wales, next Monday. (PA)
Backside joke backfires
A "mooner" was left red-cheeked when he got his trousers caught in a train door and was dragged along the platform.
He bared his bottom against the window of a departing train, and it left him lying half-naked on the tracks. Luckily, a passenger had pulled the emergency lever.
The 22-year-old German student pulled the stunt when employees in Lauenbruck caught him travelling without a ticket. The stunt caused severe delays and rail staff said he was lucky to survive. (PA)
Sexual appetite
Viagra and pornography are not the usual staples on a government's food stamp list. But US authorities say a Detroit liquor store supplied them during a series of illegal deals.
Prosecutors filed fraud charges this week against three people who worked at Jefferson's Liquor Palace.
Under the alleged scheme, food stamp recipients would get cash from the shop in exchange for swiping larger amounts off their electronic food stamp cards. It is claimed the store provided Viagra, booze and porn in exchange for swiping cards. (PA)
200 claiming reward for cash falling off truck
A Taiwanese police station was jammed with 200 phone calls from people trying to claim a hefty reward for helping find three bags of cash dropped by an armoured truck, a report said yesterday.
The calls started to come in after the bags, which contained 7.55 million Taiwan dollars (€155,000) in cash, rolled out of a truck in north Taiwan's Keelung City, said the TVBS cable news channel.
The bags were quickly recovered, as at least one person called police after watching them fall off the vehicle, while another picked up the bags and brought the cash to a nearby police station.
As word spread of the incident, hundreds of people rang the police station saying they had placed the initial call about the dropped bags.
However, only the person who actually delivered the money to police is entitled to the reward, which can be up to 30 per cent of the total amount, according to local regulations. (AFP)
Seeing red over wrong parking ticket
A hospital worker described his astonishment after he received a parking ticket for a red London bus.
Morgan Hartley, 52, of Longley, Sheffield, was sent the penalty notice by Transport for London (TfL) after he was supposed to have parked a double-decker in a boxed area in south London, despite never having driven his blue Hyundai car to the capital.
He was left baffled by the letter until he looked at the photograph attached, which showed a traditional red London bus parked across a box section. He explained the error to TfL and the charge was dropped. (PA)