Prime Minister Vladimir Putin made a political slip of the tongue last Thursday, saying that Russia had "no elections".
When asked during his annual Q&A session if the real reason he'd appeared at a televised rap music award show was to reverse a decline in opinion poll ratings, Mr Putin replied: "Ratings have nothing to do with it since we have no elections." (Reuters)
British UFO unit shut down
Britain's Ministry of Defence has had a close encounter of the credit crunch kind.
After more than 50 years of service, the ministry has shut down its UFO investigation unit, saying it could no longer justify the cost of running the service.
The ministry said it had found no evidence of a threat to Britain or proof of the existence of extra-terrestrials, despite the public sending thousands of reportings of UFOs to a ministry hotline and email address.
"There is no defence benefit in such investigation and it would be an inappropriate use of defence resources," it said.
Any threat to the country's air space would be spotted by radar checks and dealt with by Royal Air Force (RAF) aircraft, a ministry spokesman said.
Resources would be focused on more important priorities, he added. (Reuters)
Banned for body odour
A council has defended its decision to bar a 27-year-old man from his local library because of his pungent body odour.
Stuart Penman was banned from Wigston Library in Leicestershire for six months after complaints from fellow visitors.
Staff at the library say they advised Mr Penman about his personal hygiene but were forced to act after more and more visitors left the building when he arrived. Mr Penman, from Wigston, said he felt he was being picked on, insisting he has a bath every day. (PA)
Elf warning
A 45-year-old man who dressed as an elf to have his picture taken with a shopping mall Father Christmas was jailed after claiming he was carrying dynamite.
Police in Atlanta arrested William C Caldwell III, who had queued up to have his picture taken with Santa.
When reached the front of the line, he told Santa he had dynamite in his bag. Santa called mall security and Caldwell was arrested. (PA)
US Secret Service officers on leave
Three US Secret Service officers were put on paid leave for their role in letting an uninvited couple breeze into President Barack Obama's debut state dinner last week, where they shook hands with the President and had smiling photos taken with various officials.
Secret Service director Mark Sullivan, who was grilled over the security breach by lawmakers at a hearing on Capitol Hill, said the agency had identified the agents who had worked the security checkpoint.
"Established procedures related to entering the White House were not followed at the initial checkpoint," Mr Sullivan said. "A mistake was made. In our line of work we cannot afford even one mistake."
Mr Sullivan took responsibility for the security breach that cleared Michaele Salahi, an aspiring reality TV contestant, and her husband Tareq in to the dinner without an invitation, calling it "unacceptable and indefensible." (Reuters)
Park bench acupuncture
A physiotherapist gave a patient acupuncture on a park bench and called him a "wuss" after the man complained that the treatment was painful, it has been alleged.
Stephen Sterling, who practises in the Sunderland area, was also alleged to have made his patient demolish a garden wall in the physiotherapist's garden and encouraged him to fire an air pistol at a sundial.
The patient, identified only as GB, began treatment with Mr Sterling in an attempt to recover from a serious head injury suffered in a car crash. (PA)
Robber repents
A New York convenience store owner who showed mercy to a would-be robber has received an apology and $50 in the post.
The unsigned note said it was from the man who tried to rob Mohammad Sohail.
The bat-wielding man tearfully told Mr Sohail in May that he was trying to feed his family. The shop owner gave him $40 and bread, and made him promise never to rob again. (PA)