Paul gets his own World Cup

Paul gets his own World Cup

Paul gets his own World Cup

Posted: 12 Jul 2010 04:10 PM PDT

OBERHAUSEN (Germany): What do you give a global superstar who has everything? That's the dilemma facing staff at the aquarium home of Paul the oracle octopus, whose knack for predicting World Cup games catapulted him to fame.

In the end, as a reward for correctly "tipping" all eight games he predicted – seven Germany games and the final itself – Paul's German handlers dropped a shiny golden replica of the coveted trophy into his tank.

The eight-legged oracle, who now has more than four times more fans on Facebook than German chancellor Angela Merkel, seemed pleased with his prize, wrapping several tentacles around it.

In the wake of his success, speculation has been rife about what Paul will do next – and one tongue- in-cheek bookmaker gave punters the chance to bet on Paul's future career.

They offered odds of 8-1 that he would become a bookmaker himself, 20-1 that he would release a record, 100-1 that he would unveil his own brand of calamari, 250-1 that he would become Merkel's new adviser and 1,000-1 that he would become part of a paella.

But aquarium spokesperson Tanja Munzig poured cold water on the rumours – he's going back to his old job of entertaining visitors and putting a smile on the faces of children.

Meanwhile, Tanja Munzig, of the Sea Life Aquarium here, said they had received offers for Paul but he was not for sale.

"There are a lot of offers for Paul from betting offices and other areas. One thing is clear: Paul is staying with us," said Munzig quoted BBC.

She also added that the Paul won't be making any predictions, either in football, politics, lifestyle or economy.

- Sapa-AFP

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lkp_v_1QkPQ

Uganda finds suicide belt after deadly bomb attacks

Posted: 13 Jul 2010 01:15 AM PDT

KAMPALA (Reuters) - Ugandan police have found an unexploded suicide belt and made several arrests after 74 soccer fans were killed by two bomb attacks while they were watching the World Cup final on television.

Voter support drops for battered Japan govt - Kyodo

Posted: 13 Jul 2010 01:15 AM PDT

TOKYO (Reuters) - Voter support for Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan's government, reeling from a thrashing at the polls, has fallen to 36.3 percent, a Kyodo news agency survey showed on Tuesday, posing another headache for Kan as he faces a potential leadership challenge from inside his own party.

Russia,Iran to sign energy pact as projects stalled

Posted: 13 Jul 2010 01:15 AM PDT

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia and Iran will sign a "road map" to outline long-term energy cooperation, Russia's energy ministry said on Tuesday, as Moscow's investments in Iran are stalled because of international sanctions.

We need the Ayub tenet

Posted: 12 Jul 2010 11:41 PM PDT

What we need in our multi-racial, multi-religious, multi-cultural and multi-lingual nation is the Ayub tenet. Our country will be a very much better place to live in if we have more civil servants like Penang chief police officer Datuk Ayub Yaakob.

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Italian police arrest 200 in anti-Mafia raids

Posted: 13 Jul 2010 12:22 AM PDT

ROME (Reuters) - Italian police arrested more than 200 people in dawn raids across the country on suspicion of connection with the powerful Calabrian mafia, authorities said on Tuesday.

Q+A - Japan DPJ has options to break deadlock, none easy

Posted: 13 Jul 2010 12:22 AM PDT

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's ruling Democratic Party, fresh from a thrashing in an upper house election, faces political deadlock unless it can find new partners to help enact bills in the chamber, but potential allies are sounding cool.

Uganda makes arrests after twin deadly blasts

Posted: 12 Jul 2010 11:32 PM PDT

KAMPALA (Reuters) - Uganda has made arrests after Somali Islamists said they detonated two bombs killing at least 74 people, and an unexploded suicide-bomb belt has been found at a third site, a government spokesman said on Tuesday,

Iran says scientist seeks refuge in Pakistan embassy in U.S.

Posted: 12 Jul 2010 11:32 PM PDT

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's state radio said on Tuesday a missing Iranian nuclear scientist who Tehran says was kidnapped by the CIA, had taken refuge in Pakistan's embassy in Washington.

FACTBOX - Japan ruling party's possible coalition partners

Posted: 12 Jul 2010 11:32 PM PDT

The DPJ still controls the powerful lower house. But policymaking will be complicated since it needs help from other parties to push bills in the upper chamber as it struggles to end decades of stagnation in the world's No.2 economy and curb debt.

Philippines raises typhoon alert in rice areas

Posted: 12 Jul 2010 11:32 PM PDT

MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines raised alerts along coastal and low-lying areas of its main island of Luzon on Tuesday as Conson, the first sizeable typhoon of the season, moved closer to rice-producing areas of the poor Southeast Asian nation.

Court to hear Hulu Selangor election petition Tuesday

Posted: 12 Jul 2010 11:00 PM PDT

The High Court here will hear on Tuesday the application by Hulu Selangor member of parliament P. Kamalanathan to strike out the election petition filed by Datuk Zaid Ibrahim seeking to declare the result of the Hulu Selangor by-election null and void

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Asians are world's most prolific online shoppers: research

Posted: 12 Jul 2010 10:44 PM PDT

SINGAPORE, Tuesday 13 July 2010 (AFP) - Asia-Pacific consumers are the world's most prolific online shoppers and many rely on Internet reviews when making purchases, research firm Nielsen said Tuesday.

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Iran says scientist seeks refuge in Pakistan embassy in US

Posted: 12 Jul 2010 10:26 PM PDT

TEHRAN, July 13 — Iran's state radio said today a missing Iranian nuclear scientist who Tehran says was kidnapped by the CIA, had taken refuge in Pakistan's embassy in Washington. "A few hours ago Shahram Amiri took refuge at Iran's interest section at the Pakistan embassy in Washington, wanting to return to Iran immediately," state radio ...

N.Korea calls off talks with U.N. officers over ship

Posted: 12 Jul 2010 10:56 PM PDT

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea abruptly called off a talks set for Tuesday with the U.S.-led United Nations Command that oversees the Korean War truce, failing to show up for the first meeting to discuss the sinking of a South Korean warship.

Iran says scientist seeks refuge in Pakistan embassy in U.S.

Posted: 12 Jul 2010 10:56 PM PDT

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's state radio said on Tuesday a missing Iranian nuclear scientist who Tehran says was kidnapped by the CIA, had taken refuge in Pakistan's embassy in Washington.

A billion Chinese speakers get easier access to Internet

Posted: 12 Jul 2010 10:36 PM PDT

HONG KONG, Tuesday 13 July 2010 (AFP) - The web will soon be a lot more accessible for more than a billion people after the body that runs the Internet's naming system gave the green light for the use of Chinese script.

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BP 'installs new cap' on oil well

Posted: 12 Jul 2010 10:39 PM PDT

Oil giant BP says it has placed a new cap on a ruptured well in the Gulf of Mexico, which it hopes will capture all the leaking oil.

Fidel Castro appears on Cuban TV

Posted: 12 Jul 2010 10:33 PM PDT

Cuba ex-President Fidel Castro has made his first TV appearance in 11 months in an interview focusing on foreign affairs.

France to vote on full veil ban

Posted: 12 Jul 2010 10:36 PM PDT

The French parliament is to vote on plans to ban women from wearing full Islamic veils in public.

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