German party mistakenly hands out porn pens to kids (Reuters)
Reuters - To sweeten their first day at primary school German children are normally given a cardboard cone filled with sweets, but schoolchildren in Essen this year opened their cones to find pens which project erotic images.
 
Tourist treat - famous toilets (Reuters)

Employees of German bathroom ceramic and furniture firm Duravit, stand outside on a balcony atop of a giant lavatory bowl, at their company headquarters in Hornberg in the Black Forest, Southwestern Germany, January 22, 2010. REUTERS/Vincent KesslerReuters - For tourists tired of traditional sightseeing tours, one Berlin tour guide is offering something altogether different: a tour of Berlin's public conveniences.



 
Firm can't fire man for 1.8 cent theft (Reuters)
Reuters - A German company that fired a man for the theft of 1.8 euro cents (two U.S. cents) worth of electricity had no grounds for sacking him, a court ruled, dismissing the firm's appeal against his reinstatement.
 
Koranic teachers arrested over child begging (Reuters)
Reuters - Senegalese security forces have arrested seven Koranic teachers for forcing children to panhandle, a police official said on Friday, days after the West African state announced a crack down on public begging.
 
Man bites police over a pet peeve (Reuters)

Police guard the entrance to a store in Barendrecht, near Rotterdam December 4, 2002. REUTERS/Guido BenschopReuters - Police arrested an 82-year-old man after he bit and kicked officers who had arrived to mediate in a dispute with a neighbor over a domestic pet.



 
Canadian parents more lenient than Italians and French (Reuters)
Reuters - Canadian parents are more lenient with their children than mothers and fathers in France and Italy, according to a new study.
 
Finance Ministry says defrauded by staffer (Reuters)
Reuters - The Dutch Finance Ministry Thursday acknowledged it was defrauded out of more than 160,000 euros ($204,800) earlier this year by an employee of the ministry unit that handles the state's financing needs.
 
Dutch colleges angry over sex job ads for freshmen (Reuters)
Reuters - A number of Dutch colleges are considering legal action against the publisher of a move-in guide for new freshmen, after the company included an ad recruiting students for jobs as online sex workers.
 
Cup of tea forces jet to make emergency landing (Reuters)
Reuters - A British airplane en route to Poland was forced to make an emergency landing in Germany after a 56-year-old woman spilled a hot cup of tea on herself, German police said on Wednesday.
 
Vuvuzelas banned from European soccer competition (Reuters)

A fan blows a vuvuzela before the start of a 2010 World Cup quarter-final soccer match between Paraguay and Spain at Ellis Park stadium in Johannesburg July 3, 2010. REUTERS/Jerry LampenReuters - Vuvuzelas have been kicked out of European competitions after UEFA said that the controversial plastic trumpets drowned out supporters and detracted from the emotion of the game.