Post your ridiculous news stories here (2013)

[cannonball]

Simple really find any absolutely stupid new stories produced around the world today and pretty much compare and see if any of these stories could be possibly believable. I thought a thread dedicated to this general theme would be more fitting than a dozen or so threads about a specific story.
Here's a few from me
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/entire-troupe-of-300-circus-fleas-killed-by-freezing-weather-in-germany-8555528.html?fb_action_ids=10200711057596271%2C10200711041155860%2C10200891170026208&fb_action_types=news.reads&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%7B%2210200711057596271%22%3A146022818905069%2C%2210200711041155860%22%3A626598444021312%2C%2210200891170026208%22%3A148709481965325%7D&action_type_map=%7B%2210200711057596271%22%3A%22news.reads%22%2C%2210200711041155860%22%3A%22news.reads%22%2C%2210200891170026208%22%3A%22news.reads%22%7D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D
One from another forum I'm on
http://www.netweather.tv/index.cgi?action=news;storyid=1417;sess=

So yeah just post stupid looking news stories and enlighten us on your country's humour towards April fools.

[Remilia Scarlet]

Not exactly a news story, but Soundcloud has a new feature.

[cannonball]

Unbelievably the independent story I put up has been confirmed by other sources to actually be a true story. Original post fail
Just for info here is a bbc article highlighting stories today which are actually true stories
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21993582

[Tristan]

Hehe, did you see the BBC's own April Fools joke? I missed it but a friend managed to screenshot it (no link, sadly). I copied the text however.

BBC News said:

The Earth has exploded, killing everyone

The Earth has exploded. It happened suddenly. There were no survivors.[/b]

Everyone is dead.
We're all dead.
I am writing this from the afterlife.

[Varis Alpha]

wasn't that "the Earth has exploded" news from last year?

[Tristan]

Doomhuntress said:

wasn't that "the Earth has exploded" news from last year?

You know, I just looked at the screenshot again and saw that the date was April 1, 2012. I must have misread it as 2013. Damn.

[GreyGhost]

The Electronic Frontier Foundation's newsletter contained some gems...

FBI Issues Reflections Warnings

Starting this week, department stores will begin affixing "FBI Anti-Piracy" stickers to mirrors, warning consumers that placing a reflective object in the same room as a television could constitute a violation of U.S. copyright law. In a related lawsuit, EFF is representing Dana Auerbach, a ballet instructor who was caught watching The Black Swan in her dance studio while on lunch break. She faces a $750 to $150,000 penalty for each of her infinite charges of infringement.

Scandinavians Send Cease-and-Desist to EFF

On Thursday, EFF received a formal cease-and-desist letter from a group claiming to represent the Kalmar Union of Scandinavian Countries, urging the organization to stop using the terms "Copyright Troll" and "Patent Troll" in its campaign against abusive intellectual property litigants. Citing the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, a Kalmar Union spokesperson said said, "Trolls are a cherished element of Scandinavian folklore and the misuse of Nordic mythology results in the denigration of our culture and compromised search-engine optimization." In the event EFF refuses to comply, the group threatened that his country would post comments on Reddit and Hacker News comparing EFF lawyers to Nazi Germany.

Kickstarter "Miracle Phone" Offers Total Privacy On The Go

A Kickstarter project with the lofty goal of producing a smartphone that doesn't suffer from the same privacy drawbacks as the top offerings from Apple and Google has captured the Internet's attention, raising nearly $1 million from over 7,000 users in just three weeks. The designers' initial prototype -- a piece of balsa wood roughly the size of a deck of cards -- appears to deliver on the privacy promises, but some have criticized the phone's inability to run apps, take photos, place or receive calls and text messages. Battery life is, however, said to be "impressive."

[Platinum Shell]

Eris Falling said:

You know, I just looked at the screenshot again and saw that the date was April 1, 2012. I must have misread it as 2013. Damn.

Ve do not tolerate such mistakes here. I trust zis von't happen again.

[Jodwin]

You want ridiculous news stories?

https://twitter.com/_FloridaMan

Enjoy.

[SandGator]

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10875441

What's your angle, Jimmy Dushku?