WTF News: It's Weird, True and Funny

We bring you a fresh collection of offbeat, quirky stories from around the world.

An odds-on favourite for the Miss Colombia beauty pageant was kicked out of the contest because her bikini was ‘too revealing’. Model Paola Builes, 21, was disqualified from the competition after pictures of emerged of her posing in a skimpy swimsuit. Officials said the phoographs clearly breached the competition rules against being photographed in a bikini below a certain size, and she was thrown out.

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A year after the dance became a global phenomenon, a group of competitors have taken part in the second UK National Twerking Championships. Thirteen dancers wowed crowds with their eye-popping moves at the competition held in north London. The women bounced and jiggled their way through five rounds in a bid to win first place and a chance to dance on stage with twerking sensation Nicki Minaj. 

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An eight-year-old boy has been shunned from his school after his hands ballooned to gigantic proportions larger than his head. Kaleem, a keen cricket fan, was left unable to do even basic tasks -- including tying his shoelaces and feeding himself -- after his hands grew to an incredible 13 inches from the end of his middle finger to the base of his palm.

His giant hands now weigh eight kilogram each and he has been bullied so much he fears being beaten up if he returns.

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Hello Kitty has been blasted into space as Japan’s government bid to mark the brand’s 40th birthday. The move is part of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s push to promote the country’s high-tech industry and engineer economic growth. He wants to combine the Hello Kitty figure with a mini satellite sent up to orbit the Earth and equipped with a digital message board.

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The claws are out for North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un and Russia’s Vladimir Putin - as cats now able to use a model of him as a scratching post. They can also maul at Russian president Vladimir Putin, whose face also features on the new cat toys which are 1.5ft tall and cost £4,500. They are made from hessian rope, and 3D-printed faces are then attached to the posts, before they are handpainted. The toys took a team of artists 200 hours to finish. The selection of pet protest products also includes litter trays with portraits of Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Egypt’s Abdel Fattah El Sisi.

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Cambridge University is looking for someone to undertake a PhD that for the sweet-toothed many could lead them to their dream position -- becoming the first doctor of chocolate. The university’s department of chemical engineering and biotechnology is looking for a researcher to join their team in January 2015. The “mainly experimental” project will challenge the researcher to find ways in which chocolate, which has a melting point close to that of the human body, can remain solid and retain qualities in warm climates. 

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France’s former minister for families has provoked a political row by saying that it’s a French woman’s duty to wear a bikini on a beach. Nadine Morano recently complained that she had seen a Muslim woman sitting on a French beach in headscarf, long-sleeved tunic and trousers while her husband stripped off and bathed in the sea.

The 51-year-old politician wrote on her Facebook page that when someone chooses to come to a country of secular laws like France, they have an obligation to respect the culture and the liberty of women, or they should go somewhere else.

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Now, there are greetings cards made especially for cheating spouses to send to their mistresses and lovers. The adulterous cards are the brainchild of dating website Illicit Encounters, who, as the name suggests, specialise in extra-marital affairs. They’ve just launched MistressCards.co.uk, and so far there’s only nine designs to choose from, including a ‘happy anniversary’ style. Our favourite so far reads: ‘Roses are red, violets are blue, it’s a good thing my wife doesn’t know I’m screwing you.’

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A clever science museum in Japan called Orbi Yokohama is serving up a ‘Blue Burger’ that resembles Earth. Normally, blue bread with green splotches sounds like a no-go, but this seems kind of cool. The burger appears to be a deep-fried chicken breast smothered in barbecue sauce and mayonnaise, on a bed of lettuce, in an eye-poppingly bright blue and green bun that looks like earth.

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A New York woman loves going to weddings so much that she now takes part professionally – as a bridesmaid-for-hire.

Jen Glantz, 26, became so good at the role after being a bridesmaid at all her friends’ weddings that she began offering the service to strangers for a fee.

Her role includes helping to write speeches, getting the guests dancing and even lifting the bride’s dress when she needs to go to the loo. Jen says it’s a ‘wonderful feeling’ to be part of any wedding.

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An entrepreneurial Chinese alcohol manufacturer has been arrested for ‘improving’ his drinks with an unusual pick-me-up – Viagra.

Identified only as Mr Huang, the liquor maker was unable to keep up the illegal practice after customers noticed the unusual side-effect of drinking the spirits, which were marketed as ‘nutritional healthy liquor’.

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In a ramshackle old building in Budapest, tourists pay to be locked up in a room and try to escape by solving a series of mysterious clues, opening locks and finding their way out.

"Rabbit Hole", inspired by the 19th Century English novel "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland", is one of some 100 or so escape-room games that have sprung up in the Hungarian capital in the last three years, becoming a top attraction for tourists.