Aside from his extraordinary leadership skills which led to his being named "Person of the Year" by Time Magazine, Russian President Vladimir Putin will soon be recognized internationally for his athletic prowess. In particular his judo moves as he and an Olympic Japanese judo medalist will come out with an instructional video soon. Mr. Putin and Yasuhiro Yamashita shot the instructional video disc as a supplement to a judo manual. The disc is slated to be released on January or February, President Putin said Friday at the opening of a Toyota Motor Corporation's assembly plant near St. Petersburg.

A German policeman has emerged as the new world champion of the hybrid sport of chessboxing by stopping his opponent in seven rounds of alternating rounds of chess and boxing. Effectively warding off American David 'Double D' Depto's punches, Frank Stoldt abbreviated the light-heavyweight fight with a checkmate in the seventh round, much to the delight of the 1,200 cheering fans in Berlin.

An Italian football team is now the subject of criticism from local official after it had signed a sponsorship deal with an escort agency. Under the terms of the deal, Trentino 1921 is to receive USD $14,200 which provides that the name of escort agency Casa Bianca be posted on the club website.

A group of German builders have obtained funds to begin constructing a pyramid that will serve as a private memorial for "those of all nationalities and religions. " A group, led by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, will build a new pyramid about 10 times as large as the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, and will be "the largest structure our civilization has ever built. "

After failing to recover the pending $750 bill for a headstone for almost a year, an Utah-based company dealing in cemetery goods devised a new way to get its money back. Memorial Art Monuments repossessed the cemetery headstone of a teenager who died in a car wreck in May to gain attention from the owners. Brady Conger, 17, and two friends died when their car smashed into a sport utility vehicle a year ago.