prank

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Midshipmen Take Prank Tradition to New Heights

Leaflet drops have been deployed ahead of the 123rd Army-Navy football game

(Newser) - Airborne leaflet drops are a timeworn form of psychological warfare dating back to the World War I era. More recently, Ukrainian forces have spread leaflets via helicopter and artillery shells instructing Russian troops on how to surrender. Per CNN Business , several midshipmen from the US Naval Academy deployed the tactic...

Russian Pranksters Trick Polish Leader. Again

This time, callers pose as French leader Macron

(Newser) - Russian comedians pretending to be the French president tricked the Polish president, Andrzej Duda, into giving them sensitive information after a missile exploded in eastern Poland last week. Duda's office confirmed on Tuesday that he was put through last week to a person claiming to be France's president,...

Cyclist Charged After Teen Girls' Prank Goes Awry

Mathieu van der Poel accused of physically assaulting girls who kept knocking on his door

(Newser) - Top cyclist Mathieu van der Poel had been one of the favorites to win Sunday's world championship race in Wollongong, Australia. Instead of that, he ended up flying home to the Netherlands with a criminal conviction under his belt, reports the Guardian . It seems that a group of kids...

Haircut Prank Frees Up a Pair of Seats at US Open

YouTuber disrupts Kyrgios-Khachanov quarterfinal

(Newser) - It's not easy to look away from Nick Kyrgios during a close tennis match. The volatile Australian demonstrated why in his loss to Karen Khachanov on Tuesday night at the US Open. In addition to often playing terrifically, he yelled at his team in the stands, threw things, and...

His 'Deep Space' Image Wasn't Quite What It Seemed

Physicist clarifies after posting joke image of chorizo

(Newser) - A French physicist who received thousands of likes on a tweeted photo he claimed was from the James Webb Space Telescope has admitted the photo actually showed a very detailed slice of chorizo sausage. Etienne Klein, a director at France's Atomic Energy Commission, apologized after claiming the image of...

Speech at NRA Meeting Appears to Confuse Its CEO

Homage to Wayne LaPierre's 'thoughts and prayers' was the work of prankster Jason Selvig

(Newser) - A man who appeared to defend National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre at the group's annual meeting this weekend, just days after a mass shooting at a Texas elementary school killed 21 people, was doing anything but. Jason Selvig, one half of comedy duo The Good Liars, took the...

Even Students Didn't Like This Senior Prank: 'Not Cool'

Texas high school shuts down for 2 days after harmless antics 'devolved rapidly'

(Newser) - End-of-year tomfoolery at a Texas high school was supposed to involve nothing more than harmless sticky notes. But the high jinks got out of hand, leading to the school's closure for two days due to vandalism. According to the Frisco Independent School District, a "small group of students"...

Cops: Pie in the Face Prank Is Criminal

Greenville, SC, police search for suspect ID'd through his YouTube videos

(Newser) - South Carolina police are looking for a suspect in a series of whipped cream assaults, who was identified from his own YouTube channel. Andre Eugene Moore-Gerald of Greenville, also identified through CCTV footage, is wanted on charges of third-degree assault and battery, according to Greenville police. Sgt. Johnathan Bragg says...

Kimmel, Fallon Pull Off Ultimate April Fools' Joke

The 2 Jimmys swapped coasts, and shows, on Friday night, to the surprise of their audiences

(Newser) - For two years, Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel have been cooking up an April Fools' Day scheme, and on Friday night, the late-night hosts pulled it off, in an epic way. Per The Hollywood Reporter , the comedians swapped shows, with Fallon heading to Los Angeles, and Kimmel heading to New...

An 'Impractical Joker' Is Leaving the Group

Joe Gatto says he's leaving prankster comedy troupe to focus on co-parenting after separation

(Newser) - For 10 years, TruTV has sated the public's need for pranks with Impractical Jokers, a show hosted by four friends from childhood—Sal Vulcano, James Murray, Brian Quinn, and Joe Gatto—who force each other to do humiliating and/or bizarre tasks in front of strangers for points. Now, one...

After 3 Years, Mystery of Whale Postcards Is Solved

Attorney Matthew Strugar was the subject of a friendly prank for 3 years

(Newser) - If anyone deserves to get a postcard from a whale, it's Matthew Strugar, a civil rights attorney who made headlines several years ago by suing SeaWorld on behalf of the animals. The case, while unsuccessful, served the larger purpose of raising awareness about conditions and cemented Strugar's role...

MyPillow Guy Thought He Was Speaking to Trump, Wasn't

Prank caller gets through to Mike Lindell during live telethon for his new social-media site

(Newser) - Mike Lindell just can't catch a break. Not only is the MyPillow founder being sued for $1.3 billion by Dominion Voting Systems and struggling to launch his social media site—now he's being prank-called, too. The Hill reports that on Monday, Lindell was hosting a live telethon...

Up to 5K Turned Out for Hoax Concert. It Did Not End Well

Belgian police officer hospitalized after clashes in Brussels

(Newser) - An April Fools' joke in Belgium did not go over well Thursday as police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse a crowd that had gathered to attend a concert, which turned out to be a hoax. An announcement posted to Facebook in March promised a slate of famous...

YouTubers' Prank Almost Killed a Guy. Now, Guilty Pleas

Alan and Alex Stokes escape jail, get community service and probation

(Newser) - Twin YouTube stars who were facing up to five years behind bars for a pair of bank robbery pranks have managed to avoid prison with guilty pleas. Against the objections of prosecutors, a California judge agreed to reduce the felony false imprisonment charge to a misdemeanor if Alan and Alex...

A Thanksgiving Prank Rattled NASA in 1991
A Thanksgiving Prank
Rattled NASA
in 1991
longform
Nov 26, 2020 7:30 AM CST

A Thanksgiving Prank Rattled NASA in 1991

It involved a Turkish satellite

(Newser) - He missed a key word in the phone call he answered at Mission Control in Houston in the early hours of Thanksgiving 1991. Lead Flight Director Milt Heflin picked up the phone and was given a warning by his flight dynamics officer: Air Force trackers who monitor orbital traffic had...

YouTube Prank Gets Women Booted From Flight
2 Passengers Booted Off
Plane After First-Class Prank
in case you missed it
Nov 7, 2020 5:00 PM CST

2 Passengers Booted Off Plane After First-Class Prank

Witness says woman squeezed under friend's seat before plane took off

(Newser) - An incident on an American Airlines flight got at least two passengers kicked off the plane, all supposedly in an effort to get views on YouTube. A witness to the incident last week in the first-class section of a flight headed from Dallas to Miami posted about it in the...

NYC MTA: TikTok Star's Subway Prank 'a New Low'

Josh Popkin's Fruity Pebbles-and-milk stunt didn't go over well

(Newser) - A TikTok star caused quite a commotion on a New York City subway, and now he's facing quite a backlash. Per BuzzFeed , Josh Popkin, the 23-year-old also known as @fckjoshy, shared video on the social network showing him carrying a plastic bin filled with Fruity Pebbles and milk onto...

Well, a Celeb Pulled an April Fools' Coronavirus Prank

K-pop star Jaejoong ended up taking the post down

(Newser) - A K-pop star apparently didn't get the April 1 memo. As governments across the globe went so far as to issue warnings against pulling coronavirus-related April Fools' Day jokes, the singer Jaejoong from the K-pop group JYJ told his 1.9 million fans on Instagram he'd been diagnosed...

$35K in Food Dumped After 'Twisted Prank' in Grocery Store

Woman went around coughing on everything as a joke, store co-owner says

(Newser) - A "very challenging day" at a Pennsylvania grocery store started with a cough and ended with more than $35,000 worth of food being dumped. USA Today reports on the incident Wednesday at Gerrity's Supermarket in Hanover Township, where a woman reportedly came in and "proceeded to...

Russian Pranksters: Harry Said Trump Has 'Blood on His Hands'

Vovan and Lexus reportedly got prince to dish on several topics during 2 prank calls

(Newser) - Jokesters Alexey Stolyarov and Vladimir Kuznetsov apparently like impersonating Greta Thunberg —so much so that they reportedly spent New Year's Eve pranking Prince Harry, pretending they were the Swedish teen climate activist. Per the BBC , the notorious Russian duo known as Vovan and Lexus reportedly placed two calls...

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