Funny old world: the week's offbeat news

"He's tremendous... People are saying he's the greatest ever... I'm impressed." These are just some of the things fans say about Ryan Chen, the "Chinese Trump", who has taken social media by storm with his uncanny impersonations of the US president.

The chubby architect has Trump's verbal and physical ticks down pat, clocking up several million followers by letting his inner Donald loose on everyday Chinese life.

And so far, there have been no extra tariffs.

Part of the charm of Chen's schtick is that he avoids satire -- he's not "nasty" as Trump might say -- instead he just goes with the ridiculousness of Trump running riot in China, forever on the look out for merchandising and real estate opportunities.

"I'm not into politics, but I think he is a very good entertainer," Chen said of the American president, who he had admire the Great Wall of China -- built to "keep out the Mexigolians" -- in one video.

"Trump is an endless well that never runs dry," Chen told AFP in his hometown of Chongqing in southwest China.

He has used his alter ego to promote its sights, spicy food and even its pandas, boasting with true Trump bombast that they could beat all comers in a wrestling bout. 

"If I imitate him, it's not to make fun of him. It's to get attention," Chen told AFP.

"With that attention, I can boost my career, as well as promote China and my hometown."

- Not exactly flush -

Japan's women politicians want more seats in parliament, starting with the porcelain kind.

There is only one women's toilet near the main chamber which 73 female lawmakers must share.

Women need a thick skin as well as an iron bladder to climb the male-dominated political ladder in Japan, with many subjected to sexist jibes.

"Women lawmakers have to form long queues in front of the restroom," said opposition MP Yasuko Komiyama.

But with the number of women MPs jumping from a mere 45 in the 465-seat lower house at the last election -- which saw Sanae Takaichi become Japan's first woman prime minister -- something will have to give.

- 'AI don't': ChatGPT wedding falls flat -

A Dutch couple will have to wed again after their marriage vows drawn up using ChatGPT left out the crucial line making them man and wife.

The pair thought they had sealed their love at a civil ceremony in April in Zwolle at which a friend officiated.

Wanting an informal ceremony that reflected their personalities, he turned to artificial intelligence to help compose the vows.

While they promised "to love and to laugh", they left out a key declaration required by the law.

Despite pleading with officials, there was no happy ever after, with the court ruling that their marriage was not valid. 

- Don't diss my dancing -

A new motive has emerged for Donald Trump's ousting of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro -- his dancing. 

The US president accused Maduro of imitating his dancing among other crimes in a freewheeling speech to Republican lawmakers.

"He gets up there and he tries to imitate my dance a little bit... But he's a violent guy, and he's killed millions of people," Trump said.

Maduro had defiantly danced to a techno remix of his mantra "No War, Yes Peace" as US forces massed in the Caribbean.

Trump is known for dancing to the disco song "Y.M.C.A." at his rallies, but confessed that Melania Trump was embarrassed by his moves.

"My wife hates when I do this," Trump said. "She said, 'It's so unpresidential.'"

Trump added that "she hates it when I dance", adding: "Could you imagine FDR dancing?"

President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who led America in World War II, was paralysed from the waist down by polio in 1921.

bur-fg/sbk