Clik here to view.
French theme park sends rooks out on litter patrol
A French theme park has trained six rooks to pick up cigarette butts and other rubbish dropped by visitors in return for food. Christophe Gaborit, the head of falconry at the Puy de Fou park in western...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Gulp! Georgian boy solves six Rubik’s cubes under water in one breath
An 18-year-old student from Georgia solved six Rubik’s Cubes under water in one breath on Friday, in a bid to set a new Guinness World Record. Vako Marchelashvili was submerged in a glass tank for just...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Volunteers step forward: Belgian scientists look for poo donors
Belgian scientists are looking for people to donate their faeces to help with research into illnesses ranging from bowel disorders and allergies to neurological diseases. At Ghent University hospital,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Cuddliest artist in Vienna, panda’s paintings go on sale
Vienna Zoo is luring visitors with a new attraction: a painting panda. Yang Yang, a female that gave birth to twins two years ago, has learned to use a brush to paint small pictures, and 100 of them...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Malta celebrates historic greasy pole tournament
A former seaside hamlet which is now one of Malta’s most modern towns is struggling to keep ancient traditions alive, though not for want of trying. St Julian’s, just north of Valletta harbour, is...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Got a note for God? His inbox is empty
There’s some room again in God’s inbox. Equipped with long sticks, a team of cleaners on Tuesday gouged out written prayers that visitors to Judaism’s Western Wall in Jerusalem traditionally cram into...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Bees besiege Times Square street, drawing swarm of tourists [V]
It was a case of hold the honey, double the mustard in Times Square at lunchtime on Tuesday. Police shut part of 43rd Street near Seventh Avenue after a thick swarm of bees gathered atop a blue and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Germany removes golden statue of Erdogan after protests
German firemen on Wednesday removed a golden statue of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on security grounds after it provoked an angry response from local people. Organisers of an arts festival whose...
View ArticleClik here to view.
French baguette latest victim of anti-salt lawmakers
France’s beloved bread loaf, the baguette, may be about to lose some of its bite, with politicians looking into the health risks of additives set to propose legislation forcing bakers and processed...
View ArticleClik here to view.
China’s expected surge in pet spending draws disbelief, criticism
A forecast double-digit jump in spending by Chinese pet owners on their furry companions this year has been met with disbelief and even hostility on Chinese social media, with the world’s...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sesame Street’s Bert and Ernie are not gay … or straight
It’s official: Sesame Street’s Muppet couple Bert and Ernie are not gay. But – according to Sesame Workshop, the organisation behind the popular U.S. television programme – it’s also official that...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Fissure in Africa paving path for a new ocean (V)
It seems like the world’s second biggest continent is starting to create conditions for the world’s sixth ocean! The two tectonic plates beneath the continent of Africa are slowly but surely moving...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Tired Londoners rent sleep pods for some zzz’s
Exhausted Londoners hoping to take a rest from their busy schedules are being offered an alternative to coffee breaks: a sleep pod where they can grab some shut-eye for £15 ($20) an hour. Inspired by...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Scaly, scary lodgers: Frenchman shares home with 400 reptiles
In an unassuming house on France’s River Loire, a cobra lives on the coffee table, a 50 kg (110-pound) tortoise roams the garden and a two-metre (seven-foot) alligator sleeps in the owner’s bed while...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Swedish TV satire on Chinese tourists sparks Beijing protest
China complained to Sweden on Monday over a satirical news show on Swedish state television that advised Chinese tourists how to avoid culture clashes in a way that Beijing said insulted the Chinese...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Dubai jeweller puts gem-studded $17m shoes on sale
By Hadeel Al Sayegh That’s one way to lose those walking blues: a pair of shoes encrusted with diamonds has gone on sale in Dubai with a price tag of $17 million. They are displayed in a diamond-shaped...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Houston officials block brothel from featuring sex dolls
The Houston City Council on Wednesday prevented what was billed as the first brothel in the United States equipped with sex dolls from opening in the Texas city, altering a local ordinance to block the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Paddle your own pumpkin: German racers swap boats for vegetables (V)
With a look of apprehension, a blond woman clad in a wetsuit wobbles her way onto a lake in western Germany in a huge, hollowed-out vegetable. Paddle held aloft, she’s a contestant in the Krewelshofer...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Russian town hires cat chief to attend to strays, the purrfect job
It was an unusual job advert. Wanted: Cat chief. Location: Zelenogradsk, Russia: Duties: Tending to the town’s approximately 70 stray cats. Some 80 applicants applied for the new role with the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Same-sex penguin couple incubate egg at Sydney aquarium
Two male penguins who built a nest together from ice pebbles at Sydney’s Sea Life Aquarium are now fostering an egg given them by aquarium staff who suspected they were more than friends. The penguins,...
View Article
