Odd News
- WorldAFP
Cyclist fined after kissing his wife at Tour de France
The friends and family of Julien Bernard gathered on a hillside to greet him as the Tour de France passed by his home during Friday's stage in Burgundy giving him a welcome that authorities found a little too warm.The authorities were more bothered by the behaviour of his friends who whipped up the deep crowds threatening the security barrier and pushing forwards with the locals cheering "Lalalala Julien Bernard."
1 min read - SportsAFP
British tennis ace Raducanu votes for 'lie-in' on election day
British tennis star Emma Raducanu said she's voting to have a "lie-in" on Thursday when the country goes to the polls, claiming she was unaware of a general election taking place.She was joined in her indifference to the election by national teammate Katie Boulter, who has her third-round match at Wimbledon on Thursday.
1 min read - SportsAFP
Right on cue as Djokovic seeks snooker tips from 'Rocket Ronnie'
What does a seven-time Wimbledon champion do when he sucks at snooker?Call seven-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan of course.
1 min read - SportsAFP
Wimbledon strawberries 'perfect' despite soggy spring
Wimbledon's strawberries are "perfect" for tennis fans this year despite Britain's soggy spring, tournament organisers said on Tuesday."I'm not a strawberry grower but they are perfect for Wimbledon this year," she said.
2 min read - WorldAFP
VideoFunny old world: The week's offbeat news
From flying Finnish hobby horses to the world's most powerful puss... your weekly roundup of offbeat stories from around the world.- Saddle up your stick -Finland is the world's happiest country. And now we know why. Step forward the wonderfully wacky Finnish sport of hobby horsing.Try not to smile while watching highly-styled riders straddling hobby horses leaping over fences that are nearly as high as in horse jumping. Yet despite its eye-popping athleticism, hobby horsing is a sport that dare
- WorldAFP
Britain's true ruler? Larry the Downing Street cat
There has been one figure of stability in the last 14 years of political turmoil in the UK -- Larry the Downing Street cat.- Longevity - Larry made his first appearance in Downing Street on February 15, 2011 after being adopted from the Battersea shelter in south London.
3 min read - LifestyleAFP
VideoWhy Finns are deadly serious about hobby horsing
A buzz of excitement crackled through the hushed arena as the rider gripped the reins of her stuffed steed.Welcome to the strangely exacting world of hobby horsing, the Finnish sport guaranteed to put a smile on your face. Immaculately-coiffed equestrians leap athletically over fences just like in horse jumping, going as fast as they can against the clock straddling their stick steeds.Things are more stately in the dressage, with riders trotting their stick horses with intricately decorated stuf
- WorldAFP
Denmark seeks to take the wind out of foreign flags
Denmark will introduce a law to restrict the use of foreign flags on its territory, the justice minister said Wednesday.The Danish flag, the Dannebrog, "is the most important national symbol", Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard said in a statement, adding that "the flags of other countries cannot be freely flown".
1 min read - USAFP
Tens of thousands collected for 'honest' Dutch homeless man
An online campaign has raised more than 34,000 euros for a homeless man in Amsterdam who turned in a wallet stuffed with 2,000 euros in cash to police.Police said he turned in the wallet with "approximately 2,000 euros... but unfortunately no identity papers or anything that would allow us to contact the owner."
2 min read - SportsAFP
Giant China basketball teen tipped for top after towering displays
A 17-year-old Chinese basketball player has been tipped for the top and drawn comparisons to Yao Ming after using her startling height advantage to dominate an international tournament.Social media users compared her to former NBA star Yao, who was 2.29m tall and China's greatest basketball player of all time.
2 min read - CelebrityAFP
Handbags and ball gowns: Princess Diana finery goes under the hammer
The biggest auction of Diana memorabilia since the late British princess sold dozens of outfits months before her death gets underway in California this week, featuring a midnight blue tulle dress and a flamenco-style lace-up number.Highlights include Arbeid's blue diamante ball gown, which the princess wore in 1986 to the London premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Phantom of the Opera," and a magenta lace dress by Edelstein.
2 min read - WorldAFP
Hikes, nosy neighbours afflict Zimbabweans in quest for mobile connection
As the sun sets over Zimbabwe's Matobo Hills, boys throw stones to chase baboons away.- Prying ears - The Matobo Hills, a UNESCO World Heritage site famed for its distinctive rock boulders, provide some relief to Silozwe's residents.
4 min read - WorldAFP
New mystery monolith appears in Nevada desert
A mysterious shiny monolith has appeared in a Nevada desert, the latest other-worldly installation to materialize in recent years across North America and Europe.The rectangular structure is the latest to baffle the internet after they began appearing in places around the globe in 2020.
1 min read - PoliticsAFP
Trump boasts of cognitive test, then flubs doctor's name
Donald Trump is so proud of a cognitive assessment he took while president that he boasted about it in a speech Saturday, while attacking what he claims is US President Joe Biden's lack of mental acuity.As part of his attack on what he says is the 81-year-old Biden's declining mental acuity, Trump told the laughing crowd in Detroit that the president had been lost while at the G7 in Italy, turning "to look at trees," while other world leaders were looking at a parachutist who'd just landed in an
1 min read - WorldAFP
VideoSinging and sniping in Puglia at G7 summit
From bear hugs to looks that could kill, G7 leaders may have put on a show of unity at an Italy summit this week -- but it was not all la dolce vita.Footage of the leaders singing "Happy Birthday" to Germany's Olaf Scholz at Joe Biden's urging was the perfect display of Group of Seven cooperation.Thursday's welcoming embrace between Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the summit host, and Britain's Rishi Sunak was so enthusiastic it went viral."Giorgia is fantastic," Sunak told reporters Frid
- EntertainmentAFP
R.E.M. delivers surprise performance at songwriting gala
R.E.M. performed onstage together for the first time in well over a decade Thursday, reuniting to play their classic "Losing My Religion" as they were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.Michael Stipe, Peter Buck and Mike Mills broke up in 2011, and the last time all four members played onstage together -- Bill Berry left in 1997 -- was in 2007.
3 min read - WorldAFP
Storm destroys symbolic tree in Benin voodoo capital
Benin voudon religious dignitary Oscar Kptenon is still in shock, ten days after the fall of a centuries-old giant tree on a historic square in Ouidah, once at the heart of the slave trade. "Ouidah has received a big blow with the fall of this historic tree.
3 min read - WorldAFP
Pope urges priests not to bore worshippers with long sermons
Pope Francis on Wednesday called on Catholic priests to keep their homilies short -- "no longer than eight minutes" -- so that their audiences would not "fall asleep"."The homily must not go beyond eight minutes, because after that time, attention is lost and people go to sleep, they fall asleep and they are right to do so," the 87-year-old pontiff added.
1 min read - USAFP
VideoDogged by strays, Kosovo capital pays people to adopt them
The mayor of Kosovo's capital is offering to pay people nearly a third of the country's minimum wage every month if they adopt a dog in a novel bid to clear packs of strays from the streets.With Pristina overrun by up to 4,000 strays, according to activists, street dogs have become a major headache, with many people saying they have had to run from large aggressive hounds.But a shocking widely-shared video of one small stray being badly beaten in the street by a young man brought the problem int
- WorldAFP
Near-finished Japan condo blocking Mount Fuji to be razed
A Japanese property developer has decided to demolish a near-complete, 10-storey condominium in Tokyo after pushback from neighbours who said it blocked a view of Mount Fuji.An exasperated Japanese town took the rare step last month of deliberately blocking a view of Mount Fuji with a large black barrier in a bid to deter photo-hungry tourists. tmo/kaf/mtp
2 min read - TechnologyAFP
ChatGPT a mentor for Japan's 89-year-old app developer
Japanese 89-year-old Tomiji Suzuki started coding in retirement and is now making apps for the fast-growing elderly demographic, using ChatGPT to fine-tune his skills.As in other developed economies, the plummeting birth rate has raised fears of a looming demographic crisis with not enough workers to support the growing ranks of retired.
4 min read - USAFP
Polish 'Spider-Man' arrested in Buenos Aires
A Polish daredevil was arrested in Buenos Aires Tuesday as he tried to scale a 30-story building without ropes, only to be removed by firefighters.More than 30 firefighters, ambulances and police cars were rushed to the scene after someone inside the building called an emergency line.
1 min read - WorldAFP
Room with a view: the German teen living on trains
Lasse Stolley was looking for a change in scenery after a planned apprenticeship fell through.But after finishing secondary school, a planned apprenticeship in computer programming fell through.
4 min read - WorldAFP
Spotted? Indian police say leopard-like animal at swearing-in was cat
As India's government took the oath of office at the presidential palace flanked by honour guards, a fleeting sight was spotted -- an apparently leopard-like animal prowling past.Leopards too are occasionally spotted in wilder corners on the outskirts of the city.
2 min read - CelebrityAFP
WWII veteran, 100, marries sweetheart, 96, in France after D-Day events
It might have been the longest wait but on Saturday 100-year-old American World War II veteran Harold Terens married his 96-year-old fiancee in Normandy, just days after being honoured on the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in northwestern France.His son Bill Terens said they did not know "if he'd be alive or well enough to travel" to France for the anniversary of the D-Day landings as he regularly did in the past.
4 min read - WorldAFP
WWII vet to marry in French town after D-Day commemorations
Hundred-year-old World War II veteran Harold Terens will marry his 96-year-old fiancee Saturday in the French town of Carentan-les-Marais, just days after being honoured on the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings that took place a few kilometres away.After the war Terens married his first wife, Thelma, with whom he spent 70 years and raised three children until her death in 2018.
2 min read - USAFP
Piecing it together: LA cops solve LEGO theft ring
Every parent knows how to find a piece of LEGO -- walk around barefoot.Detectives in Los Angeles said they began tracking LEGO thefts in December.
1 min read - WorldReuters
Belgian collects a treasure trove of 60,000 vintage tin boxes
GRAND-HALLET, Belgium (Reuters) - The colourful tins piled high around Belgian collector Yvette Dardenne used to contain goods ranging from chocolates, toffees, coffee and rice to tobacco, talc and shoe polish, and come from as far away as India. Yvette Dardenne, 83, has accumulated almost 60,000 vintage tin boxes from all over the world since starting her collection some 30 years ago. The collection, which now occupies four houses, all began with a Cote d'Or chocolate box illustrated with a
1 min read - WorldReuters
Penguins missing visitors, say keepers, at locked-down Thai Zoo
The flip flop sound of penguin feet rang out at an empty zoo in Thailand on Thursday as a parade of birds waddled out of their enclosure for their daily splash in a pool to keep them healthy during a COVID-19 lockdown. Thailand is fighting its biggest coronavirus outbreak yet and has introduced strict movement curbs that have seen many public places, including zoos, shuttered. "I noticed that they felt a bit confused because when they walk out, there's usually a lot of people waiting for them,
2 min read - WorldReuters
UK PM Johnson worried about his dog's 'romantic urges' in Downing Street
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday that his dog Dilyn had "romantic urges" and was "endlessly at people's legs" in Downing Street. Johnson and Carrie Symonds revealed in 2019 that they had adopted a rescued Jack Russell-cross puppy named Dilyn. "Do you have to worry about his romantic urges?" Johnson asked a police dog handler with an Alsatian.
1 min read - EntertainmentReuters
Feline okay? The app that tells you if your cat's happy
Cat owners who love to take pictures of their furry friends now have a new excuse to pull out their smartphones and take a snapshot: it may actually help the cat. A Calgary, Alberta, animal health technology company, Sylvester.ai, has developed an app called Tably that uses the phone's camera to tell whether a feline is feeling pain. A 2019 study published in peer-reviewed journal Scientific Reports found that the so-called 'feline grimace scale,' or FGS, is a valid and reliable tool for acute
2 min read - WorldReuters
Samoan seasonal workers sing during Australian hotel quarantine
Australia's strict hotel quarantine requirements leaves most people frustrated and angry, but a group of quarantined seasonal workers from Samoa sang from their hotel room balconies in Hobart to say thank you instead. They were also doing this to thank the Australian Defence Force, police and government for their efforts, according to Dennie Teniseli, who filmed the video on June 18 not long after the group flew in. Australia has since March 2020 shut its international border to non-citizens b
1 min read - WorldReuters
Australia man ties bedsheets together to escape 4th floor hotel quarantine - police
A man in the Australian city of Perth escaped mandatory quarantine in a hotel by scaling down a rope made of tied together bedsheets from a fourth-floor window, police said on Tuesday. After arriving in the West Coast city on an interstate flight from Brisbane, the man had his application for entry refused under the state's tough border entry rules intended to stop the virus entering from elsewhere in the country. The man was told to leave the state within 48 hours and taken to a hotel for tem
2 min read - ScienceReuters
World record as tightrope walkers cross Swedish Arctic valley 600m up
Four German tightrope walkers have set a new world highlining distance record by crossing a 2.1 km-long valley in Swedish lapland on a line suspended at a height of 600 metres. Reuters' video footage showed a barefoot man sway and teeter as he delicately tiptoed across the line between two mountain peaks in a snow-capped valley. "I just focused on being very slow, being extremely clean and just reaching the end," said Quirin Herterich, who was first to cross the line before compatriots Lukas I
1 min read - USReuters
'Bubble man' roams San Francisco streets, bringing joy
The massive bubble Kurth Reis conjured last month, rising like a genie from a bucket of soap, startled a small girl visiting San Francisco's Embarcadero, almost enveloping her as she scampered away. Reis was in the military and later did jail time, burning bridges before a motorcycle crash hospitalized him in 2018, he recounted. His girlfriend, Kelly Sullivan, deserves much of the credit, or blame, for what she calls his soapy "addiction."
3 min read - USReuters
Lot in Canadian village for sale with small catch: It's under water
A 19-acre (7.7-hectare) lot for sale in a protected bay on the Canadian side of Lake Erie may look like a steal at C$99,000 ($80,292), especially with the average home in Canada now worth C$688,000, but there is a catch. The vacant lot on Brock Street in the village of Shrewsbury, Ontario, about 65 miles (105 km) east of Detroit, has no actual address, though the neighborhood gets high marks for being quiet and car-friendly. Canada's housing market has been on a tear through the COVID-19 pande
2 min read - WorldReuters
Cambodia PM weighs in to get pet lion returned to owner
A pet lion that authorities seized from a house in Cambodia's capital last week was reunited with its owner on Monday - after a personal intervention by Prime Minister Hun Sen. Police and wildlife officials initially raided the property on June 27, saying they were rescuing the animal after videos of it appeared on the social media app TikTok, and neighbours raised the alarm. In the days that followed, social media posts appeared saying the lion should be returned to the owner, who had denied
2 min read - BusinessReuters
With 3D printed 'steaks', Spanish startup eyes the mass market
As demand for plant-based alternatives to meat rises, Barcelona-based startup Novameat is using its 3D printing technology to manufacture vegetarian "steaks" that it hopes will reach the mass market next year. Novameat plans to sell its "steaks" directly to consumers and to businesses such as restaurants interested in producing plant-based meat, business development manager Alexandre Campos told Reuters on Tuesday. The Spanish company, which developed its technology in 2018, was showing how it
1 min read - BusinessReuters
'Free meat for a year' offered in JBS U.S. vaccine sweepstakes
Meatpacker JBS SA said on Thursday it will give away beef, pork and chicken for the next year to 50 U.S. families that participate in company-sponsored vaccination clinics over the coming weeks. The Brazilian company's arm in the United States and Pilgrim's Pride, a U.S. chicken company mostly owned by JBS, came under fire last year as thousands of meatpacking workers fell sick with COVID-19. "We've made great progress, and our vaccination rates are much higher than the rates in the communitie
2 min read - WorldReuters
Italian hospital uses CT scan to unveil secrets of Egyptian mummy
Ancient Egypt met modern medical technology when a mummy underwent a CT scan at an Italian hospital as part of a research project to discover its secrets. The mummy of Ankhekhonsu, an ancient Egyptian priest, was transferred from Bergamo's Civic Archaeological Museum to Milan's Policlinico hospital, where experts will shed light on his life and the burial customs of almost 3,000 years ago. "The mummies are practically a biological museum, they are like a time capsule," said Sabina Malgora, the
1 min read - LifestyleReuters
Ukraine's inseparable couple ditches the handcuffs and parts ways
After 123 days handcuffed together to save their on-again off-again relationship, Ukrainians Alexandr Kudlay and Viktoria Pustovitova have split up, shedding their bonds on national TV and saying the experiment had brought home uncomfortable truths. The young couple from the eastern city of Kharkiv decided to handcuff themselves together on Valentine's Day, in a last-ditch attempt to break the cycle of breaking up and making up. Pustovitova said personal space is what she missed most, although
2 min read - BusinessReuters
Kyrgyz cricket farm hopes to tap Chinese insects market
With one eye on the lucrative Chinese market just across the border, an entrepreneur has launched Kyrgyzstan's first cricket farm and is producing high-protein insect flour and fried cricket snacks. Accompanied by loud chirping from his one tonne of crickets at the farm, Adyl Gaparov said his idea was inspired by online articles about breeding crickets. "Our main business is producing cricket flour with high protein content," Gaparov said.
2 min read - WorldReuters
Supermarket chain says Polish workers found cocaine in banana boxes
Supermarket chain Carrefour SA said on Friday it had notified local police after employees at one of its Warsaw stores had found suspicious parcels in a delivery of bananas, which police later confirmed to be cocaine. "They immediately notified the police, who quickly secured the batch of goods and started an investigation that is currently underway," Carrefour said in an email to Reuters, adding that it was cooperating with the investigation. Warsaw police said the packages contained over 160
1 min read - USReuters
Jamming with the cicadas in New Jersey: a once in 17 years event
For some in the U.S., the emergence of billions of red-eyed cicadas this spring after a 17-year slumber has been met with annoyance - particularly over their loud buzzing calls. But for David Rothenberg, a professor of philosophy and music at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, it has presented a unique opportunity for collaboration. "We're combining human musical ideas with nature's musical ideas," he explained as he gathered fellow musicians at a nature preserve in Princeton, New Jersey.
2 min read - WorldReuters
China's WeChat bans nose-picking, spanking in bid to clean up livestreams
Chinese social media platform WeChat on Thursday published a list of activities and "violations" it is banning in a bid to clean up its livestreaming service, including "indecent" nose-picking and spanking games. WeChat, owned by Tencent Holdings, is ubiquitous in China, where it is used by around 1 billion people for everything from sending instant messages to ordering pizzas. China closely regulates its internet and has been increasingly clamping down on content that is politically or social
1 min read - WorldReuters
Pelicans befriend Cuban man living by the sea
GUANIMAR (Reuters) - "Michel the noble" and "Panchito the affectionate" are some of the names Leonardo Carrillo has given the pelicans that flock each year to his wooden hut on the southern coast of Cuba. For the past two decades, the 62-year-old has cared for the colony of around 100 brown pelicans that land in his village of Guanimar in December to spend the winter months there before heading back north in May. Carrillo said he does actually have three (human) children - two who live in the
2 min read - LifestyleReuters
French restaurant serves up food of the future: insects
Laurent Veyet's tasting menu is not for the faint-hearted, but may point to the future of feeding a booming world population - there is a prawn salad with yellow mealworm, crunchy insects on a bed of vegetables and chocolate-coated grasshoppers. "It's the ideal dish for first-timers," the Parisian chef said, preparing a serving of pasta made with mealworm flour, sweet potato and sauteed insect larvae. The European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) in January deemed the mealworm fit for human consumpti
2 min read - WorldReuters
With rattles and smoke, Peru shamans predict election outcome
Peruvian shamans, with rattles, smoke and pictures of the Andean country's two presidential candidates, are trying to read the tea leaves ahead of a polarized run-off election on June 6 with polls showing what could be a tight contest. On a stony hillside in Lima, shamans burned incense and played musical instruments in colorful, traditional outfits to predict the winner from between socialist front-runner Pedro Castillo and conservative Keiko Fujimori. The vote could tip copper-rich Peru shar
2 min read - WorldReuters
Cattle for raffle gets Thai town in moood for vaccines
BANGKOK (Reuters) -A district of northern Thailand has launched a raffle campaign for inoculated residents to win a live cow per week for the rest of the year, in a bid to boost the local COVID-19 vaccination drive. From next month, one lucky vaccinated villager in the Mae Chaem district of Chiang Mai province will be randomly chosen every week to win a young cow worth around 10,000 baht ($319). "Our vaccine registration numbers have gone from hundreds to thousands in a couple of days," distri
1 min read - WorldReuters
Would you wash with snail slime soap?
Foamy slime bubbles onto Damien Desrocher’s hand as he lightly rubs one of the thousands of snails he keeps in an enclosure in his backyard. The 28-year-old French artisan began using the gastropod fluid to make soap bars, which he sells in local markets, in December. "It's all in the dexterity of how you tickle,” Desrocher said as he extracted the slime, noting that the process does not kill the animals.
2 min read
