Odd News
- 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 - USAFP
Funny old world: The week's offbeat news
From the six-year-old in short trousers who took Washington by storm to why it's dangerous to mess with Italian mothers... your weekly roundup of offbeat stories from around the world.The short-trousered terror later added to his father's embarrassment when they appeared together on Fox News.
3 min read - USAFP
YouTuber arrested for helicopter and Lamborghini fireworks stunt
A YouTuber who allegedly directed a helicopter to shoot fireworks at a speeding Lamborghini for a "crazy stupid" video has been arrested in California, US prosecutors said Thursday.In the video titled "Destroying a Lamborghini with Fireworks," Choi allegedly presses a "fire missiles" button while two women are in a helicopter, shooting fireworks at a speeding Lamborghini sportscar.
2 min read - WorldAFP
'Europe in miniature': Welcome to Baarle, world's strangest border
If ever a place encapsulated the glorious complexity and sometimes paradoxical nature of the European Union, it would be Baarle, just on the Dutch side of the Netherlands-Belgium border.Right side: Netherlands.
4 min read - USAFP
Catch of the day: US couple hook safe stuffed with $100k
Two modern day treasure hunters in the United States appeared to strike gold when they uncovered a safe stuffed with $100,000 in cash -- but there was a catch.Though not the pair's first time discovering a safe, it was their first one containing more than random odds and ends, although because the safe was not air-tight many of the notes were wet or mud smeared.
1 min read - WorldAFP
Latvia sends cars seized from drunk drivers to Ukraine
Latvian drunk drivers are making an important -- if not entirely voluntary -- contribution to helping Ukraine fend off the Russian invasion."We are in dire need of more cars for the front line," said a Latvian paramedic who helped Ukraine on the ground in the first days of the invasion.
2 min read - WorldAFP
Fiji PM wins international athletics medal, at 75
Fiji's prime minister wound back the clock on Wednesday by winning a bronze medal at an international athletics championships, aged 75.Sitiveni Rabuka, who competed for Fiji at both rugby and athletics in his youth, finished on the podium for his age category in the shot put at the Oceania championships held in Suva.
2 min read - WorldAFP
Rock-solid motor: Croatia's Mercedes monument honours emigrants
Like a mini Mount Rushmore, a vintage Mercedes is emerging from a pile of limestone boulders on the edge of a small Croatian town."Mercedes symbolises safety and our people, who emerged from this (karst) stone," he said.
3 min read - WorldAFP
4,000 historic French state dinner menus up for auction
From cooking for dictators to rushing to accommodate Barack Obama's love of cheese -- a collection of French state dinner menus offered a unique insight into 150 years of diplomatic and gastronomic history on Wednesday.They offer a who's who of royalty, statesmen and dictators, from John F Kennedy and Nelson Mandela to Saddam Hussein and Vladimir Putin -- right up to the sumptuous meal at Versailles for King Charles III last year.
2 min read - USAFP
Thai cops seek image boost in brutal martial arts contest
Khaki-clad Thai cops threw bone-crunching right hooks, wrestled and launched devastating sweeping kicks at each other in a brutal tournament on Tuesday aimed at punching up their public image.The pair bowed politely and smiled at each other but, as soon as the bell rang, they fought as if they were up against a true criminal, unleashing a barrage of punches and kicks.
2 min read - WorldAFP
Hollande's love affair scooter auctioned off in France
The scooter at the centre of a headline-grabbing love affair between then-French president François Hollande and his actress lover Julie Gayet sold for 20,500 euros at an auction in France on Sunday.Hollande went on to marry Gayet in 2022, and on Sunday, France's most famous scooter was auctioned off at a château in the town of Montbazon in western France, according to an AFP correspondent.
2 min read - CelebrityAFP
Cannes 'Palm Dog' goes to mutt on trial
Griffon pup Kodi scampered to victory in the Cannes Film Festival's annual Palm Dog for best canine performer on Friday — proving he is not just a very good boy but a very fine actor too.But canine actor Kodi -- a former street dog from the south of France, found in a shelter -- steals the show with a paw-fect performance.
3 min read - LifestyleAFP
Japanese dog of 'Doge' meme fame dies
The Japanese dog whose photo inspired a generation of oddball online jokes and the $23-billion Dogecoin cryptocurrency beloved by Elon Musk died on Friday, her owner said.The picture also later became an NFT digital artwork that sold for $4 million and inspired Dogecoin, which was started as a joke by two software engineers and is now the eighth-most valuable cryptocurrency with a market capitalisation of $23 billion.
3 min read - WorldAFP
Bon appetit: Paris's Champs-Elysees to host giant picnic
Paris's most famous street the Champs-Elysees is to host a giant open-air picnic on Sunday as the French capital's iconic boulevard seeks to reinvent itself.The aim of the event was to show that the Champs-Elysees, famous for its expensive boutiques and restaurants, was not only good for shopping, said Marc-Antoine Jamet, president of the organiser, the Champs-Elysees Committee.
2 min read - USAFP
Bearing witness: the citizens lining up to watch Trump trial
A handful of courtroom hopefuls have braved all kinds of weather as they queue to catch a glimpse of Donald Trump's seismic New York criminal trial, sometimes paying lavishly for "sitters" to hold their places in line.For around $50 an hour, professional queue holders will stand in for court hopefuls, with the best spots in the line re-sold for as much as $2,000 when Trump's arch-nemesis Cohen testified.
3 min read - WorldAFP
Taiwan's next president goes shrimp fishing with foreign guests
They might have bigger fish to fry, but Taiwan's next president and vice president spent the eve of their inauguration on Sunday dangling rods over a murky pond at a shrimp fishing farm.President-elect Lai Ching-te and his deputy Hsiao Bi-khim hauled visiting foreign dignitaries, including presidents and a king, along for the fishing expedition at the Zhishan Shrimp Fishing Farm in the capital Taipei.
2 min read - WorldAFP
French post office celebrates baguette with scented stamp
The French Post Office on Friday rolled out a scratch-and-sniff postage stamp to celebrate the world-famous baguette, once described by President Emmanuel Macron as "250 grams of magic and perfection".The new stamps went on sale on Friday.
1 min read - WorldAFP
Controversial floating beach unveiled off French Riviera
A controversial private floating beach anchored off the French Riviera has entered service despite opposition from local politicians and environmental groups, its backers said on Friday. Due to the controversy, the floating beach will not be open to the public this season.
2 min read - StyleAFP
After 100 years, rare Danish coin collection up for auction
Like Sleeping Beauty cursed to sleep for 100 years, a Danish coin collection decreed to be kept off the market for a century will finally go under the hammer late this year.It's like the princess had been sleeping for 100 years," Helle Horsnaes, head of the National Museum's coin and medallion collection, told AFP. In 1922, Lars Emil Bruun, a Danish entrepreneur and coin expert, bought the collection from the aristocratic Bille-Brahe family, agreeing to respect the National Museum's pre-emptive
2 min read - WorldAFP
Taiwan presidential banquet to showcase island's identity
Preparing for a state banquet reflecting the self-ruled island's unique history, Taiwanese chef Wes Kuo places delicate vegetable fronds around sauces inspired by the cuisines of its five major ethnic groups.Kuo said the banquet created by Taiwanese chefs and food critics mirrors the island's identity.
3 min read - CelebrityAFP
Meryl Streep on hippos, sex scenes and almost losing her Oscar
Meryl Streep shared intimate anecdotes from her career at the Cannes Film Festival Wednesday, including falling in love when Robert Redford washed her hair and leaving her Oscar in the toilet. - Misplaced Oscar - Streep admitted she almost lost that Oscar, however, leaving it in a toilet cubicle at the ceremony.
4 min read - LifestyleAFP
Blinken shares pizza with Ukrainian counterpart in Kyiv visit
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken gave a ringing endorsement to a popular Ukrainian pizzeria founded by a war veteran during a surprise visit to Kyiv on Tuesday.Blinken was in the Ukrainian capital on a surprise visit weeks after Washington approved a $61 billion package of aid for Kyiv. bur-jc/jbr/yad
1 min read - LifestyleAFP
Swiss nursery lets robot do the talking
Sat in a circle on the nursery floor, a group of Swiss three-year-olds ask a robot called Nao questions about giraffes and broccoli.Back in the class, teacher Eve L'Eplattenier and the 14 children sat in a circle on the floor with Nao in the middle.
3 min read - WorldAFP
French Miss Africa contests proudly celebrate dual cultures in Paris
The recent scene in a Paris theatre was loud and tumultuous with hundreds of spectators backing their favourites in the Miss Ivory Coast/France 2024 contest, one of many events at which France's African diaspora celebrate their dual culture.Flora Sy, president of the Miss Ivory Coast/France committee, said that although the contestants are "very proud" to be French, "it is also important for us to show our Ivorian culture".
2 min read - LifestyleAFP
VideoTurkey therapy dogs join Istanbul Airport staff
Six-year-old Kuki and one-and-a-half-year old Alita recently joined the staff of Istanbul Airport, one of the busiest in the world, with a mission to provide solace for stressed travellers. At international departures just before passport control, the two dogs welcome passengers, some who are in a hurry, some feeling the tug of anxiety and some hanging around to say good-bye to loved ones. Ali Bahtiyari, who was travelling outside his native Iran for the first time, was amazed as soon as he saw
- 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 - SportsReuters
Soccer-Push-up punishment for Belgium's Batshuayi after squad gaffe
Belgium striker Michy Batshuayi faces a prompt punishment of 50 push-ups when he joins the national team squad for the European Championship at the end of the month. Batshuayi prematurely announced his own inclusion in the 26-man squad for the tournament on Monday, firing off a tweet before the squad’s official announcement was completed at a formal news conference addressed by coach Roberto Martinez. The Crystal Palace forward had not followed the announcement by Martinez on the Belgium FA mo
1 min read - WorldReuters
Rescued British yachtsman lands in Sydney's COVID-19 quarantine
A British yachtsman has been placed in mandatory coronavirus quarantine in a hotel in downtown Sydney after being rescued from his sinking craft in rough waters, Australian police said on Sunday. Australian media said the 40-year-old was sailing to Sydney from Tahiti. Police in New South Wales said they launched a 26-hour rescue effort from midnight on Friday, after receiving reports of a 50-foot (15 m) Beneteau yacht taking on water about 95 nautical miles off the coast of Newcastle.
1 min read