Odd news
Paris aquarium gives safe harbour to unwanted goldfish
Life can look pretty grim for a pet goldfish: a lifetime cooped up in a small glass bowl and, for the most unlucky, a final journey through filth-filled sewers.
Ire of dogs: Satirical pooch enlivens Paris uni blockade
April in Paris. Chestnuts in blossom. And placards in protest all over town. A half-century after the May 1968 uprisings, French student unrest is a seasonal classic so ancestral…
Homeless man finds €300,000 at Charles de Gaulle airport
Christmas came early for a French homeless man at Paris's main airport when he found an unlocked door at the offices of a cash handling company ... and walked away €300,000…
Japanese man held over body parts found in apartment
A Japanese man was arrested on Tuesday after the severed parts of nine bodies, some of them stored in picnic coolers, were found in his apartment in the Tokyo suburbs, police and…
A fatal bromance: the last supper of Lucien and Olivier
A pair of French villagers were enjoying a boozy dinner al fresco when they both mysteriously died, in a case that has gripped and moved the country.
France opens murder probe after family mysteriously vanishes
French investigators have opened a murder probe after bloodstains were found at the home of a family of four whose mysterious disappearance has stumped the nation.
French President Hollande’s barber ‘makes €10,000 a month’
The barber who tends to French President François Hollande’s hair earns a monthly net income of €9,895, a French newspaper revealed Wednesday, adding that the hairdresser is also…
French theme park hails return of ‘Joan of Arc’s ring’
A ring attributed to France's most famous historical martyr, Joan of Arc, was unveiled amid much fanfare on Sunday at a medieval theme park in western France. But historians…
Viral videos of Aretha Franklin and a priest on a hoverboard raise spirits
Perhaps in a bid to counterbalance depressing news of end-of-year terror alerts, internet users browsing social media and news websites have been clicking massively on upbeat…
Fiji to remove ‘outdated’ Union Jack from its flag
Fiji will remove Britain's Union Jack from its flag and replace it with a design that symbolises the Pacific nation rather than its former colonial power, the prime minister said…
US daredevil crosses Chicago skyline on a tightrope
An American daredevil broke world records on Sunday when he traversed three Chicago skyscrapers on a tightrope without using a safety harness, crossing between two of the…
Hollande on business charm offensive in United States
François Hollande has brought 30 French company bosses with him on his three-day visit to the United States, in the hope they’ll be able to boost exports. He'll also be trying to…