Quirky

A lucky tourist from Tennessee has discovered a 3.29-carat brown diamond at Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas, and has named it "Bud".

With a rapid, right-hand swoop, Shizuo Mori served the last of about 50 puddings on Wednesday, a treat that's made his tiny Tokyo coffee shop a destination for tourists flocking to Japan after the end of COVID restrictions.

A team of scientists led by Jean-Michel Claverie from Aix-Marseille University School of Medicine has revived a virus, which he describes as "zombie viruses", that had been dormant for almost 50,000 years. 

In a creative bid to raise environmental awareness, a group of musicians from Paraguay belted out familiar tunes at a hilltop concert just outside Bolivia's capital city, overlooking a not-so-scenic and sprawling garbage dump.

Starbucks has launched a new drink that mixes coffee with olive oil, offering it initially in Italy as an alternative to the more standard espresso or cappuccino.

With tears, waves and shouts of farewell from fans, a Japan-born giant panda set off for China on Tuesday from the Tokyo zoo where she was raised.

A famed California mountain lion was celebrated at a sold-out event at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles, with thousands of fans honouring the big cat's life and contribution to urban wildlife.

Scientists at Peking University in China have published a new study that suggests Earth's inner core has recently stopped spinning and may be reversing direction on a periodic cycle lasting about 60 to 70 years.

A woman in the US has credited her Apple Watch with saving her and her unborn baby's lives.

U.S. President Joe Biden, wearing his trademark aviator sunglasses, pardoned two turkeys from North Carolina named Chocolate and Chip on Monday, sparing them from Thanksgiving dinner tables.

Humans are on course to live and work on the moon for "durations" by 2030, a NASA official has said.

The Green Planet Dubai, a tropical rainforest home to over 3,000 plants and animals across four indoor rainforest levels, has welcomed two young sloth sisters.

Quadloop, a Nigerian-based company, has found a way to turn electronic waste into solar lanterns and other products which will have a lower impact on the environment.

A "flying car" built by Chinese electronic vehicle maker Xpeng Inc made its first public flight in the UAE, as the company works towards launching the electric aircraft on international markets.

Alain Robert, the free climber dubbed the "French Spiderman", scaled one of Barcelona's highest skyscrapers without a harness. And for the first time ever, the famous daredevil was joined by his son.

Lindt & Spruengli's foil-wrapped chocolate bunnies deserve protection from copycat products, Switzerland's highest court ruled on Thursday, and ordered German discounter Lidl to stop selling a similar product in Switzerland and to destroy its remaining stock.

Michael Jordan's jersey from the opening game of the 1998 NBA Finals sold for over $10 million at an auction, making it the most expensive piece of game-worn sports memorabilia in history.

A team of Egyptian archaeologists have unearthed pots of white cheese 'Haram', dating back to the 26th dynasty (664–525 BC), in Cairo's Saqqara area.

Shoji Morimoto has what some would see as a dream job: he gets paid to do pretty much nothing.

A new exhibition that celebrates the life of the late Princess Diana opens in Las Vegas on Friday, days after the 25th anniversary of her death in a car crash in Paris.

Gibraltar finally joined the official list of British cities on Monday, after 180 years in which its status, granted by Queen Victoria, had been overlooked due to an administrative error.

Charles Defoort is the only postman in mainland France to make his deliveries by boat.

McDonald's will increase the price of its cheeseburger by 20 per cent in Britain, in the first price hike for the popular item in 14 years as it responds to soaring inflation.

A cruise bound for the mysterious Bermuda Triangle has promised passengers they will receive a full refund if the ship disappears.

An app designed to help visually impaired or blind pedestrians use public transit will debut at a Washington subway station on Tuesday.

Fans of Thai rapper, Milli, had a hankering for mango sticky rice in Bangkok this week after the 19-year-old ate mouthfuls of the much-loved dessert on stage at the Coachella music festival in the United States.

The Trapp family from Duluth in Minnesota has achieved the Guinness World Records title for the tallest family.

Police in India were seeking to arrest members of a gang who dismantled a 60-feet-long iron bridge and likely sold it off in parts as scrap metal, officials said on Sunday.

The Eiffel Tower grew 6 metres on Tuesday after a new digital radio antenna was attached to the top of the Paris monument.

There are new tour guides in town at the Chicago Shedd Aquarium, and they are about to star in a children's book.

Malawian musician Giddes Chalamanda had never dreamed in his 92 years that he might one day be famous enough to dine with the president followed by a night in a luxury hotel.

German carmaker BMW has unveiled the world's first "colour-changing" car at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

A Vietnamese hotel is offering diners the chance to try gold leaf-coated steaks, seeking to tap a wave of publicity after a government minister was caught on camera being fed the dish at a London restaurant, where steaks can cost over £1,000.

The first dual-language MONOPOLY board game in the region brings out the incredible authenticity, culture and future of Doha to the world.

A Beijing bakery has introduced a Squid Game-themed confection-making challenge in its store as it seeks to cash in on the massive popularity of the South Korean Netflix show.

With climate change threatening traditional coffee farming, Finnish scientists say they have produced coffee from cell cultures with an aroma and taste resembling the real thing.

A rare copy of the Holy Quran translation, once owned by Thomas Jefferson, a former US President, is displayed in the United States’ pavilion at EXPO 2020 Dubai.

Abu Dhabi’s Environment Agency is monitoring a rare blue hole located in the Al Dhafra region.

A Barbie doll version of Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti has jetted off on a zero-gravity flight with the aim of inspiring young girls to consider a career in space and science, technology, maths and engineering (STEM).

With demand for taxis drying up in Thailand and thousands of drivers leaving town, one Bangkok cab company has turned its vehicles into mini vegetable gardens, hoping to take the edge off the coronavirus crunch.

You can now send a letter to your 50-year-old self in a new Dubai initiative that marks the Year of the 50th.

Jude Walker, an 11-year-old boy, is on an odyssey he hopes will help save the planet. He is walking to London from northern England in a bid to garner support for a carbon tax to tackle carbon emissions.

A Spanish company has devised a system to extract drinking water from thin air to supply arid regions where people are in desperate need.

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 project in Kenya is using biogas technology to tackle two major pollution problems with one device: a machine that converts waste such as invasive water hyacinth into cleaner cooking fuel.

An animal conservation charity is going to reintroduce a herd of elephants from England into the Kenyan wild.

A different type of participant dropped in on Pope Francis' general audience at the Vatican on Wednesday - Spider-Man.

Some might cringe, but at one Maryland chocolate shop, 17-year-old insects are flying off the shelves.

Scientists have confirmed the discovery of a new dinosaur species in Australia, one of the largest found in the world, more than a decade after cattle farmers first uncovered bones of the animal.

A giant slab of ice bigger than the Spanish island of Majorca has sheared off from the frozen edge of Antarctica into the Weddell Sea, becoming the largest iceberg afloat in the world.

From the age of five, Filipino graphic artist Percival Lugue has had a passion for collecting toys from fast-food restaurant chains like McDonald's, Burger King and home-country favourite Jollibee.

Fifteen people have emerged from a cave in France after 40 days in an experiment to see how a lack of external communications would affect their sense of time.

Matchbox is launching a new series of toy cars based on real-life electric and hybrid vehicles, in a bid to make its miniatures more sustainable and to raise awareness of the environmental impact of motoring.

It is an eerie, foreboding, reverberating tune, enough to send a tingle down your spine.

Hoping to capitalise on a surge in demand for home deliveries, a Singapore technology company has deployed a pair of robots to bring residents their groceries in one part of the city state.

A Russian reporter had a 'ruff' time on live TV when a dog grabbed her microphone and took off, starting a chase that stunned newscasters and melted viewers' hearts.

A 121-year-old chocolate bar, from a batch commissioned by Queen Victoria for British troops fighting in South Africa, has been found in its original tin in the attic of an English manor.

A digital artwork by humanoid robot Sophia was sold at auction on Thursday for $688,888 in the form of a Non-Fungible Token (NFT), the latest sign of a frenzy in the NFT art world.

In a room crammed from ceiling to floor with boxes, cabinets and drawers of Lego bricks, Hoang Dang intently builds a bright blue, yellow and red fishing boat with a Vietnamese flag and eyes at its prow.

A picture of a ship floating not on water, but in the sky, has left the internet truly confused.

A haven for humans craving furry feline company, a cat cafe in Dubai also doubles as an adoption centre for some of the United Arab Emirates' many strays.

Fifty-two couples in Thailand got married while riding elephants on Sunday, in an annual Valentine's Day mass wedding ceremony at a botanical garden in a province east of Bangkok.

Nothing says social distancing quite like Dubai's RoboCafe, where robots have replaced their human overlords.

In the bustling northern Pakistani city of Peshawar a man in bowtie, bowler hat and carrying a cane flamboyantly weaves through busy traffic in a scene reminiscent of a 1920s silent film.

He may be a giant panda, but for now Xiao Qi Ji is still a baby, romping with toys and snacking on sweet potato, his first solid food.

A bluefin tuna sold for 20.8 million yen ($202,197) in the first auction of the new year at Tokyo's Toyosu fish market on Tuesday when it reopened after the holiday break.

Staying overnight at an airport isn't unheard of, especially if you miss a flight. But choosing to spend your holidays there in a tent is something entirely different.

How many disposable masks does it take to make a stool? Kim Ha-neul knows it takes 1,500.

Driverless robot buggies started delivering hot restaurant meals to paying customers in one central Moscow district on Wednesday, their operator, Russian Internet giant Yandex, said.

Swedish furniture giant IKEA has decided to discontinue its catalogue, one of the world's biggest annual publications, as shoppers move online.

Japan's oldest zoo unveiled the first baby elephant to be born there since its founding more than a century ago, and asked the public for help in naming it.

Pakistan's lonely elephant Kaavan arrived in Cambodia by cargo plane on Monday to start a new life at a local sanctuary, the culmination of years of campaigning for his transfer by singer Cher.

With his black sports jacket, reflective aviator sunglasses and bespoke orange helmet with holes so his ears can stick out, Bogie the dog sure is one suave-looking canine, with an Easy Rider look that would earn him a place in any motorcycle gang.

When hiker Kim Kang-eun found the slopes of Mount Jiri, South Korea's largest national park, littered during a trip in 2018, she decided it was time to send out a message about taking better care of nature.

A robot has signed on as the newest staff member at a store in Japan, taking on the job of ensuring customers wear masks and practice social distancing to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

At the lowest point on earth, in the middle of a giant salt lake, a jolly man dressed in red with a flowing white beard stuck a Christmas tree in the ground and went for a swim.

The first panda to be born in South Korea was introduced to a group of lucky children and reporters on Wednesday and given a name - Fu Bao, meaning lucky treasure.

Darting around the pool as a group of swimmers stands in the shallow end, the dolphin looks much like those that jump through hoops and perform acrobatics at theme parks.

In South Korea, some of the world's biggest food delivery firms are scrambling to surf an estimated $4 billion wave of new orders, in a boom triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.

Another Guinness World Record has been broken in Dubai - this time it's to do with basketball.

Singapore Airlines plans to turn one of its grounded jumbo jets into a pop-up restaurant as part of initiatives to re-engage customers who haven't been able to travel due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Japanese artist Takahiro Shibata's glasses are fogging up because of his face mask - a problem familiar to many spectacles wearers during the coronavirus pandemic.

Designers Mark Badgley and James Mischka used their desire for travel as inspiration for their new Spring 2021 collection, debuted via video this week at New York Fashion Week.

Qantas Airways said a seven-hour flight over Australia's Outback and Great Barrier Reef had sold out in 10 minutes, as it joined a growing trend offering "flights to nowhere".

UAE is set to launch the highest restaurant atop Ras Al Khaimah's Jais Adventure Peak in October.

The number of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins seen around Hong Kong has jumped due to the pause in high-speed ferry traffic due to the coronavirus, scientists said.

When the bones of the early armoured dinosaur Scelidosaurus were unearthed in 1858 in west Dorset, England, they comprised the first complete dinosaur skeleton ever identified.

Tokyo has given public toilets an interesting makeover, in a bid to change the common view that such facilities are dark and dirty places.

A pun on the Spanish word for "honey" and the name of one of the world's most famous actors has landed a small scale Chilean vendor in a less-than-sweet spot.

A restaurant in Spain is pioneering a dining experience that allows customers to avoid face-to-face contact with staff and minimise the risk of coronavirus contagion.

Tennis star Roger Federer did the unthinkable for two young players, after their rooftop match in their Italian hometown, went viral.

A 10.69 carat diamond, with an estimated value of almost a quarter of a million dirhams, was unearthed in a mine in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

Thousands of Czechs gathered in Prague for a "symbolic farewell party" for the coronavirus pandemic.

Diego, the giant Galapagos tortoise, has returned to his native island in Ecuador after decades of breeding in captivity.

As people across the world are finding fun ways to stay creative during the pandemic, a father and daughter in Spain are winning over hearts for how they take out their trash.

Six athletes based in Abu Dhabi have smashed the Guinness World Records title for "most chest to ground burpees in 24 hours" by a mixed team.

A restaurant in Thailand has come up with a unique plan to help its diners meet social distancing guidelines in the fight against COVID-19.

How do you fancy owning a unique pair of Air Jordan’s, worn by the basketball legend himself?

A five-year-old boy was pulled over by the police in the American state of Utah for driving his parent's car.

As several food stalls in Singapore have remained closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, a 28-year-old chef has vowed to stay open to serve those in need.

A kangaroo was spotted hopping through the empty streets of the Australian city of Adelaide amid the coronavirus lockdown.

A 97-year-old Brazilian woman has become the country's oldest person to survive the coronavirus.

A couple in the Chinese city of Wuhan are finally ready to take their wedding vows as authorities ease lockdown restrictions.

Indonesian authorities are offering a reward to anyone who can remove a tyre stuck around the neck of a giant crocodile.

Goody, a turtle in Thailand who lost her left flipper years ago after she was entangled in a fishing net, can swim again.

The British war veteran raised money for the National Health Service (NHS) by completing laps of his garden using a walking frame.

A hotel in Japan is offering rooms for $1 (AED 3.67) per night. But that's if you're willing to have your stay livestreamed on the hotel's YouTube.

A baggage handler in Singapore has been handed a 20-day jail term for swapping tags on nearly 300 suitcases at the Changi Airport.

A unique South Korean service is offering free funerals for the living in a bid to gain perspective on life.

New Zealanders only have a few days left to vote in a very important election. One that'll determine the Bird of the Year winner.

A province in the Philippines has set a new Guinness world record for the largest folk dance presentation in a single venue.

Protestors in Lebanon spontaneously broke into the popular 'Baby Shark' dance to calm a toddler caught in the midst of a noisy demonstration.

A college in India has been forced to issue an apology after images of students wearing cardboard boxes during an exam went viral.

An avocado weighing 2.54 kg has won a family in Hawaii a place in the Guinness World Records.

A new, high-tech jacket has transformed the lives of twin bloggers Hermon and Heroda Berhane who lost their hearing when they were children.

A unique ring, worth a staggering $4.9 million (AED 17.98 million), will be the highlight of the 47thd edition of the Sharjah Watch and Jewellery show.

A clever dog has won over the internet for pulling off a hilarious stunt in order to avoid his nails being trimmed.

A Costco in the American city of California shut down its food court so a 4-year-old could have his birthday there.

A video's gone viral and it's all to do with a roller coaster in Spain.

Lego has launched braille and audio instructions in order to reach builders with blindness and vision impairment.

A group of nurses put on an impromptu Backstreet Boys performance for a patient who was forced to miss the boy band's Atlanta show due to a cancer diagnosis.

Who's happy the summer holidays are over?

A Danish city has gone local with their pedestrian crossings.

A grandma in the UK is being criticised on the internet for her Christmas dinner.