From "psycho seagulls" to a zoo's strange new attraction. Your weekly roundup of offbeat stories from around the world.
- Check her out -
A chess player tried a new twist on the Queen's Gambit to win a top cash prize in a Kenyan tournament. Knowing he didn't stand a chance against a formidable line-up of male grandmasters, he entered the women's competition in a niqab and glasses.
Suspicions were first aroused because the interloper gave his name as the rather unIslamic "Milicent". As the mystery newcomer progressed, beating a veteran of six World Chess Olympiads, her broad shoulders and shoes also set tongues wagging.
Finally, the organisers put her into check by inviting her into the ladies' toilets. There the imposter was unveiled and he confessed everything.
- Roadrunner -
Ultra-marathon runners are a breed apart. But the organisers of a gruelling 50-mile (80-kilometre) race between Manchester and Liverpool were gobsmacked when they tracked Scottish champ Joasia Zakrzewski doing one stretch at 70 miles an hour.
Zakrzewski, who holds several ultra-marathon records, is fast, but not super-human. She had taken a lift in a car.
The 47-year-old was disqualified and stripped of her third-place finish. She later apologised through friends who said "she genuinely feels sorry" for taking the lift after feeling unwell.
- Zoo's new attraction: a human -
Social media footage shows him floating on his back before washing his face and rinsing his hair.
Zoo director Kevin Buley said the rhinos -- who are not known for their tolerance of trespassers -- were "understandably startled by the intruder".
"We hope that the man involved gets the help he very clearly needs," he added.
- Wee wee... need to turn back -
There is nothing worse than getting caught short at 35,000 feet, as the French actor Gerard Depardieu could tell you.
Passengers aboard an Austrian Airlines flight from Vienna to New York began to raise a stink when so many toilets began to break down that the captain was forced to turn back after two hours.
But luckily, the 300 people on board were able to hold on, unlike the wine-loving star, who was once removed from a flight for relieving himself into a bottle. Unfortunately most of it poured out into the aisle.
- Don't be gulled -
The much-maligned seabirds, notorious for stealing holidaymakers' fish and chips, have been the target of a tabloid hate campaign, with the Daily Star branding them "feathered scumbags".
The newspaper claims that gulls, a protected species in the UK, are attacking more and more people. "Feathered scumbags are at it again!" its front page thundered last month, saying, "psycho seagulls... go mad for our chips, ice creams and battered sausages."
- Quiche fit for a kaiser -
While gulls are big fans of British food, humans tend to be more sceptical.
Which is why King Charles III has chosen a French favourite as his royal dish. While his mother brought the world lightly curried "Coronation Chicken" to celebrate her ascension to the British throne, Charles has gone for "Coronation Quiche" with spinach and broad beans.
The vegetarian dish could not be more fitting for the "Green King". Like him its origins are German... Guten appetit!
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© Agence France-Presse
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