Amid a global pandemic, political crises, natural disasters and other bleak news, light-hearted stories are as necessary as ever. Here is a pick of the week's best funny, silly and quirky news from around the world.

Godzilla vs. 7-Eleven

A 7-Eleven shop in Thailand had to deal with a terrifying guest when a giant water lizard entered and began climbing the shelves, sending goods flying left and right.

Footage captured by a customer showed the large reptile first browsing the goods on display and then clawing its way up, recalling scenes from such classic monster movies as King Kong or Godzilla.

Netizens were quick to draw comparisons with a new film currently out in cinemas, as the video went viral. 

"Is he doing a promo for the movie Godzilla vs Kong?" said one user.

"The new Godzilla movie took a weird turn..." another noted.

Others noticed that the lizard was clearly eyeing the slurpee machine and suggested it was just looking for a cold drink on a hot day. 

It was unclear how long the animal stayed on its shelf and what became of it afterward. 

Clandestine skier

A Norwegian man took to his skis and to the mountains last weekend to try and cross the border from Sweden undetected and avoid quarantine. Unfortunately for him, he encountered bad weather and had to be rescued.

The man, in his 50s, needed to get documents in Norway and then wanted to return to Sweden where he was working, rescuers said. Under Norway's current rules, however, travelers coming from abroad must show a negative COVID-19 test and quarantine for 10 days.

To bypass that, the man on Saturday decided to trek about 40 kilometers on his skis over what rescuers called difficult terrain, only to run into bad weather.

In a plot resembling a fairytale, the adventurer was first rescued by a local reindeer breeder, then handed over to two fishermen at a nearby lake, who looked after him until rescue services arrived, AFP news agency reported.

Wet and cold, but also unapologetic, the man was taken in by police. Despite all his efforts, he will still have to sit out his 10 days in quarantine.

Congratulations! Wait no…

Imagine getting accepted to university… without having ever applied.

The University of Kentucky in the U.S. mistakenly sent out 500,000 acceptance emails to high school students around the country last month for a program that usually takes in just about 35 to 40 students.

It soon realized its error and contacted the students to apologize and set the record straight. But in the meantime, many were left bewildered as to how they were accepted to a college they had not applied to or, in some cases, had never even heard of.

"I was like, 'Mom, I just got accepted into the University of Kentucky.' And she's like, 'Oh, I didn't know you applied to University of Kentucky.' And I was like, 'oh, I did not,'" one student from San Antonio, Texas told local LEX 18 news.

Another said they had to do an internet search for the university when they received the email: "I had to google it just to make sure it was a real college because, like, I've heard of them. But I'm not so sure."

The university said only "a handful" of students who had received the email had expressed interest in the selective Clinical and Management program. It insisted however that all those who should have received an admissions letter had. 

Where's the runway?

An Ethiopian Airlines plane landed last weekend at Zambia's new Copperbelt International Airport, only to realize that not only was it at the wrong airport but the place where it had landed was not yet finished.

The cargo flight was meant to land at Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe Airport, some 15 kilometers away.

"When (the pilot) was about to land he was communicating with the radar and they told him, 'We can't see you'," the transport ministry's permanent secretary Misheck Lungu told AFP news agency. "So he used his sight… and landed at an airport still under construction."

Ethiopian Airlines said the close proximity of the two airports and the fact that their runways face in the same direction may have caused the error. The plane wasn't damaged and nobody was hurt.

The Times reported that hours after the first plane, a second one also nearly touched down at the incomplete airport. 

Read more: 

ICYMI: The week's quirky news from around the world - March 5, 2021

ICYMI: The week's quirky news from around the world - February 12, 2021