Amid a global pandemic, humanitarian 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.

Milkshake alert

McDonald's customers craving a milkshake in the UK are out of luck: they're out. And this time, it's not because the ice cream machine is broken.

The fast-food chain announced on Tuesday that it was taking milkshakes and bottled drinks off the menu in all of its 1,250 outlets in England, Scotland and Wales.

The reason cited was supply issues, as businesses in the UK have been hit by a double whammy of Brexit and COVID-19, which has created new trade barriers for products and resulted in a shortage of food workers and lorry drivers.

Not to worry: McDonald's said the "no milkshakes" move was only temporary, adding it was "working hard to return these items to the menu."

Asphalt with a difference

For those with sensitive noses who have never enjoyed the sweet scent of tar, Poland has an alternative for you.

Polish construction company Budimex announced on Monday that it had developed a flower-scented asphalt to "provide a more comfortable working environment for construction workers paving roads," Reuters reported.

The new material contains natural and synthetic essential oils that neutralize the smell of the asphalt and give it a pleasant fragrance, the company said, adding it hoped to roll out its perfumed bitumen on a larger scale.

The report did not specify whether the asphalt came in rose, lavender or jasmine scents.

How do you do?

Handshakes may not be in vogue, with COVID-19 still raging worldwide, but humans are not the only ones to have polite exchanges when they begin or end an interaction.

A new study published in iScience found that chimpanzees and bonobos "frequently exchanged mutual gaze and communicative signals prior to and after engaging in joint activities," a behavior "comparable" to humans, said the researchers.

In bonobos, this even varied according to the relationship between both parties: as with humans, they would spend less time greeting a close friend than a stranger – another sign of "social etiquette" and "politeness," the study found.

While great apes are not the only ones to greet each other, "it hasn't been systematically studied whether other species also take leave of each other like we do," the study's lead author Raphaela Heesen told CNN. 

Think twice the next time you want to say that somebody is behaving like an animal. 

Breaking bones

After the ice bucket challenge and the Tide pod challenge, say hello to the milk crate challenge. But this viral fad comes with a bunch of medical warnings.

The challenge, which involves climbing a stack of unstable plastic crates, has made headlines for all the wrong reasons as people have attempted it and seriously injured themselves.

Dr. Chad Cannon, an emergency room doctor at the University of Kansas Health System, warned: if "you land on the milk crate, you will break your back and be paralyzed."

The Baltimore City Health Department tweeted that hospitals have enough on their hands already with the pandemic. 

"With COVID-19 hospitalizations rising around the country, please check with your local hospital to see if they have a bed available for you, before attempting the #milkcratechallenge," it noted.

Even the U.S. Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) chimed in between COVID-19 updates: "Although we regulate milk, we can't recommend you try that. Perhaps enjoy a nice glass of 2% and return all those crates to the grocery store?"

Read more:

ICYMI: The week's quirky news from around the world - July 9, 2021

ICYMI: The week's quirky news from around the world - June 11, 2021