Amid a global pandemic, humanitarian crises, wars, disasters and other bleak news, lighthearted stories are as necessary as ever. Here is a pick of the week's best funny, silly, strange and quirky news from around the world.
Grandma's teeth and a bucket of slime
A handful of slime. /VCG
Uber published its annual Lost & Found Index last week, with a metal leg, 500 grams of caviar, a bucket of slime and "my grandma's teeth" among the more unusual items that passengers forgot in the back of a car.
This was the sixth year that the ride-hailing app published the index, tallying not only the most common items left behind (phones, wallets, keys) and the "most forgetful" U.S. cities (Austin, Texas; Charlotte, North Carolina; Houston, Texas) but also the most unique lost items.
While a diamond, a child's blanket, and an urn with a pet's ashes undoubtedly held monetary or at least emotional value for their owners, passengers also went to the trouble of declaring more perishable items, including "some tater tots," 10 pounds of hamburger meat and "17 flowers and 3 milk teas" – presumably in the hope of retrieving them in the future. One passenger declared: "I lost 40 chicken nuggets."
In all, at least five people left behind their dentures, and the company established that while passports and books tend to be lost on Wednesdays, children's items like car seats, pacifiers and strollers are more often forgotten on Tuesdays.
If any of the above items rings a bell, Uber posted a link on how to reclaim lost property.
A shortage of lettuce
A KFC burger. /VCG
KFC customers in Australia are finding an unusual ingredient in their sandwiches these days: cabbage.
The company announced on its website that it has has to replace the usual lettuce on its burgers and wraps with a mixture of lettuce and cabbage due to a massive shortage of leafy greens.
Recent heavy flooding in Queensland and New South Wales destroyed crops, causing the price of a head of lettuce to triple in some places, according to the BBC.
But if cabbage brings back unappetizing memories of school canteens, KFC has a simple solution.
"Simply click 'Customize' on your chosen product and remove Lettuce from the Recipe," it advised customers.
At least the current shortage has only hit a garnish. In January, the fried chicken chain was forced to cut several items off its menu as Australia suffered a shortage of chicken.
100, healthy and happy
Two elderly women driving. /VCG
Whoever thinks elderly persons shouldn't drive hasn't met Candida Uderzo. The Italian woman recently turned 100 and got her driver's license renewed after passing all the required tests.
Active and independent, Uderzo not only drives around her town of Breganze in northern Italy, but also bikes to visit her 95-year-old sister and goes on weekly hikes, she told the local Giornale di Vicenza newspaper.
Her son said she doesn't need glasses to read the newspaper.
"I am really lucky to have been so healthy," Uderzo told the daily Corriere del Veneto.
Her secret: "I eat everything, I've always been passionate about life. I like to go hiking in the mountains, to go mushroom picking, to move."
"I'm not one who has always stayed at home."
Uderzo is not the only Italian centenarian to still take the wheel. One 100-year-old in Sicily last year bought a new car to celebrate having his license renewed and said he had never had an accident in his life, The Guardian reported. Another said he didn't plan on giving up driving anytime soon.
As for Uderzo, her new license allows her to drive until at least 2024.
Is it a bee, is it a fish?
Bumblebees. /VCG
A bee can be a fish. At least this is what a California court has decreed.
In 2018, environmental groups tried to get protection under the California Endangered Species Act for four types of bumblebees under the label "invertebrates," according to CNN.
A quirk in the Act however meant that invertebrates were defined as fish. This led to a 2020 ruling by the Sacramento County Superior Court that the bumblebees, whose populations have been declining due to climate change, should be bumped off the endangered species list.
Now, California's Third District Court of Appeal has decided they should be allowed back on.
"The issue presented here is whether the bumble bee, a terrestrial invertebrate, falls within the definition of fish," the court wrote in its ruling.
"Although the term fish is colloquially and commonly understood to refer to aquatic species, the term of art employed by the Legislature in the definition of fish in section 45 is not so limited," it concluded.
By that definition, some fish can fly.
Read more:
ICYMI: The week's quirky news from around the world - June 3, 2022
ICYMI: The week's quirky news from around the world - May 27, 2022