Some more funny and random headlines from around the world:
- Royal couple star in Beano comic: The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall are given a starring role in one of Britain’s most popular children’s comics.
- First cycling Tour de Congo begins: The first cycling tour of the Democratic Republic of Congo starts, but cyclists will not be riding to the volatile east of the vast country.
- Applause is a ‘social contagion’: The quality of a performance does not drive the amount of applause an audience gives, a study suggests.
- Fergie’s first team sheet auctioned: The official team sheet from Sir Alex Ferguson’s first game in charge of Manchester United sells at auction for £19,000.
- ‘Our wives’ Naval toast rewritten: A traditional toast made at Royal Navy mess dinners on Saturday nights has been updated to reflect cultural changes, the Ministry of Defence says.
- Woman finds scorpion in her bed: An Aberdeen woman wakes up in bed to find a scorpion inches from her face.
- Federer’s Wimbledon footwear banned: Wimbledon tell Roger Federer he cannot wear his orange-soled trainers again after they are judged to have broken the dress code.
- Grandparents ‘affect class system’: Children’s position in Britain’s class system is closely linked to that of their grandparents, not just their parents, academics say.
- Vietnam man regains long-lost arm: A former North-Vietnamese soldier is reunited with his arm after more than 40 years, when the US war doctor who amputated it returned the bones in person.
- Patiala maharaja dinner set for sale: An exquisite 1,400-piece dinner set made for the former Maharaja of Patiala is expected to fetch up to £1.5m ($2.3m) at auction in London.
- US man eats record 69 hot dogs: A US man devours 69 hot dogs, beating his own world record and retaining his title as reigning champion for a seventh year in a row.
- ‘Breathalyse gondoliers’, Venice told: Drink and drugs tests are proposed for Venice’s gondoliers following complaints about their sobriety and a dunking of a job applicant.
- Comics worth £20,000 used on artwork: An artist finds out the comic books he used to make a papier-mache sculpture could have been worth £20,000.
- Giant python found in charity shop: Police in Australia investigating a reported burglary find a snake, measuring 5.7m, which may have got into the premises through a damaged roof.
- Russia buys typewriters ‘over leaks’: Russia’s agency responsible for the Kremlin security is buying typewriters – a move reportedly prompted by recent leaks by WikiLeaks and Edward Snowden.
