And Finally

Chinese government officials are reportedly cold-calling women to urge them to get pregnant. The bizarre scheme forms part of the Chinese government's efforts to reverse a decline in the country's birth rate, the South China Morning Post reports.

A rare copyright exemption has been granted by US authorities to allow McDonald's restaurants to repair their notoriously unreliable McFlurry machines. Franchise owners have complained that the machines have a "digital lock" preventing third-party repairs from being carried out.

A Russian court has slapped Google with a fine of around $20 decillion – thousands of times more than the entire world's GDP. The preposterous penalty arises from a years-long court case brought by Russian TV channels which have been banned from YouTube since 2020, partly as a result of US san

One of the world's largest banks is suing customers who believed they had discovered an "infinite money glitch". Thousands of people may have taken advantage of the so-called glitch, which was actually a form of cheque fraud which briefly became a viral sensation on TikTok and other social media pla

A woman is suing an airline because the ice cream sandwich it served her was “dangerously cold”. In a lawsuit seen by The Independent, New Jersey woman Karla Quinonez claims that JetBlue was negligent for “serving food at a temperature below what is reasonable or safe for consumpti

A motorist has been fined after being caught driving in a dedicated carpool lane with a plastic skeleton in the passenger seat. The Halloween decoration, spooky enough in itself, was also wearing a mask resembling that of Ghostface in the Scream horror film series.

A pizzeria owner has been arrested after it emerged the best-selling item on his menu came with a side of cocaine. Customers who ordered "pizza No. 40" from the unnamed pizzeria in Düsseldorf received both pizza and drugs at their door, DW reports.

Elon Musk is being sued by the production company behind Blade Runner 2049 for allegedly using the film to promote his new "Cybercab". Alcon Entertainment alleges that it turned down a formal request from an event organiser for the use of a still image from the 2017 film, but a virtually identical A

An English politician has called for a "crackdown on spitting" in order to "Make Britain Vaguely Civilised Again". Neil O'Brien, a Conservative MP who previously advised prime minister Theresa May, set out his proposals for an "orderly and civilised society" in a blog post yesterday.

An airport has capped goodbye hugs at a maximum of three minutes long. New signage at the drop-off section outside Dunedin Airport in New Zealand coldly states: "Max hug time 3 minutes. For fonder farewells please use the car park."

The Taliban has banned media outlets across large swathes of Afghanistan from broadcasting images of living beings. State media in the provinces of Takhar, Maidan Wardak and Kandahar have been told they can no longer air or publish images of people or animals, Newsweek reports.

A western company suffered a major data breach after inadvertently hiring a North Korean cyber criminal as a fully-remote worker. A cyber security firm said it assisted the company, which has not been named, after the former contractor downloaded company data and sent a ransom demand.

Footage of a police officer being swallowed up by a giant inflatable pumpkin has gone viral on social media. The police force in Bay Village, Ohio released the dashcam footage showing one of its officers losing in hand-to-hand combat against the Halloween decoration.

The World Conker Championships is investigating an allegation of cheating after a contestant was found to have a steel chestnut. The men's winner at the annual competition in Northamptonshire was searched by organisers after his rival cried foul play, The Telegraph reports.

An American police official has been criticised after summoning officers because Burger King bungled his order. Sheriff Craig Owens Sr, who heads the force in Cobb County, Georgia, has been accused of an "abuse of power" after officers raced to his aid at the fast food restaurant.