QUIRKY WORLD ... A daily look at some of the world’s stranger stories
A French court has ordered a piggery to compensate a former worker who became deaf partly as a result of the incessant squeals of the animals in his charge.
A court in the western town of Lons-le-Saunier in the Jura region ruled that the Pelizzari group had committed an “inexcusable error” by failing to protect Serge Personeni from a work hazard.
The amount to be paid to the 59-year-old Personeni, who worked there from Sept 2001 until Feb 2008, will be decided later after he is inspected by a doctor.
Personeni was in charge of feeding and looking after nearly 4,000 pigs.
Deafness was recognised as a work hazard in France in 2012. It was then decided that those working in places with decibel levels higher than 85 should receive protective equipment.
During a hearing in June, the court said Personeni was made to “work in conditions incompatible with human dignity”.
A puppy which ate a fake pile of dog dirt has had to have a life-saving operation.
Boo, a black crossbreed, gave herself and her owner a fright when the lifelike object got lodged in her intestines. The six-month-old puppy swallowed the item when a bag of dog biscuits was dropped on the floor around it.
Prehistoric crocodiles survived a dinosaur-dominated world by running around like dogs, research has found.
Unlike today’s crocodiles which mostly live in freshwater habitats and feed on mammals and fish, their ancient relatives were extremely diverse.
Some behaved like dogs and others adapted to life in the open ocean, imitating the feeding behaviour of today’s killer whales.
The 2013 Just for Men National Beard and Moustache Championships in New Orleans attracted more than 150 contestants from the UK, US, and Canada.
The New Orleans heat and humidity meant it took more time and energy to mould facial hair creations.
Devon Holcombe took the gold in the natural category, which bans hair styling products, with a 60cm moustache. Keith Haubrich sculpted his into the two arms of a clock and took the top honour in the Dali category, named after the Spanish painter.
A girl has found cremation ashes that had been stolen from a van belonging to the dead man’s son.
Robert Smith says he thinks someone in the crime-ridden Pittsburgh suburb of Clairton mistook his father’s ashes for a powdery drug like heroin or cocaine.
His father died in June, aged 75. Since then, Smith kept his ashes in a memorial box in the centre console of his van. He discovered the ashes missing shortly before 3pm on Monday.
They were recovered in a park about seven hours later after a girl found them. Police are investigating.
Some 76 pointless official — and sometimes obscure — awards will be ditched as China seeks to rein in waste and extravagance, part of President Xi Jinping’s crusade against pervasive corruption.
Government departments will no longer be able to award prizes for “excellent vocational education teaching materials” or “administration in accordance with the law” for tax collectors, according to the new rules.
“In recent years, many government departments... have been obsessed with these kinds of awards and evaluations and formalism has run rampant,” the central government said.
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