QUIRKY WORLD ... Thieves steal caps on 1,200 bottles — but leave the beer

GERMANY: Police in western Germany are looking for thieves who broke into a shop selling alcohol and stole the caps off 1,200 bottles of beer — presumably to collect points for a prize contest — yet left the suds themselves untouched.

Essen police said the thieves broke into the shop in Muelheim an der Ruhr and stole the caps from the popular Koenig Pilsner.

They kept those with points towards prizes such as Bose speakers or a Black & Decker cordless drill, left dozens of “good luck try again” caps on the ground, and did not drink a single beer.

Given the number of caps removed, police said they assume that more than one person was involved in the operation. So far they have no suspects.

Walk this way - NORTHERN IRELAND:

A spectacular coastal walkway that was a tourist magnet in Edwardian times has reopened to the public after 60 years lying closed and derelict.

The Gobbins path was first hewn out of the basalt sea cliffs near Islandmagee, Co Antrim, in the 1900s and the thrill of traversing its suspension bridges and navigating its dark tunnels and caves drew visitors from far and wide.

In its heyday it was reputed to attract more tourists than the Giant’s Causeway further up the coast.

But the creation of imaginative railway engineer Berkeley Deane Wise fell into disrepair in the 1950s and access was officially closed off in 1954. After a £7.5m (€10.5m) investment project, the Gobbins reopened and welcomed its first paying visitors in six decades.

Buyer sought - BRITAIN:

An 18th century watercolour that is the first eyewitness representation of Niagara Falls could be exported if a UK buyer cannot be found to pay over £150,000 for it.

Ed Vaizey, the culture minister, has imposed a temporary ban on the export of the 1762 artwork by Captain Thomas Davies, the first accurate image of the world-famous landscape, to give time for a UK buyer to match the £151,800 asking price and keep it here.

Davies was a highly regarded artist and collector, and the first military artist to record Niagara Falls, the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport said.

Gagging order - SPAIN:

Police are looking to apply a much-criticised new public security law — known as the “gag law” — to heavily fine a woman who posted on social media a photograph of a police car parked in a disabled parking space, along with critical remarks.

Fermin Bonet, police inspector in the south-eastern town of Petrer, said the publication offended the officers’ work and merits a sanction.

The law allows for the woman, who has not been identified, to be fined between €600 and €30,000 for use of unauthorised police images.

The regional interior ministry office will decide whether to impose a fine or not. Rights groups say the law curtails free assembly and expression.

Hillary on (death) notice - USA:

A New Jersey woman used her obituary to make a final request to friends and family: Do not vote for Hillary Clinton for president.

Elaine Fydrych’s husband said that although she was a registered Democrat, she was not “a political person”.

However, she grew to strongly dislike Clinton after the 2012 attacks in Benghazi and believed the politician’s handling of the matter as secretary of state was “terrible”.

Joe Fydrych said his 63-year-old wife told him of her obituary intentions a few weeks before her death. The obit said: “Elaine requests, ‘In lieu of flowers, please do not vote for Hillary Clinton’.”