Strange but true

Refound
Attenborough’s long beaked echidna, an ancient egg laying mammal that was feared to have long ago become extinct, has been caught on camera for the first time. A British team spent 21 fruitless days in Papua’s Cyclops Mountains searching for the echidna, named after the famous naturalist. They were about to set off home when their cameras recorded four three second clips of the creature. Echidnas are thought to have emerged 200 million years ago, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth. Until now, the only firm evidence for the existence of the Zaglossus attenboroughi species was a decades old museum specimen.
Slow readers
A book club that started reading Finnegan’s Wake 28 years ago has finally finished it. The group in Venice, California, began meeting to discuss James Joyce’s novel at a local library in 1995. They initially read two pages a month, then slowed to one, and finally reached the last page in October. They are not moving on to a new book. Instead they are starting all over again. “The last sentence of the book ends midsentence and then it picks up at the front of the book,” explained founder Gerry Fialka. “It’s cyclical. It never ends.”
Rumours denied
A secondary school in Pontypool, Wales, has been forced to deny rumours that it is providing litter trays for children who identify as cats. “Whilst we are an inclusive and welcoming school, we do not make any provision for any pupils who might identify as an animal of any kind,” reads a letter to parents from the deputy head of West Monmouth School. “This kind of behaviour is not acceptable at school, and as such, no provision is in place.”
Where was she?
Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, was criticised for going on a three week, part taxpayer funded trip to French Polynesia, while posting photos on social media that implied she was in Paris.
Out for a stroll
There was panic in the seaside town of Ladispoli, 35km west of Rome, recently, when a lion escaped from a circus and roamed the streets for hours. In a video of the incident, a woman can be heard exclaiming “Mamma mia!” as the lion strolls by. Rony Vassallo of the Rony Roller Circus, insisted the lion, Kimba, which was eventually caught by circus staff, posed no threat to humans. His main worry had been that someone might hurt Kimba out of fear or excess enthusiasm.
Bons mots
“Before you marry a person, you should first make them use a computer with slow internet to see who they really are.” – Will Ferrell, actor, comedian, writer and producer, USA

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