Credit: Bertrand Rindof Petrof/Getty Images
Rabbits have won a significant court battle against soldiers in Paris, after the military was told to stop culling a colony of bunnies that has settled on the museum complex of Les Invalides.
Soldiers who work on the historic site, which contains an army museum, Napoleon’s tomb and a still-active forces hospital, have been killing around 40 rabbits each year, claiming they dig up lawns and pierce watering pipes.
The animals have now won a temporary reprieve after a judge ordered the culling to halt before a full hearing in a few months. A spokesperson from the animal rights group Paris Zoopolis said claims of rabbit damage were “unsubstantiated” and added: “All we are asking is for the soldiers to coexist peacefully with the rabbits.”
***
A politics show in Moldova was taken off the air after a heated policy discussion ended with former deputy interior minister Gennady Kosovan getting knocked out live on TV during a brawl with ex-presidential adviser Sergei Tofilat.
After throwing a glass of water over his opponent, Kosovan was punched by Tofilat, hit his head on his chair and lost consciousness. The broadcast was suspended, but the two men later shook hands for a photo that appeared on social media with the message, “Everything is fine!”
***
Two convicted murderers who took prison guards hostage in Hällby, Sweden, agreed to release their captives in return for free pizza.
Isak Dewit and Haned Mahamed Abdullahi, who initially demanded a helicopter so they could fly them to freedom, instead accepted 20 large pizzas with kebab topping, to be shared with other members of their cell block.
***
A man nicknamed ‘Jesus’ has come back to life in Serbia after his family buried a lookalike by mistake.
The Stankov family, from Sremski Karlovci, say police contacted them on July 15 to tell them their estranged brother Sasa had died and would have to be buried in a closed coffin. They paid for the funeral, which went ahead last week, but a few hours later a friend called to say Sasa had just been spotted alive and well in Novi Sad, about 20km (12.5 miles) away.
Police say both the dead man, who has yet to be correctly identified, and Sasa Stankov had long beards – one reason why his neighbours in Novi Sad had christened him Jesus.
***
A woman in Gdańsk, Poland, threw her husband’s 200,000 zloty (£38,400) savings off their sixth-floor balcony during an argument.
Neighbours at the Przymorze housing estate scrambled to collect the banknotes, but police later recovered most of it on behalf of the couple. Police added that they then accompanied the 53-year-old man to a local bank, made him open an account and watched him deposit his remaining funds to avoid future misfortunes
***
The head of the traffic police in Stavropol, Russia, is facing corruption charges after an MP was sent photos of his bathroom, which featured a gold toilet, washbasin and bidet.
Prosecutors say Alexei Safonov could not have afforded his luxury villa, which also featured marbled walls and frescoes, sauna, a gym, a billiards room and a garage containing several sports cars, on his salary.
He is suspected of making 19 mln rubles (£163,500) by issuing fake permits to grain carriers so they could avoid safety checks. Safonov faces between eight and 15 years in jail if convicted.
***
The winner of a German reality show called Get The F*ck Out Of My House is being sued over the 100,000 euro (£85,600) prize two rivals say he promised to share with them.
The format of the now-defunct programme saw 100 people enter a home with only four beds, one bathroom, one toilet and a fridge containing enough food to feed four people. The winner is the last person remaining in the house after two months.
One of the final three contestants claims eventual winner Oliver Nell agreed to pay the other two 20,000 euros each to leave from his winnings in the 2018 series, but has as yet not paid up.
