Our pick of the strange stories from around the world.
'Dinosaur lightning' hits US
An employee has captured a lightning bolt shaped like a dinosaur above the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona. The photograph was released on the US Department of the Interior Facebook page, which described it as "a Tyrannosaurus Rex getting ready to chomp a formation at Blue Mesa". Comments on the photograph suggest it looks more like "a snake", "a cougar" and "an upside-down heart-shaped balloon on a string".
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Baby born on plane given a million air miles
A baby born on a Cebu Pacific aeroplane four hours into a flight from Dubai to Manila will have the choice of the world when she grows up after being given a million free air miles by the airline. Haven was delivered by two nurses who happened to be onboard the plane when her mother went into labour five weeks early. Cebu Pacific chief executive Lance Gokongwei gave the gift to the airline's newest passenger to celebrate. The air miles can be shared with her family and have no set expiry date.
Egypt tells female TV presenters to lose weight
Authorities in Egypt have caused a stir by suspending eight female news anchors until they lose weight. Safaa Hegazy, the head of the Egyptian Radio and Television Union, said the women will remain employed in "behind-the-scenes" roles until they are deemed slim enough to return to their on-air positions. Egyptian state television has been steadily losing viewers to new satellite news services that offer "slicker presentation", he added.
-
‘The surest way to shorten our lives even more is to scare us about sleep’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Book reviews: ‘The Score: How to Stop Playing Somebody Else’s Game’ and ‘The Sea Captain’s Wife: A True Story of Mutiny, Love, and Adventure at the Bottom of the World’Feature Comparing life to a game and a twist on the traditional masculine seafaring tale
-
How Mississippi moved from the bottom to the top in educationIn the Spotlight All eyes are on the Magnolia State
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
-
How Bulgaria’s government fell amid mass protestsThe Explainer The country’s prime minister resigned as part of the fallout
-
Femicide: Italy’s newest crimeThe Explainer Landmark law to criminalise murder of a woman as an ‘act of hatred’ or ‘subjugation’ but critics say Italy is still deeply patriarchal
-
Brazil’s Bolsonaro behind bars after appeals run outSpeed Read He will serve 27 years in prison
-
Americans traveling abroad face renewed criticism in the Trump eraThe Explainer Some of Trump’s behavior has Americans being questioned
-
Nigeria confused by Trump invasion threatSpeed Read Trump has claimed the country is persecuting Christians
