Pet fish run up bill on computer game
And other stories from the stranger side of life

Pet fish playing a video game logged on to the Nintendo Switch store, changed their owner’s avatar, set up a Pay Pal account and ran up a credit card bill. YouTuber Mutekimaru runs a channel that features his Siamese fighting fish playing Pokémon video games on a Nintendo Switch console. However, said the New York Post, a malfunction returned the device to its home screen and movements made by the fish opened the Nintendo eShop on the screen and saw them spend $4 of his money to purchase points.
Painting bought for $600 goes for £3m
A rediscovered Anthony van Dyck painting bought for just $600 has sold for over $3m at auction, reported CNN. The piece, a study for a later painting produced by the Flemish master called St Jerome, was only recently identified as a work of Van Dyck, said Sotheby’s. It was discovered in the late 20th century in a farm shed in Kinderhook, New York. The man who found it describes his collection as “an orphanage for lost art that had suffered from neglect”.
‘Oldest living mouse’ in San Diego zoo
A zoo in the US said it is seeking Guinness World Records recognition for a mouse believed to be the oldest in the world at the age of nine. The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, said a Pacific pocket mouse named Pat - in honour of Star Trek actor Patrick Stewart - is due the official honour. The oldest mouse ever recorded by Guinness World Records was named Fritzy and died in 1985 at the age of seven years and seven months, noted UPI.
Subscribe to 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.
For more odd news stories, sign up to the weekly Tall Tales newsletter.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Chas Newkey-Burden has been part of The Week Digital team for more than a decade and a journalist for 25 years, starting out on the irreverent football weekly 90 Minutes, before moving to lifestyle magazines Loaded and Attitude. He was a columnist for The Big Issue and landed a world exclusive with David Beckham that became the weekly magazine’s bestselling issue. He now writes regularly for The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, Metro, FourFourTwo and the i new site. He is also the author of a number of non-fiction books.
-
UK-US trade deal: can Keir Starmer trust Donald Trump?
Today's Big Question White House insiders say an agreement is 'two weeks' away but can Britain believe it?
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK
-
Netanyahu's Qatar problem
Two of the prime minister's key advisers are accused of taking bribes from the Gulf state in exchange for favourable publicity
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK
-
Cartier at the V&A: a 'dazzling' show
The Week Recommends A 'once-in-a-lifetime' display of the French jeweller's 'exquisite' objects
By Irenie Forshaw, The Week UK
-
Inside the Israel-Turkey geopolitical dance across Syria
THE EXPLAINER As Syria struggles in the wake of the Assad regime's collapse, its neighbors are carefully coordinating to avoid potential military confrontations
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US
-
'Like a sound from hell': Serbia and sonic weapons
The Explainer Half a million people sign petition alleging Serbian police used an illegal 'sound cannon' to disrupt anti-government protests
By Abby Wilson
-
The arrest of the Philippines' former president leaves the country's drug war in disarray
In the Spotlight Rodrigo Duterte was arrested by the ICC earlier this month
By Justin Klawans, The Week US
-
Ukrainian election: who could replace Zelenskyy?
The Explainer Donald Trump's 'dictator' jibe raises pressure on Ukraine to the polls while the country is under martial law
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK
-
Why Serbian protesters set off smoke bombs in parliament
THE EXPLAINER Ongoing anti-corruption protests erupted into full view this week as Serbian protesters threw the country's legislature into chaos
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US
-
Who is the Hat Man? 'Shadow people' and sleep paralysis
In Depth 'Sleep demons' have plagued our dreams throughout the centuries, but the explanation could be medical
By The Week Staff
-
Why Assad fell so fast
The Explainer The newly liberated Syria is in an incredibly precarious position, but it's too soon to succumb to defeatist gloom
By The Week UK
-
Romania's election rerun
The Explainer Shock result of presidential election has been annulled following allegations of Russian interference
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK