And Finally

A judge has blasted the last two Star Wars films as "mediocre and schlocky" in an otherwise dry judgment on the labelling of cooking oil. Judge Kenneth K. Lee, sitting in the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, summed up the case as "How to Lose a Class Action Settlement in 10 Ways".

Police have paid tribute to their "bovine unit" after wandering cows brought a car chase to a safe end. The 13-mile pursuit ended when the fleeing suspect drove onto a farm and had to brake when faced with a wall of cows.

The US military has apologised after accidentally storming an olive oil factory in Bulgaria. US troops carrying out a military exercise on a decommissioned Bulgarian airfield last month entered the wrong building by mistake.

A five-step recipe for asparagus gratin was inadvertently published in the digital version of Belgium's official journal. The recipe, appearing in the middle of regulations on drug and medical device pricing, was spotted by a Belgian lawyer.

Hundreds of police dogs trained to sniff out illegal drugs are enjoying early retirement following the legalisation of cannabis across swathes of the United States. Cannabis is now legal for recreational use in 17 states and in Washington, D.C., and has been decriminalised in a further 13 states.

Emergency services have pleaded with members of the public to stop reporting the sound of periodical cicadas re-emerging after 17 years underground. Officials in the US state of Georgia have received multiple reports of "alarms" that turned out to be the songs of the Brood X cicadas, TheHill reports

A former US diplomat has launched a $1.8 million lawsuit against the US government and former secretary of state Mike Pompeo over an unpaid legal bill arising from the impeachment of Donald Trump in 2019. Gordon Sondland was sacked as US ambassador to the European Union two days after testifying at

A couple apparently booked out a Boeing 737 for a mid-air wedding ceremony in a brazen attempt to circumvent Covid-19 restrictions on weddings in India. India's civil aviation authority has launched an investigation after photos emerged of over 160 people celebrating in the air as the plane travelle

A drug dealer inadvertently landed himself with a lengthy prison sentence after taking a photograph of a block of Stilton cheese. Carl Stewart, 39, was identified as a user of the EncroChat mobile encryption service by forensic experts using an image he shared of a block of cheese in the palm of his

The lead singer of the Sex Pistols has been drawn into a High Court battle with his former bandmates over a new TV show about their career. John Lydon, also known as Johnny Rotten, has pulled out of the six-part miniseries to be directed by Oscar winner Danny Boyle.

A Canadian soldier has been court-martialled for allegedly serving cannabis-laced cupcakes to an artillery unit during a live-fire exercise. The unsuspecting troops who ate the cupcakes reported a sudden onset of dehydration, overheating, fatigue, confusion, dry mouth and paranoia.

Students who exploited a glitch in KFC's mobile app to obtain thousands of euros worth of free meals have been jailed in China. It began when one student, known only by his surname Xu, discovered he could obtain a free coupon and use it an unlimited number of times.

Rival honey manufacturers have become embroiled in an international dispute over who can call their products "manuka honey". The New Zealand Manuka Honey Appellation Society is trying to convince the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) that manuka honey can only come from New Zealand.

A construction worker was threatened with jail time after wearing a T-shirt to a virtual court hearing. Detroit judge Ronald Giles reprimanded the defendant, who claimed the attire was due to him being at work on a building site.

Scotland's Highland Council has dropped plans to require prior authorisation for bagpipes at funerals after an outcry from pipers. The measure was included in draft burial and crematorium management rules put out to a public consultation but has now been abandoned, The Times reports.