DAVID ADAMS writes about the odder side of life…
• More than 8,000 people have banded together to save a French chateau from being demolished. The group of 8,396 (at least count) people all pledged at least €50 on French crowd-funding website Dartagnans to save the castle, each receiving shares in its ownership. With almost €700,000 collected so far, the project aims to restore the 13th century, fairy tale-like Chateau de la Mothe-Chandeniers and open it to the public. The property – the oldest parts of which date back to the 13th century, comes with almost 5,000 acres including some 3,000 acres of forest.
• A sphinx has been dug out from beneath the sands in California. Last seen during the production of the Cecil B DeMille epic, The Ten Commandments, the intact plaster sphinx is reportedly the second recovered from the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes by archaeologists. The movie set, which was made in 1923, apparently included more than 20 sphinxes. The find will go on display next summer.
• A Nigerian governor has named his sister as Imo State’s new ‘commissioner for happiness’. Rochas Okorocha, governor of Imo, announced his sister Ogechi Ololo had been appointed to the post at a swearing-in ceremony for other commissioners. Ms Okorocha said her role was to create “positive attitudes for our Imo people”. “Happiness is something that is still lacking,” she told the BBC.