And Finally

A judge accused of selling judicial favours to the mafia had tens of thousands of euros stashed in his electrical sockets, Italian police have said. Judge Giuseppe De Benedictis was found to have around €60,000 (£52,000) in plastic bags stuffed behind his power switches, The Times reports

An Italian has broken the country's record for absenteeism after allegedly skipping work for 15 years. The public sector worker, dubbed the “king of absentees” by the Italian press, is reported to have accrued €538,000 (£464,000), despite not having turned up for work since 20

Wine tasters have pleaded with the French government to be vaccinated against Covid-19 as a priority. The Union of France Oenologists has written to the French prime minister to ask for wine tasters to move up the vaccination queue, The Telegraph reports.

Plans to limit the number of tourists visiting the famous Romeo and Juliet balcony in Verona have been blocked by a court. The city's mayor proposed installing turnstiles at the tiny courtyard where tourists congregate to take photos of the balcony after heightened fears of overcrowding with Covid-1

A celebrity psychic who said he lost his powers after a car accident is facing a £100,000 legal bill after a judge ruled he had been "fundamentally dishonest" in his claim for compensation. Maurice Amdur said an injury sustained in a collision six years ago left him unable to concentrate enoug

A landlord couple who refused to return a security deposit to tenants they accused of ruining the property with cigar smoke are facing a £100,000 legal bill. Nick Boakes and husband Harald Denker counter-sued after their former tenant Jonathan Hagmaier went to court for the return of the &poun

Marks & Spencer has lodged legal proceedings against Aldi over its iconic "Colin the Caterpillar" cake. The luxury retailer claims its discount rival has violated its intellectual property with its "Cuthbert the Caterpillar" cake.

A landlord who evicted tenants who he discovered had set up a cannabis grow house has admitted taking over the operation himself. John Sheahan, from Co Cork, was slapped with a two-year suspended sentence this week after pleading guilty to offences including possessing cannabis for sale or supply an

It is fortunate to be of high birth, but it is no less so to be of such character that people do not care to know whether you are or are not.

The largest rabbit in the world has been stolen from a garden in England, police have said.

French police are cracking down on secret restaurants where wealthy diners have been eating and drinking in breach of Covid-19 restrictions. The boss of one underground restaurant in Paris was arrested last week and over 110 of its guerrilla gastronomes were fined, TheLocal.fr reports.

A scorned judge who took revenge on her cheating partner by "marrying" him in a sham ceremony with an impersonator has been ordered to retire. Judge Souad Meslem, a senior judge in Paris, admitted the bizarre plot to a disciplinary council and could soon face a criminal trial for fraud, The Times re

A man who bundled himself into a wooden crate and tried to mail himself from Australia to Britain has made a public appeal to help track down his accomplices. Back in 1965, Welsh man Brian Robson, now 75, enlisted the help of Irish friends John and Paul in a scheme to return home cheaply.

Police have seized luxury cars, villas, cash and shares from a ring of lottery workers who allegedly used their positions to reap in millions of euros. An IT worker at Lottomatica, Italy's national lottery, allegedly developed software to identify which packets of scratch cards had a winner and whic

Rival dynasties, councillors, bankers and union officials have been dragged into a major row over the future of a prestigious Bordeaux vineyard. The 32-strong Duffau-Lagarrosse family is selling Château Beauséjour in Saint-Émilion, which it has owned since 1847, The Times reports