A US highway turned into a circus when an escaped zebra galloped along a busy section with police in hot pursuit.
The 12-year-old animal named Lima was exercising outside an arena in Atlanta, Georgia, preparing for an evening show when something frightened it.
The zebra broke away from his trainers, bumped up against a fence, then wriggled through an opening.
Lima led its trainers and police on a 40-minute chase through Atlanta to the interstate highway that cuts through the centre of the city, covering well over a mile on the way.
Police cars blocked off all south-bound lanes on an interstate and herded the zebra on to an entrance ramp, where his trainer was on hand to capture and soothe it. (PA)
'My life,' by Casanova, in French library
A rare manuscript by the 18th-century libertine Casanova, recalling his sexual conquests and many adventures, has entered the collection of France's National Library.
The French manuscript of The Story Of My Life forms the core of 3,700 precious pages acquired by the state library, an official said, calling it the collection's "biggest heritage acquisition" ever.
Specialists say it is the only surviving manuscript by Casanova, a Venetian adventurer and womaniser whose name has become synonymous with seduction due to his own accounts of his affairs, written in French from the 1780s.
The museum said an anonymous patron spent seven million euros to help the library acquire the manuscripts from the heirs of a German publisher who acquired them in the 19th century. (AFP)
Bear necessities
Police called to a Florida car break-in were confronted with ripped seats and a broken window but nothing stolen.
After dusting for fingerprints, they found a noseprint and fur left behind by a bear. There were also claw marks scratched into the paintwork.
The car owner said she left a bag of rubbish in the boot, probably tempting the bear to break in. (PA)
Cardboard sign murder claim
British detectives are investigating a handwritten cardboard sign left on a roadside which claims to name the killer of a grammar schoolgirl murdered 17 years ago.
The piece of cardboard was left among flowers above a plaque near where 16-year-old Claire Tiltman was stabbed to death in a frenzied attack in 1993.
Officers from Kent Police's cold case investigation team have retrieved the cardboard, which names the alleged murderer, the type of car he drove and the company he worked for. (PA)
Mayors get booklet on honesty
Bulgaria's Prime Minister has issued graft-prone town mayors with a special instruction manual on how not to embezzle funds.
Officials would from now on be "banned" from making bribes, inflating quotations, and drawing up fictional contracts with non-existent suppliers, according to the booklet which was drawn up especially for them.
Prime Minister Boiko Borissov told mayors they must adhere strictly to the manual's guidance.
"Each of these instructions must be respected. Those who do not respect them will not deal with money," he warned on Thursday. (AFP)
Voice returns
A legendary US film critic has been given his voice back thanks to a British research team.
Roger Ebert, 67, lost the ability to speak almost four years ago, following life-saving cancer surgery. He has since relied on hand-written notes, a form of sign language and a basic voice synthesiser to comm-unicate.
Now a company based at the University of Edinburgh is using new computer technology to let him communicate with his own voice once again. (PA)
Gnome poster removed
Theatre posters proclaiming "We await you, merry gnome" were taken down from a Russian town shortly before a visit by the country's diminutive President Dmitry Medvedev, a local website reported yesterday.
The advertisements were for a children's theatre show, but were removed from a street that the President's convoy was due to use on his visit to Omsk on February 12, the nr2.ru website reports, citing local sources.
Russian media say Mr Medvedev is 1.62 metres (5 ft 4 in) tall. (Reuters)