ODDLY ENOUGH

People looking for a bit of Christmas merriment in the Colombian capital might find it in an unexpected place: the front seat of a taxi, in the form of a costumed canine co-pilot.

Santa Claus, vaccinated against COVID-19 and free of quarantine restrictions mere mortals face, was making his annual jaunt across the globe on Christmas Eve and being tracked by the U.S. and Canadian military, officials said on Thursday.

Larry the Downing Street Cat, always a favourite of camera crews awaiting news outside the home of the British prime minister, found himself captivating the world's media on Monday as they waited in vain in for a Brexit breakthrough.

Visitors to an aquarium in Thailand got a big surprise this week when Santa Claus swam by, carrying a sack full of food and surrounded by shoals of curious fish.

When a worker at a Russian waste-sorting plant rescued a cat from imminent death, he had no idea it would end up with an honorary title and napping in a government official's chair.

The task of sniffing out passengers infected with COVID-19 at Chile's Santiago international airport is going to the dogs.

Santa Claus gave his sleigh and reindeer a break on Wednesday and rode elephants in Thailand during a special Christmas visit aimed at raising awareness about the threat of the coronavirus.

Thailand's Mana Srivate has performed dozens of resuscitation attempts in his 26 years as a rescue worker, but never before on an elephant.

Police raided a convent near Russia's Ural Mountains in the early hours of Tuesday and arrested a renegade priest who had seized control of it and allegedly encouraged nuns to commit suicide.