Odd News Summary Roundup: Pricey metals lure Australian thieves to strip cars of catalytic converters; Birdman of Brittany: French pensioner befriends pigeon and more

The converters, which strip particulate matter from emissions, contain high volumes of the precious metals platinum and palladium, whose prices touched records this year. Birdman of Brittany: French pensioner befriends pigeon When 80-year-old Xavier Bouget goes for a ride on his bicycle, tinkers in his workshop, waters his garden or sits down to eat a biscuit, he has a constant companion: a white female pigeon called Blanchon.


Reuters | Updated: 18-06-2021 10:57 IST | Created: 18-06-2021 10:28 IST
Odd News Summary Roundup: Pricey metals lure Australian thieves to strip cars of catalytic converters; Birdman of Brittany: French pensioner befriends pigeon and more
Image Credit: ANI

Following is a summary of current odd news briefs.

Pricey metals lure Australian thieves to strip cars of catalytic converters

Police in South Australia urged drivers on Wednesday to step up efforts to protect their cars, as thieves target the catalytic converters that scrub exhaust emissions, amid a surge in prices of precious metals. The converters, which strip particulate matter from emissions, contain high volumes of the precious metals platinum and palladium, whose prices touched records this year.

Birdman of Brittany: French pensioner befriends pigeon

When 80-year-old Xavier Bouget goes for a ride on his bicycle, tinkers in his workshop waters his garden, or sits down to eat a biscuit, he has a constant companion: a white female pigeon called Blanchon. Bouget, a retiree from the northwest French region of Brittany, befriended the bird when it was a chick and now it tags along with him everywhere, sitting on his shoulder or walking along beside him.

Putin impersonator beats real president to Geneva

A day before Russian President Vladimir Putin was due to arrive in Geneva for a historic summit with U.S. President Joe Biden, a look-alike was spotted in the Swiss city at a protest calling for the release of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. Bare-chested and wearing army pants to mimic summer holiday shots of the real Russian president, protester Alexander Lyubuschin donned a Putin face mask and sat in on a bench of a sunny Geneva square, pretending to neck Vodka.

Kyrgyz cricket farm hopes to tap Chinese insects market

With one eye on the lucrative Chinese market just across the border, an entrepreneur has launched Kyrgyzstan's first cricket farm and is producing high-protein insect flour and fried cricket snacks. Accompanied by loud chirping from his one tonne of crickets at the farm, Adyl Gaparov said his idea was inspired by online articles about breeding crickets.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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