Reuters: Oddly Enough

• If marathons weren't hard enough already: strap a tree to your back
  This Sunday in South Africa, an accountant, an entrepreneur and a boxing executive are among 20 friends running the Cape Town marathon - with saplings strapped to their backs.
• Thieves steal $5 million gold toilet from Britain's Blenheim Palace
  Burglars have stolen a fully-functional 18-carat gold toilet from Britain's Blenheim Palace, where it had been installed as an art exhibit, police said on Saturday.
• Egyptian masseur plays with fire to ease muscle pain
  An Egyptian masseur plays with fire to relieve his clients' muscle pain at his spa in the Nile Delta governorate of Gharbeya.
• Rugby: Octopuses predict Japan will beat Ireland but not reach knockouts
  Two octopuses in Obira, on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, have predicted the hosts of the Rugby World Cup will not progress from their pool when the tournament begins later this month.
• Cockpit coffee spill forces commercial jet to make emergency landing
  A commercial flight with 326 people on board was forced to make an emergency landing when hot coffee was accidentally spilled over the cockpit control panel over the Atlantic ocean, according to a report on Thursday.
• French literati ponder 'brexit' dictionary entry
  French literary types aghast at the political turmoil engulfing Britain as it seeks to leave the European Union launched a tongue-in-cheek Twitter campaign on Wednesday to add 'Brexit' to the national lexicon.
• Climbing: Polish climber Dzienski pips lift in man vs. machine race
  It may not match the feeling of winning a world championship but Polish climber Marcin Dzienski's feat of racing and defeating an elevator up 23 meters will certainly have given him a lift.
• Just not cricket: Australian charged $68,000 for a beer in Britain
  An Australian cricket journalist in Britain for the Ashes test series is claiming to have drunk "the most expensive beer in history" after being charged nearly A$100,000 ($68,120) for the tipple.
• UK PM Johnson to the rescue: girlfriend adopts a rescue puppy
  British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his girlfriend, Carrie Symonds, revealed on Monday that they had adopted a rescued Jack Russell puppy.
• Czech doctors deliver baby girl 117 days after mother's brain-death
  When a helicopter rushed an unconscious Czech woman who had suffered a severe stroke to hospital in April, her chances of survival were slim - and those of the fetus she had carried in her womb for 15 weeks little better.