How we laughed in 2021! Yes, the year was plagued by COVID, fires and floods... but it did throw up some weird and wonderful news to lift the spirits.

Here is our selection:

A final leak

There was only so long U.S. Secret Service agents guarding Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner could hold it in...

Donald Trump's seemingly favorite child and her millionaire partner refused to let agents use any of the "6.5 bathrooms" in their Washington mansion, it was revealed days before her father left the White House in January.

Instead, they had to use the toilet at Barack and Michelle Obama's nearby home.

Find yourself

Beyhan Mutlu, a Turkish citizen living in northwestern Bursa province’s Inegöl district, was reported missing one September day after his loved ones lost touch with him for several hours. The man, after meeting his friends, went into a forest while drunk, where he joined a group in the area who were helping Turkish authorities "find" him.

Later on, upon inquiring, Mutlu learned that it was indeed himself they were carrying out the search and rescue efforts for.

Dog's life

A woman in Quebec stopped by police walking a man on a leash during a coronavirus curfew insisted "she was walking her dog," which was permitted under the rules.

Childbirth is no excuse

South Korean officials issued a reminder to pregnant women to have enough pressed shirts, socks and underpants and frozen meals ready for their husbands when they are away in hospital giving birth.

Health care for cat

Acat warmed hearts in the western province of Izmir when her maternal instincts and apparent knowledge of the health care system had her taking her sick kittens to a clinic for humans.

Staff at the clinic of a health care directorate run by the local municipality in the Karabağlar district of Izmir were taken aback when the mother dragged one of her kittens to their office. One day later, she returned with another kitten. Doctors and nurses discovered that both kittens had problems with their eyes due to an infection. After initial care, they were handed to the veterinary department of the municipality where they were treated and recovered. The stray kittens and their mother were put up for adoption later.

What an amazing tool

A Danish children's television show about the misadventures of a man with "the world's longest willy" went viral.

John Dillermand (John Penisman in English) uses his extraordinarily long member to get himself out of tricky situations. But it also lands him in deep trouble like many a male before him.

Crow finds new job

Crows are no strangers to stealing from humans, but one crow chick has found a legal way to make a living. The chick, raised by a restroom attendant in Birecik, a town in southeastern Şanlıurfa province also home to a type of ibis, surprises visitors by standing guard while the attendant is away. It gladly accepts coins and banknotes from the customer's hand with its beak – and those dodging payment face a loud shrieking.

What the f...

The idea that swearing is bad turns out to be a load of old cobblers.

U.S. research found people who use profanities tend to be more intelligent, creative, honest and less likely to "engage in serious unethical behaviors."

Dead lucky

An Indian man declared dead after a motorcycle crash began to move on an autopsy table as doctors got ready to open him up.

Just. Stop. Talking.

Yoshiro Mori resigned as Tokyo Olympics chief in February after the former premier declared that the trouble with women is... they talk too much.

Mori later apologized, saying: "I don't speak to women much."

Adopted squirrel

A Turkish couple in northwestern Turkey went hiking in a nearby forest but ended up finding a fluffy new member for their family.

Enes and Minel Kılıç, who run a cafe in the province of Kocaeli, found a squirrel alone and hurt in a tree hollow while hiking in a woodland near their home in the Yuvacık neighborhood.

Immediately taking him to a vet, they quickly got used to each other, with their furry friend, whom they have named Alvin, refusing to leave their side despite multiple attempts to release him back into his natural habitat.

Nowadays, Alvin spends his nights with the Kılıç couple, sleeping in a fleece blanket on his own chair in their bedroom, and accompanies them during the day to their cafe, where he likes to munch on french fries and sip tea, overlooking the trees below.

We can see you...

The entire board of a California primary school resigned after they were caught dissing parents as pot-smoking slackers on a Zoom call.

In the mood for love

French male pride swelled at news that the world's most romantic panda – who is naturally French – had managed to couple eight times in one day with his new lover.

Pandas are not known for their stamina during love-making, but keepers at Beauval zoo said sparks flew when Yuan Zi got up close and personal with his young Chinese mate Huan Huan.

Saw it coming

A French man who asked his neighbor if he could loan him his saw "to get rid of a body" was arrested in March for the murder of his lodger.

Only codding

Taiwan pleaded with people to stop changing their name after scores changed theirs to "Salmon Prince" and "Salmon Fried Rice" to take advantage of an April sushi chain giveaway for people whose name contained the Chinese characters for the fish.

The First Prankster

U.S. First Lady Jill Biden, a notorious prankster who once stuffed herself into an overhead locker on Air Force Two when her husband was vice president, disguised herself as a flight attendant on Air Force One to hand out ice cream to reporters on April Fools' Day.

Let's be ladies about this

The reigning "Mrs. World" was arrested after pulling the crown off the head of her successor as "Mrs. Sri Lanka" and smashing her dressing room mirror after the ceremony in Colombo turned ugly.

Flash in the cam

A Canadian lawmaker who appeared stark naked on a House of Commons Zoom conference call was caught on camera six weeks later peeing into a coffee cup during a virtual committee meeting.

"Obviously I'm embarrassed," Liberal Member of Parliament William Amos said.

Scary pastry

A "dangerous-looking animal" in a tree that struck terror into a quiet street in Krakow, Poland, turned out to be a croissant blowing in the wind.

Life's a Bitche

The French town of Bitche had its Facebook page taken down after the U.S. tech giant thought its name was an insult.

Four weddings

A Taiwanese bank clerk married four times in a month so he could max out the country's statutory eight days of paid holidays for newlyweds.

Dog Boji

Istanbul's mass transit system can be troublesome for humans, but it is still the best way to travel across the city. The Turkish metropolis is also home to a large number of stray dogs and cats, and now one of them enjoys the perks of a free ride.

In a packed Istanbul passenger ferry between Europe and Asia, all eyes turn to one commuter enjoying the view from his window. Boji, a street dog, has become a regular sight on ferries, buses and metro trains in Europe’s largest city. A devoted commuter, the dog enjoys long journeys on public transport, up to 30 kilometers (20 miles) on a regular weekday.

What the duck!

Science was rocked in September by news that ducks can talk – and they are quacking good impersonators.

Biologists said they can parrot human speech and even imitate the sound of a door closing.

Hard to swallow

Kosovo surgeon Skender Telaku removed a mobile phone from the stomach of a prisoner without cutting him open after he swallowed it to hide it from prison guards.

Luckily the phone did not ring during the delicate procedure.

Cat in labor

A pregnant cat in southeastern Bitlis province meowed for help in front of the local family health center as her contractions became too hard to endure.

The nurses let her in but they could not tell what exactly was wrong with the pregnant kitty.

They soon realized that despite minutes of intense labor the cat could not produce a kitten, so they called the municipality vet.

After being taken to the Tatvan Municipality Stray Animal Neutering and Rehabilitation Center, vet Sefer Durmuş saw that the cat was having difficulty with natural birth so he took her in for a caesarean section (more commonly known as c-section).

Disappearing art

A Danish artist given $84,000 to make artworks out of banknotes pocketed the cash and sent the gallery two blank canvases entitled, "Take the Money and Run."

Minaj misses the ball

Rap star Nicki Minaj was not allowed into New York's Met Ball after revealing she had not been vaccinated because a friend of her cousin in Trinidad said his testicles swelled up after he got the jab.

'Beggar cat'

The "beggar cat" that stalks the pet food aisle of a market in Istanbul's Kadıköy has gained social media fame for his Oscar-worthy "hunger" pains, tricking passersby into thinking he is a starving vagrant – in reality, the store's manager says the street cat actually eats 10 meals a day thanks to the feline's clever antics.

The stray, who the store's employees have nicknamed "Nokta," or "Dot" in English, maintains a vigilant daily watch of the pet food aisle.

The clever feline waits for sympathetic shoppers and starts woefully meowing as they draw near. To add to the effect, the furry swindler sometimes raises one foot and pretends to be lame or often "faints" to get less interested customers to buy him food.

Lock me up, please

A man under house arrest in Italy on drug offenses pleaded with police to lock him up because he couldn't bear being stuck at home with his wife.

Police made the 30-year-old Albanian's day by jailing him.

Dog and bone

Scientists in Scotland have invented the DogPhone, which will allow bored Beagles or yappy Yorkies to call their owners for a chat anytime they feel the need. Never fear, the owners can always put them on paws.

Dog warms hearts

Stories of dogs deeply devoted to their owners are nothing unusual but a canine in northern Turkey took his bond with his late owner to a new level. Fero, who lost his owner Ömer Güven on Oct. 29, has been a frequent visitor to his grave ever since.

Güven, a father of five, had found a new child in the dog when he adopted the stray dog 11 years ago. The elderly man passed away at the age of 92 last month of natural causes. His daughter-in-law, Fatma Güven, said that the old man and the former stray enjoyed a very close bond with each other. She said that since the day of his owner’s funeral, Fero has insisted on staying by the old man’s final resting place.