From England going to the dogs to why a spider has become men's best friend... Your weekly roundup of offbeat stories from around the world.
- Spider gives men the banana -
One of the world's most poisonous spiders could soon be giving men a boost in the place they need it most.
For 30 years Brazilian scientists have been trying to crack the mystery of why men bitten by banana spiders are left with priapism -- persistent if painful erections.
Now clinical trials of a gel developed from a synthetic version of the venom has everyone smiling.
Researcher Maria Elena de Lima of the Federal University of Minas Gerais said a rub of the ointment is proving an almost instant remedy for erectile dysfunction in trials, lifting flagging spirits within minutes.
- Robber wanted her phone back -
A California woman who robbed a nail store was arrested after going back to ask for the mobile phone she left at the scene.
Moments after marching out with $600 worth of goods, the woman returned to ask for her iPhone and the credit card and driving licence that was in its case.
When the store owner refused, she flung him to the floor and assaulted the pregnant clerk girl, before fleeing again.
"Woulda been easier to just buy the products with the credit card that was in the phone case," police in Murrieta near Los Angeles said on Facebook after nabbing her.
- Gone to the dogs -
Dogs may be banned from beaches in many parts of Europe, but in pet-mad England they are taking over public swimming pools. Some 8,000 doggie-paddled around Saltdean Lido near Brighton during what's called "Dogtember", a month of weekend sessions when dogs and their owners splash around together.
Dogtember is a "bonkers but fun event" said Deryck Chester, of the 1930s Art Deco lido.
"I am not sure who enjoys it the most: the dogs, the swimmers, the volunteers, the humans. Everyone's smiling."
- Not so a-mooseing in the end -
A Stockholm metro line was shut down for several hours because of a moose on the line. The huge Arctic elk appeared alongside the metro during morning rush hour before disappearing into a tunnel, completely blocking the line.
Police and animal experts tried in vain for hours to lure him out and calm him. "It was difficult, he ran around at speed -- he had big legs," said Claes Keisu of the city's transport authority.
With thousands of people wondering how they would get home that evening, police eventually had to put the moose down.
- On your bike -
David Beckham and Ronaldo are finally on the same team two decades after their epic classico battles between Barcelona and Real Madrid's "galacticos".
But these Beckhams and Ronaldos are not soccer stars but members of the Indian cycling team at the Asian Games in China -- both named after their idols by football-mad fathers.
David Beckham Elkatohchoongo -- whose father played for India -- also started out as a midfielder before switching to bikes, while Ronaldo Laitonjam Singh got his name after Ronaldinho (whose name means "Little Ronaldo") put England out of the 2002 World Cup the day he was born.