The alternative end-of-the-year awards

2018 in news: The alternative end-of-the-year awards

Congratulations, you've made it through another year of news.
We know it wasn't easy, so we thought you deserved a reward: here's our round-up of the moments that put a little smile on our faces in 2018. Winner

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This was a hotly contested award in 2018, but in the end there could be only one winner.
Watch as this Chinese would-be burglar arcs his arm backwards, lets go of the brick and...well, see the video for yourself.

Runners-up Where do we begin?
In second place, , were told by the owner that he would have more money if they came back later, and were promptly arrested when they returned.
And bronze goes to this aspiring robber in Colorado who turned clumsiness into an artform.

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Winner

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Over several hours back in June, television viewers were gripped (pun intended) as in St Paul, Minnesota. Its motivation remains unclear, but its legend lives on to this day. Runner-up

QUEENSLAND POLICE

and into bushland. Her 17-year-old dog Max, who is partially deaf and blind, followed her for 16 miles, and eventually led rescuers to her.
Max was later made an honorary police dog. What a *sniff* very good boy. Winner

EPA

This photo of various world leaders speaking to US President Donald Trump at the G7 summit in June was a masterpiece of timing and of body language. It was taken by German government photographer Jesco Denzel, and gained plenty of plaudits around the world (though ). Runner-up

Andy Thomas Artist

This is a painting called The Republican Club, by Missouri-based artist Andy Thomas, and .
It shows a number of Republican presidents sharing a drink and a joke, and was a gift to the US president from a congressman.
Just don't ask why Trump's head appears to be on someone else's body. Or why everyone's eyes are looking in different directions. Winner One French supermarket offered a 70% discount on Nutella in January and, . Other hazelnut-chocolate spreads are available, people. Runner-up Not to be outdone by our friends across the Channel, Brits also had a bit of an over-reaction in February, when .
Police forces in England had to politely remind people that it's not really the done thing to make an emergency call if you can't find fried chicken. Again, other fried chicken restaurants are available.
. Winner

Mahmoud A Sarhan

We should make one thing clear: , and insist it is absolutely, indisputably, a zebra.
But on the other hand...well, just look at it. Runner-up

Marcio Cabral

Unlike Cairo's phoney zebra, this anteater is real. There's just one problem though - it's dead. It is an ex-anteater. This anteater is no more.
The photo above, showing an anteater moving towards a termite mound, was a winning entry in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. after scientists concluded the anteater was a stuffed animal (though the photographer, Marcio Cabral, says the photo was not staged). Winner In a field rich with entries, please all give a round of applause to the person who accidentally sent an alert to every single person in Hawaii in January telling them to seek shelter because a ballistic missile was on its way.

Twitter

, especially because North Korea was in one of its "let's-threaten-to-attack-the-United-States" moods at the time. Runner-up Is it ?
Or is it perhaps , thanks to a garish paint-job?
Or maybe by leaving a station 25 seconds early?
Nope, it's .

Cathay Pacific

Winner An unusual category, granted, but this is an unusual article, and you're still reading, so who cares.
The winner is this:

AFP/Getty Images

Sorry.
What you're looking at is , that gently simmered away for 2,000 years inside a sarcophagus in Egypt.
The smell of the three rotten bodies was so bad that archaeologists had to abandon the relic as soon as they opened it this summer.
No curses were unleashed, so mankind will have to face its reckoning in some other way. Runner-up Actual water on Mars! Delicious, fresh water! On Mars! (Disclaimer: we cannot confirm whether it is safe to drink the water on Mars). Winner

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One wonders what Christmas will be like in the Rotondo household this year.
In the summer Michael Rotondo, 30, was sued by his own parents, who wanted him to leave their house in New York state.
They said he'd repeatedly ignored pleas to move out, but he eventually did so after he lost his court battle. . Runner-up In July, Barbara Reddick posed for photos holding a big novelty cheque with her nephew Tyrone MacInnis. He was smiling, she wasn't.
They'd argued over whether she had agreed to split the Canadian lottery jackpot. In the end, they didn't need to go to court - MacInnis was given C$350,000 ($261,000; £207,000) in a settlement, so he had good reason to keep on grinning. Winner Over New Year, there was a drinking ban in place on the Coromandel peninsula in New Zealand. , claiming they were in international waters and exempt from the ban.

David Saunders

Runner-up During the World Cup in June, there was plenty of speculation that France striker Antoine Griezmann might be set for a transfer to Barcelona. So when he took part in a press conference, Spanish reporters were keen to quiz him about this.
France's national team officials didn't want the subject to be discussed, so set a French-only rule at the press conference.
Here's what one Spanish journalist did next:

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We should also give an honourable mention to Tunisian football player Mouez Hassen.
In the weeks before the World Cup, Tunisia's players were fasting during the holy month of Ramadan. They could eat only at sundown, and so, during matches against Portugal and Turkey, so his team-mates could sneak off the pitch and eat dates.
Now that's teamwork. Winner

Geoff Pearson

.
He went up for auction in October, but meat processors said he was too big for them to handle.
Knickers survived to fight another day. Runner-up In August, a man in Germany called police because he was being terrorised and chased by a baby squirrel. when the suspect fell asleep.
Its persistence - and cuteness - may have paid off however - the local police office decided to adopt the rodent as their new mascot.

EPA/KARLSRUHE POLICE

Source: bbc.com