The game is played out, the figures have melted away, the lines are frazzled, the board is mildewed. Everything has become barbarious again.

Come, sir, if he's been cursed to hell, why don't you bless him back again? What's the good of your blessings if they can't beat an Irish larrykin's curse?

Polar bears that spend more time on land as their sea ice habitat shrinks are coming into contact with grizzly bears that have wandered further north – resulting in “grolar” or “pizzly” bear hybrids.

They can abandon their project now that they know the Kongolese are civilised in a profound, philosophical sense of the word.