World’s ugliest dog crowned
Jinny Lu, a rescue pug, has been named this year’s ugliest dog in one of the more unusual contests. Jinny was rescued from South Korea and was a runner-up in 2025.
The World’s Ugliest Dog competition marked its 50th year at the Sonoma County Fair in California. The organisers of the contest say it isn’t about making fun of “ugly” dogs; it’s about showing the world that these dogs are truly beautiful, celebrating the differences that make dogs unique and encouraging people to adopt dogs. Many of the dogs that take part are rescue pups.
Exhausted monkey rescued from the open sea
A fisherman off the coast of Phuket, Thailand, rescued an exhausted monkey after spotting it struggling to swim in open water.
The man floated a life jacket to the monkey, gave it water once it climbed aboard his boat and safely returned it to shore near Koh Maphrao, also known as Coconut Island.
He believes the monkey may have swum more than three miles from nearby Koh Siray before being rescued.
Sheep escapes on a bus!
A runaway sheep in Germany had an unusual journey after wandering into a bus depot and climbing aboard an unlocked parked bus. The sheep had escaped from its pasture in Lüdinghausen and found its way onto the property of regional transport company RVM.
The animal was discovered sitting between the seats when a driver returned to do a walk-through for litter. Police were called and identified its owner, Stefan Naber, through a tag on the sheep’s ear.
But getting the sheep off the bus wasn’t easy — the vehicle was already inside the bus wash. So, police accompanied the sheep as the bus passed through the giant car wash before it was safely reunited with its owner.
World’s longest foosball table unveiled
A 525-foot-long foosball table has set a new Guinness World Records title after debuting on a street in Brooklyn, New York. Built by Teremana Tequila to celebrate the FIFA World Cup, the giant table measured about the length of 112 standard foosball tables, breaking the previous record set in Turkey in 2023.
After the record attempt, the table will be divided into regular-sized foosball tables and donated to recreation centres across the US.
Published in Dawn, Young World, August 29th, 2026
