Uproar as French drop euro notes…and underwear

With so much bad stuff happening in Europe and around the world right now, let's start the summer break with a look at the lighter side of the news.

French papers are in a minor uproar over an incident last month at a wedding in which the bride and groom were sprinkled with confetti that appeared to be made from shredded euro notes. Libération reports that angry locals in the southern town of Sete scrambled on the ground to gather the bits of 5-, 10-, 20- and 50-euro notes.

"People chucking money away in the street for everyone to see, when there are so many struggling to get by!" one resident told the newspaper.

Outraged locals formed a collective and called for officials to act against the newly-weds for destroying money. But Agence France Presse reveals it was much ado about nothing. The money was defective and had been earmarked for disposal by the Bank of France.

In the UK, animal-rights activists are upset and have managed to get one fishing town's local sport, conger cuddling, banned. The tradition involves one team trying to hit another with a conger eel tied to a rope.

Reuters reports the sport has now been banned after an animal rights activist complained that it was "disrespectful" to dead fish.

The New York Times and Le Parisien newspaper spotlight a scandal in the French capital, where authorities are cracking down on scantily clad sunbathers.

Would-be Parisian exhibitionists will no longer be allowed to go nude or wear thongs on the city's artificial beaches. "People must behave according to good standards to maintain tranquillity, security and public order," reads the new decree, according to Le Parisien. Violators will be fined.

City hall sports official Pascal Cherki told the paper that indecent clothing "could have led to temptations and dangerous behaviour on the banks of the river". Torching a car or blocking off a street to protest labour reforms, however, still goes largely unpunished.

More from the beach: Reuters reports that Albanian police were rendered helpless as about 30 Scandinavian women went topless, shocking local bathers and causing an uproar in an Albanian beach resort.

The Scandinavians left after two hours when their guide was informed that nude bathing was banned on public beaches.

The dangers of internet voting are underlined in Hungary, where a new bridge is about to be named after Hollywood action star Chuck Norris. The country's economics ministry had organised online balloting to name the bridge. Finally, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair admits his admiration for another action star, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. On a visit to Los Angeles to promote a climate-change initiative, Blair said his wife had asked him how he felt about meeting the muscle-bound legend.

"I said I felt acute body envy, actually," confessed Blair, according to the Associated Press. Don't let him near Paris.

• Craig Winneker is editor of TCSDaily.com.

With so much bad stuff happening in Europe and around the world right now, let's start the summer break with a look at the lighter side of the news.

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