He became famous for fake interpreting Nelson Mandela’s funeral — now he’s plugging an Israeli start-up

Thamsanqa Jantjie came to the world's attention after signing what has been described as gibberish during the national memorial service for Nelson Mandela last year.

The whole incident he's chalked up to an episode of schizophrenia. Reports quickly emerged of previous criminal convictions. And that would have been that, except for an Israeli company needing a commercial.

So Jantjie was pulled out of a hospital, to promote Livelens. He signs, of course. The Independent has the story, and here's the video.

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Chinese police will patrol the Champ Elysees to protect tourists from criminals

It's a stunning example of how important Chinese tourists are to the French economy these days: Chinese police will join their French counterparts in patrolling the streets of Paris this summer. The measure is a direct response to a surge in — sometimes violent — attacks targeting Chinese tourists. 

Business Insider reports on the effort to protect the more than one million Chinese tourists, who are known for travelling with large sums of cash, making them prime targets for pickpockets and muggers. Chinese tourists spend an average of $2,000 shopping on their visits to the French capital, making any slowdown potentially damaging to the French economy.

Pink sheep in Ireland? Must mean the Giro d'Italia is near

One of the world's biggest cycling events, after the Tour de France of course, the Giro d'Italia is about to get underway. But the Italian race starts in, of all places, Northern Ireland. And the Irish have gone crazy over the race, with everyone trying to find a way to be a part of the big event.

PRI's The World has the story of how some people are making the race part of their lives. Among them are some very pink sheep. Don't miss the pictures.

19 of India's wealthy criminals are hoping to be elected to parliament

India's going through elections right now, often described as the wold's largest exercise in democracy, but all the candidates aren't exactly created equal. Many of them, unsurprisingly, are rich. But some of the rich are also criminals. And not just run-of-the-mill white collar criminals.

Several candidates are in prison facing charges of rape, murder, even slavery. Quartz reports on how these career politicians aren't letting a little trip to prison get in the way of their quest for a seat in parliament.

Thailand is without a prime minister again after judges toss her out

Thailand's been a long-time US ally, an important base for US troops in Asia. And it's been a democracy for a long time. But the current political situation there is complicated, to put it nicely. For the third time in a decade, a court has thrown out a democratically elected prime minister, accusing her of abusing her power.

PRI's To The Point interviewed Patrick Winn, Asia correspondent for the Global Post about the situation in Bangkok, where protesters have been in the streets for months. 

What we're seeing on social

Weather around the world

We talk often about the state of the air in China, but a new report says we should be talking a whole lot more about the bad air in India. A new report from the World Health organization named India the most polluted city, when it comes to the dangerous PM2.5 particles that are a major focus of international health experts. Indian officials concede the situation in Delhi is bad, indeed 13 Indian cities make the list of the world's 20 most polluted places, but they say it's no worse than Beijing, according to The Guardian. Small consolation.