And Finally...

A man caught with extreme animal pornography, including videos depicting sexual acts with a tortoise and a horse, has been handed a six-month suspended sentence.

James Owen, 30, from Llanfechell, near Amlwch, Anglesey, had also pleaded guilty to having an indecent image of a young girl in the most serious category of child sexual abuse.

Owen told police the extreme animal pornography had been sent to him "as a joke" and he insisted he had not viewed the child abuse image.

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They then uncovered the video images of the extreme pornography, which showed sexual acts with a horse, a dog and a tortoise.

Mr Edwards said Owen claimed not to know the animal images were illegal.

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The court was told alcohol played a significant role in Owen’s offending and he had been undergoing rehabilitation sessions to address the problem.

Going breakdancing today? If so, maybe go easy on the headspins. Unless you want to end up with a “cone-head”, that is.

Breakdancing’s extreme physical demands mean it is known to involve a high risk of injury: everything from hair loss to sprains and damage to almost every part of the anatomy.

But now breakdancing enthusiasts have been warned of a new danger: that spinning on their heads too much could lead to them developing a sizeable protrusion on top of their head.

This has emerged as a potential hazard in a case report in a leading medical journal about a man in his 30s in Denmark who developed such a visible lump on his head, as a result of undertaking breakdancing training up to five times a week for 19 years, that he had surgery to remove it.

It grew as a result of what breakdancers call “headspin hole” or “breakdance bulge”, which BMJ Case Reports describes as “a unique overuse injury in breakdancers caused by repetitive headspins”.

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Doctors initially considered a number of possible diagnoses, including that the bulge could be cancer or a benign tumour.

An MRI scan showed that it was what the authors of the case report call “a subgaleal mass measuring 34cm x 0.6cm x 2.9cm near the midline vertex”.

It turned out to be an extreme example of the lump on the scalp that “headspin hole” can involve. “In radiologic descriptions, the term ‘cone-head sign’ is used,” the doctors write.

...and it contained a meth/fent dealer starter kit; cash, gun, drugs and scales.

The dangerous and violent scene unfolded two weeks ago. Hundreds of people and vehicles gathered for approximately a dozen car meetups that ended with thousands of dollars and damage and a police officer injured.

Videos from social media are part of the police investigation, and police say there was one person involved who stuck out in particular.

"The man was dressed in a banana costume," remarked Lt. Dennis Rosenbaum.

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Investigators say Thomas faces a list of charges, including damaging at least one police vehicle.

"He is linked to the patrol wagon for sure, but the conspiracy charge comes in with other vehicles involved too. Throwing items and, in one instance, they try to set the police car on fire," Rosenbaum said.

Investigators tell us they were able to track down the suspect after his own social media posts, wearing the costume, were later linked on different platforms to his high school yearbook photo.

The winner of Fat Bear Week has finally been crowned - and she's no stranger to the title.

Voters chose 128 Grazer, a mother bear who won Fat Bear Week last year, and whose cub was recently killed by her last remaining opponent in the competition, 32 Chunk.

The competition, which started a decade ago, allows viewers to watch live cameras of Alaska's Katmai National Park and Preserve and pick their favourite brown bear after the animals have beefed up on salmon in preparation for winter.

In a post on X, explore.org, the nature network that runs the contest, said 128 Grazer was "the first working mom to ever be crowned champion".

In July, two of Grazer's cubs were swept over a waterfall, where Chunk - the most dominant bear on the river - attacked them both, according to explore.org. One later succumbed to its injuries.

The two bears were later pitted against each other in Fat Bear Week's competition, with Grazer eventually coming out on top, winning more than double Chunk’s votes with more than 71,000 votes.

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Fat Bear Week came after a grisly series of events this year. The beginning of the contest was delayed by one day after a female bear was killed by a male bear on camera.

Each year, 12 bears are chosen for the Fat Bear Week bracket and fans can vote online to decide the winner.

Grazer also beat Chunk in 2023, when nearly 1.4 million votes were cast from more than 100 countries, according to Katmai Conservancy and explore.org.

Previously:

• A Fat Bear Week rematch could be on the cards as heavyweights progress to finals

A mysterious person known as the ‘Piss Bandit’ has been causing a stir in Pasadena, California, for the past six years.

The person comes out at night donned with a mask and latex gloves, regularly leaving bottles of urine in an influential neighbourhood, carefully arranging them on a utility box before vanishing into the night, as reported by New York Post.

The bottles, which include soda bottles, juice cartons, and gallon jugs are filled with yellow liquid, and are accompanied by crude drawings and notes like ‘human urine’ and ‘HIV positive.’

The bandit sometimes strikes multiple times a week, leaving behind fresh bottles each morning that disappear by nightfall.

The city attempted to stop the bandit by adding a pointed metal cover to the utility box, but the Piss Bandit simply removed it and continued his antics.

"It’s been a tug-o-war between the neighborhood and this guy," said Grant Yansura, who, along with filmmaker Derek Milton, launched an investigation into the mysterious figure.

Their TikTok videos about the case have garnered over 600,000 views.

While Yansura and Milton see the bandit as a vigilante artist akin to Robin Hood, many neighbours view him as a nuisance.

One local expressed disgust, stating he never considered the act an art form. Another neighbour threatened the bandit, saying, “If I catch you leaving your piss here, I will make you drink every last drop!”

Despite the attention, the bandit remains elusive. He ignored the duo's attempts to communicate, even stealing their cameras. Ultimately, Yansura concluded, “Sometimes you just have to let an artist pee.”

A traffic camera in Dortmund, Germany, captured the moment a speeding driver dressed in a Cookie Monster costume barreled down a highway going 60 mph.

The police are now on the hunt for the Sesame Street-loving prankster, who the cops say deliberately sped past the camera, hoping it would take a picture of them wearing the outfit.

A sign outside a store in Shiga prefecture, Japan, which featured a photo of a baby, has turned into something out of a horror movie as the ink melted due to intense heat in recent years.

Many people have since stopped outside the store, Hangai Nagahama, to take pictures of the ghastly sign, the store owner told Japanese media FNN in 2023.

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The black ink used for the baby's eyes and mouth melted and spread across the sign, smudging the baby's features into something more sinister.

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The owner, Masanao Itaya, said the summer heat likely melted the sign, which has been up at the storefront for almost a decade.

He told FNN in 2023 that he failed to notice the deteriorated state of his "favourite sign" until then, adding that he had never seen the sign melt so fast.

"I noticed it at the beginning of August and thought some people might find it creepy, so I thought about changing it," he told Japanese media.

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"I thought I'd leave it as it is for a while, so that people can enjoy it as a summer horror experience," he added.

Here is how it progressed:

A woman who spent 48 years wondering why an application for her dream job was never answered has finally found out why.

Tizi Hodson, 70, from Gedney Hill in Lincolnshire, could not believe her eyes when she opened the post to discover her original letter applying for a job as a motorcycle stunt rider, sent in January 1976, had been stuck behind a post office drawer all these years.

Despite it getting lost in the post, the setback did not hamper her daredevil career as she found a job that took her all over the world.

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At the top of the letter is a handwritten note that reads: “Late delivery by Staines Post Office. Found behind a draw [sic]. Only about 50 years late.”

Ms Hodson doesn’t know who returned the letter, or how it even found its way to her.

“How they found me when I’ve moved house 50-odd times, and even moved countries four or five times, is a mystery,” she said.

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"Every day I looked for my post but there was nothing there and I was so disappointed because I really, really, wanted to be a stunt rider on a motorcycle.”

Luckily for Ms Hodson, the silence following her application did not put her off from trying for other jobs.

She moved to Africa, worked as a snake handler and horse whisperer, learned to fly and became an aerobatic pilot and flying instructor.

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Looking back at the letter she sent when she was just starting out, Ms Hodson said: “I was very careful not to let people who were advertising for a stunt rider know that I was female, or I thought I would have had no chance of even getting an interview.

“I even stupidly told them I didn’t mind how many bones I might break as I was used to it.

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“If I could speak to my younger self, I would tell her to go and do everything I’ve done. I’ve had such a wonderful time in life, even if I have broken a few bones.”

Australian flag carrier Qantas has apologized after an R-rated movie was played on every screen during a flight.

The incident occurred on a flight between Sydney and Haneda Airport in Tokyo.

Technical issues with the Airbus A330's in-flight entertainment system meant passengers couldn't select their own movies.

Qantas said its crew members had a limited list of movies that could be played across every screen, and some passengers had requested a particular movie.

The Guardian reported that the film shown was "Daddio" — a 2023 film starring Dakota Johnson and Sean Penn.

It's rated R for language throughout, sexual material, and brief graphic nudity. According to the Guardian, one passenger described it as "40 minutes of penis and boobs."

A mother who transforms frozen rats into ‘sexy showgirls’ with coloured feathers, handmade nipple covers and fake eyelashes has said her novelty taxidermy business regularly requires 12-hour days to keep up with demand.

Caitlin Hillis, 36, runs her business called Showtime Taxidermy from her home, where she sells ‘quirky and bizarre’ rats for £148.

The rodents are dressed and posed as glam performers – and it all began during a craft night four years ago.

Caitlin said: ‘We watched videos online and we made our first taxidermy together, me, my daughter and my sister, and it was comically bad, but we loved it. We had such a fun time, so we did it again and we made others, and the natural next step was, ‘Let’s make it sexy and fun and add costumes’.’

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Caitlin explained that she buys the rats frozen from an ethical local breeder who supplies food for zoos, and she keeps them in a large freezer.

The rats cost four dollars each, but Caitlin ensures there is as little waste as possible, as a friend uses the bones to make jewellery.

With materials such as clay, foam and wire, Caitlin puts the skins in borax, which is a preservative, and then shapes the skins around her desired moulds before letting them solidify.

Caitlin said the rats’ poses are inspired by acrobats, burlesque performers and belly dancers, but tailored to suit the animals’ smaller limbs, which is part of their ‘charm’.

The drying process typically takes two to three weeks, and she then adds decorations such as coloured feathers, rhinestones, velvet and fake eyelashes, and she even makes her own ‘signature’ nipple coverings for the rats, with six on each animal.

Two men were found with kinder eggs filled with drugs up their bums as they tried to get into Creamfields. Marshall Maddock and Harry Hewitson were about to enter the north gate of the festival site before a drugs dog indicated to police that the pair may have illegal drugs.

When both were taken to a nearby area to be searched by officers, Maddock handed over a small quantity of drugs but refused to be searched further. Because of his refusal, an intimate search was conducted where officers found a kinder egg containing 10 bags of ketamine in his anus.

Hewitson also refused to be searched, claiming he didn't have any drugs, but when officers searched him he was also found to have a kinder egg with 10 bags of ketamine inside hidden in his anus. Appearing at Chester Crown Court, on Friday, October 4, the pair were handed sentences totalling 36 months in prison.

Life can be so disorienting. One minute you’re minding your own business and the next thing you know, someone says the words “salmon sperm facial”. Jarring, to say the least.

This is what happened to me recently, which is why I’m now doing it to you. Sorry. I heard about salmon sperm facials because reality star and nipple bra purveyor Kim Kardashian recently talked about getting one. Earlier this year, on her show The Kardashians, she told her mom, Kris Jenner: “I got a salmon sperm facial.” Then, to clarify: “With salmon sperm injected into my face.”

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Salmon sperm facials are also known as “polynucleotide treatments” – a more polite term to throw around at a family dinner or with colleagues.

“Polynucleotides are basically small fragments of DNA and RNA,” explains Dr Richard Westreich, a facial plastic surgeon in New York City. When injected into the skin, these fragments can help stimulate the production of new blood vessels, more collagen and keratinocytes, which help make new skin cells. All of this gives skin a thicker, healthier and more hydrated appearance, says Westreich. “It’s basically an overall skin boost.”

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The nucleotides in salmon DNA are similar enough to humans’ that they are generally well tolerated by the body and don’t cause an inflammatory reaction, Westreich explains.

The testes contain a higher concentration of DNA, which makes it easier and more cost-efficient for manufacturers to extract from there, a biochemist explained to USA Today.

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A 2024 review of the use of polynucleotides in aesthetic medicine found that some studies demonstrated “significant improvements in skin elasticity and hydration”, while others “reported limited or no benefits”.

Lewis noted that the code of conduct does not explicitly state anything about councillors drinking during meetings but the code of conduct does make mention of councillors’ decorum.

John Mascarin, a Toronto lawyer who specializes in municipal politics, said that it would likely be irrelevant that it was not explicitly stated. “You would expect a council member who’s attending a formal meeting at which decisions will be made to treat it with the proper modicum of respect. That would include being properly attired, not using any profane language, and likely, most people would say, not consuming alcoholic beverages.”

An unusual substance found on the necklace of a 3,500-year-old mummy has rewritten part of human history.

Archaeologists say the bizarre jewellery is adorned with what is thought to be the world's oldest cheese. It was found on a body entombed in an ancient burial site in Xinjiang in northwestern China.

Throughout history, humans have been buried with treasures and times of great cultural significance. And archaeologists say the Chinese “cheese necklaces” are a thrilling piece of ancient history that offers an insight into the region’s dairy-producing past during the Bronze Age.

Archive

A fake blue plaque has been erected outside a Tesco in Walthamstow to commemorate the fact that the lettuce that famously outlasted Liz Truss’s premiership was bought there.

What started out as a woman thinking her house was haunted has now sparked a police investigation.

Katie Santry from Columbus, Ohio, took to TikTok earlier this week when she noticed her home office, including her laptop screen, was wrecked. Later, while attempting to put up a fence in her backyard, she and her boyfriend Brandon found a rolled-up carpet buried in the ground. Now, her videos have received millions of views on TikTok, as both Santry and the internet try to decipher her mysterious findings.

“Is there a dead body in that rug? Or is it the ghost of the rug’s past?” she questioned in one of her videos, adding: “My next-door neighbor also died in her house the day we bought this house last October.”

“That house started getting boarded up the same day this happened. So it was just a series of weird, coincidental events that, with a creative mind, could be construed as ghostly.”

Santry had enlisted help to dig up the rug in her backyard, but she later realized it was too long and received comments from TikTokers encouraging her to call law enforcement.

When the Columbus Police Department arrived at her home, they looked at the area and decided it was worth calling in an excavator to dig up the rug. However, after notifying the chief of police, it was decided that the officers could not deploy resources. It would be up to Santry to dig up the carpet herself and call them back if anything was found...

A woman discovered her house had been broken into by a burglar who hung out her washing, put her shopping away and cooked a meal on her stove.

A woman from China’s northwest region has made headlines after giving birth to twins from two separate uteruses, a rare occurrence that has captured the attention of the medical world. The woman, known only by her surname Li, delivered the twins in September at a hospital in Shaanxi province, according to a report by the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

The woman was diagnosed with uterus didelphys, a rare condition that affects only 0.3 per cent of women worldwide. This condition results in a woman having two fully formed uteruses, each with its own set of ovaries and oviducts. While it is already uncommon, Li’s case was even more remarkable because she managed to naturally conceive and give birth to twins—a boy and a girl—each from a different womb.

The twins were born when Li was eight and a half months pregnant, adding a unique chapter to the limited cases of such births across the globe.

A surgeon at a crisis-hit NHS trust used a Swiss Army penknife to open up the chest of a patient because he claimed he could not find a sterile scalpel.

University Hospitals Sussex has said the operation was an emergency, but the surgeon’s actions were “outside normal procedures and should not have been necessary”.

Prof Graeme Poston, an expert witness on clinical negligence and a former consultant surgeon, told the BBC: “It surprises me and appals me. Firstly, a penknife is not sterile. Secondly it is not an operating instrument. And thirdly all the kit [must have been] there."

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The surgeon in the penknife case, who the BBC is not naming, was operating on a patient at the Royal Sussex Hospital in Brighton when he struggled to find a scalpel.

Instead he used a Swiss Army knife which he normally used to cut fruit for his lunch.

The patient survived but internal documents show the surgeon’s colleagues felt his behaviour was “questionable” and were “very surprised” he was unable to find a scalpel.

The BBC has also discovered the same surgeon carried out three supposedly low-risk operations in two months where all three patients died soon after.

Less than an hour later and a quarter of a mile away from Mesa Road, at the Rustic Canyon Recreational Park, local performer “California Joe, the Explorer Magician” was performing a pirate-themed magic act for a 4-year-old’s birthday party in front of about 60 guests.

About 30 children were sitting in a semicircle around a tree, said Alec Egan, the birthday girl’s father. When parents saw a man walking behind the tree, they thought he might be part of the magician’s act, or at least someone invited to the party.

“He kinda looked like a dad who maybe took mushrooms,” said Egan, who was standing about 15 yards from the tree holding an infant.

Egan said he heard Stennett yell a slur at the magician, whose real name is Richard Ribuffo.

Ribuffo told The Times he saw Stennett and thought the man was a parent trying to do something disruptive to his routine to be funny, “which happens more than you think.”

He said he heard Stennett yell, “Turn the voices off” — Ribuffo thinks he may have been referring to the sound from his microphone. He appeared to be under the influence of drugs or having a mental health crisis, Ribuffo said.

Then, Egan said, Stennett ran from behind the tree and sucker-punched the magician in the forehead, about three yards away from the children.

“It caught all of us by surprise,” Ribuffo said. He said he was able to keep distance between himself and his attacker, asking for parents to call 911, until help arrived a moment later — in the form of angry fathers.

Describing it as a “red, primal dad feeling,” Egan said he “football passed” the infant to his mother-in-law and took off running toward Stennett with two of his friends. Stennett fled, and the three chased him to Sunset Boulevard before Egan returned to the park. The two other men continued the pursuit to the North Village neighborhood, he said, keeping Stennett in view until police arrived to arrest him.

Ribuffo, who suffered bruises and swelling on his head from the attack, said he was given a clean bill of health and credited his calm reaction and control of the situation to his study of martial arts. “Put your kids in karate, people,” he said.

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Ribuffo said he was disappointed he was unable to finish his show for the children. He tried to give the parents a discount but was paid the full amount and even tipped, he said. He is not angry at the man who attacked him, he said, but hopes he gets the help that he needs.

“He’s having a much worse day than I am right now,” he said.

A 58-year-old woman allegedly attacked members of the public as they attempted to free a seagull that she had captured in south Belfast, a court heard on Tuesday.

Angela Wildman is also accused of using a carton of milk and a long-handled mop as weapons after she had put the bird into a sports bag.

Ms Wildman, of Annadale Drive in Belfast, denies three counts of common assault, possessing an offensive weapon in public, disorderly behaviour and resisting police in connection with the incident on 14 August 2024.

In court, defence solicitor Damien Trainor acknowledged the alleged incident appeared bizarre, but stressed that his client disputes having any mental health issues.

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A police officer claimed that, after members of the public tried to free the seagull from the bag, "they were assaulted by the defendant with a long-handled mop and a large carton of milk".

One of those at the scene was allegedly struck by both objects.

The court heard that Ms Wildman then became aggressive towards the arresting officers as they attempted to apply handcuffs.

Opposing her application for bail, the officer added: “I don’t know that this obsession is with wanting to capture wildlife."

Literally a cash in hand job.