Indian boy with 8-inch 'tail' undergoes surgery to remove growth

The tail had started to grow on the back of the teenager just after his 14th birthday. But over the past four years, the "tail" had grown to 8 inches long on the Indian boy, now 18. His doctors believe the case requires examination in a medical journal as the "tail" could be the longest recorded so far after other shorter tails of about 6 inches in length. His family , who were apprehensive about drawing a public attention to the condition of their son, finally decided to get the tail removed. They refused to have their identity disclosed.
Doctors say the boy might have developed the "tail" in the womb as a result of a neural tube deformity but it appeared outside only after he grew up.
Graphic pictures after the cut

Maria Sharapova's doping ban from tennis reduced to 15 months

Tennis star Maria Sharapova’s doping suspension was upheld by an appeals court but the length of time reduced by nine months, as the panel found that she made a mistake and didn’t intentionally take a banned drug. The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled on Tuesday that Sharapova’s suspension for taking meldonium, a cardiac drug, should last 15 months, down from two years. Sharapova can now return to professional tennis at the end of next April, shortly after her 30th birthday and before next year’s French Open.
The decision is likely to give a boost to Sharapova’s credibility, which took a hit after she tested positive for the banned drug at this year’s Australian Open.
Sharapova had been taking meldonium for 10 years. The World Anti-Doping Agency banned the drug starting in 2016, but Sharapova has said she was unaware of the change (You can read the story here).

Man pictured excretes 270g of cocaine after he was caught on his way to Madagascar

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, Nigeria have arrested a 47-year-old man, who attempted to export 270 grams of cocaine to Madagascar. The suspect, Odili Onyekwere, was arrested at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, during the outward screening of passengers on a Kenyan Airways flight to Ivato International Airport, Antananarivo, Madagascar. The NDLEA Commander at the Lagos Airport, Ahmadu Garba, said: “This is the first arrest and seizure in the year of a passenger heading to Madagascar from this airport. The suspect, Odili Onyekwere, successfully excreted 25 wraps of cocaine, which he ingested, while under close observation.

This 8-weeks old baby has incredible bouffant hairdstyle

Mum-of-three Chelsea Noon, 32, says shocked passers-by often stare at her little man Junior and a trip to the supermarket now involves a minefield of questions from curious shoppers.
Such a cutie!
More pictures after the cut

Bodybuilder who aims to look like incredible hulk

A bodybuilder inspired by the Incredible Hulk is risking his life by injecting oil into his arms in a bid to make his muscles bigger. Beefcake Valdir Segato's huge biceps measure a staggering 23 inches as a result of painful synthol injections. The 48-year-old's arms have doubled in size from 12in after he began injecting the potentially lethal oil substance five years ago - and now he wants to get even bigger. Valdir, from Sao Paulo, Brazil, is inspired by the physiques of Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Hulk and is proud to be known locally as 'He-Man' and 'the monster' in the street.
More pictures after the cut

Picture of the week

Tunisia sentences 31 people to death for attack on Minister

A Tunisian court has handed 31 people death sentences over a 2014 attack on the home of then interior minister Lotfi Ben Jeddou, a judiciary spokesman said on Monday. The 31, who included Algerians as well as Tunisians, were sentenced in absentia and some are reported to be already dead. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) claimed the attack on the minister’s family home in the western border region of Kasserine, which left four police officers dead. Ben Jeddou was not in the house at the time.
Those convicted were found guilty of “wilful homicide and membership of a terrorist group” and were also sentenced to 36 years in prison. A total of 46 people were prosecuted over the attack, said the spokesman for Tunis district court, Sofiene Sliti.

ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi reportedly ill after food poisoning by assassins

ISIS ringleader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is reportedly seriously ill after having his food poisoned by an assassin. Meals prepared for the ISIS leader and three other commanders of the terrorist organisation were allegedly poisoned in the Be'aaj district, southwest of Nineveh.
A source told Iraqi news agency WAA the four are suffering from 'severe poisoning' and 'have been transferred to an unknown location under strict measures.'
The terror group have reportedly launched a campaign of arrests to track down those responsible.

Ethiopia in a state of national mourning after stampede kills over 52

Ethiopians are observing three days of national mourning after people died during a protest at a religious festival in the Oromia region on Sunday. (You can read the story here). There is a dispute over what caused the deaths. A statement on Ethiopia's state broadcaster said the mourning is to "commemorate innocent citizens who lost their lives because of the violence instigated by anti-peace forces". Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn earlier blamed rioters for the "mayhem" which led to a stampede.
Opposition activists say the panic was caused when security forces fired teargas and bullets into the large crowd which had gathered for a thanksgiving ceremony. They also say that the death toll is far higher than the official figure of 52. There has been months of tension in Ethiopia's Oromia region after a series of protests in which Oromo people have been complaining of political and economic marginalisation.

Saudi Arabia abandons Islamic calendar for govt pay

Saudi government workers will be paid according to the Gregorian calendar instead of the Islamic Hijri calendar, making the working month longer as part of cost-cutting measures, newspapers reported on Monday. The change, approved by cabinet last week, brings civil service pay in line with the government's January-December fiscal year.
The reports said the latest austerity measure took effect on October 1. Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, is cutting government spending and re-orienting its economy after a collapse over the past two years of the global oil price which provided most of its revenue. The Hijri calendar consists of 12 months of 29 or 30 days depending on the sighting of the moon, meaning the Islamic year is several days shorter than the Gregorian calendar, which is widely used in the world.

Watch as mother shaves her daughter's head as punishment for 'bullying bald cancer patient'

This video shows the mother and daughter both speaking in Portuguese, although it is not known where the footage was filmed. The girl cowers in a bath while the older woman shaves off her hair. The blonde-haired woman speaks calmly as she runs the electric razor up and down the girl's head. The footage went viral on social media with the caption:
'This girl bullied another girl at her school who has cancer so her mum decided to shave her head'

Rigobert Song, ex Cameroon caption out of coma as he suffered stroke

Rigobert Song is reportedly out of a coma, breathing by himself and has been flown to France after suffering a cerebral aneurysm on Sunday. The former Liverpool, West Ham United and Cameroon defender Song was reportedly fighting for his life after being rushed to hospital in Yaounde. The 40-year-old is the uncle of former Arsenal, West Ham United and Charlton midfielder, Alex. Song, who is the current head coach of Chad's senior national team, was in a critical condition after a stroke.

Bride gets thrown off the horse during bridal shoot

Sue Allegretta, from Oakland, New Jersey, decided to make her bridal shoot a really special one and enlisted the help of horses for the project. One horse had other ideas. Pictures show her seated on a horse standing in a river while hi-fiving her bridesmaid seated on a different horse. It all looks nice and pretty but her horse soon had enough of it all and made its wishes known loud and clear. It threw her into the water.
More pictures after the cut

Hurricane Matthew lands in Haiti

Hurricane Matthew roared into the southwestern coast of Haiti on Tuesday as it headed north toward Cuba and the eastern coast of Florida. The dangerous Category 4 storm made landfall around dawn on Haiti’s southern peninsula, where many people live along the coast in shacks of wood and corrugated steel that stand little chance of withstanding the force of the system’s maximum sustained winds of 145 mph (230 kph). Matthew was also expected to bring 15-25 inches of rain, along with up to 10 feet (3 meters) of storm surge and battering waves, said Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist and spokesman for the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. “They are getting everything a major hurricane can throw at them,” Feltgen said.

52 dead in Ethiopia festival stampede

Fifty-two people died on Sunday at a religious festival in Ethiopia to celebrate the end of the rainy season after police fired tear gas at protesters triggering a stampede. Violence broke out at the gathering in the town of Bishoftu near the capital Addis Ababa due to the actions of "irresponsible forces", the regional government said in a statement, adding that "as a consequence, 52 people died in this crush." Opposition groups had said they believed more than 100 people had been killed in the chaos after thousands of people gathered at a sacred lake for the Irreecha (thanksgiving) ceremony, in which the Oromo community marks the end of the wet weather.

UK opens its first ‘waste supermarket’

Shoppers are reaping the rewards by spending loose change to buy stock thrown out by top supermarket chains – following the opening of the UK’s first food waste shop. The supermarket, in a warehouse in Pudsey, Leeds West Yorks., is made up of shelves, pallets and domestic fridges. Stock includes basics such as bread, both branded and supermarket own, fruit and veg, chocolate, as well as packaged sandwiches, luxury items such as capers and prosecco, and even pulled pork rolls from Greggs. There are bunches of flowers, a freezer full of meat good and pre-packaged pies, and also large boxes of noodles and soya spread on offer, pallets of flour alongside massive jars of mayonnaise and mustard.

Lady Gaga to headline the Super Bowl halftime show next year

Lady Gaga will be performing at 2017's Super Bowl halftime show. US Weeklyrumored the news earlier this month, but it was never actually confirmed by the NFL or Gaga herself. However, she has since tweeted that she will, in fact, be the headlining act on February 5th.

London's Tower Bridge closed until New Year for maintenance work

London's iconic Tower Bridge closed to vehicles for three months on Saturday for its first major maintenance works in nearly half a century. The 122-year-old drawbridge by the Tower of London -- whose roadway leaves are lifted to allow tall ships on the River Thames to pass through -- carries 21 000 vehicles and some 40 000 people per day.
"This heavy use has had an effect on timber decking of the bridge, which was last refurbished in 1970," said a statement from the City of London Corporation, which owns the Victorian Gothic landmark.
"To ensure that the bridge continues to serve as a vital river crossing we need to undertake the essential maintenance works."

At least 77 injured after gas cylinder explodes at Spanish restaurant

At least 77 people have been injured, five of them seriously, after a gas cylinder exploded on Saturday in a restaurant in the Spanish town of Velez-Malaga on the southern coast, a spokesman for the Andalucia region’s emergency unit said. The spokesman said the explosion occurred at about 1.00 p.m. ET during a festival in the town, which is 40 km east of the popular tourist destination of Malaga. Video footage posted on social media showed people fleeing a fire inside a small restaurant called “La Bohemia” close to the center of Velez-Malaga, with the street outside covered in debris.

Woman sells used pair of underwear she wore for 3 weeks for $5,000

A 21 year old student who goes by the alias of Lady Kitten, who said she has been working with a website that allows users to discreetly buy and sell used underwear, for about six months said she uses the platform as a chance to make a little extra money on the side.
She said she first got into the business after searching around online for how to make extra money. She said:
 "I saw that some girls were making good money from this, so I thought I'd try it out".
And she did. The internet (and the world) is full of people who fetishize worn underwear, whether they enjoy the natural scent, or want to purchase a pair someone has masturbated in. "I try to list three or four pairs each week, although I can get a bit lazy," she explains. In her six-month stint, she had raked in about $4,000.