And Finally...

“Marley was dead: to begin with,” begins Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, the ghostly morality tale of miserly Ebenezer Scrooge who, through a series of encounters with spirits in the early hours of Christmas morning, realises he needs to change his ways.

It is an imagined story – there is no Scrooge and, unlike his unfortunate business partner, he is not dead. But that does not appear to have mattered to a vandal in Shropshire, where a gravestone of Scrooge used in a 1984 film adaptation has been smashed into multiple pieces.

The prop, a heavy piece of stone several centimetres thick engraved with the name “Ebenezer Scrooge”, has lain in the graveyard of St Chad’s church, Shrewsbury, since the movie 40 years ago starring George C Scott.

While Scrooge is definitely fictional, the stone may have belonged to an unknown real person whose name was weathered away over hundreds of years, according to a BBC interview with Martin Wood, Shrewsbury’s town crier, who was a body double in the film.

It can be seen in the scene where Scrooge, described by Dickens as “a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner”, is taken to the grave of an unloved man by the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come and discovers it bears his own name.

Town council clerk Helen Ball said the prop was a popular attraction in the village. “It’s one of those things that is very dear to everybody’s hearts,” she told BBC Radio Shropshire. “When you look at the Facebook messages that people put on yesterday, it’s united a community in terms of the disgust that somebody can do that.”

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She said: “Maybe if it’s someone in their drunken revelry, they might have posted it on Facebook or something, and maybe somebody with a bit of conscience might let us know who that is.

“Or equally,” she said, providing a potentially satisfying ending, “the person who did it may have a conscience and decide to own up”.

Ball added, in true Victorian style, it would be a “good reason to bring the stocks back”.

As the commissioner for women affairs and social welfare in Anambra state, Ify Obinabo has plenty of experience in resolving family disputes - but this is no ordinary disagreement.

Five members of Ike’s family, who are also present in the room, do not believe Hope is the couple’s biological child, as Chioma and Ike claim.

Chioma claims to have “carried” the child for about 15 months. The commissioner and Ike’s family are in disbelief at the absurdity of the claim.

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Nigeria has one of the highest birth rates in the world, with women often facing social pressure to conceive and even ostracisation or abuse if they cannot.

Under this pressure, some women go to extremes to realise their dream of motherhood.

For over a year, BBC Africa Eye has been investigating the “cryptic pregnancy” scam.

Scammers posing as doctors or nurses convince women that they have a “miracle fertility treatment” guaranteed to get them pregnant. The initial “treatment” usually costs hundreds of dollars and consists of an injection, a drink, or a substance inserted into the vagina.

None of the women or officials we spoke to during our investigation know for sure what is in these drugs. But some women have told us they led to changes in their bodies - such as swollen stomachs - which further convinced them they were pregnant.

Women given the “treatment” are warned not to visit any conventional doctors or hospitals, as no scan or pregnancy test would detect “the baby”, which the scammers claim is growing outside the womb.

When it’s time to “deliver” the baby, women are told labour will only begin once they are induced with a “rare and expensive drug”, requiring further payment.

Accounts of how the “delivery” happens vary, but all are disturbing. Some are sedated only to wake up with a Caesarean-like incision mark. Others say they are given an injection that causes a drowsy, hallucinatory state in which they believe they’re giving birth.

Either way, the women end up with babies they are supposed to have given birth to.

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The extent to which the women involved genuinely believe the claims is unclear.

But clues as to why they would be susceptible to such brazen lies can, in part, be found in online groups where disinformation around pregnancy is widespread.

The circle completes itself.

A court in South Korea has found a man guilty of trying to avoid mandatory military service by deliberately gaining weight, local media report.

The 26-year-old began binge eating before his physical examination for the draft, a judge in the capital, Seoul, said. He was categorised as obese, allowing him to serve in a non-combat role at a government agency.

The defendant received a one-year suspended sentence. A friend who devised a special regimen that doubled his daily food intake got a six-month suspended sentence, the Korea Herald newspaper reports, external.

An Indian man who was declared dead woke up on his funeral pyre moments before he was nearly set on fire.

Rohitash Kumar, 25, had been suffering from ill health and on Thursday was taken to a hospital in the western state of Rajasthan, India.

It's reported that Kumar had an epileptic fit, which prompted the hospital visit.

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When he arrived at the hospital, Kumar was pronounced dead after doctors attempted CPR and saw his heart flatline on the electrocardiogram.

Doctors at the Bhagwan Das Khetan (BDK) district hospital unusually sent Kumar straight to the mortuary, instead of carrying out a postmortem to confirm his cause of death.

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In accordance with Hindu rites, from the mortuary Kumar's body was placed on a funeral pyre. However, witnesses noticed Kumar was moving moments before the burning took place, saving his life.

"The situation was nothing short of a miracle. We all were in shock. He was declared dead, but there he was, breathing and alive," a witness at the crematorium told ETV Bharat.

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After Kumar woke up on the pyre, he was rushed back to BDK hospital's ICU. However, his condition did not improve. After an attempt to refer him to the SMS hospital, Kumar sadly died en route.

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/15479109

AI is coming for us all. Writers, doctors and artists – among many others – all stand to have their livelihoods decimated by artificial intelligence. And the next potential victim? The Son of God.

Peter’s Chapel in Lucerne, Switzerland, recently unveiled “Deus in machina,” an “experimental art installation” that features an AI version of Jesus in the confessional booth, according to its website.

The church has encouraged visitors to “share their thoughts and questions” with AI Jesus, though it clarified that this shouldn’t be considered the Sacrament of Confession.

AI Jesus, whose likeness appears on a screen in the confessional, may “create a sacred moment,” the church said. Peter’s Chapel added that the installation is meant to encourage visitors “to think critically about the limits of technology in the context of religion.”

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About two-thirds of participants told the outlet that they came out of the tech-assisted confessional having had a spiritual experience.

Officers in the southern Netherlands have found a garden gnome weighing nearly 2kg (4lb) and made of the drug MDMA.

"Drugs appear in many shapes and sizes, but every now and then we come across special things," Dongemond Police said in a translated social media post.

The gnome was found among suspected narcotics during a large drug search.

"In itself a strange place to keep your garden gnome," the force said. "That's why we decided to test [it] for narcotics".

"The gnome himself was visibly startled," police said, referring to the gnome having its hands covering its mouth.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/20300930

A farm in East Ayrshire has launched the UK’s most expensive coffee to help fund a zero-waste dairy facility.

Mossgiel Farm announced the £272 flat white, which includes 34 shares in their business, will turn customers into investors in sustainable dairy farming.

The drink consists of espresso and steamed milk from Mossgiel Farm in Mauchline. It will be available at 13 Scottish cafes on November 23.

Mossgiel’s coffee is the most expensive in the UK, a title previously held by a flat white at Shot London in Mayfair, which cost £265 and was made with Japanese Typica beans.

It comes as part of Mossgiel Farm owner Bryce Cunningham’s drive to raise funds for a state-of-the-art, zero-waste dairy facility, which will give them the backing needed to “revolutionise” milk consumption.

Contemporary artist Maurizio Cattelan’s “Comedian” – a banana duct-taped to the wall, exactly 160 centimeters from the floor – sold for $6.2 million at a Sotheby’s auction this week, in the latest iteration of a saga that first captured the art world in 2019.

Cattelan, an Italian, is known for his satirical and tongue-in-cheek art work. Among his most famous pieces are a solid gold, fully functional toilet entitled “America” and “La Nona Ora,” a sculpture of a pope laying on the ground after getting hit by a meteorite.

Chinese crypto guru Justin Sun announced that he purchased “Comedian” in a Wednesday evening post to X. Sun will reportedly pay the $6.2 million to Sotheby’s using crypto-currency.

“This is not just an artwork; it represents a cultural phenomenon that bridges the worlds of art, memes, and the cryptocurrency community. I believe this piece will inspire more thought and discussion in the future and will become a part of history,” Sun wrote on X.

“In the coming days, I will personally eat the banana as part of this unique artistic experience, honoring its place in both art history and popular culture. Stay tuned!”

Police in Lincolnshire have urged motorists to stop chasing an on-the-run emu in off-road vehicles.

Officers in Boston said there had been sightings for a "couple of weeks" in the Spilsby area but the bird is at risk of being injured and people should not approach it.

It's currently unclear where the emu escaped from.

Posting on Facebook, police said: "Experts have been trying to gain her trust by feeding her in the same spot for a while, however, efforts are being scuppered and staff and volunteers are concerned because members of the public have been chasing her in 4x4s.

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The National Exotics Animal Rescue Service is on the scene and has called in a specialist team to coordinate the emu's capture, police said.

A Philadelphia man sustained third-degree burns “and has been left with disfiguring scars on his penis, testicles and thighs” following a hot tea spill while flying home aboard Frontier Airlines, according to a federal lawsuit obtained by The Independent.

Sean Miller’s injuries include “highly unsightly and embarrassing discoloration on his penis, scrotum/testicles,” along with “significantly decreased sensation in his penis,” “post-traumatic stress disorder,” and “lack of self-esteem,” plus at least one herniated disc he suffered while writhing in distress, the lawsuit states.

Miller, 56, was rushed to the hospital immediately upon landing, after which he was transferred to an area burn center for specialized treatment “due to the severity” of his wounds.

“Due to the tightly-situated plane seat configuration, Mr. Miller was unable to get up from his seat after the spill and, instead, was trapped in agonizing pain while his body was being burnt,” his attorney, Adam S. Barrist, told The Independent.

Miller, a warehouse worker, has been left with “permanent scarring” on and around his genitalia, and “has been encountering sexual dysfunction since this incident,” Barrist said.

"We received a report from the security staff at the Jorge Chaves International Airport," said Pilar Ayala, a biologist with SERFOR (Peru's National Forestry and Wildlife Service). "In the report they indicated that they found a Korean citizen in possession of wildlife specimens."

Security staff at the airport became suspicious when they noticed that a 28-year-old South Korean passenger had an "unusually swollen" stomach, according to local reporting referenced by Reuters.

"It was observed that the citizen had placed these specimens in small ziploc bags with filter paper," Ayala continued. "They were placed around his body, contained by two girdles."

Authorities reported the suspect was attempting to smuggle 320 tarantulas (35 of which were the size of a human hand), 110 centipedes, and nine bullet ants on his body.

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/15226006

Finnaly I have something to offer my country!

Thousands of people have signed a counter-petition to keep a pub’s “offensive” name after a rebrand was announced.

The Midget, a Greene King pub in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, was first subject of a petition signed by more than 1,300 people calling on the brewery franchise to “recognise the offence of the term and its implications” of the pub’s name.

The name comes from the iconic MG car which was built in the car company’s former factory in Abingdon.

Last week, Greene King said it would rename the pub The Roaring Raindrop in tribute to the last ever land speed record-breaking car produced by MG.

But some locals have objected with more than 2,800 people signing a counter-petition calling on the brewery to reverse the plans to rebrand.

A bank robber put a pillow case over his head to hide his identity - then had to take it off as he could not see.

Matthew Davies failed to create eye holes in the cover ahead of the armed raid at a bank in Dunfermline, Fife last September.

The 47-year-old, who threatened staff with a meat cleaver, left the branch with nearly £2,000 but was later arrested.

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A hearing at the High Court in Glasgow heard how Davies entered the Bank of Scotland branch and pulled the meat cleaver from the pillow case before putting the bedding item on to cover his face.

But the failure to create eye holes meant he had to take it off.

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The court heard how a witness then followed Davies from the branch to his Dunfermline home.

Police later found the cash and a pillow case "consistent with what he put over his head" at his house.

In short:

The satirical news website The Onion, which claims to have 4.3 trillion daily readers, will partner with a gun violence prevention organisation to relaunch the conspiracy website, Infowars.

Infowars' founder Alex Jones claimed the Sandy Hook shooting was a hoax conducted by crisis actors.

What's next?

Jones has vowed to file legal challenges to stop The Onion taking his site.

A brutal series of attacks at a rural monastery in Spain over the weekend has left several people injured, after an assailant reportedly broke in and declared "I am Jesus Christ and I am going to kill the monks." Following a lengthy search of the countryside around Valencia, police have arrested a man on suspicion of carrying out the vicious attack, which left a 76-year-old man fighting for his life.

Initial reports on Saturday indicated that a Catholic Bishop had been killed during the violent rampage, during which the assailant is alleged to have used a historical artefact, as well as a glass bottle, to attack monks at the monastery. However, emergency services have since confirmed that no one died, but one individual remains in a critical condition in hospital following the assault

cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/17027060

Businesses, community groups, arts organisations and residents in a thriving town on the Croydon-Surrey border are in uproar because the automatic systems employed to police social media have silenced them on one of the world’s biggest digital platforms – all because Coulsdon has the letters L, S and D in its name.

Residents’ associations and businesses with “Coulsdon” in their titles have found themselves “cancelled”, with posts being removed from Facebook and warnings issued as to their future conduct under a set of rules so vague that any post, however innocent, might fall foul of them.

Los Angeles police said they spent hours trying to get the man out from a crawl space under the El Sereno home, after the woman's family reported hearing noises for weeks.

The man - identified as 27-year-old Isaac Betancourt - "refused to leave" even as police used dogs and two rounds of gas, according to the resident's son-in-law Ricardo Silva.

"He wasn't scared of the dogs, and the first two attempts at gas didn't fish him out," he said.

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Mr Silva said they had been hearing noises for weeks, usually late at night, but they "just chucked it off to animals being under the house".

"The noises were kind of like knocking," he added.

"It was kind of like, as my wife was walking, they were kind of knocking back from under the house so she says, 'you know something's wrong'."

While it's not clear how long the man had been under the home, the family suspects he may have been staying for up to six months.

The space under the home is roughly 2ft high and has three entries, which the family believes he used to come and go.

"It's a bizarre thing, but it's not probably uncommon, you know," Mr Silva said.

"In this day and age, people are looking for shelter."

It started as a social media quest for breakfast dumplings, but ended with thousands of cyclists bringing traffic gridlock between two cities in central China.

What should have been a boost to the ancient city of Kaifeng’s economy backfired when the trend went viral - tens of thousands on rented bikes cycled through the night from nearby Zhenghou.

A six-lane expressway between the two cities quickly filled with cyclists as police took to loudspeakers urging them to leave. Bike rental firms warned they would remotely lock bikes taken out of Zhengzhou.

The event is part of a trend where young Chinese are travelling cheaply at a time when the economy is faltering and job prospects are scarce.

It began with four university students who cycled for 50km (30 miles) from Zhengzhou to Kaifeng in June to try guantangbao, a type of soup dumpling.

"You don't get a second chance at youth, so you must go for a spontaneous trip with friends," one of the four had told local media.

That message struck a chord with other young people in the city of 12.6 million - China's young have increasingly been complaining of burnout from an overly-competitive and grinding job market.

Thus was born the social media trend “Night Ride to Kaifeng".

State media initially praised it as a demonstration of young people's "passion". And local government saw it as an opportunity to recreate the instant fame that the town of Zibo enjoyed last year as millions arrived to sample its barbecues.

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But the happy mood turned as the roads in Zhengzhou began to be overwhelmed by the thousands of bikes.

Pictures circulating online showed serious congestion on the main roads from Zhengzhou to Kaifeng. One witness told the local outlet Jimu News that his drive on that route, which usually took one hour, took three.

Some riders shared on social media that they were forced to get off their bikes and push their way through the crowd.

There was no official estimate of the number of bicycles on the road on Friday night. But reports on social media suggest the number ranged from 100,000 to 200,000.

And many of those who made it to Kaifeng didn't seem to have enjoyed the experience.

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Traffic police in both Zhengzhou and Kaifeng closed off some of the main cycling lanes between the two cities on Saturday and Sunday.

It is not surprising to see officials in both cities pushing back because Chinese authorities have always cracked down on large gatherings, which they fear can lead to protests or any form of political expression.

Last month, police in Shanghai silenced celebrations for Halloween over fears the revelries might be used to express dissent.