Russian Tattoo Artist Detained for Hurting the Feelings of Christians with Her Tattoos

A young tattoo artist from St. Petersburg, Russia, was recently detained for insulting religious believers with controversial tattoos featuring Jesus Christ, the cross and other Christian symbols.

Daria Krichker is facing up to one year in jail for her crimes. According to the Orthodox activist group that filed a complaint against her, she has committed “repeated gross blasphemous acts against Christ, the Mother of God, and the saints of the Church,” which “cannot be tolerated on Russian soil. It all started earlier this month when photos of a tattoo reportedly inked on Krichker’s own calf went viral on social media. It showed Jesus on the cross having an orgasm, which isn’t the kind of creative work that religious people would appreciate. It’s weird, many would describe it as disgusting, but in Russia, such a tattoo can literally land you behind bars.

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This Italian Church Has a 500-Year-Old Crocodile Hanging from the Ceiling

The Santuario Della Beata Vergine Maria Delle Grazie, in Italy’s Lombardia region, is an old church famous for having a real taxidermied crocodile hanging from the ceiling.

What’s the last thing you expect to see when you look up in a church? Granted, there are plenty of interesting answers one can think of, but ‘a crocodile’ definitely ranks up there with the quirkiest of them. But if you travel to the small municipality of Curtatone, in Lombardia, Italy, you’ll find a church with a five-century-old crocodile hanging from the ceiling. It’s a peculiar sight, to say the least, but one that has been around for as long as anyone can remember. How the croc wound up at the Santuario Della Beata Vergine Maria Delle Grazie is, and will probably remain a mystery, but its purpose had been linked to religious symbolism.

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Woman Claims Dripping Urine in Your Eyes Cures Vision Problems

A Spanish woman sparked controversy after claiming that dripping urine into her eyes cured her myopia and astigmatism.

Urine therapy or urotherapy is a form of alternative medicine popularized by British naturopath John W. Armstrong in the early 20th century. Advocates of this unusual form of therapy promote the application of human urine for medicinal or cosmetic purposes, including massaging one’s skin, or gums, with one’s urine, and even drinking it. However, TikTok user and “assistant metaphysical counselor” Suama Fraile claims that urine is also much better at treating eye problems than the chemical-infused medicine prescribed by most doctors. The woman claims to have dripped urine into her eyes daily until it cured her astigmatism and myopia.

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Woman Fakes 17 Pregnancies to Collect Maternity Benefits and Skip Work

An Italian woman stands accused of faking no less than 17 pregnancies – 12 natural abortions and 5 false births – over the last 24 years, to receive 110,000 euros ($120,000) in maternity benefits.

50-year-old Barbara Ioele has had an unusual number of pregnancies over the last 24 years, which have resulted in years of maternity leave and a small fortune in state-paid benefits. According to documents filed by the woman, she went through 17 pregnancies, 12 of which unfortunately couldn’t be carried to term. The other five allegedly resulted in the birth of healthy babies named Benedetta, Angelica, Abramo, Letizia, and Ismaele, only there is no record of them ever being registered, and no one has ever actually seen them. Barbara allegedly birthed her youngest child in December of last year, but now authorities claim she had been under surveillance throughout her late pregnancy and they have proof that she was never pregnant. They are also accusing her of having faked all 17 declared pregnancies to receive over 110,000 euros in benefits and get time off from work.

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Man Fined $400 for Scratching His Head While Driving Due to Smart Camera Error

A Dutch man was fined 380 euros ($400) after an AI-powered camera caught him talking on his phone while driving. Only he claims he was only scratching his head and the system made a mistake.

In November of last year, Tim Hansen received a fine for allegedly speaking on his mobile phone while driving a month earlier. He was shocked, mainly because he didn’t remember using his phone at the wheel on that particular day, so he decided to check the incriminating photo on the Central Judicial Collection Agency. At first glance, it seems that Tim is indeed talking on his phone, but a closer look reveals that he isn’t actually holding anything in his hand. He was simply scratching the side of his head and the camera mistook the position of his hand for it holding a phone. What is even more baffling is that the human who checked the photo and validated his fine didn’t spot the “false positive” either.

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Scientists Baffled by Mushroom Growing on Live Frog

In what is believed to be the first ever such documented case, researchers in India came across a live frog with a small mushroom growing on the side of its body.

The Last of Us, the hit HBO series based on the namesake video game series, has popularized the fictional idea of mushrooms and fungi infecting humans and turning them into mindless zombies. In reality, fungi from the cordyceps family only infect insects, but a team of Indian researchers recently made a discovery that speaks to the adaptability of these microorganisms and their ability to survive and thrive in the most unusual conditions. While observing the fauna around a small pond in the foothills of the Kudremukha Ranges, India, hobbyist naturalist Chinmay Maliye and wetland specialist Lohit Y.T. came across a frog with a mushroom sprouting from its flank.

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Woman Sneaks Out of Hospital After Plastic Surgery to Avoid Paying

A woman recently tried to sneak out of a private hospital in Istanbul, Turkey, hours after undergoing plastic surgery in order to avoid having to pay for the procedure.

The incident reportedly took place last week at a private hospital in Istanbul’s Sisli neighborhood and was captured on camera by passers-by. In a short clip that has been doing the rounds online, a woman wearing a hospital robe and white slippers can be seen arguing with doctors and nurses trying to stop her from leaving. The woman’s face is visibly swollen and almost completely covered in bandages, which makes sense when considering she had only undergone extensive plastic surgery just hours prior. What makes less sense is the woman’s motives for leaving her hospital bed as soon as her anesthesia wore off – trying to avoid covering the bill for the procedure.

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64-Year-Old Woman Busted for Counterfeiting Luxury Bags Using Her Sewing Machine

A 64-year-old Japanese woman from Tokyo’s Katsushika Ward has admitted to counterfeiting luxury bags and wallets in the comfort of her own home and selling them in her small shop as originals.

The unnamed woman’s story began a few years ago when she opened a small bag shop in Katsushika where she tried to sell her original bags. Unfortunately, business wasn’t very good, especially on weekdays, and things only got worse when the pandemic hit. But, as it often happens in our darkest moments, the woman came up with a solution to her problem at the peak of the pandemic. She was watching TV when she saw a segment on the popularity of designer bags and accessories and decided that riding that same wave was her way to success. After doing a bit of research, she found branded fabric and synthetic leather online, ordered some, and began making luxury bag knockoffs using her sewing machine.

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Incredibly Realistic Wool Felt Dog Took Over 500 Hours to Complete

A Japanese artisan spent over 500 hours making a hyper-realistic wool felt model of a Miniature Pinscher.

Terumi Ota’s latest creation, a wool felt Miniature Pinscher, received over 32,000 likes on X (Twitter), and for good reason. At first glance, it looks like a real dog, which isn’t really the case with wool-felt sculptures, especially ones of short-hair breeds like the Pinscher. Apparently, due to the complexity of the project< Ota had to work on it intermittently over the last seven years, while she completed other commissioned works. She estimates that she put in over 500 hours of work, which sounds insane but is justified by the painstaking process of getting the dog’s short hair just right.

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Chili-Infused ‘Hot Ice Latte’ Proves Big Hit in China

A coffee shop in Ganzhou, China’s Jianxi Province, has found success with a bizarre but innovative drink that combines the traditional ice latte with dried chilies and chili powder.

Jingshi Coffee launched its now-famous ‘hot ice latte’ back in December, as a tribute to Jianxi Province’s famously fiery cuisine, but the drink proved a big hit and the café is now selling it at a rate of 300 cups per day. Viral videos doing the rounds on Douyin (China’s version of TikTok), show café pouring the lattes in plastic cups before infusing them with dried chili and topping off the drink with chili powder. Those brave enough to have tried it claim that the drink is a bit more spicy than regular lattes, but definitely not unpleasant.

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Japanese Fashion Company Launches Sunfish-Shaped Sweater

Japanese clothing brand Felissimo recently took social media by storm with an unusual garment inspired by the unique shape of the giant sunfish.

“For those of you who want to become a sunfish, we have created room wear that allows you to wear a sunfish,” the Felissimo social media team posted last month. “Opportunities to wear a sunfish don’t come around very often in life, so I hope you will seize this chance.”

Shaped just like the massive marine creature – with its large fins acting as fins and its mouth designed as the collar – the sunfish sweater made quite an impression on X (Twitter), where it received over 15,000 likes.

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TikTok Plastic Surgeon Goes Viral for Uncanny Before-And-After Videos

A TikTok plastic surgeon known as ‘Dr Kim’ has gone viral for his uncanny before-and-after videos showcasing the radical transformation of his patients who are sometimes left looking unnatural.

Dr Kim’s TikTok page originally went viral last year, when people first noticed his weird before-and-after clips, but one of his videos recently attracted even more attention, making headlines all over the world and sparking a heated debate online. While many users of the popular video-sharing platform are convinced that Dr Kim is either one of the world’s worst plastic surgeons or that his account is some kind of joke, some believe that people’s perception is skewed by the short period of time between the before and after shots. Patients’ faces are not completely healed and they often still have bruises or are visibly swollen, but that’s how Dr Kim chooses to share their transformation.

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Diaper Spa for Diaper-Wearing Adults Sparks Controversy in New Hampshire Community

Diaper-wearing adults looking for a safe space to role-play as babies can now head to the new Diaper Spa in Atkinson, New Hampshire, that caters to the needs of all diaper lovers.

Set up by physician Dr. Colleen Murphy, the Diaper Spa seeks to serve all diaper-wearing individuals above the age of 21 looking for acceptance and care, or simply for a safe space to engage in ‘richly immersive experiences’ that involve adult diapers. Activities listed on the venue’s website include playtime, story time, nap time, cuddle time, changing time, coloring, nursery rhymes, and sing-a-longs. Prices start at $100 per hour and go all the way up to $1,500 for a 24-hour stay at its bed & breakfast. The recently opened Diaper Spa has sparked controversy in Atkinson because of its unusual services, but Dr. Murphy claims that her brainchild is not about weird fetishes, but about dealing with trauma.

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Security Guard at Art Exhibition Tries to Eat Art Exhibit While on the Job

A rather bizarre act of vandalism was recently reported at an art exhibition in Moscow, where a security guard damaged an art exhibit and tried to eat it.

Last week, the organizers of a contemporary art exhibition at Moscow’s VDNKh permanent exhibition center noticed that one of the exhibits was missing its main protagonist. Named “Escape of the Goldfish”, the art piece featured a goldfish bowl with a goldfish sticking out of it right next to a painting of the open sea, with another goldfish stuck to it as if it had jumped from the bowl and into the waves. A thought-provoking concept, and one that caught the eye of the security guard on duty, only instead of admiring it from a distance and doing his job, the guy vandalized the very thing he was paid to protect.

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Man Builds World’s Largest Matchstick Eiffel Tower, Is Denied Guinness Record on a ‘Technicality’

A Frenchman who spent the last 8 years assembling over 700,000 matchsticks into a 23-foot-tall replica of the Eiffel Tower has been denied the Guinness World Record because he didn’t use commercially available matchsticks.

Imagine putting your heart and soul into a project for almost a decade only to have your dream shattered at the very end due to a detail that never crossed your mind. That’s what 47-year-old Richard Plaud went through when he was denied the chance to have his name mentioned in the Guinness Book of Records after building the world’s tallest matchstick Eiffel Tower. He started working on the complex model in 2015 and poured roughly 4,200 hours of work into it over the last 8 years, painstakingly gluing 706,900 matchsticks into 402 panels that he then assembled into the impressive structure. But last year, as he was getting ready to complete the project, Plaud learned that his Eiffel Tower model wasn’t eligible for a Guinness Record.

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