Miscellaneous

Prada withdraws imaginary creatures with alleged resemblance to blackface, part of Pradamalia collection the fashion house claims not to have any reference to the real world, "that such lapses of judgment are still happening in 2018 is frankly unacceptable," The National writes

IOC allow transgender athletes to compete in women’s sport if they can show Testosterone levels below the arbitrary level of 10nM for 12 months, "the acceptance of athletes that were born men, developed muscle mass, bone mass, lung and air capacity as men" a threat to the virtue of women’s competitions, writes former Brazilian Olympian Ana Paula Henkel

Nebraska public school principal bans Christmas decorations in classrooms, Jennifer Sinclair detailed a list of culturally offensive items in an internal memo, images of Santa, Christmas carol singing and candy canes all prohibited, Sinclair placed on administrative leave by school district

Purported "original" light saber from 1977 Star Wars film pulled from auction, claims about its origins and authenticity were raised by fans online, actor Mark Hamill tweeted "#BuyerBeware" after sharing further skepticism about the device

Irish woman splits up with the ghost of 300-year-old pirate Jack whom she married earlier this year, will explain all in due course but warns spirituality isn't something to mess with, the split another blow for Jack who was executed in the 1700s

Angela Merkel resorted to a cheat sheet with a headshot at the Argentina G20 meeting as she faced Scott Morrison, the fifth Australian prime minister in as many years

Rock fragments from 1970 Soviet moon mission auction for USD 855,000 in New York, the moon rocks originally belonged to the widow of USSR's space program director

Spanish authorities hide "Winnie the Pooh" street performer ahead of Chinese state visit, Xi Jinping has been compared to the Disney character since 2013, Chinese government blocked a related film release in 2018 due to association with political dissent

Magnus Carlsen retains World Champion chess title in 3 rounds of time-limited games, defeats American Fabiano Carauna who hoped to become first US player since Bobby Fischer in 1972 to win title

Men's rights activists begin #ThotAudit campaign to report unpaid income for online sex workers, citing "broken sexual marketplace" supporters notifying US IRS of potential tax evasion

Snow crab sells for JPY 2 million at auction in Tottori, the Guinness World Record-setter was donated by the winning bidder to a local live exhibit for tourism

22-year-old Komusubi Takakeisho wins first sumo championship at Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament, finished with 13-2 record in a tournament that saw two champions sit out due to injuries

Catholic priest paraded through Maltese town in Porsche-chariot pulled by children, Father Sultana recently appointed to Gozitan parish says this is a traditional custom

Painting with starting price of 800 EUR sold on acution in Rotterdam for 570 000 EUR, anonymous buyer probably speculating that the early 17th century painting is an unknown and unsigned work by the Italian painter Annibale Carracci

Icelandic President Guðni Jóhannesson admits going too far threatening to ban pineapple pizza, recommends seafood instead, denies being in the pocket of big fish

Stan Lee dead at 95, created Spider-Man, Iron Man, The Hulk and several other superheroes at Marvel Comics

Wheelchair and physics thesis belonging to Stephen Hawking exceed projected price in recent auction, the two items sold for over USD 1 million while expected to fetch only GBP 165,000 combined

Archaeologists in China recover 2,000 year old alcoholic fluid from bronze pot, the Han Dynasty relic was found in Henan and is believed to be rice wine

Dutchman files lawsuit to legally reduce his age from 69 to 49 years, seeks improved online dating prospects and believes age is part of identity like gender and sexuality

Hans-Hermann Hoppe: Revisionist historical narrative required to further libertarian cause, Europe during middle ages best example of social order superior to that of today [video]

Teenager dies eight years after swallowing garden snail as a dare at a party, got infected with rat lungworm and spent 420 days in a coma

Anti-social behaviour reported during Tokyo Halloween celebration, teenagers reportedly climbed a statue, littered and kept making noise after midnight, police reports theft of a wallet and cases of sexual harassment, party-goers spontaneously gather next day to clean up, says they want to be able to celebrate next year as well

The annual Friesland shit week added as Dutch intangible cultural heritage, traces its origins back to 20th century transportation of manure, the week kicks of with the feces arrival and reaches its zenit with the shit-transportation-race between Workum and Warmond

82-year-old Turkish woman shoots burglar with shotgun, the 52-year-old male suspect got into a physical altercation with her and managed to run off with some of her jewelry

Libertarian principles tested empirically in virtual world Liberty Minecraft, new server with more consistent incentives sees increased activity from players, according to founder Nathan Dempsey in quarterly report

Mysterious man with a gun spotted by passenger on Japanese bullet train, police officers board the train in Nagoya only to reveal the man as another police officer on his way to Tokyo, after confirming the safety of the train it can depart, however 36 minutes delayed

Brooklyn bookshop hosts witch hexing of Brett Kavanaugh designed "to cause him harm and see him undone", the event was livestreamed and a Catholic priest in California vowed exorcist prayer in response

Decline in active whetstone mining coupled with increased popularity of Japanese swords leads to stone shortage, the price of natural whetstone has increased 20X in past 5 years, Japan once had 200 active whetstone mines

Fan Bingbing said to have paid 130 million USD to the Chines tax-authorities in order to avoid trial, the entertainment industry recent target for tax-collectors as many artists and actors have two contracts, one official to show the government and one real that shows the true value of the services they provide

Street artist Banksy claims auction shredding hoax did not go according to plan, a video release claims the shredder was intended to completely strip apart "Balloon Girl" during auction

British Library unveils exhibition intended to show "Dark Ages" were time of enlightenment, curator Claire Breay argues period between 5th century and Norman Invasion was a time of high art, literature and complex political administration

Attendees of Sugoren mosque in western Turkey learn they have prayed in wrong direction for 37 years, a construction error in 1981 led to a misoriented prayer nook not facing Kaaba in Mecca

Upstate New York hunter dies from rare brain disease after consuming squirrel brains, he was diagnosed in 2015 with symptoms similar to "mad cow" disease and suffered similar brain lesions

11 year old Keisuke Fukuchi wins the Othello World Championship in Prague, thus becoming the youngest ever champion

Resident of Mexico City maintains 3 white lions on his hi-rise terrace, federal government has requested inspection of their conditions and paperwork of origin after receiving complaints for roaring

British artist Banksy perpetrates "shredder" hoax after "Girl With Balloon" auctions for GBP 1.02 million, a shredder inside the painting's frame destroyed the art shortly after auction concluded, auctioneer Sotheby's claims value likely to have increased by 50% due to art history aspect

Fishmongers protest the closure of historic Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo, the government plans to relocate the market to a newly constructed USD 5 billion facility starting Oct 11, wholesalers and customers consider the new location inconvenient and potentially dangerous as the site of a former gas plant on reclaimed land

Europe's oldest intact book the St. Cuthbert Gospel set to be displayed at the British Library, the text was inserted into a monk's coffin in CE 698 and preserved in its original binding ever since

US Coast Guard support staff member who scratches head in way that can be construed as OK sign in background of TV interview gets removed from response duty during investigations, Coast Guard Lt. J.B. Zorn says "whatever that symbol means, it doesn't reflect the Coast Guard and our core values" and that "it won't be tolerated"

Serena Williams accuses umpire of sexism and loses to Naomi Osaka in the US Open Women's Final, the outburst occurred in the second set after she was penalized for three separate game violations, the former champion lost in two straight sets

Burt Reynolds dead at 82, starred in movies such as Deliverance, Boogie Nights, Smokey and the Bandit and The Cannonball Run

New Zealand town of Omaui plans "cat"-aclysm in response to environmental impact of household pets, villagers will be prevented from owning cats in the future to protect local wildlife

Underdog team OG wins The International 2018 DOTA 2 game competition, the European team defeated Chinese team PSG.LGD to claim a USD 10,8 million prize pool

An Austrian man tried to board two separate trains with a horse in tow, the state rail agency authorities excluded his horse from travel over safety concerns

North Korean defector claims popular action games played in the West also available in Hermit Kingdom, players reportedly are fans of GTA V, FIFA Online and LAN parties, many games evade censorship efforts by being transported via USB sticks from China

Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan dead at 80, led UN from 1997 to 2006 and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001

American soul singer Aretha Franklin dies of pancreatic cancer at the age of 76 in her home in Detroit

A British social media community is feting a private citizen after video was uploaded of him stopping a moped theft, the "heroic" individual reversed his Ford Fiesta at high speed into the people attempting to steal the bike, an estimated 30,000 bicycle thefts occur in the UK each year

American cyclist couple on humanitarian goodwill bike tour murdered by ISIS operatives in Tajikistan, the 29-year old couple sought to prove "Evil is a make-believe concept we've invented to deal with the complexities of fellow humans", died with two other foreign nationals after being rammed by a car and stabbed to death on the side of the road

Parisian government faces public outrage over red-box public street urinals aimed at reducing uncontrolled street urination, critics charge the devices disturb the environment at important cultural sites, the devices are also deemed "sexist" as they provide for male needs but not female urination

Academic researcher at London's Globe Theatre warns of disadvantaging dark-skinned actors with traditional lighting and costume, says non-white actors risk melding into background sets and costumes without proper attention, insists that the issue is completely unrelated to political correctness

Slovak woman arrested for harassment and malicious persecution after playing a full-volume aria by Verdi outside her home for 16 years, what was initially an attempt to drown out the barking of a neighbor's dog turned into a total audio assault from morning to night

British-Trinidadian writer V.S. Naipaul dead at the age of 85, received the Nobel Prize in 2001 in literature, began his writing career with 1955's "The Mystic Masseur", once claimed in interview "When I learnt to write I became my own master"

French historical theme park Puy du Fou puts six trained rooks to work picking up cigarette ends and trash, birds to be encouraged via box delivering bird food for each trash deposit

Turkish game show contestant suffers humiliating defeat after failing to recognize where the Great Wall of China was located, a straw poll of the Turkish audience also found 49% unable to correctly locate the landmark between options of India, South Korea and Japan, calling into question the competence of the Turkish educational system

Santorini locals forced to cross breed donkeys with stronger mules to adapt to heavier tourists, charities Help the Santorini Donkeys and The Donkey Sanctuary call on Greek government for regulations

Polish brewery The Order of Yoni launches beer made from "vaginal lactic acid of hot underwear models", reassures consumers that the ladies were checked and that the scientific process removes possible unsavoury elements

Turkish teacher apprehended by police for selling same car to 80 people, made USD 10 million in advance payments

Cases of death and disfigurement due to viral trend of drinking boiling water through straw or pouring it on sleeping friends

Elon Musk calls British rescue diver Vern Unsworth "pedo" on Twitter in response to him stating the miniature submarine was impractical for the Thai rescue mission

American woman fined EUR 4,000 for negligent endangerment after bringing unexploded World War II shell to Vienna airport, hoping to take it home as a souvenir.

Slovakian EU diplomat Eva Tvarožková dodges paying NZD 14,314 in unpaid rent and incidentals plus NZD 6,000 bond by using diplomatic immunity according to Tenancy Tribunal ruling, landlord Matthew Ryan who planned on donating the money to charity says he doesn't think this is what the Geneva Convention was created for

36-year-old Australian man fined AUD 4,800 for bringing 37 bales of out-of-state cans to South Australia in attempt to get AUD 0.10 deposit refund

German earlier tennis star Boris Becker during bankruptcy proceedings in the UK claims diplomatic immunity due to being a cultural attache to the Central African Republic, country's ambassador to the EU Daniel Emery Dede confirms Becker's diplomatic passport and that he's unpaid and has never visited the country but that they hope his aura attracts business people

Scientists drop prepared cane toad sausage from helicopters in remote Australia to save native quolls from eating the toxic toads, sausage laced with nausea-inducing chemical to scare the native predators off the especially dangerous first invasion wave

Karpatalya wins soccer World Cup for non-FIFA affiliated associations by beating Northern Cyprus 3–2 after penalty shoot-out, Padania seals third place with dramatic penalty shoot-out victory over Székely Land

Everything that could go wrong did, according to George Soros who says he did not anticipate Trump election victory due to living in own bubble, also says Trump is willing to destroy world

Anthony Bourdain is dead, the Chef and TV Personality was 61 years old

Solo: A Star Wars Story first film in series to not make profit, losses expected to exceed USD 50 million

Dutch PM Mark Rutte mops parliament floor after spilling cup of coffee, initiative to personally clean up caused mess loudly cheered by bystanders

Full list of Bilderberg 2018 attendees released, names include Niall Ferguson, Reid Hoffman and Peter Thiel

Russian 129-year-old Koku Istambulova has not been happy a single day of her life, wishes for end of earthly life and has no idea how she managed to survive her children, thinks long life is punishment from God

Real world Carrie Bradshaw, dating advisor Julia Allison, regrets being influenced by Sex and the City, says series' message of endless shopping and dating leads to empty life while fear of intimacy is celebrated as women's liberation

FBI agent loses gun during back handspring on Denver dance floor, accidentally shoots other bar patron in lower leg while picking up weapon [text+video]

Ilya Repin's famous painting "Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan" damaged in three places by man striking metal security pole through protective glass due to being "overwhelmed by something" after drinking vodka, painting depicting tsar crying after killing his son is disputed by nationalists and was also slashed in 1913 but restored by Repin

American author Philip Roth dies at 85, wrote more than 30 books including 1991 memoir Patrimony

Illustrator Bill Gold dead at 97, was one of Hollywood's best-known creators of film posters and designed iconic poster for Casablanca in 1942

Scot Robert McLeod dead at 78, used to say he was born 200 years too late and lived in off-grid cabin as only full-time St. James Bay resident 35 km northwest of Juneau, Alaska, since early 1980s

American author Tom Wolfe dead at 88, known for writing The Bonfire of the Vanities, The Right Stuff and The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test

Novichok rapidly-growing trademark for Russian products, applications registered for alcohol products as well as sunflower oil and detergents

Sean Gabb: Several hundred years old documentation of UFO sightings a better proof of extraterrestrial life than modern ones, difficult for people living prior to 17th century to fabricate such stories

81-year-old Australian James Harrison whose blood plasma has saved 2.4 million infants does 1,173rd and final donation, naturally produces rare combination of Rh- blood and Rh+ antibodies which makes him an ideal donor for Rh- women carrying Rh+ fetuses

12,000 kilograms of liquid chocolate spilled across highway after tanker truck accident near Polish town of Słupca, several hours of cleaning required as 5-centimeter-thick layer solidified

13-year-old Trenton McKinley in Alabama who suffered seven skull fractures when he fell from car trailer wakes up after being declared brain dead, is now going through slow recovery process at home and says he believed he was in heaven while he was unconscious

12 surgeons manage after five hour procedure to remove 60-kilogram ovarian tumor from Connecticut woman

Sara Aspenström and Jonas Arvidsson from Stockholm win European tram driver championship in Stuttgart, 24 teams from 19 countries participate in contest which has been running since 2013

Heavy smoker Kim Jong-un refrained from smoking during summit, viewed as sign of respect towards 31 years older Moon Jae-in

World's oldest spider Number 16 killed by wasp sting, trapdoor spider was 43 years old and had been studied since research project was launched in 1974 in Wheatbelt region of Western Australia

Emmanuel Macron gives Donald Trump sessile oak as reminder of strong ties between countries, tree mysteriously disappears after being planted by presidents on White House lawn, French ambassador explains sapling has been placed in quarantine and that roots were enclosed in plastic protection

23-month-old Alfie Evans dies after British court allowed hospital to withdraw life support and prevented family from taking him to Italy

NT Carlsbad: Cultural Marxism emerged from left's failure to solve question of nationalism and inability to explain psychological motives behind human action, in light of influence of Left Hegelianism during 1920s Marxism in form of critical theory became intellectual hobby rather than framework for revolution

Wildlife photographer of the year image picturing anteater disqualified after similarities were found between animal and taxidermy anteater kept on open display at visitor centre, five experts reach same conclusion

ABBA reunited in studio for first time in 35 years, one of two recorded songs to be released in TV program in December performed by band members' digital avatars

Annie Holmquist: Behind establishment's jokes about Melania Trump's clothing is likely admiration for her respectability, to dress properly in accordance with one's role admirable when boundaries and standards are considered oppressive

British schools start to remove analogue clocks and are installing digital devices instead, students have difficulties reading traditional clock face

Macaque monkey Naruto does not own copyright to photo he took of himself, according to San Francisco judges, animal rights group PETA which has filed lawsuit not seen as having close enough relation to Naruto to represent him

Pope Francis hands out ice cream for 3,000 of Rome's poor on day when church remembers St. George, was Christened Jorge when he was born in Argentina after saint who is celebrated on April 23

Cinema in Hawera, New Zealand refuses customers dressed in pajamas, onesies, bathrobes or dirty boots, wants to counteract trend where such dress is becoming more accepted in public

12-year-old Drew from Sydney goes on vacation to Bali after fight with his mother, books flight and hotel with credit card stolen from parents, spends four days on island and drinks beer, rents motorbike, trip cost more than 6,000 USD

Gold casket from 16th century containing heart of French queen consort Anne of Brittany recovered near western city of Saint-Nazaire after it was stolen from museum in Nantes last week, two men arrested