Sex education teacher is charged with raping 14-year-old student and sending 'topless and naked' photos to his cell phone

Worcester County Prosecutors say they have strong forensic evidence including pictures and texts in their case charging a female sex ed teacher in Fitchburg with raping a 14-year-old male student on multiple occasions.

Rachelle Gendron, 27, was visibly shaken as she was arraigned on five counts of rape aggravated by age difference and a charge of enticement of a child under 16 years.

In court, the prosecutors told the judge they have text messages and pictures of Gendron exposing herself on the victim’s and her cell phones, including photos showing Gendron “in various states of undress” with her breast exposed.

According to prosecutors, the incidents happened within the past two years, while Gendron had been a teacher at North Central Charter Essential School. She was 25 and 26 years old.

There was no answer at her family’s home in Fitchburg, where her attorney says she has lived with her parents since graduating with honors from Wheaton College in 2004. Gendron’s attorney Andrea Levy issued a statement denying the charges.

“My client Rachelle Gendron pleaded not guilty to the indictments. An indictment is merely an allegation and it’s the Commonwealth’s obligation to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt as to each and every element as to the offenses to which she is charged,” the statement said. “She maintains her innocence and that’s why she entered the pleas of not guilty.”

WBZ-TV originally learned of the allegations back in May.

At the time, Fitchburg police Sgt. Glenn Fossa also confirmed an investigation at the time but declined to comment on specifics, and North Central Charter Essential School executive director Stephanie Davolos would only say that Gendron no longer worked at the school.

“We cannot comment on personnel matters. We can confirm that teacher is no longer employed at the school,” Davolos had said in a statement. After Gendron’s arraignment on Friday, the school issued a follow-up statement.

“The North Central Charter Essential School’s highest priority is the safety and well-being of our students and we are both shocked and concerned by the allegations against the former employee in question,” the statement read.

“Upon first learning of those allegations, we took prompt and appropriate action consistent with the best interests of our students, which included swiftly terminating the individual and fully cooperating with law enforcement authorities investigating this matter. Until this matter is resolved, however, we cannot offer further comment.”

Aggravated rape charges carry a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison in Massachusetts.

Chinese farmer accused of tomb robbing after digging up two mummies so he could build a barn

Most people who stumble upon ancient mummies run for the hills and call the police, but one Chinese farmed saw an opportunity for treasure.

Farmer Miao Piang is being held on grave robbery charges after digging up two ancient mummified corpses to make way for a new barn. Days later, villagers in Jiazhuang, Shandong province, discovered the mutilated remains floating in the local pond with their broken caskets.

‘It was like something from a horror film. It was like they were coming back to haunt their tormentor,’ said one. Mr Miao admitted to dumping the bodies in the water after digging up an ancient burial site to make way for a new building.

‘He also thought that being ancient, the tombs might contain some treasure,’ said a police spokesman.
‘Jewellery found on the bodies was split between Mr Miao and his friends, who had helped him,’ they added.

Mr Miao is facing ten years in jail for grave robbery if he is convicted. Chinese burial traditions see many cemeteries or tombs located on hillsides. A high resting place is seen as a good omen.

One of the reasons for China's tough laws on the desecration of graves and tombs derives from the closing of the casket.

At the funeral, the coffin is nailed shut with mourners turned away from the casket as it is thought to be a bad omen to watch.

After this 'holy paper' is pasted onto the coffin to protect it from holy spirits, which would be broken if it was ever opened.

Man drinks human toe - and gets a $500 fine to boot

A customer at a hotel was fined $500 (£307) after he swallowed a human toe at the bar.

The severed body part had been dropped into a shot of whisky as part of a tradition in Dawson City, Canada.

The Yukon ritual involves someone drinking the Sourtoe Cocktail and having the toe touch their lips, without swallowing it.

If you accidentally ingest it, which has happened on several occasions, you face a penalty like the man who drank at the Downtown Hotel.

The idea of sampling the toe beverage has made a few online users queasy.

Rick tweeted: ‘Ick! To pay a $500 fine AND swallow a crusty old toe? Thanks but no thanks!’

Matthew Campbell was more worried about how they were going to find a replacement, adding: ‘Who wants to donate a replacement?’

And if you were wondering where the toes came from they are reportedly donated by living donors that have lost them to an ailment or in an accident.

Mini ‘human brains’ only 4mm wide grown in lab

Mini-brains grown in a lab could lead to new treatments for conditions including schizophrenia and autism.

The 4mm-wide structures, made using human stem cells, are incapable of thought and no use for transplants. But because they share the design of functioning brains, they may be useful for research and testing of drugs.

‘If you think about the brain as a car, then what we have created is a car which has its engine on the roof and the gear box in the trunk,’ said Professor Juergen Knoblich.

‘You can study the car parts but you can’t drive it.’

The breakthrough may overcome the limitations of researching human diseases by testing on animals, whose brains are less complex.

In one experiment, the researchers grew a mini-brain using cells taken from a patient with microcephaly. They found its growth was stunted – mimicking the effects of the disease. There was a mixed reaction to the research, carried out by a British and Austrian team led by Prof Knoblich, of the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology in Vienna.

Dr Zameel Cader, from Oxford University and the John Radcliffe Hospital, said it was ‘fascinating and exciting’.

And neuroscientist Professor Paul Matthews, from Imperial College London, said the study offered the promise of a ‘major new tool’ for understanding major developmental disorders.

But Dr Dean Burnett, lecturer in psychiatry at the University of Cardiff, was more cautious about the research published in journal Nature.

‘Saying you can replicate the workings of the brain with tissue in a dish is like inventing the abacus and saying you can use it to run the latest version of Microsoft Windows,’ he said.

‘There is a connection there, but we’re a long way from that sort of application yet.’

Man has 5-foot dreadlocks cut off after growing hair for 20 years

A man with 5-foot-long dreadlocks has had them cut off for charity, after not having a haircut for 20 years.

Gareth Robinson first got dreadlocks at the age of 16, and they eventually grew to weigh 3lbs. His hair was so long that the 35-year-old would often sit on his locks by mistake.

Robinson, from Bournemouth, raised £500 for Cancer Research in sponsorship after having them removed.

The medical screener for the air ambulance said: "'My hair has been this way since I was 16 so I am still getting used to it. It all started because I was at that age and I couldn't find any other hairstyle that seemed to suit me.

"In more recent years it was easier to manage, although washing it could be a two-person affair," he continued. "My partner Jana had to hold it out of the way while I washed my scalp, otherwise they could take three days to dry."

Robinson added that he wanted to raise money for a cancer charity because his mother Lin had battled and overcome the disease.

He said: "She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2003 and ovarian cancer in 2006 but received the all-clear two years ago."

Kim Jong-un’s Former Lover Executed by Firing Squad After Making Sex Tape

Kim Jong-un's ex-girlfriend was among a dozen well-known North Korean performers who were executed by firing squad nine days ago, according to South Korean reports. Hyon Song-wol, a singer, rumoured to be a former lover of the North Korean leader, is said to have been arrested on Aug 17 with 11 others for violating laws against pornography.

The reports in South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper indicate that Hyon was a singer with the Unhasu Orchestra, was among those arrested on August 17 for violating domestic laws on pornography.

All 12 were machine-gunned three days later, with other members of North Korea's most famous pop groups and their immediate families forced to watch. The onlookers were then sent to prison camps, victims of the regime's assumption of guilt by association, the reports stated.

“They were executed with machine guns while the key members of the Unhasu Orchestra, Wangjaesan Light Band and Moranbong Band as well as the families of the victims looked on,” said a Chinese source reported in the newspaper.

Hyon's band was responsible for a string of patriotic hits in North Korea, including "Footsteps of Soldiers," "I Love Pyongyang," "She is a Discharged Soldier" and "We are Troops of the Party." Her popularity reportedly peaked in 2005 with the song "Excellent Horse-Like Lady."

The 12 who were executed were singers, musicians or dancers with the Hyon's band,, the Unhasu Orchestra or the Wanghaesan Light Music Band and were accused of making videos of themselves performing sex acts and then selling the recordings.

The reports stated that both groups have been disbanded as a result of the scandal.
Some of the musicians were also found to have bibles when they were detained and all were treated as political dissidents.

Kim Jong-un, who became leader of North Korea after the sudden death of his father in December 2011, is believed to have met Hyon about 10 years ago and struck up a relationship. His father, Kim Jong-il, did not approve of the relationship and ordered him to break it off. Hyon subsequently married an officer in the North Korean military and reportedly had a baby, although there are suggestions that Hyon continued to see Kim after her marriage.

Kim's wife, Ri Sol-ju, was also a member of the Unhasu Orchestra before marriage and one theory is that Ri objected to the continuing high profile of her husband's former girlfriend.

North Korea's Communist dictator reportedly purged his own step-mother, Kim Ok, from her post as a senior official in the Workers' Party Finance and Accounting Department as he sought to tighten his grip on power within the country.

She was luckier than Kim Chol, vice minister of the army, who was executed with a mortar round in October 2012.

Kim Chol was reportedly executed for drinking and carousing during the official mourning period after Kim Jong-il's death.

On the explicit orders of Kim Jong-un to leave "no trace of him behind, down to his hair," according to South Korean media, Kim Chol was forced to stand on a spot that had been zeroed in for a mortar round and "obliterated."

An expert on North Korean affairs believes the singer was executed for "political reasons."
"If these people had only made pornographic videos, then it is simply not believable that their punishment was execution," Toshimitsu Shigemura, a professor at Tokyo's Waseda University and an authority on North Korean affairs, told The Daily Telegraph.

"They could have been made to disappear into the prison system there instead.
"There is a political reason behind this," he said, suggesting that the groups may have been leaning towards a rival faction in Pyongyang's shadowy political world.

"Or, as Kim's wife once belonged to the same group, it is possible that these executions are more about Kim's wife," Professor Shigemura added. - telegraph.co.uk

Woman turns up alive 13 days AFTER her funeral

The 50-year-old had been laid to rest by her devastated family who even posted a touching obituary in their local newspaper. A woman has been found alive 13 days after her family buried her at an emotional funeral.

Sharolyn Jackson, 50, was laid to rest by her devastated family after authorities signed a death certificate and released her body.

Her relatives even posted a touching obituary in their local newspaper. But a week ago Jackson was found alive at a mental health facility in central Philadelphia.

Her son, Travis, passed on the good news to her father David Minnie, who was overjoyed.

“You know you feel you’re just about to get over it, that she’s dead, then Travis comes here with the good news that she’s alive,” he said.

Sharolyn was reported missing from her West Philadelphia home on July 18. When a body of a woman fitting her description was found two days later in a nearby street, officials thought it could be her.

A social worker who knows Jackson, and her son Travis, both identified pictures of the dead woman.
The Medical Examiner’s Office then signed a death certificate, which allowed an undertaker to remove her body for funeral services and burial.

‘They showed Travis black and white photos. It looked like her,” her father said.

The Philadelphia Health Department insists all proper procedures were followed and, with two people, including a family member, identifying her, it was following the rules to hand over the body.

An investigation has now been launched into whose body is in fact buried in the grave thought to be Jackson’s.

Officials know the woman died from natural causes and are trying to get permission to exhume the body.

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Disturbing Photo Shows South Korean Plastic Surgery For Permanent Smile

Earlier this week a bizarre photo hit Reddit, purportedly showing the results of a new plastic surgery trend. The user claimed the girl in the picture had undergone a "new plastic surgery in Asia that curls the corners of your lips."

While the authenticity of the photo hasn't been confirmed, the surgery appears to be a real thing.

As pointed out by Business Insider, the AONE clinic in South Korea is responsible for the procedure, which gives the patient the appearance of a permanent smile. Dr. Kwon Taek Keun, the clinic's founder, spoke about the "mouth corner lift" surgery in 2012 at a yearly international convention for plastic surgeons. Here's how he described the results of the procedure on the conference's website: "Mouth corners lift up very naturally after surgery , and although mouth corners stay upturned on an impassive face, they lift up even more distinctively during a smile."

AONE 's YouTube video (seen above) details the surgery, dubbed the "smile lipt" (a combination of the words "lift" and "lip"), and its presumed benefits. The footage is also full of terrifying before-and-after pictures.

South Korea has become the world leader in per-capita plastic surgery , according to data from the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons. The data estimates 20 percent of South Korean women have gone under the knife in this quest for finer features.

While eyelid surgery and nose jobs are common, more controversial and dangerous surgeries have grown in popularity. Recently, the double jaw surgery became popular in South Korea. The surgery is supposed to create a delicate "V-shaped" chin and jawline, but 52 percent of such surgeries also result in facial numbness and the inability to chew and swallow.

Yahoo beating Google for the first time since 2011

Recently, when people have paid any attention to Yahoo at all, they've really just been talking about its headline-grabbing CEO, Marissa Mayer. But her year-long tenure trying to turn around the aging Internet behemoth has gained her more than just fawning personal profiles: Yahoo is actually getting a ton of Internet traffic.

On Wednesday, comScore, an independent web analytics company, released a report indicating that Yahoo's slew of websites -- everything from Flickr to Yahoo Finance -- actually got more web traffic than Google. In aggregate, 197 million people visited Yahoo's sites in the month of July. Gmail, Google's search engine and rest of Google's sites received 192 million unique visitors during that same period.

A Yahoo spokesperson told the Huffington Post that the company does not comment on third-party metrics.

The first two questions you probably have to the news is: Yahoo? Really? To those who switched from Yahoo long ago, it's hard to see how it's actually gaining relevance. (Tumblr was not included in last month's numbers for Yahoo.) Let's pin down a few reasons for the boost.

Looking back at comScore data from the past year, you can see that Google was barely edging out Yahoo for the best part of 2013. Though it's perceived as a backwater, Yahoo has been getting a ton of traffic for a long time. Marketing Land, the blog that first pointed out the data, reports that Yahoo previously beat Google in May 2011 and March 2008 -- both before Mayer came on as chief executive.

As AllThingsD notes, traffic from mobile phones -- an increasingly popular device for surfing the web -- is not included in this batch of data.

Mobile has been where nearly every Internet company -- Yahoo and Google included -- have focused, and Mayer recognizes that Yahoo has a hill to climb. As she has reiterated in interview after interview, Mayer is focusing company on apps, throwing $200 million at hiring a mobile team.

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Mumbai gangrape:Female journalists raped by 5 men while talking on the phone with her mom

A mother's instinct knew something was wrong. But it could not avert the gangrape of her 22-year-old daughter. The photojournalist who got gangraped by five men in the heart of Mumbai on Thursday, received two phone calls from her mother. But with a broken beer bottle held to her neck, she was forced to talk calmly and pretend nothing was wrong.

In her statement to the police, the woman said as the five accused had surrounded her, her colleague tied up at the back, her mobile phone started ringing.

But something in her manner made her mother suspect that all was not well. She called again.

The two journalists had gone to a mill compound in Worli around 5.30 pm on an assignment. "Around 6.15 pm, when we were on our way back, we met two men. Claiming to be railway officials, they asked us to come and meet a senior official," the officer said, quoting the complaint.

The men said her colleague was involved in a case of rape and murder which took place in the same compound, and separated them on pretext of a separate inquiry.

The accused then threatened the woman with dire consequences if she told her colleague that she had been raped.

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'I'm obsessed with being walked over': The human carpet

Revelers should watch where they tread in New York, for they could stumble across the 'human carpet'. Georgio T., 52, has been rolling himself up in an array of rugs for the past 15 years and claims that he loves the feeling of being trampled over - especially when it's women in high heels.

To satisfy his bizarre fetish he visits nightspots around Manhattan, wraps himself up in carpet, lies on the floor and straps a sign reading 'step on carpet' to his body.

He says 'the more people, the better' and in July 2009 he set his personal record, inviting twelve women to teeter on him.

Now somewhat of a local celebrity on the underground bar and club scene he charges up to $200, excluding tips, for offbeat performances at parties.

People are welcome to do as they please with him, from dancing on his chest to jumping on his legs.
He has entertained models and celebrities, with one some of his most memorable clients being Lady Gaga and a 410-pound man.

Putting his body to the test he once worked 11 hours without a break, feeling the pitter-patter of hundreds of feet.

Despite being continually squashed and prodded, he says that he has never been injured. While his hobby has turned into a career Giorgio, who likes to keep his full name and identity under-wraps, insists that his pursuit is not a money-making stunt and that he gets genuine enjoyment out of it.

He explains that as a child when he would play with friends, 'somebody wanted to be the doctor, somebody wanted to be the carpenter', but he always wanted to be the carpet. Perturbed by his unusual penchant for floor-coverings his mother would warn: 'Georgio, you’re going to be in a lot of trouble when you grow up'.

Now he has a number of different carpet outfits, some patterned, some plain, which all have holes cut around the mouth area allowing him to breath.

He admits that while many of his clients are 'thrilled' by his unique form of entertainment, not everyone is so enamored.

Some are 'freaked out' while others refuse to go near him. He says that he only knows of two other men in New York doing a similar thing. When he's not being walked on Georgio works as a massage therapist near to his home in Connecticut.

Donald Trump sued for $40 million over 'phony' university that 'falsely' promised to make students rich

New York's attorney general has sued Donald Trump for $40 million, claiming the real estate mogul helped run a phony 'Trump University' that falsely promised to make students rich.

Instead, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said that the university steered them into expensive and mostly useless seminars, and even failed to deliver promised apprenticeships.

After the lawsuit was filed on Saturday, Trump shot back that it is false and politically motivated.
Schneiderman says many of the 5,000 students who paid up to $35,000 thought they would at least meet Trump but instead all they got was their picture taken in front of a life-size picture of him.

State Education Department officials told Trump to change the name of his enterprise years ago, saying it lacked a license and didn't meet the legal definitions of a university.

In 2011 it was renamed the 'Trump Entrepreneur Institute', but it has since been dogged by complaints from consumers and a few civil lawsuits claiming it didn't fulfill its advertised claims.

Schneiderman's lawsuit covers complaints dating to 2005 through 2011 and it claims that students paid between $1,495 and $35,000 to learn from the mogul.

He said the three-day seminars failed to teach consumers everything they needed to know about real estate, as the 'university' had promised. The Trump University manual tells instructors not to let consumers 'think three days will be enough to make them successful', Schneiderman said.

At the seminars, consumers were told about 'Trump Elite' mentorships that cost $10,000 to $35,000 in which students were promised individual instruction until they made their first deal.

Schneiderman said participants were urged to extend the limit on their credit cards for real estate deals, but then used the credit to pay for the Trump Elite programs. The attorney general said the program also failed to promptly cancel memberships as promised.

The lawsuit added that many of students were unable to land even one real estate deal and were left far worse off than before the lessons, facing thousands of dollars in debt. But Trump's attorney accused Schneiderman of trying to extort campaign contributions from the real estate mogul through his investigation.

Attorney Michael D. Cohen told The Associated Press on Saturday that Schneiderman's lawsuit was filled with falsehoods. Cohen insisted that Trump and his university never defrauded anyone.

State Board of Elections records show Trump has spent more than $136,000 on New York campaigns since 2010. He contributed $12,500 to Schneiderman in October 2010, when Schneiderman was running for attorney general, records show.

An outspoken conservative, Trump himself flirted with a presidential run last year. 'Donald Trump will not sit back and be extorted by anyone, including the attorney general,' Cohen said.

Schneiderman is suing the program, Trump as the university chairman, and the former president of the university in a case to be handled in state Supreme Court in Manhattan. He accuses them of engaging in persistent fraud, illegal and deceptive conduct and violating federal consumer protection law. The $40 million he seeks is mostly to pay restitution to consumers.

He dismissed Trump's claim of a political motive. 'The fact that he's still brave enough to follow the investigation wherever it may lead speaks to Mr. Schneiderman's character,' Schneiderman spokesman Andrew Friedman told AP.

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City council candidate 'too attractive' for politics

AN ELECTORAL candidate in Iran has been denied a place on city council despite winning enough votes because she is deemed to be "too attractive".

The Independent reports that Nina Siahkali Moradi, 27, received 10,000 votes, placing her 14th out of 163 candidates for the city of Qazvin elections.
The council only elects the first 13 across the line but the person placed 14th is listed as "the first reserve."

However, when the elected mayor gave up his seat, Ms Moradi was disqualified.
"We don’t want a catwalk model on the council," a senior Qazvin official was quoted as saying in the Times.

Ms Moradi is a graduate student of architecture. The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said that the disqualification was apparently because of her "non-observance of Islamic codes", and that her campaign posters were the basis for complaints from senior conservative rivals.

"Almost 10,000 people voted for me and based on that I should be the first alternate member of the City Council," Ms Moradi told local media.

A challenge may be considered because it is illegal to disqualify someone who had initially been qualified to run for office, as Ms Moradi had been.

It could be a test for Iran's new President Hassan Rowhani, who has vowed to stand up for women.
"Women work but don’t enjoy equal rights. I will form a women’s affairs ministry to return their trampled rights to them," he said prior to his election.

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Thai students put on anti-cheating caps for exams

An image showing students doing exams while wearing “special hats” to prevent them from cheating was meant to be humorous and not intended to insult or humiliate them, Kasetsart University Students Administrative Board explained on Thursday, after the picture posted on its Facebook page went viral and drew mixed reactions.

The photograph shows almost 100 KU students wearing self-made paper hats with two ear flaps in what appears to be an attempt by the supervisor to prevent them from looking at each others' answer sheets during an examination at the agro-industry faculty.

The KU Students Administrative Board posted the photo on its Facebook page on Wednesday, and almost immediately the “bizarre exam picture” went viral, eliciting mixed feelings and serious questions on the Thai education system from online communities and the general public.

The board later issued a statement apologising for causing a controversy and discontent and decided to remove the picture from its Facebook page, saying the negative reaction had gone far beyond its original purpose.

“Based on the picture, the room is small but there are many exam-sitters,” the board explained. “So the [anti-cheating hats] measure was introduced during the exam but we had no intention [of targeting] the quality of the students and only wanted to help them focus on the importance of the exam.

“We must apologise for causing differing opinions. We actually intended to make people look at it in a funny way during the exam.”

Rector Wuttichai Kapilakarn said he did not know about the incident but would look into it.

Internet users on Facebook and popular Thai web boards like Pantip.com had mixed opinions on the issue.

A Facebook user with the alias Burn Noppachai said he felt very embarrassed by the incident as he is a KU student. The board should just apologise and delete the picture, he said, without giving such a nonsense explanation to protect itself.

A Pantip commenter using the alias ATICUS_T described the method as “very retarded” and said adults sometimes forced youngsters to do things they did not want to.

"The students may fail in the exam because they were disturbed by the paper on their head," another poster FeoLiiTa joked.

However, the picture also met with positive feedback. The most "liked" comment, written by a person with the alias Nong Nu Na, was: "There was only a teacher in the room. The teacher did it only to prevent potential cheating and all students were pleased to cooperate. No finger-pointing that the students’ quality is bad here, all please understand.”

“Why not, looks like a great idea. Nothing’s wrong about it,” a Facebook user named Tulakan Ruangrong said.

"This is fine because both sides agree. Some people just take it too seriously,” another user Pongrykung Potter said.

Thammasat University political scientist Kasian Tejapira said he felt pity for what he saw from the controversial picture because even high schools had never implemented such a method as used in the KU exam room.

“If we have to use this method in our exam rooms, it means our education system has failed, no matter if [the students] pass the exam or not. It’s still a failure even if everyone in the room passes the exam,” he said on his Facebook.

“Because they are the product of our education system and were treated like they couldn’t be trusted or that they would not instantly do the honest thing.

Sangsit Piriyarangsan, dean of the College of Social Innovation at Rangsit University, said the KU self-styled anti-cheating measure was excessive and unnecessary. The picture caused damage to the university and reflected failure in the education system, he added.

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Scientists invent 'death test' device that can tell you how long you have left to live

Using a painless laser pulse applied to the surface of the skin, it measures how a person’s body will decline with age

A laser that predicts when you are going to die has been invented by scientists.

The beam is painless and can also be used to test for diseases including cancer and dementia.

It comes in a wrist watch-style device that analyses tiny cells inside the ­capillaries – the smallest blood vessels – to work out how quickly the body will age.

The laser examines how well these cells function and generates an estimate of how long a person will live.

Grades, rated from 0, meaning death, to 100, equalling optimum function, are then used by scientists to calculate how long a person has left to live.

It has been patented by Aneta Stefanovska and Peter McClintock, physics professors from Lancaster University.

Professor Stefanovska said said: “I’m hoping we will build a database that will become larger and larger, so every person measured can be compared against it.

“We will then be in a position to tell them the values [that] predict a certain number of years.”

The device is expected to be available to doctors within the next three years.

Super tourist carries the whole world on his shoulders

Many of us will have acquired bits of tat as souvenirs of our travels abroad. But William Passman has gone for something more permanent than a T-shirt or novelty beach towel.

The 59-year-old has a map of the world tattooed on his back and colours in each country he visits.

So far, he has travelled to more than 70 in Europe, Africa, South America, Australia and Antarctica.

The retired financial planner, from Louisiana, in the US, has only owned a passport since 2006.

‘I woke up one morning and wondered what happened to my plans for travel when I was much younger,’ he said.

Mr Passman does not travel to countries to colour in his tattoo but chooses those that interest him.

‘The overall reaction to my tattoo has been great, with many backpackers saying that they had always thought of doing something like that,’ he added.

His favourite travel memory was in Iguazu Falls on the Brazil-Argentina border when he became the centre of attention after taking off his wet T-shirt.

‘When I turned around all the cameras were pointed at my back instead of the fall, it was an amazing feeling,’ he said.

Crafty caretaker dumps mentally disabled woman at Alabama hospital, steals social security checks for 3 years

Edith Allen’s former caretaker Cathy Thomas has been charged with identity theft after reportedly dropping her off at St. Vincent’s East Hospital and stealing $25,000 in checks.

For three years, she was just another Jane Doe.
In 2010, a mentally disabled woman was unceremoniously dumped at an Alabama hospital, wearing an adult diaper and a hospital gown. Unable to communicate her identity, she racked up $200,000 in medical bills while the one person responsible for her well-being cashed in on her social security checks.

Now, investigators have found her true name. And they’ve also given her one more gift — justice.
Police arrested 59-year-old Cathy Jean Thomas for identity theft on Monday evening. They say the Georgia woman collected more than $25,000 in social security that should have belonged to her ward, Edith Allen.

"It's a relief to me,'' Lt. Scott Bartle of the Alabama Bureau of Investigation agent told AL.com. "It's been a long, drawn-out process over something that should have never happened."

When Allen first showed up at St. Vincent’s East Hospital, the malnourished woman weighed less than 90 pounds. Her cropped hair had recently been dyed a dark brown. She was also wearing black-rimmed glasses, in a possible attempt to hide her identity.

Doctors discovered that she had a urinary tract infection. But no one knew who she was. The only clue was an engraving on her dentures that said, “E. Allen.”

Nurses at the hospital soon started calling the woman “Sally.” Stories about the search for her identity were published in local media, but investigators kept hitting dead ends.

Since she didn’t have an identity, she didn’t qualify for Medicaid. And Allen needed a lot of help. She became bedridden and needed to be fed through a tube — so the hospital bills started adding up.

Recently, the story about Allen’s disappearance popped up on the Internet once again. It was placed on the website LostNMissing.com, a national non-profit that helps find missing people.
Investigators found out that Allen had been living with one of Thomas’ family members. When that
person passed away in 2009, Cathy Thomas assumed the role of caretaker.

Thomas claims she wasn’t the one who dropped Allen off at the hospital. But she hasn’t denied using the mentally disabled woman’s social security checks.

"Thomas did acknowledge receiving Edith Allen's money and using it to obtain goods and services that never went to Allen,'' Bartle said. "For three years, she has reaped the benefits of those checks."
Thomas is now being held on a $50,000 bond.

Although authorities were unable to find any of Allen’s living relatives, the woman has gotten some help from strangers. She has moved to a new care facility and donations are helping to pay for her medical expenses.

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Man's penis bitten by a snake as he went to the toilet to relieve himself

A MAN was rushed to a hospital after a snake bit his penis while he was relieving himself in a toilet, according to hospital officials in Israel. The man, 35, of northern Israel was bitten on Friday after the snake suddenly appeared from inside the toilet.

The man suffered minor injuries from the bite; fortunately the snake was not venomous.Rescue workers responded to the scene and took the man to Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, where he received medical treatment, reports Your Jewish News.

An examination revealed the snake was not poisonous. The man told emergency workers it happened after he went to the toilet to relieve himself and suddenly felt a strong burning sensation in his penis.

One of the paramedics said the man told him he has seen the snake and it was very small. According to the paramedic, despite the location of the injury, the man managed to stay calm and even had a laugh with workers at his own expense.

'This is the first time I've seen a snake bite like this,' the paramedic said.

'Luckily, all tests seem fine and the man is feeling well,' the paramedic added.

'There will undoubtedly be bite marks on the area in question,' the hospital said.

'The snake was not poisonous. The man is currently under observation pending additional test results and as soon as we get the results, he will be able to go home,' the hospital said.

The man was lucky the snake was not venomous since there are many deadly species commonly found in Israel. Snakes are very territorial and will strike out to protect their space, be it a rocky crevice or a domestic toilet.

It is 'snake season' currently in the Middle East and among the most dangerous are the black snake or desert cobra, the horned desert viper, the Palestinian viper which is the most common poisonous snake in Israel, the saw-scaled viper, or the false horned viper.

To prevent meeting a snake in the home, it is recommended to keep the house clear of rats, mice and other snake prey, fix leaky taps (snakes are drawn to water), and try to minimise plants and maximise grass in the garden since plants provide the perfect cover for snakes.

Fix windows on the house and windscreens on cars, to avoid any unwelcome surprises.

Keeping a cat is also a great way to scare off snakes since they are one of their biggest enemies

Chinese Undergo Plastic Surgery to Change Their Destiny

In the Western world, most people undergo cosmetic procedures like rhinoplasty, eye lifts and chin implants in their quest for a youthful and attractive appearance, but in China they are considered sure ways of improving one’s fortune and changing fate.

According to Mian Xiang, the ancient Chinese Art of Face Reading, a person’s facial features compared to their date of birth say a lot about their future. For example, small and sparse eyebrows show a lack of vitality and strength, whereas a hidden mole within the eyebrows indicates a successful break and monetary gain.

A “double forehead” or a full prominent forehead means that person is very intelligent and has the capacity to retain a lot of information, while the bulbous end of the nose is called a “wealth palace” and its size and shape reveal a man’s ability to store wealth, and a woman’s chances of finding a rich and supportive husband.

Basically the shape, size, placement and color of each facial feature is believed to reflect an individual’s health, personality traits, luck and future career prospects. In order to improve their chances of hitting it big in business, finding true love or improving their luck, many Chinese have their features altered according to the instructions of face reading masters.

In the United States and most other Western countries, people undergo rhinoplasty surgery to reduce the size of their nose, but a lot of aspiring businessmen in China choose to have their noses enlarged to become even more successful.

A high, straight and prominent nose is considered the ideal feature for monetary gain. Unfortunately, according to face reading experts, other facial faults may suppress a person’s luck until the age of 41, but after that the nose takes over and they can expect an increase in riches.

Eye lifts to straighten the eyes and make them more aggressive are believed to increase a person’s authority and their ability to run big companies, while tattooing the eyebrows to make them look long and bushy inspires strength and vitality.

Woman trapped in church rescued after Twitter users come to her aid

A woman locked in a church for two hours was eventually freed when Twitter users came to her rescue.

When Sarah Greep discovered she was locked inside the Minster Church of St Andrew in Plymouth she found she was left with few options for escape if she didn’t want to ’cause a fuss’.

The Jam-maker was willing to wait for the next service to begin before making her exit but to keep herself occupied she decided to log on to Twitter rather than phone for help.

‘I just went into the small chapel at St Andrew’s Church where I sometimes go, and didn’t think for one minute they were going to close the door,’ she told Plymouth Herald.

After she had let people know she was in a bit of a bind, Twitter users managed to pull together a team of helpers, including Plymouth council leader Tudor Evans and local police chief inspector Brendan Brookshaw.

‘I didn’t want to bother anyone but thought I would just send a few Tweets as it was a bit unusual,’ she added.

‘The next thing I know Tudor Evans is calling the police to help get me out!’

Ms Greep was eventually freed after Chief Inspector Brookshaw got in contact with someone with a key, who came to the place of worship and let her out.

It turned out the boss at Janner Jam actually enjoyed her time at the church and even made a video while she was stuck.

Teenager hanged herself after being tormented by anonymous trolls online

A teenager hanged herself after being tormented by anonymous trolls on a notorious social network linked to suicides. Hannah Smith, 14, was found dead in her bedroom after cyber bullies on Ask.fm subjected her to shameful abuse, calling her ugly and suggesting she kill herself.

The question-and-answer site, open to users as young as 13, is facing a backlash after it was linked to the deaths of other teenagers. Calls are growing for the site, based in Latvia, to be banned. Hannah’s father suggested its creators should be charged with manslaughter.

Her death, the fourth connected to the site, comes amid controversy over trolling on Twitter which has seen high-profile women receive rape and bomb threats.

The day before she died, Hannah posted a moving picture message on Facebook reading: ‘You think you want to die but in reality you just want to be saved.’ One troll suggested her uncle had ‘deserved’ to die of cancer.

Responding to a message which called her ‘ugly’, she wrote: ‘Yes i may be ugly but you obviously have an ugly personality to tell people to “go die”!’

In response to a troll who suggested she should kill herself, Hannah replied: ‘Wow, well for your information I’ve tried committing suicide before, and yes, I know I’m ugly no need to tell me.’

At one point Hannah urged her tormentors to stop hiding behind their anonymity, posting: ‘If you want to give me hate then either inbox me, say it to my face or come off anon.’

Police were called to her home in Lutterworth, Leicestershire, where her body was found on Friday.

Hannah’s father Dave, 44, wrote on Facebook: ‘I have just seen the abuse my daughter got from people on Ask.fm and the fact that these people can be anonymous is wrong.

‘The person that created this website should be done for manslaughter. Any parents that have children please don’t let them go on this site.’

Ask.fm users must register an email address, name and date of birth but those posting messages can remain anonymous.

An Ask.fm spokesman said it could not respond ‘at this moment’ because it was ‘investigating the specifics of the tragic incident’.

People pray at tree weeping God's tears in California

As the mid-day sun beat down, a group of parishioners huddled under a tree seeking a miracle. Rosemarie Navarro, a parishioner at a Fresno, California Catholic Church says, "I said my prayer and asked the Lord to give me a miracle cause I'm really, really sick."

Navarro counts herself among the believers, a small but growing group that thinks the liquid dripping from this Crape Myrtle tree is the tears of God. On close inspection, arborist Jon Reelhorn agrees, something is falling from the tree in front of St. Johns Cathedral. But it isn't water.

"The aphides will suck the sap, the sap goes through the aphid and then it is a honey dew excrement from the aphid and it gets so heavy in the summertime that it will drip down," Reelhorn says. He calls it a natural process. He also found another tree dripping across the street.

Parishioner Maria Ybarra says, "When you say ‘glory be to God in Jesus name’ the tree starts throwing out more water." Ybarra was the first one to feel the drops and whether they are aphid waste or water, she believes they're divine. "I can tell you looking at it from a scientific standpoint and a spiritual standpoint it is the work of God manifesting here on earth," Ybarra said.

13-year-old girl dies after plunging from window off all male dorm at Chinese factory

A 13-year-old girl, who allegedly worked in a packaging plant, has died after falling from a fifth-floor dormitory she was said to be sharing with four male roommates.

The tragedy in China’s Longhua New Area, happened after she allegedly refused to do their laundry.
Her death at a hospital at the weekend has raised new questions about child labour and child slavery in the republic, where the minimum working age is 16.

The girl, named by police by her surname Cao, had run away from her home in Lianjiang in the Guangdon Province last month, according to her father.

Cao and a friend wanted to avoid going to school and find work. The pair moved into the Longsheng Living Compound and she later she found work at a packaging plant near a clothing market, locals claim.

The death is being treated as suspicious, although police are ruling out murder or sexual assault.
It is still unclear how the tragedy unfolded, and local police are investigating.

Her death follows the case of 22-year-old Yuan Liya who fell from a building in the capital of Beijing in May after allegedly being gang-raped.

Local police were accused of mishandling Liya’s case when they claimed she had committed suicide.
Liya had fallen from the Jingwen shopping mall in Beijing, and the police had refused permission for her family to view surveillance footage.

The case sparked allegations of a police cover-up and demonstrations in the city.

Snake-bite victim socked with $55K bill

A Maryland woman treated for a snake bite received another shocker: a $55,000 medical bill.

Jules Weiss had stopped to take a photo at an overlook along the George Washington Parkway. On the way back to her car, she felt something bite her.

"It felt just like a bee sting," Weiss told local station NBC4. "There were two fang marks with liquid coming out."

The former emergency medical technician had suffered a copperhead snake bite. Within an hour, she said, her foot turned “grayish” and started to swell.

She went to Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Md., where she received three IV bags of antivenom over 18 hours. Then, the scary part: a whopping $55,000 bill for treatment.

“It’s not a number I can really wrap my head around,” Weiss said. Health insurance would bring the cost down to a few hundred dollars, according to NBC4. But the woman’s insurance had just lapsed. Antivenom involves milking individual snakes and is a costly treatment.

The Bethesda Hospital told NBC4 it can cost as much as $40,000 to get the antivenom.

That’s not the only pricey treatment for an animal attack: Last year, a woman in Arizona stung by a scorpion received a bill of $83,000 for the antivenom treatment — a staggering cost of $40,000 a dose. Even after insurance, Marcie Edmonds still owed the hospital $25,000.

Men lived in Vietnam jungle for 40 years

Vietnamese authorities are trying to reintegrate a father and son to their home village after they allegedly fled war four decades ago to live deep in the forest, an official said Saturday.

Ho Van Thanh, 82, and his son, Ho Van Lang, 42, emerged bedraggled from the remote mountainous region on Wednesday in an emaciated condition, wearing loincloths made from tree bark.

The former communist soldier Thanh ran away with his then two-year-old son Lang in 1972 from a communist village in central Quang Ngai province.

He was grief-stricken following the death of his mother and two of his other children in an American bombing, local official Hoang Anh Ngoc told AFP.

"The son is afraid of the crowds. He will not talk to strangers... but he talks inside their family," Ngoc said, adding authorities will spend about $2,300 to build the men a house near their relatives.

While the older man is frail and under medical supervision, Ngoc said officials still have to "keep our eyes" on Lang to prevent him escaping back to the forest where the pair lived in a hut five metres off the forest floor, reportedly surviving on foraged fruits and corn they cultivated.

Television footage showed authorities apparently taking the pair against their will from their forest hut several hours' walk from their home village, with the frail old man carried in a hammock by local people while the son was pictured with restraints around his hands.

The pair were "were dressed only in loincloths made of tree bark", Tuoi Tre newspaper said Friday, adding they were found with several handmade tools including axes made from war-era shells.

The pair can speak little of their ethnic Kor language.

The men were first brought back home by a younger son in 2004, Dan Tri online newspaper reported Friday quoting local authorities, but they could not adapt to living in the village and returned to their forest home.

The pair "preferred their independent life to that of the traditional Vietnamese family", the report said.

The younger son visited them once every year, providing some necessities.

But they were recently spotted by local residents and reported to the authorities who drew them from the forest on Wednesday.

After being captured Lang reportedly "chewed betel nut and smoked continuously, glancing at everybody around him with a dull look", according to the Tuoi Tre report.

Teen hacks father to death for violent sex with mother

BHOPAL: A 15-year-old boy, annoyed with his father for subjecting his mother to repeated violent sex, hacked him to death early Wednesday morning in Mandla district of Madhya Pradesh.

The deceased, Hari Prasad, 46, was forcing his wife for sex for the fourth consecutive time on Tuesday night and when she refused he started abusing her, which infuriated her son Dharmendra, said police. The incident took place in Satwas village under Damini police station of the district.

Damini police station in charge Arvind Tiwari said, "Hari Prasad was a habitual drinker and used to sexually torture his wife on a regular basis."

Police said that Prasad's wife had returned from a religious function around midnight but he compelled her for sex repeatedly. She managed to escape and went to the adjoining room where her children were sleeping, Tiwari said. Dharmendra, who was in the room with his two sisters aged 14 and 19 attacked his father with an axe killing him on the spot," Tiwari said.

"With the help of his sisters the accused dumped the body outside their village early morning. The matter was reported to us by the village kotwar and subsequent investigations revealed the facts," Tiwari told TOI.

The deceased also used to harass his daughters and often abuse them, he added. We have booked Dharmendra for murder and his two sisters as accomplices for helping him dump the body, Tiwari said.