A fishing trip in Russia's Urals ended with cries of horror as a man found canisters filled with human fetuses, some already shaped to baby bodies.

Lids on the bright blue containers apparently unlocked as the canisters hit the ground, and many fetuses spilled out. The little bodies, no longer than 15 centimeters, shrank, turning into mummies.

Arriving Monday morning, police found 248 fetuses aged 12-16 weeks in and around the four canisters. Labels attached to tiny hands and legs listed family names of assumed mothers and some digit codes, which may refer to the pregnancy period, date of abortion or the hospital where the body originated from.

The 50-liter canisters filled with formalin seem to have been thrown out of a vehicle not far from a road leading to Nevyansk, a town on the slopes of the Ural Mountains.

Later it was revealed that the horrifying content was “biological waste” from at least three hospitals in Ekaterinburg, the region's major city.


“It appears a waste disposal company has failed to carry out its duties properly,” remark local authorities as the investigation continues. The Ministry of Health has been requested to determine which companies provide biological waste disposal services to Ekaterinburg hospitals.

In Russia, embryos and fetuses are subject to immediate disposal as they are classified high hazard waste. Prior to disposal, they are to be kept in special packages, not in canisters with formalin. It is also out of practice to attach labels with any information, at least in Ekaterinburg hospitals.

But the bodies found near the Urals not only fall out of this description – the labels show they may have been stored for over ten years.


Some medical experts believe the fetuses might have been meant for studies or other purposes, as they contain stem cells. The cells are widely used for immune illnesses treatment and in cosmetic procedures.

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Investigators say all 248 fetuses discovered in a Urals forest were likely intended for use in scientific research. Most were terminated after the fifth month of pregnancy.

According to police, forensic examinations showed most of the fetuses were terminated at 22-26 weeks of pregnancy. Initially, it was thought they were 12-16 weeks. All the fetuses were mummified.

Investigators continue to probe the origin of the fetuses, which were sealed in plastic containers and discarded in a remote location in the Sverdlovsk Region. The prevailing theory is that the remains were being used in scientific research, but police emphasize that it is just one of several leads they are working around.

The late stage at which all 248 fetuses were terminated has forced some to believe they are dealing with a coordinated crime.

Elena Mizulina, head of the State Duma Committee on Issues of Family, Women and Children, believes this incident is a case of mass illegal abortions, which she says are rife in the country.



For science’s sake

One of the most prevalent theories in regards to the origin of the fetuses is improper disposal of biological material after it was used in scientific research.

Investigators say they have received information that a woman who was in charge of one such project in Ekaterinburg and was fired from her position in 2011 took fetuses with her upon leaving and discarded them after completing her project. However, they do not disclose full details of the lead, saying investigators are still verifying the information.

According to experts, embryos and fetuses from miscarriages and abortions are frequently used for stem cell research.

Elena Mizulina says embryos at the later stages of development are especially valued by pharmacologists and cosmetologists since they present a great source of stem cells. “The demand for such ‘material’ is huge.”

A bloated, pig-like carcass spotted beneath the Brooklyn Bridge over the weekend has spooked New Yorkers buzzing about mutant river “monsters.”



Photographer Denise Ginley shot pics of the rotting, sand-covered corpse on Sunday. “My boyfriend and I were walking along the East River on our way to a farmer's market when we spotted it among some driftwood on a small stretch of sand below the Brooklyn Bridge that you can barely call a beach,” she emailed the Daily News.

"We were horrified by it and we took some camera phone pictures and then finally we decided to come back with my camera and I got up the courage to climb over the fence and get closer to it," she told the blog ANIMAL New York.

Ginley sent the photos to Gothamist, which published them on Monday and sparked furious speculation -- and a few conspiracy theories -- on local blogs and social media.



Vickie Karp, a spokeswoman for the Parks Department, said the creature was a “discarded cooked pig” and that the department “threw it out.”

But the purplish brute's long tail and hoof-less claws made for one freaky swine, naysayers said.

"The Parks Dept. was probably very quick to identify it as a pig and dispose of it, but it is most certainly NOT a pig,” Denise Ginley stressed to the Daily News. “The most obvious sign being the lack of a cloven hoof, instead this creature has five digits all close together."

"My best guess would be that this is some sort of raccoon or giant rodent. The missing upper jaw makes it very difficult to identify and the lack of distinct canine teeth on the lower jaw is confusing.”

In a post in New York magazine's Daily Intel blog, titled “We’re Supposed to Believe the New East River Monster Is Just a Pig?” writer Joe Coscarelli tagged the rotting hulk "Wilbur," and said it looked like something "in between a rodent of unusual size and a part-human werewolf."

Gothamist also called the beast a “R.O.U.S.” - rodent of unusual size - a swamp creature from the 1980s fantasy adventure flick, “The Princess Bride.”


Dr. Paul Curtis, a Cornell University professor and wildlife specialist, mused to Gothamist that it could be a small dog that ballooned with decay.

“All the hair has slipped off the carcass,” Curtis said, explaining the animal’s creepy smoothness. The waterlogged ghoul drew comparisons to the "Montauk Monster," which captivated New Yorkers after washing ashore on Ditch Plains beach in July 2008.

That creature was rumored to be a raccoon, a shell-less sea turtle and a dog, among other possibilities.

via nydailynews.com

It's a natural curiosity many of us have when checking into a hotel. Open the top drawer of your room, and naturally you'll find one of the best-selling books of all time.

The Bible? Uh, no.

"Fifty Shades of Grey?" Well, yes.

According to NBCNews.com, a British hotel has replaced the Bible with the steamy, summer hit by E.L. James in its 40 guest rooms.

Jonathan Denby, owner of the Damson Dene, told NBC he had purchased the hotel from a Methodist group about a decade ago and had been wondering how to replace the Gideons Bibles in each of the room.

"I was thinking originally of putting in a book by Ayn Rand - 'Atas Shrugged' was my first thought," Denby told NBC News.

"(But) because everybody is reading 'Fifty Shades of Grey,' we thought it would be a hospitable thing to do, to have this available for our guests, especially if some of them were a little bit shy about buying it because of its reputation."

Of course, the move hasn't come without controversy. The Rev. Michael Woodcock , the parish priest at a local church recently told the Wesmorland Gazette, "It is a great shame that Bibles have been removed from rooms and very inappropriate to have been replaced by an explicit erotic novel."

boston.com

World-renowned large-penis-haver Jonah Falcon was reportedly stopped by a TSA agent at San Francisco International Airport and asked about the "very noticeable" bulge in his pants.

"I said, 'It's my dick,'" Falcon told the Huffington Post. "He gave me a pat down but made sure to go around [my penis] with his hands. They even put some powder on my pants, probably a test for explosives. I found it amusing."

Falcon, who claims to have the world's largest recorded penis, says he wasn't erect at the time, but his 9-inch floppy was apparently suspicious enough to warrant a thorough reach-around. Er, pat-down.

"I'm just gonna wear bike shorts from now on," said Falcon, who did not miss his flight on account of his threatening member. "That way, they'll know. You'd think the San Francisco TSA would have had experience with hung guys before, but I guess not."

The OG Thomas Jane, who also happens to be an actor, is not formally recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records for his alleged handful as the official keeper of accomplishments "does not record such feats."

By the age of 18, Falcon knew he had something special when his manhood reached a whopping 12 inches. His family jewel was hailed as the world's largest on record after an HBO documentary featured him in 1999.

Falcon has been contacted by porn companies (though he's never accepted) and has been featured on just about every talkshow in the country.

via gawker.com & huffingtonpost.com

1. The Olympic Park is home to the world’s largest – and busiest – McDonalds. Seating 1,500 people and serving the broadest menu ever provided at an Olympic Games (Happy Meals will be available for the first time, for example), the principle of sustainability is at the heart of this enterprise.

About 75 per cent (more than 5,500) of the items (furniture, kitchens, even the cooking oil!) are designed to be recyclable or reused after the Games, and will be moved to other McDonald’s outlets (vehicles in the case of the oil) in the UK. Once the Games are over, Moscow’s Pushkin Square branch will regain its crown as the biggest McDonald’s in the world.

2. Tickets are still available. According to latest reports, 200,000 football tickets and 200,000 tickets for other sports will go on sale, returns from international Olympic committees. But you’ll need to move very, very quickly and be flexible! Tickets are being released day by day from now until July 27. You can still get lucky and end up with access to the Closing Ceremony, Athletics – Marathon, Football, Handball, Hockey, Sailing, Table Tennis, Weightlifting and Water Polo, as well as for medal sessions in the men’s Beach Volleyball competition.


There are also a limited number of suite tickets available at North Greenwich Arena (also known as O2 Arena), where you can watch women’s basketball medal sessions, Gymnastics – Artistic and Gymnastics – Trampoline.


3. You can soak up all the atmosphere and excitement of the Olympic Park and visit the Orbit. Olympic Park tickets are still available (don’t hang around!) from the london2012 website for £10. Pay by Visa (debit, credit and prepaid cards) only. Tickets for the Orbit cost £15, but are only available with a ticket for the Olympic Park or for a sport session in the Olympic Park. Don’t forget to search the Paralympic events for these tickets too, if you’re planning a later trip to London.

The Anish Kapoor-designed Orbit is the tallest art structure in the UK and from the viewing platform (at 85 metres high), London’s skyline is laid out in all its splendour. It will close after the Games, but re-open in late 2013, when it will no doubt vie with the Shard for view-hungry visitors.

4. For London 2012 the costume department is producing so many outfits you could wear something new every day for 63 years. Sixty-three also happens to be the age difference between the youngest performers (just seven) and the oldest (a sprightly 70). Some volunteers are delighting in the opportunity to don dungarees!


5. The Olympic mascots, Wenlock and Mandeville, were formed, it is said, from two blobs of steel in a Bolton steelworks.

Wenlock is named after Much Wenlock, a town in Shropshire where the the Olympian Society Annual Games, a forerunner of the modern Olympics, were held.

Mandeville is named for Stoke Mandeville Hospital, which organised the Stoke Mandeville Games, the precursor of the Paralympics.

You’ll find the pair taking lots of forms in London’s shops! Chocolate, jelly, plush…

It was unlike anything the villagers had ever seen. The young news reporter who arrived on the scene was quick to point out that the "mysterious mushroom" felt "meaty". Meaty, sure, but that ain't no mushroom.




On June 17, Chinese investigative news program Xi'an Up Close reported about a "mysterious mushroom" discovered in the rural part of Liucunbu, outside the capital of Shaanxi province, while digging for a new well.

Wondering what it was, the villagers kept their mysterious discovery in a bucket of water and occasionally poked it. That is, with their fingers.

"When we dug down to about 80m deep, we fished out this long, fleshy object," one villager told reporter Ye Yunfeng (via Shingaiist) It's got a nose and an eye, but we have no idea what it is!"

The villager added that even his 80 year-old neighbor has never seen anything like this before.

"As we can all see, this looks like a type of fungus, on both ends of which you'll find mushroom heads," said the reporter.

"On this side, you can see what looks like a pair of lips. And on that side, there is a tiny hole which extends all the way back to this side. The object looks very shiny, and it feels very fleshy and meaty too."

Unknown to the villagers, what they had actually discovered was a male masturbation aid. The "pair of lips" represents a vagina, and the "tiny hole" represents an anus.

Still, the villagers had their own theories, thinking that they'd found a type of lingzhi mushroom; the reporter seemed to agree, adding that the lingzhi mushroom can be found in the region and even was a secret to longevity.

The news report quickly went viral in China and the rest of Asia as people online knew this was no mystery and pointed out that the villagers had discovered a sex toy; this program seemed to have no idea what it filmed.

The show, however, issued a correction, trying to pawn off the mistake on the reporter who is "still very young and unwise to the ways of the world" (an unfair excuse because the reporter most certainly had a crew, an editor, a producer and others involved in the story—this was not rogue sex toy confusion). The program added, "We'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone from the bottom of our hearts for your criticism and correction. Please forgive our oversight!"

kotaku.com

According to an article posted on News Telegram.com, a cat named Frankie and Louie has earned an odd Guinness World Record; he has become the longest living Janus cat. Not familiar with the term? A Janus cat is a cat that, despite the odds, is born with two faces.

Named after the Roman god Janus who had two faces, Janus cats have an incredibly low prognosis for living after they are born; more often than not, they die within a few hours or days after birth.

The Janus cat Frankie and Louie (cleverly given two names because he has two faces) has overcome those odds and earned his world record; he has lived for 12 years with his condition.

Frankie and Louie's life as a Janus cat is a little odd, to say the least. He has one head, two faces, three eyes (two normal eyes and a non-functioning third eye in the middle), two noses and two mouths. And all the body parts are operated by one brain. Talk about having a lot going on!

via petside.com

Mao Sugiyama, a young Japanese illustrator from Tokyo, recently made headlines after he decided to have his genitalia removed. To top it off, he offered to sell his organs as a cooked meal, for ¥100,000 ($1.250). Six people pre-ordered…

“Please retweet. I am offering my male genitals (full penis, testes, scrotum) as a meal for 100,000 yen…. I will prepare and cook as the buyer requests, at his chosen location.” This was the tweet that started it all. Sugiyama, who calls himself an ‘asexual’, is a 22-year-old illustrator who aspires to be so devoid of sexual features that he will be able to publicly wear transparent clothing. To achieve his goal, the young man decided to remove all his genitalia. For the sake of argument, let’s just say you could somehow understand his wish, but what comes next is even more shocking. At first, he considered consuming his own genitals, but later decided to offer them up on Twitter, for ¥100,000 to the first person or group interested. He got six orders…

After his tweet went viral, Mao announced he was organizing a public banquet, in which he would cook and serve his own organs as per the request of his clients. Called “Ham Cybele – Century Banquet”, the event took place at the Asagaya Loft A event space, in the Suginami Ward of Tokyo. If you’re pondering the name of the event, Cybele is the name of an Anatolian goddess whose priests were all eunuchs, while “century” is a homophone for the Japanese word “genitals”. The day before the event, the artist tweeted “I’m starting to thaw them out” along with a very graphic photo. On April 13, a crowd of about 70 people showed up at the banquet location. One of the six buyers was a no-show, but the rest were ready to get what they had paid for.

Dressed as a cook, Mao Sugiyama sliced and cooked his own genitalia and served it to his curious customers. Calorie Lab, the website that broke the news in the US, thoroughly describes the look and taste of the ‘dishes’ and even has some photos of them. I’m not going to go into details here, but I can say the guest found them almost inedible. In order to be completely devoid of any sexual features, Sugiyama also removed his nipples and was planning on serving them as well, but after burning them with sodium hydroxide, there was apparently not much left to cook.

Before going through with the banquet, the Japanese illustrator had himself tested for sexual diseases. The five people crazy enough to eat his genitalia also had to sign a waver releasing Sugiyama and the organizers of the event from any liability arising from the consumption of human genitals. Since the whole event, Sugiyama has been constantly defending his actions and answering questions on Twitter. He’s talking about his operation, his decision and the corset he’s currently wearing to help maintain an androgynous shape as his female hormone therapy progresses.

After news of this bizarre event became popular in Japan, the Tokyo police was apparently notified by concerned citizens, but hey were unable to pursue the matter because there is no law against cannibalism in Japan. I think that’s probably weirder than Mao’s story… However, a police spokesman said, “We’re going to talk to the people at Asagaya Loft A and ask them what is going on and why they hosted such an event.” Good luck with that!

via odditycentral.com

You’ll need a trunk full of cash to park here.

The city’s first million-dollar parking space is on the market.

The private garage at 66 E. 11th St. costs six times more than the national-average price of a single-family home.

Buying it would be the same as paying a $115 ticket for illegal parking every day — for 24 years.

For moguls or celebrities, however, the rare commodity of a Manhattan parking space inside their building, with a curb cut at the street, is a huge status symbol and selling point.

“It’s for someone who wants complete privacy,” said Prudential Douglas Elliman Vice Chairman Dolly Lenz. “You can drive in and not be seen again. It’s for the type of person who finds that attractive. It could be a celebrity or a business person who is camera shy.”

The hot space is about 12 feet wide, 23 feet long and more than 15 feet high.

The spot could be “duplexed” if the buyer decides to install an elevator lift so he or she can slide both the Maserati and the Lamborghini in at the same time.

The parking spot will have its own deed and sales contract, and be charged maintenance fees, just as a condo would.

The city’s gaudiest garage is expected to hit the market this fall, after construction is complete and the Attorney General’s Office signs off on the building’s condo conversion.

Last year, developer Morad Fareed purchased the eight-story prewar loft building for $120 million and is in the process of converting the former parking garage into six luxury condominiums with mammoth, 15-foot-high ceilings.

The jewel in the building’s crown is the 8,000 square-foot duplex penthouse, with a private 3,000 square-foot terrace, which will be listed for $38.8 million, according to Lenz.

The parking space isn’t the only amenity: the shower water will be pumped full of vitamin C and aloe, and the apartments will have heat reflexology flooring.

The lighting patterns and air quality in the building are designed to provide its residents with a better night’s rest.

“The parking spot will go to the 8,000 square-foot town house or to the penthouse,” Fareed said.

The sky-high price for a slab of concrete is a sign of a resurgent real-estate market, experts said.

“If you have an opportunity to buy a space in your building, you’re going to take advantage of that,” said Robert Knackal, chairman of Massey Knackal. “The reality of New York City is that people are willing to pay more for a parking spot than the average person in the country pays for a home.”

The city’s second most expensive parking spot is a 300-square-foot “en suite” sky garage that’s inside of a $7 million penthouse at 200 11th Ave.

nypost.com

Zeng Lingjun was born in a small village, in the Jilin Province of Northeastern China. As a boy, he dreamed of one day attending college, but because his family was too poor he had to abandon his dream and settle for becoming a cobbler and repair shoes for a living. But just because he couldn’t afford to go to college, didn’t mean he was willing to spend the rest of his life in his village. He had bigger plans for himself, so one day, with just 50 yuan ($8) in his pocket, he left for Shenyang, the biggest city in northeast China. Being a hard worker and a skilled cobbler helped Zeng make a living in the big city, and he was soon earning around 2,000 yuan (315) per month. But this wasn’t enough for him to get his own place.



Six years ago, a friend tipped him off that an abandoned hotel toilet was available for rent at a very low price. He immediately borrowed the money he needed and rented the derelict toilet as his new home. He took down the old door and all the wooden cubicles, and laid down some planks to cover up the toilet bowls and make room for a bed. The dismantled cubicles were converted to storage space and, even though the place is just 19 square meters in size, he somehow found space for his own little cobbler workshop.



In 2008 Zeng Lingjun met his current wife, also a migrant worker. They married in 2010 and had a baby shortly after. Now the three of them live in the abandoned toilet. At one point, they saved enough money to move into a normal 80 square meter apartment, but they found themselves coming back to their old home just days after they had moved out, unable to afford all the expenses. Although the smell never lets them forget they live in a toilet, Zeng and his family just flush the toilets whenever the stench becomes unbearable, and just enjoy their life together. After all, who needs luxury when your loved ones are near and you have your health?

Japanese electronics company Toshiba has developed a food-recognition technology for supermarket checkouts.

Instead of barcodes, the scanner uses a camera to identify objects—so fresh fruits and vegetables that don’t usually have barcodes can be automatically identified and input by staff more easily.



“Fruits and vegetables in supermarkets don’t usually have barcodes because they’re put out while they’re fresh. So these items can’t be read at the register using barcodes, which means staff need to input data to record them,” Keiichi Hasegawa of Toshiba said. “If staff are part-time employees, they may not recognize some items, which can cause delays. We’re developing this new scanner to solve that problem.”

Only objects put in front of the ‘Object Recognition Scanner’ (ORS) are ‘illuminated’ on screen and seen by the camera, so that noise in the background of the object does not interfere and confuse the scanner.

The scanner can recognize objects while they’re moving, the difference between different types of similar objects (such as, a Fuji apple, a Jonagold, and a Matsu apple), and even beer cans and coupons.

To differentiate similar objects, the camera recognizes the subtle different patterns in color and pattern.

Currently, Toshiba is creating a database of all supermarket items throughout the year—so that it includes seasonal fruits and vegetables—and fine-tuning the scanner.

It is supposed to be the happiest moment of her life. The bride walks radiantly down the aisle as her guests look proudly on and photographers bustle around to capture her special moment.

But as she walks towards the garlanded arch to the tune of ‘Bittersweet Symphony’ her day suddenly turns more bitter than sweet.


A small tumble and the bride is left crouching on the carpet, and when she goes to stand up again her heel catches in her trailing white skirt, hilariously giving her guests an impromptu view of her derriere – and lingerie that by the looks of things is intended to be seen on her wedding night - and not several hours earlier by all her guests.

Struck with embarrassment the blushing bride climbs out of the skirt in a hurry, grabs it and runs away as fast as she can.


The gentleman escorting her down the aisle follows behind, apparently not sure what his role is in this situation.

Unfortunately for the bride, the cameras keep rolling and her photographers go in for a close up.


Her guests stay motionless - presumably dumbstruck - except for one blonde-haired friend who rushes over to help usher the bride out of the room.

No doubt the poor bride will be the butt of jokes for years to come.

It is unclear why the bride chooses to pull the whole thing off rather than hitching it up as best she can before she flees the awkward scene, casting some doubt on the authenticity of the Russian video.

See the video

Going bald upsets men more than bankruptcy or bachelorhood.

But now there’s a cure set to save them money and heartache - by tattooing ‘hair’ on.

HIS (Hair-Ink-Skin) Hair has launched an innovative new technique to disguise baldness - using a unique form of tattoos.


And it has become so popular that bookings have soared by 20 per cent in the past 12 months.

Celebrity Hairdresser, Adee Phelan, who officially opened the company’s newest clinic in Manchester, is one of dozens of customers to have had the new procedure, known as MHT (micro hair technique) scalp pigmentation.

It gives the appearance of a short, cropped ‘buzz’ hair - cut by applying different shades of specifically blended pigments to the scalp to replicate the size, shape and density of micro hairs.

TV stylist Adee, whose clients have included David Beckham, Kerry Katona, Elizabeth Jagger, Sarah Harding and the England Football team, said: 'I was 24 when I started losing my hair. I got behind the product because I know it looks good.


The technique, which costs an average of £2,000, was developed by Ian Watson, who founded HIS Hair after he developed alopecia in his mid-twenties, following the tragic death of his 32 year-old brother Paul, from cancer.

In desperation, he asked Paul’s widow, Ranbir Rai-Watson to find the finest pen she could get to draw dots onto his scalp, hoping to emulate the look of a ‘cropped’ haircut.


After years of intensive research, they began honing the MHT technique alongside some of the world’s best hair loss experts, as well as semi-permanent make-up artists in Harley Street, London and Melbourne, Australia.

And a decade later the Birmingham-based company is opening clinics across Europe and the US.

AUSTRALIA - A TODDLER who refused to let anything stand between him and a new toy was trapped inside a vending machine for 10 minutes.

Noah Jeffrey, 3, was so determined to grab himself a toy from the machine in a Zagame's restaurant that he climbed through the retrieval gate, up the chute and into the area loaded with plush toys.

The Ballarat toddler narrowly avoided a rescue by the fire brigade, but according to his mum, Louise, he had a ball once he had crawled inside.



"He's very adventurous and he thought it was funny," she said.

Showing his generous streak, Noah was quick to share the bounty of his exploration and passed the machine's toys to a crowd of children gathered outside before eating the lollies in the machine about 4.30pm on Sunday.

It was about then that Ms Jeffrey discovered the predicament her son was in.

"I ran over to check and he was passing toys out and eating some of the lollies," she said.

But with electrical wires and little oxygen inside Noah was soon sweating as management and his mum worked to free him.

And the escape proved rather more tricky than getting in for Noah.

The toddler had to be coaxed to climb back down the chute and sit there while his mum pulled him around a guard panel blocking his escape.

"We had to tell him that he had to come out to get a toy," she said.

In fact Noah had just popped free of the machine when staff returned to say they would have to call the fire brigade to rescue him after attempts to contact the machine operator had failed to come up with a solution.

But the experience didn't leave a bad impression on the tot.

"He wanted to go back in to get the lollies," Ms Jeffrey said.

That may be a little more difficult next time, though - the toy machine company said it would install a bar in the machine to stop children climbing in.

That readers of FHM have voted an androgynous man in to their most recent list of the 100 Sexiest Women in the World might have been a cause for celebration among equal rights campaigners.

Instead, the magazine has provoked outrage over its warning to readers to "pass the sick bucket" on encountering 19-year-old Andrej Pejic, rather ignoring the fact that it was they who voted for him in the first place.

"Designers are hailing him as the next big thing," the blurb accompanying Pejic's entry online read before it was hastily removed, after drawing a wave of criticism. "We think 'thing' is quite accurate.

"The gender bender has jumped the gun in hoping he might one day be signed as Victoria's Secret Model (pass the sick bucket)."

The magazine said: "Andrej Pejic appears at number 98 in FHM Magazine's 100 Sexiest Women in the World 2011.



"Regrettably the copy accompanying Andrej's online entry wasn't subbed prior to going live. Once we realised, we removed it immediately and apologised for any offence caused. FHM has spoken to the individual concerned and taken steps to ensure this can never happen again."

Though the outrage caused by comments prompted FHM to remove the entry from its website, Pejic will still feature in the print version of the list which comes with this month's edition.

"More troubling is the fact that Andrej is not the only one when it comes to supermodels that are not all t hey seem," the magazine goes on. "The current face of Givenchy and "lady" locking lips with Kate Moss on the cover of Love magazine is transgender model Lea T. who began life as Leandro. One fashion trend we won't be following."

Yet, it is really just another success for the 19-year-old Serbian model, who grew up in Melbourne. He was first spotted by a talent scout while working at his local fast-food restaurant, and his since modelled for Jean Paul Gaultier and Marc Jacobs in campaigns at Paris Fashion Week.

When he began modelling his agency encouraged him to be more masculine, and go to the gym, as the menswear clients wouldn't like him, before realising a completely new direction might be more profitable.

But it is not the first time controversy has followed him. Last month his unbuttoned top on the cover Dossier Journal in the United States became an issue for the book-selling giant Barnes & Noble, which insisted the magazine be sold in opaque plastic bags.

Having been chatted up by Australian men since the age of 14 ("Sometimes they're shocked, but most of the time they still want to buy me a drink," Pejic says), neither his place on the list nor the reaction it has engendered will come as a particular surprise to him.

He has been more philosophical than his persecutors on the matter. In an interview last month, he declared: "It's a very liberal industry. You can be yourself. Just not overweight."

Imagine you go into a coffee shop, have a cup, and when it comes to paying your bill they tell you it’s already been paid for. Wouldn’t that be wonderful? Well, that’s exactly what’s happening at the Corner Perk Cafe in Bluffton, South Carolina. It all started in 2010 with a random act of kindness.

The Corner Perk was just a regular coffee place until one day, when a customer left a $100 bill with the owner, Josh Cooke. Apparently she wanted the money to be used to pay for the drinks of all the people who came in after, until it runs out. According to Cooke it was “just to let them know, you know, that somebody was wanting them to have a great day and just to let them know to pay it forward.” Needless to say, customers who came in all afternoon were puzzled when they found they didn’t have to pay for their coffee.

This wasn’t the last time the mysterious coffee-donor paid the Corner Perk a visit. Apparently, she’s been there another eight times in the past two years. When Josh posted her most recent visit on the coffee shop’s Facebook page, the word spread quickly. More donors came forward to continue the trend. Cooke says the anonymous lady who started the trend had a kind heart and wanted goodness to spread in the area. Her efforts did not go unrewarded. Lots of people who heard about the tradition at Corner Perk Cafe simply walked in to the shop and left money, without even ordering anything for themselves. A jar now stands on the counter with dollar bills to pay for people’s coffee.

Josh says, “We just want people to continue to pay it forward in any way — whether that’s helping somebody with their electric bill or you know, filling up somebody’s car with gas.” I say this just goes to show that humanity isn’t dead after all.

Over the years, Mattel’s iconic Barbie doll has had every hairstyle imaginable, including a bubble beehive, a ‘60s flip and even multi-colored hair extensions. But she’s never been bald.

That may change if the women behind the Facebook page, “Beautiful and Bald Barbie” influence executives at the world’s largest toy company.

“We would like to see a Beautiful and Bald Barbie made to help young girls who suffer from hair loss due to cancer treatments, alopecia or trichotillomania,” reads Jane Bingham and Beckie Sypin’s Facebook page, which has almost 40,000 “likes.” “Many children have some difficulty accepting their mother, sister, aunt, grandparent or friend going from a long haired to a bald.”

The Facebook page was created after the two friends heard about a four-year-girl from Mineola, Long Island, who had lost her hair after treatment for cancer.

Little Genesis Reyes, who missed having her “princess” hair, inspired the parent of another patient in the hospital to ask the CEO of Mattel, who happened to be a personal friend, to create a special bald Barbie doll for Genesis.

“When I read the article about Mattel making a one-of-a-kind bald Barbie for Genesis, I though how wonderful that would be, with so many other children dealing with hair-loss,” Bingham told Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper. “I thought we could raise awareness for these conditions. Raise awareness that children get cancer too... It would be a win all around.”

Bingham, who lost her own hair after chemotherapy treatments for an incurable form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, was moved by the reaction of her young daughter to her newly bald head.

“It takes an emotional toll on the child,” Bingham explained. “I had very long blond hair... She would mimic me and she would try and wrap scarves on her head too.”

So far, Mattel hasn’t publicly responded to the growing popularity of Bingham and Sypin’s Facebook page, except to say in a form letter that the company “doesn't accept ideas from outside sources.”

The Chinese construction company Broad Group have one-upped their previous record of building 15 stories in one week with this 30 story hotel built in just 15 days.

Erected near Dongting lake, in Hunan Province, the hotel was assembled from pre-fabricated sections shipped to the work site. The finished product has all the comforts you’d expect from a modern hotel, and is also expected to be extremely earthquake resistant thanks to its unique design.

Of course, one wonders how “complete” the building is with that crane still standing in the middle of it. Read on after the break for a longer, more in-depth look at this lightning fast construction project.

French fashion chain La Redoute has been left red-faced after it forgot to airbrush a naked bather from a promotional photograph for its children's clothes.

The image, which appeared for several hours on its website today, showed a group of four children running on the sand.

But, in the background, a naked man can clearly be seen wading behind them up the sea-shore.

Web users spotted the 'faux pas', which has since been taken down, and immediately took to Twitter to poke fun at the clothing company.

One tweeter labelled it a 'SCANDALE' while another highlighted the 'EPIC FAIL de la Redoute!'.

La Redoute immediately apologised for the mistake, but its website has now come under intense scrutiny from users who also discovered a spelling mistake on one of its T-shirts.

Instead of having 'Enjoy Holidays' written on the garment, it actually says 'Enjoy Holydays'.

The bather's identity has not yet been revealed, but he has already sprung to fame across the web with a series of mocking images being produced.

Some keen photoshoppers have cut and paste famous people into the original image, which has seen President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni, and even late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, taking his place.

Others have placed a cut-out of the naked man in other situations, including a music festival and in someone's house.

Twins Beckett and Freya Humenny will grow up together, but they will never share a birthday -- or even a birth year.

Beckett was born at 6:40 p.m. on New Year's Eve 2011. His sister, Freya, was born six hours later, at 12:26 a.m. on Jan. 1, 2012, and the nurses at Hennepin County Medical Center threw confetti to celebrate the new year and the extraordinary birth event.

"It was a party when she came out," said their mom, Stephanie Peterson, 30, of Wayzata. There will come a time, she said, when Beckett will probably tease his sister that she's a year a younger, but "I'm excited that they will have two birthdays," she said.

Hospital officials and birth center staff said they could not recall another time when twins were born just before and just after the new year.

Born at 34 weeks, both babies are small but healthy. Beckett was 4 pounds 11 ounces, and Freya was 5 pounds 2 1/2 ounces. They will spend a week in the newborn intensive care unit before going home.

For the parents, from now on the two-day holiday will instead be a two-day birthday.

"It used to be such a long day in the past," said Darryl Humenny, 33, the babies' father.