Emilia Randall

Akbar Salubiro, a 25-year-old Indonesian palm-oil harvester, disappeared in West Sulawesi in March 2017 and was found fully clothed inside a 23-foot reticulated python near his family's plantation. Police and villagers suspected the snake after finding it motionless with a swollen belly. The report also recounts the 2018 death of Wa Tiba, whose body was found inside another large python in Indonesia, highlighting the rarity but devastating consequences of such attacks.

A 2025 landslide in Alaska’s Tracy Arm Fjord sent a 500-metre mega-tsunami through the remote fjord after glacier retreat destabilized a mountainside. The wave stripped an island of vegetation and narrowly avoided tourists because it struck during the early hours, when cruise ships were absent. Scientists warn that melting glaciers, earthquakes and increased tourism in remote areas could make such events substantially more frequent, prompting calls for improved hazard monitoring and some cruise operators to reconsider visits to Tracy Arm.

Yevgenia Leontyeva, a 33-year-old mother of three, died in Kazakhstan after a safety rope failed during a rooftop free-fly jump, causing her to fall about 100 feet and collide with an iron fence. Her husband, Alexander Tkachenko, watched the accident and said his final words to her were “I love you.” Witnesses said Leontyeva appeared afraid and that instructor Alexander Muznikas encouraged her to jump despite the safety line not being properly secured. Muznikas was convicted of providing unsafe services and causing death through negligence, receiving a four-year prison sentence.

Joshua Komisarjevsky and Steven Hayes were convicted of murdering Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters, Hayley and Michaela, during a 2007 home invasion in Connecticut. The attackers beat and restrained William Petit, forced Jennifer to withdraw money, sexually assaulted family members, and set the house on fire; William survived and alerted a neighbor. The case prompted debate over Connecticut’s death penalty, which was later abolished for future crimes but remained applicable to prisoners already on death row.

Thirteen Turpin siblings, long subjected to extreme abuse by their parents in California, continue rebuilding their lives years after their 2018 rescue. Older siblings Julissa, Jolinda and James recount the physical and psychological trauma they endured and describe relying on one another and therapy as they recover. Their parents, David and Louise Turpin, remain imprisoned for torture and related charges. Several younger siblings were later abused again by their foster family, resulting in criminal sentences for the foster parents and a civil settlement. The three older siblings now focus on healing, maintaining their bond and building stable futures.

Jaslyk prison in north-west Uzbekistan is described as a notorious site of alleged torture and human-rights abuses against religious prisoners, dissidents and government critics. Human Rights Watch documented the suspicious 2002 deaths of Muzafar Avazov and Husnidin Alimov, including evidence that Avazov was badly burned, beaten and had his fingernails removed. Former inmates also reported electric shocks, sexual assault, solitary confinement and transport in cramped metal boxes. The article recounts the alleged mistreatment of detainee Valeriy Parijer and notes that Israel sought his transfer and release. Uzbek authorities deny that torture is widespread and claim conditions have improved, but the country has not allowed UN torture investigators to inspect its prisons.

During a 2010 expedition to become the first group to navigate the Lukuga River’s white-water section in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, kayaker Hendri Coetzee was attacked and pulled underwater by a crocodile while friends Chris Korbulic and Ben Stookesberry watched helplessly. The surviving kayakers reported the attack from a nearby village, but Coetzee was never recovered; his kayak showed no visible damage. Friends and family later held a river tribute celebrating his life and passion for exploration.

A theme park in rural Japan featuring a 45‑metre Gulliver statue closed after just four years, hindered by its proximity to the Aokigahara suicide forest and the former Aum Shinrikyo headquarters. Despite government backing and a scenic location near Mount Fuji, limited attractions and the area’s grim associations discouraged visitors. The abandoned site has remained untouched since 2004, with the statue now vandalised and park structures deteriorating.

Archaeologists uncovered a 2,137‑year‑old burial in the Ala‑Tey necropolis in Tuva, revealed after reservoir drainage, containing a jet belt buckle resembling a modern smartphone. The object, decorated with semi‑precious stones and Chinese wuzhu coins, helped date the grave to between 92 B.C. and A.D. 71. Researchers found similar items in nearby graves and noted the site’s exceptional preservation due to minimal disturbance. Ongoing work aims to document and protect artefacts at risk from fluctuating water levels near Russia’s so‑called Atlantis.

A starving brown bear in Sankebetsu, northern Japan, killed five people in 1915 after learning it could attack humans without consequence. The bear escalated from an initial killing to entering homes and attacking multiple villagers in one night, including at the funeral of its first victim. Confusion over whether a single animal was responsible delayed the hunt until it was eventually killed by hunters, ending the attacks. The article also notes that bear-related fatalities and injuries in Japan increased in 2025 due to food scarcity, environmental changes and human encroachment.

Authorities uncovered a multigenerational incest ring involving 38 related individuals living in squalor in rural Australia, where children suffered severe disabilities and abuse due to inbreeding. Social services documented years of neglect before removing the children in 2012, and court proceedings later revealed extensive sexual exploitation across four generations. Several Colt family members were charged with crimes including incest, child sexual abuse, and perjury, though many charges were eventually dropped. Four individuals received custodial or intensive correction sentences, and court rulings exposed further evidence of paternity concealment and intra-family sexual relationships.

Emilia Randall compares HP brown sauce with own-brand versions from Waitrose, Marks & Spencer, Asda and Aldi. Aldi's Bramwells sauce is judged the best, matching or exceeding HP's flavour while costing 99p compared with HP's £3.60 price. Asda is considered acceptable but watery, M&S decent but too gravy-like, and Waitrose the weakest because of its bland flavour and relatively high price.

Former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou describes interrogation and torture practices used against Muslim detainees after the September 11 attacks, saying methods such as prolonged sleep and sensory deprivation, forced nudity, cold-cell confinement, and rectal feeding were worse than waterboarding. He alleges that two CIA-contracted psychologists developed the techniques at a cost of $108 million and argues that suspected terrorists should have been prosecuted. Kiriakou also discusses the detention of suspects in Pakistan and Guantanamo Bay, and says CIA torture rendered confessions inadmissible, preventing death sentences in cases involving alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and others.

A remote Kentucky family known as the Fugates passed down the rare genetic disorder methemoglobinemia through generations of inbreeding, resulting in blue skin among many descendants. The condition, originating with French immigrant Martin Fugate in the early 1800s, persisted as the isolated community intermarried. In the 1960s hematologist Madison Cawein identified the disorder and treated family members, though results were temporary. Public attention resurfaced in 1975 with the birth of Benjamin Stacy, whose blue skin linked him to the Fugate lineage. The disorder continues to appear mildly in modern descendants.

Charles Sobhraj, known as “The Serpent,” murdered at least 20 Western tourists across Asia in the 1970s and 1980s, evading authorities through manipulation, escapes and identity swaps. After multiple arrests and prison sentences in India, Nepal and elsewhere, he ultimately served a life sentence in Nepal for two killings but was released in 2022. His crimes involved poisoning, robbery and murder of backpackers across Thailand, India and Nepal, aided at times by partners such as Marie-Andree Leclerc. Dutch diplomat Herman Knippenberg played a key role in gathering evidence linking him to several murders. Despite international notoriety and past convictions, Sobhraj now lives freely, having avoided trial for many alleged killings.

A one‑tonne elephant seal named Neil has caused increasing disruption in Tasmanian towns by destroying barriers, fences and cars as he returns annually to the area where he was born. Wildlife officials warn that public behaviour, including people approaching him for photos, is creating safety risks that could ultimately lead to Neil being euthanized. Experts explain that his actions reflect normal seal behaviour, amplified by his size and lack of other young males to interact with. Authorities urge the public to give Neil space and protect his environment to ensure his safety as he continues to grow.

Thirteen-year-old Maryann Measles disappeared from a New Milford, Connecticut, supermarket car park on 19 October 1997 while her mother was shopping. She was abducted by Ronald Rajcok and taken to the Housatonic River, where she was raped and assaulted by members of an older social group before being drowned and her body submerged. Her remains were found in Lake Lillinonah nine months later. A renewed investigation led to the arrests of eight people in 2002. Most accepted plea deals and received prison sentences ranging from 19 years to life; Keith Foster went to trial, was convicted on all charges and sentenced to 110 years. Maryann’s family and community later established memorials in her memory.

Soyuz 11 astronauts Georgi Dobrovolsky, Vladislav Volkov and Viktor Patsayev died on June 30, 1971, during their return from the Salyut 1 space station. An explosive-bolt shock opened a pressure-equalisation valve to the vacuum of space, causing the capsule to depressurise in under a minute. The automated spacecraft completed re-entry and landed safely in Kazakhstan, so recovery teams only discovered the crew’s deaths after opening the hatch. The cosmonauts were not wearing pressure suits and lost consciousness within minutes.

Eighteen-year-old Daylenn Pua disappeared while hiking on Oahu’s Haiku Stairs area in February 2015. A final photograph sent to his grandmother appears to show a crouching figure in the bushes, prompting speculation that a “shadow man” may have been connected to his disappearance. Hikers reported hearing cries for help around the same time, while search teams investigated the surrounding trails. Pua’s family remains convinced he was attacked, but he has never been found and no one has been identified as the alleged figure.

Fabio Ezequiel de Moraes died in 2016 after a bungee cord was reportedly misjudged during a 43-metre jump in São Paulo, causing him to hit the ground in front of his wife, brother and young son. Brazilian authorities investigated and confiscated the equipment. The report also recalls the deaths of Matthew Coleman in the Swiss Alps after an incorrectly sized cord was used and a separate South Korean accident in which a woman survived a cord failure, highlighting recurring safety and negligence concerns in bungee jumping.

Mentmore Towers in Buckinghamshire, which served as Bruce Wayne’s mansion in the 2005 film Batman Begins, has been left vacant and is deteriorating. Built for Baron Mayer de Rothschild in the 19th century, the mansion was bought by property developer Simon Halabi, whose plans to convert it into a luxury hotel failed after the 2008 housing-market crash. Historic England has placed the building at risk, citing serious roof damage, water ingress and accelerating deterioration. The article also outlines the Rothschild family’s history and Jacob Rothschild’s financial, cultural and philanthropic roles.

Eliasard Moneus was sentenced in Indiana to 92 consecutive years after pleading guilty to murdering his three-month-old son, Jacob, and attempting to murder his wife, Edlie. Prosecutors said he drowned the baby in a sealed bucket of laundry detergent to “teach” his wife a lesson about disrespecting men, then attacked her with a tyre iron or wrench. Police later found the infant’s body at the family home, while the judge called the crime one of the most grotesque murders he had seen.

Archaeologists discovered a remarkably undisturbed prehistoric cave in Israel dating from roughly 400,000 to 250,000 years ago. Flint tools found alongside gazelle, deer and horse bones, with evidence of nearby water, may reveal how Acheulo-Yabrudian hunter-gatherers used the site and whether they returned for extended stays. The cave belongs to a poorly documented transitional period at the end of the Lower Paleolithic, before Neanderthals and modern humans became dominant, and could provide rare evidence of ancient daily life, technology, fire use and social interaction.

Japanese surfer Tadashi Nakahara was fatally attacked by a very large shark while sitting on his board near Shelly Beach in Ballina, New South Wales, in 2016. Fellow surfers pulled him ashore and attempted CPR and tourniquets, but he died after suffering catastrophic blood loss. The attack occurred hours after another surfer, Jabez Reitman, was bitten nearby, prompting authorities to close beaches and search for the shark. Ballina mayor David Wright said the incidents were likely connected, although fatal shark attacks remain uncommon in Australia.