Jeepers creepers, how’d he pop those peepers? Meet Williams Martin Sanchez Lopez — a bloke who’s turned his eyeballs into an optical illusion and bagged a Guinness World Record while he’s at it. This Milan-based Uruguayan dad-of-four can literally bug his eyes out 0.74 inches from his sockets — just enough to dethrone the previous record-holder. How? By chilling his eye muscles and pushing those peepers out like a living cartoon character. No cap. Lopez discovered his freaky flex as a kid mucking about with mates, and now he’s a viral sensation. Fans beg for videos of him popping his eyeballs while yelling their names. Honestly, the commitment? Iconic. He still gets a kick out of spooking people IRL — his go-to move is sneaking up, popping out his peepers, and watching strangers yeet themselves backwards in horror. Classic. But beyond the shock value, Lopez says it’s all about celebrating weird talents. “Even if someone beats my record, this has been a beautiful experience,” he said. So next time you think your party trick is cool, just remember: someone out there is popping eyeballs like it’s an Olympic sport. Dude, is that my car?! Brit ends up buying the very car that was stolen from him After his precious Honda Civic gets stolen, Ewan Valentine buys it back. The thief used 100 per cent of his brain for this one. PIC/YOUTUBE@ThisWorldIsRandom Ewan Valentine, from Solihull, UK, was devastated when his beloved Honda Civic Type R was stolen. After struggling with slow police and insurance processes, he spotted a nearly identical car online and, desperate to replace his, bought it for £20,000. But as he checked the car, strange details started to emerge: items he recognised, a distinct beer smell, and a satnav history full of his addresses. Realising something was off, he contacted the police. Although the thieves had replaced the car’s VIN, further checks confirmed it was his vehicle. It turned out the garage where he bought the car had no idea it was stolen and had simply been duped by the criminals! What a good waste of money! Don’t let your mom see this Vaibhav Suryavanshi. PIC/INSTAGRAM@vaibhav_sooryavanshi09 While we were busy figuring out if we liked One Direction or Paneer more, Vaibhav Suryavanshi at 14 was out here smashing bowlers like it’s recess. The Internet’s having a full-blown identity crisis — reels are flooded with a comparison to what they were doing when they were of Vaibhav’s age. Examples like “Me: changing fonts on Tumblr. Him: changing the scoreboard.” Someone said, “I was still eating glue at 14.” Relatable. Too relatable. Moral of the story: don’t compare — unless you’re comparing your 14-year-old self for comedy. In that case, carry on. Minion mania! Liesl owns a collection of 1035 Minions. PIC/Guinness World Records Meet Liesl Benecke, aka “Minion Lady”, who just bagged a Guinness World Record with her 1035-piece Minions hoard. Liesl’s obsession is evident from her Minion plush toys collection to a Stuart tattoo. She even cried at Minion Land. Her friends are now “Minion shoppers”. Honestly, she’s living her best banana-hued, sidekick dream. AI is stealing your mics too! An Aussie radio station secretly ran an AI host named “Thy” for six months — no bio, no last name, just eerily perfect phrases on loop. Listeners finally caught on, and the truth spilled out. Musk be kidding me?! PICS/YAHOO.COM Hugo One, a disco singer from Luxembourg, is living every tech bro’s nightmare — constantly being mistaken for Elon Musk. From bars to baguette aisles, strangers insist he is Musk. Hugo’s not flattered: “He’s not hot, and also… not nice.” Still, viral fame and song downloads? Guess being Musk-like isn’t all that grim. Karaoke nightmare?! Pic/iStock A woman in China says she got herpes from a karaoke mic — yes, a mic! In 2017, she went full Beyoncé at a lounge, smooched the mic mid-song, and soon after? Boom—HSV-1. And now, she’s stuck with cold sores for life. Her PSA: maybe don’t make out with public electronics. The Internet is shocked, disturbed, and suddenly afraid of karaoke night.
04 May,2025 07:32 AM IST | Mumbai | A CorrespondentThe White House plans to cut staffing at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and other intelligence agencies, including the National Security Agency, Trump administration officials told members of Congress, The Washington Post reported. A person familiar with the plan but not authorised to discuss it publicly confirmed the changes on condition of anonymity. The administration plans to reduce the CIA workforce by 1200 over several years, and cut thousands of positions at the NSA and other intelligence agencies. The Post reported that the reductions at the CIA include several hundred people who have already opted for early retirement. The rest of the cuts would be achieved partly through reduced hirings and would not likely necessitate layoffs. In response to questions about the reductions, the CIA issued a statement saying CIA Director John Ratcliffe is working to align the agency with Trump’s national security priorities. John Ratcliffe “These moves are part of a holistic strategy to infuse the Agency with renewed energy, provide opportunities for rising leaders to emerge, and better position the CIA to deliver on its mission,” the agency wrote in the statement. The CIA and NSA have already offered voluntary resignations to some employees. The agencies also has said it plans to lay off an unknown number of recently hired employees. The new administration has also eliminated diversity, equity and inclusion programmes at intelligence agencies, though a judge has temporarily blocked efforts to fire 19 employees working on DEI programmes who challenged their terminations. Trump also abruptly fired the general who led the NSA and the Pentagon’s Cyber Command. Ratcliffe has vowed to overhaul the CIA and said he wants to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
04 May,2025 07:32 AM IST | Washington | AgenciesIsrael has blocked aid from entering Gaza for two months and says it won’t allow food, fuel, water or medicine into the besieged territory until it puts in place a system giving it control over the distribution. But officials from the UN and aid groups say proposals Israel has floated to use its military to distribute vital supplies are untenable. UN officials say this would allow military and political objectives to impede humanitarian goals, put restrictions on who is eligible to give and receive aid, and could force large numbers of Palestinians to move — which would violate international law. Israel has not detailed any of its proposals publicly or put them down in writing. But aid groups have been documenting their conversations with Israeli officials, and media personnel obtained more than 40 pages of notes summarising Israel’s proposals and aid groups’ concerns about them. Aid groups say Israel shouldn’t have any direct role in distributing aid once it arrives in Gaza, and most are saying they will refuse to be part of any such system. “Israel has the responsibility to facilitate our work, not weaponise it,” said Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for the UN agency that oversees the coordination of aid to Gaza. Since the beginning of March, Israel has cut off Gaza from all imports, leading to what is believed to be the most severe shortage of food, medicine and other supplies in nearly 19 months of war with Hamas. Israel says the goal of its blockade is to pressure Hamas to free the remaining 59 hostages taken during its October 2023 attack on Israel that allegedly launched the war. Israel says it must take control of aid distribution, arguing without providing evidence that Hamas and other militants siphon off supplies. Aid workers deny there is a significant diversion of aid to militants, saying the UN strictly monitors distribution. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
04 May,2025 07:32 AM IST | Tel Aviv | AgenciesFor Ethel Caterham, the trick to a long life — and in her case, it really has been — is not to argue. Caterham, who is 115, became the world’s oldest living person, according to the Gerontology Research Group, after Sister Inah Canabarro, a Brazilian nun and teacher, died on Wednesday at the tender age of 116. “Never arguing with anyone, I listen and I do what I like,” she said from her nursing home in Surrey, southwest of London, on the secret to her longevity. She was born on 21 August, 1909, in the village of Shipton Bellinger in the south of England, five years before the outbreak of World War I. She was the second youngest of eight siblings. Travel has been in her blood, it’s clear. In 1927, at the age of 18, Caterham embarked on a journey to India, working as a nanny for a British family, where she stayed for three years before returning to England, according to the GRG. Hallmark Lakeview Luxury Care Home in Camberley, where Caterham is a resident, posted pictures of her cutting a cake and wearing a “115” tiara in a Facebook post on Thursday. “Huge congratulations to Lakeview resident, Ethel on becoming the oldest person in the world! What an incredible milestone and a true testament to a life well-lived,” it said in an accompanying statement. “Your strength, spirit, and wisdom are an inspiration to us all. Here’s to celebrating your remarkable journey!” This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
04 May,2025 07:31 AM IST | London | AgenciesPrime Minister Anthony Albanese has become the first Australian prime minister to win a second consecutive three-year term in 21 years. Opposition leader Peter Dutton conceded defeat in Saturday’s election, saying, “We didn’t do well enough during this campaign, that much is obvious tonight, and I accept full responsibility for that.” The Australian Electoral Commission’s projections gave Albanese’s ruling centre-left Labour Party 70 seats and the conservative opposition coalition 24 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives, the lower chamber where parties need a majority to form governments. Unaligned minor parties and independent candidates appeared likely to win 13 seats. Australian Broadcasting Corp’s respected election analyst Antony Green predicted Labour would win 76 seats, the coalition 36 and unaligned lawmakers 13. Green said Labour would form a majority or minority government and that the coalition had no hope of forming even a minority government. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
04 May,2025 07:31 AM IST | Melbourne | AgenciesUS President Donald Trump posted on Friday a spoof picture of himself dressed as the pope on his Truth Social platform after joking that he would like to be the next Catholic pontiff. The president is seen in what appears to be an AI-generated color image, with his right index finger pointed toward the sky, wearing papal regalia, including white robes, a gold crucifix pendant and the miter hat. It comes after Trump joked to reporters this week that he would like to be the next pope, just days before cardinals are due to start the conclave to elect the successor of Pope Francis who died on April 21. Asked who he would like to succeed Pope Francis, Trump said: "I'd like to be pope, that would be my number one choice." Trump went on to say that he did not have a preference but said there was a cardinal in New York who was "very good." He appeared to be referring to the archbishop of New York, Timothy Dolan, a theological conservative and fiercely opposed to abortion. Trump attended the funeral service of Pope Francis last week, his first foreign trip since returning to power. About 20 percent of Americans declare themselves Catholic, and exit polls indicated in November that they voted around 60 percent in favor of Trump. Pope Francis had arguably been one of the most powerful moral voices on the world stage critical of Trump. When Trump first ran for president in 2016, Francis was unsparing on his signature promise to build a border wall to seal off Mexico. Francis told reporters, "Anyone, whoever he is, who only wants to build walls and not bridges is not a Christian." Cardinals will gather on May 7 in a conclave in the Vatican's Sistine Chapel to elect a new pope. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
03 May,2025 04:34 PM IST | Washington | AFPSouth Korea’s former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said on Friday he will run in next month’s presidential election and would seek to lessen the powers of the office and ease strife-ridden domestic politics if he wins. Han’s entry heats up the scramble among conservatives to unify behind a candidate to compete with liberal front-runner Lee Jae-myung, whose campaign recently was set back by a court decision to open a new trial on election law violation charges. “I’ve determined to find what I can do for the future of the Republic of Korea that I love and for all of us,” Han told a press conference at the National Assembly.Presidential elections are set to be held on on June 3. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
03 May,2025 10:56 AM IST | Seoul | AgenciesUS President Donald Trump has claimed that China now occupies the Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, which was vacated by America in 2021. The US vacated Bagram, its biggest airfield in the country, in July 2021. “...But we were going to keep Bagram, the big Air Force base, which is one hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons. That’s what they do. They make their nuclear missiles and one hour away from Bagram, and I said you can’t give up Bagram,” Trump said while addressing the 2025 National Day of Prayer at the White House. “They gave up Bagram. Right now, China occupies Bagram. So sad, so crazy. One of the biggest air bases in the world, among the strongest and longest runways in the world,” he said. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
03 May,2025 10:32 AM IST | New York | AgenciesPolls opened in Australia's general election on Saturday with high costs of living and a shortage of housing major issues in the campaign. Voting across the nation the size of three times zones spanning two hours will continue from 8 am (22.00 GMT Friday) until 6 pm (08.00 GMT Saturday) in eastern Australia. The polls open and close two hours later on the West Coast. Authorities said 8.6 million ballots from Australia's 18.1 million registered voters had already been cast, but not counted, before Saturday since early and postal voting began on April 22. Australia is among the few countries where voting is compulsory, a system that leans toward creating centrist governments. At the last election in 2022, 90 per cent of eligible voters cast ballots. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's centre-left Labour Party is seeking a second three-year term. His opponent, conservative opposition leader Peter Dutton, wants to become the first political leader to oust a first-term government since 1931, when Australians were reeling from the Great Depression. The election is taking place against a backdrop of what both sides of politics describe as a cost of living crisis. Soaring prices are a big headache Annual inflation peaked at 7.8 per cent a year after Labour was elected in 2022. The central bank's benchmark interest rate rose from a record low 0.1 per cent to 0.35 per cent two weeks before the government changed. The rate has been raised a dozen times since then, peaking at 4.35 per cent in November 2023. The central bank reduced the inflation rate by a quarter percentage point in February to 4.1 per cent in an indication that the worst of the financial hardship had passed. The rate is widely expected to be cut again at the bank's next board meeting on May 20 due to international economic uncertainty generated by US President Donald Trump's tariff policies. Housing prices and rents have also soared as builders have gone broke because of inflation absorbing profit margins. Could the election produce a minority government? Going into the election, Labour held a narrow majority of 78 seats in the 151-seat House of Representatives, the lower chamber where parties form governments. There will be 150 seats in the next parliament due to redistributions. Dutton's conservative alliance of parties known as the Liberal-National Coalition held 53 seats in the last parliament, and a record-high 19 lawmakers were not aligned to either the government or the opposition. Monash University political scientist Zareh Ghazarian said the major parties were gaining a smaller proportion of the votes at each election in recent decades, which was benefitting independent candidates and those representing minor partes. If the trend of votes shifting away from major parties that was evident at the 2022 election continued at Saturday's election, the result could be a rare minority government. There was a minority government during World War II and the next was during a three-year term after the 2010 election. "This election's going to be a real test of whether what we saw in 2022 is a sign of things to come, or whether the '22 election was just a one-off flash in the pan," Ghazarian said. Party leaders usually concede defeat and claim victory on election day. But in the last minority government, key independent lawmakers announced they would support a Labour administration 17 days after the polls closed. Changing demographics Both campaigns have focused on Australia's changing demographics. The election is the first in Australia in which Baby Boomers, born between born between the end of World War II and 1964, are outnumbered by younger voters. Both campaigns promised policies to help first-home buyers buy into a property market that is too expensive for many. A major point of difference is energy. The opposition has promised to build seven government-funded nuclear power plants across Australia that would begin generating electricity from 2035. Gas-fired electricity would fill the gap between aging coal-fired plants closing and nuclear generators taking their place.Labour plans to have 82 per cent of Australia's energy grid powered by renewables including solar and wind turbines by 2030 and to rely less on gas. WikiLeaks founder endorses Albanese On the eve of the election, Albanese received the endorsement of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who said the Labour leader "did more to secure my freedom than any other politician or public figure," including the late Pope Francis. The remarks, posted to the social platform X by Assange's brother Gabriel Shipton, were his first on Australian domestic matters since he was released from a British prison last June and returned to his homeland after a plea deal that ended US prosecutors' attempts to extradite him for publishing military secrets.Albanese "stood up to" the US over the case, Assange said, and his government had "proven itself unusually capable of rescuing Australians caught up in sensitive political situations." The endorsement was unusual from Assange, who has been scathing about Australian politicians before. Albanese Friday night downplayed the endorsement, saying it was "a matter for Mr. Assange" and that it was "a good thing" the WikiLeaks founder was now able to be with his family. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
03 May,2025 09:12 AM IST | Melbourne | AP | PTITransportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Friday that it is "unacceptable" that two commercial aircrafts had to abort landings at a Washington airport this week because of an Army Black Hawk helicopter that was flying to the Pentagon. In addition to the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration investigating what happened Thursday, Duffy said, he plans to talk to the Department of Defence to determine why rules were "disregarded." The incident at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport involved a Delta Air Lines Airbus A319 and a Republic Airways Embraer E170, according to the NTSB. They were instructed by air traffic control to "perform go-arounds" because of the helicopter. "Safety must ALWAYS come first," Duffy said on the social platform X. "We just lost 67 souls! No more helicopter rides for VIPs or unnecessary training in a congested DCA airspace full of civilians. Take a taxi or Uber " besides most VIPs have black car service." The aborted landings follow a deadly midair collision in January between a passenger jet and Army helicopter in Washington that killed 67 people. Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell, ranking member of the Commerce Committee, which oversees the FAA, said about the Thursday incident that "it is far past time" for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the FAA to "give our airspace the security and safety attention it deserves." Emma Johnson, a spokesperson for Delta Air Lines, said that the safety of their customers and all people is most important and that they'll "cooperate with authorities as they investigate." Republic Airways did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment from The Associated Press. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
03 May,2025 09:10 AM IST | Washington | AgenciesTwo women were shot on the campus of a Southern California technical college Friday and taken to the hospital, authorities said. Mayor James Butts of Inglewood said the shooting occurred around 4 pm on the Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology Campus. Speaking on KABC-TV, Butts said the suspect was at still large. Authorities did not believe the suspect was still on campus but conducted a room-to-room search, according to the mayor. The shooting occurred in an office at the school and officials believe it to be a workplace violence incident, according to Butts. The two women are employees of the school, and the suspect is believed to be a former employee, he said. One of the gunshot victims was in critical condition, he said. The Los Angeles County Fire Department confirmed on the social platform X that two people were taken to the hospital. Aerial TV video showed a heavy police presence outside the campus in Inglewood, a city southwest of Los Angeles. The Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology has campuses across the country. Its Inglewood location accommodates 500 students and offers training programs focused on aviation maintenance technology, according to its website. It is about a mile (about 1.5 kilometers) from Los Angeles International Airport. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
03 May,2025 09:08 AM IST | Inglewood | AFPADVERTISEMENT
