Woman has to hide her pre-Covid tattoo
And other stories from the stranger side of life

A woman who got tattoo early last year says she has worn long sleeves for the past 12 months because the Covid-19 pandemic means it could be misinterpreted. Early last year, before coronavirus spread around the world, TikTok user Leah got the tattoo which says: “Courageously and radically refuse to wear a mask.” She said the ink “basically means being true to yourself and real and not pretending to be something you’re not” but now covers it up, in case people misinterpret it as a message about Covid prevention.
Brain-eating worm was actually sticky tape
A mother thought she had pulled a four-inch worm from her eight-year-old son’s brain but later discovered it was sticky tape. Gemma Tyson said she “felt sick” as she tweezed out a long, sticky item that “just kept coming and coming” from her son Ashton’s ear. She thought he had worms “eating his brain” but doctors told her it was a ball of surgical tape Ashton had stuffed in his ear a week earlier.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Pokemon cards could sell for £100,000
A collection of Pokemon cards is expected to sell for £100,000 at an auction today. International prices for Pokemon have soared in recent years - a sealed First Edition Booster box recently went for £298,000. Auctioneer Richard Winterton said: “Pokemon is quite simply a global sensation and the ultimate ‘new’ collectable - we expect huge interest across the globe, especially collectors in Japan, China and the USA.”
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Chas Newkey-Burden has been part of The Week Digital team for more than a decade and a journalist for 25 years, starting out on the irreverent football weekly 90 Minutes, before moving to lifestyle magazines Loaded and Attitude. He was a columnist for The Big Issue and landed a world exclusive with David Beckham that became the weekly magazine’s bestselling issue. He now writes regularly for The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, Metro, FourFourTwo and the i new site. He is also the author of a number of non-fiction books.
-
5 bullseye cartoons about the reasons for mass shootings
Cartoons Artists take on gun worship, a price paid, and more
-
Lisa Cook and Trump's battle for control the US Fed
Talking Point The president's attempts to fire one of the Federal Reserve's seven governor is represents 'a stunning escalation' of his attacks on the US central bank
-
'Three Pads' Rayner: a housing hypocrite?
Talking Point As real estate moguls go, the Deputy PM is 'hardly Donald Trump'
-
China is silently expanding its influence in American cities
Under the Radar New York City and San Francisco, among others, have reportedly been targeted
-
How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctions
The Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
-
One year after mass protests, why are Kenyans taking to the streets again?
today's big question More than 60 protesters died during demonstrations in 2024
-
What happens if tensions between India and Pakistan boil over?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As the two nuclear-armed neighbors rattle their sabers in the wake of a terrorist attack on the contested Kashmir region, experts worry that the worst might be yet to come
-
Why Russia removed the Taliban's terrorist designation
The Explainer Russia had designated the Taliban as a terrorist group over 20 years ago
-
Inside the Israel-Turkey geopolitical dance across Syria
THE EXPLAINER As Syria struggles in the wake of the Assad regime's collapse, its neighbors are carefully coordinating to avoid potential military confrontations
-
'Like a sound from hell': Serbia and sonic weapons
The Explainer Half a million people sign petition alleging Serbian police used an illegal 'sound cannon' to disrupt anti-government protests
-
The arrest of the Philippines' former president leaves the country's drug war in disarray
In the Spotlight Rodrigo Duterte was arrested by the ICC earlier this month