Influencer advocates backwards toilet stance
And other stories from the stranger side of life

In a new social media trend, people are sitting backwards on the toilet so they can eat and watch Netflix while relieving themselves. Viral videos on TikTok are showing people sitting backwards and facing the flush after the influencer @AmyWoahh told her 11.6m followers she did it. “You have been pooping wrong,” she says. “What I want you to do is poop backwards. Get your favourite snacks, get your favourite show and that’s how you poop. It’s the best of all times.”
Lost surfboard shows up four years later
A surfer has found a board he lost four years ago after it drifted at sea for thousands of miles from the bottom of Australia to the top. Danny Griffiths lost his favourite board at the very southern tip of Tasmania. It was found, covered in barnacles, by two brothers near Townsville in north Queensland, more than 1,600 miles away. An oceanographer said the board “must have gone the long way round” via New Zealand.
Subscribe to 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.
UFO spotted above Arizona
A couple said they saw a UFO floating in the skies above the Arizona desert in broad daylight. Kristian Noel and Kelly Dees were on a road trip to San Diego in California, US, when they filmed the object. Kristian has dismissed suggestions it was a drone or other everyday object. “It didn't move like a helicopter or an airplane would,” he said. “It just stayed stationary in the sky, high above the mountains.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Scattered Spider: who are the hackers linked to M&S and Co-op cyberattacks?
The Explainer 'Decentralised and adaptive', its mainly English-speaking members operate like an 'organised criminal network'
-
The best birdwatching spots in the UK
The Week Recommends Grab your binoculars to spot puffins, oystercatchers and chiffchaffs
-
'Making memories': the scourge of modern parenting?
In The Spotlight Meghan Markle sends her children emails of each day's 'moments' but is constant 'memory-making' just another burden for parents to bear?
-
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
-
Ukrainian election: who could replace Zelenskyy?
The Explainer Donald Trump's 'dictator' jibe raises pressure on Ukraine to the polls while the country is under martial law
-
Why Serbian protesters set off smoke bombs in parliament
THE EXPLAINER Ongoing anti-corruption protests erupted into full view this week as Serbian protesters threw the country's legislature into chaos
-
Who is the Hat Man? 'Shadow people' and sleep paralysis
In Depth 'Sleep demons' have plagued our dreams throughout the centuries, but the explanation could be medical