Cancer makes man develop an Irish accent

And other stories from the stranger side of life

Irish flags
Ireland had a reality check after gaining independence
(Image credit: Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

A rare form of prostate cancer caused an American man in his 50s to suddenly speak with an Irish accent, reported Science Alert. Foreign accent syndrome (FAS) is a rare speech disorder that can cause a person to suddenly speak in a different accent with their pronunciation transforming in ways that resemble another dialect or style. In 2018, a woman from Arizona awoke “speaking like Mary Poppins”, noted the outlet.

Janitor locked in cell for three days

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  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.