Cow urine and eucalyptus necklaces suggested to fight Covid-19

And other stories from the stranger side of life

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Eucalyptus necklaces, cow urine and petrol are among the unorthodox measures being suggested to fight Covid-19. In India, Hindu nationalist Swami Chakrapani advises people to drink the urine of a cow. In Indonesia, the agriculture minister has proposed a eucalyptus-based “antivirus necklace,” while the Philippines says petrol can be used as a disinfectant. The measures are not supported by official health organisations.

Asteroid to near Earth on eve of White House election

An asteroid is heading towards Earth and is due to come close to the planet’s orbit in time for the White House election in November. However, its chances of disrupting the big day are slim: Nasa says the “very small” asteroid has just a 0.4% chance of hitting the planet.

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Mince pies hitting shelves as Xmas comes early

Mince pies and other festive snacks are arriving on supermarket shelves as stores go Christmassy even earlier than usual. Panettone and stollen will be in Sainsbury's stores from tomorrow, and mince pies will be available at Asda from Thursday. John Lewis’ Christmas products have been online for more than a week, having been launched 10 days earlier than last year.

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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.