SAS trained to deal with aliens
And other stories from the stranger side of life

An elite SAS unit of around 20 soldiers is reportedly being trained to respond to an alien invasion of Earth. A source told the Daily Star on Sunday that the SAS “has to be prepared for anything” including “everything from terrorists to human bio-weapons where someone has been deliberately infected with a deadly bug, all the way through to an alien life form”. They added: “I know it sounds bonkers.”
Man simulates sex with corpse at funeral
A man in Zimbabwe has been accused of pretending to have sex with a woman’s corpse at her own funeral. Big ‘Bigman’ Sipiliano, 49, faces up to five years in prison if he is convicted at his trial next month. He is accused of mounting the body of a 20-year-old woman after telling mourners: “Greetings elders, you know I loved this lady but she has gone before I had slept with her. However, it is not too late, I can still have intercourse with her before she's buried.”
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.
Magicians mark 100 years of sawing
This weekend, magicians are going to celebrate 100 years of sawing people in half. The Magic Circle is holding an evening of online events around the history of the illusion, telling key stories from the century of sawing. The event will mark the anniversary of when an English magician called Percy Thomas Tibbles sawed through a sealed wooden box that contained a woman.
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
-
June 5 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Thursday's political cartoons include a presidential get-out-of-jail-free card, masked ICE agents, and the Tooth Fairy's message for Senator Joni Ernst
-
Selling sex: why investors are wary of OnlyFans despite record profits
In The Spotlight The platform that revolutionised pornography is for sale – but its value is limited unless it can diversify
-
Garsington Opera opens its summer festival with two 'very different productions'
The Week Recommends A 'fabulous' new staging of Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades and Donizetti's fake-love-potion comedy L'elisir d'amore
-
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