Anthony Pearce

With each US election comes an ‘October surprise’, a campaign-threatening scandal revealed ahead of the November vote.

These revelations can be enough to convince swing voters to change their mind — and, in a two-party system, affect the entire outcome of the election. 

This year is only unusual in the fact we’ve had two. 

First, came the leaked 2005 tape in which Donald Trump was caught making obscene comments about women.

As both Republications and Democrats condemned the comments, several women came forward alleging Trump had sexually assaulted them. 

It seemed to have killed off the controversial Republican’s campaign, but then, this week, FBI director James Comey announced a renewed investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails. 

Suddenly, the Democrats’ lead was cut — with polls putting the pair neck and neck ahead of the election on November 8. 

Here are eight other October surprises that rocked elections (including one 'April surprise’ in the UK). 

Peace at hand  1972 was the year in which the phrase October surprise first came into use. Senator George McGovern, an anti-war candidate, was elected as Democrat nominate in 1972 as the Vietnam War entered its 17th year. But in a clever piece of political manoeuvring, Henry Kissinger, President Richard Nixon’s right-hand man, announced that "peace is at hand" (despite it being untrue), stealing McGovern’s stance. Nixon was re-elected by a landslide. 

Financial meltdown   Not a scandal as such, but a crisis: the 2008 recession. After Lehman Brothers went bankrupt and markets crashed across the world in October, Barack Obama’s assured response allowed him to pull ahead of his rival, the Republican John McCain. The latter had earlier claimed that the “fundamentals of our economy are strong”, coming across as ill-informed and unprepared about the financial crash.

Drink driving When evidence emerged of George W Bush’s drink-driving conviction from 1976, it seemed it may push the election in the favour of Al Gore. However, Bush handled the scandal adroitly, dubbing it dirty politics by the Democrats (who denied any involvement). Bush had been open about his drinking problems in the past, and this, if it had any effect, wasn’t enough to stop Bush winning the election (just). 

Sex scandal In 1964, Lyndon B Johnson’s campaign looked to have been severely damaged when his top aide Walter Jenkins was arrested for disorderly conduct with another man in a Washington DC YMCA, a “notorious” — as it was termed at the time — “gathering place for homosexuals”. Republican Barry Goldwater, deeply unpopular even in his own party, may have thought he could steal a march — but the scandal had little impact. Johnson won 61 per cent of the vote. 

Deadly silence In 1884, James G Blaine, the Republican presidential, was hit by a late scandal that cost him the election. He attended an GOP meeting where a Presbyterian minister accused the Democrats of representing “rum, Romanism, and rebellion” —i.e alcohol, Catholics, and the Confederacy. His failure to voice an objection caused Irish Catholics to abandon him. He lost to Democrat Grover Cleveland. 

Iranian talks One of the more peculiar October surprises, which strays firmly into conspiracy. Iranian radicals had taken 52 hostages at the US embassy in Tehran in 1979; but, despite negotiations, the country’s Prime Minister Mohammad Ali Rajai suddenly declared the hostages would not be released while Jimmy Carter was president. The latter believed it to be the work of Ronald Reagan (who had met with Iran), the Republic candidate, who later swept to victory. The hostages were released the same day. 

The War on Terror In late October 2004, Osama bin Laden released a video claiming responsibility for 9/11 attacks — and attacked President George W Bush, calling him a dictator. The timing — just a week before the election — boosted Bush’s popularity, and renewed support for the War on Terror (which Democrat John Kerry had heavily criticised). Bush comfortably won a second term. 

Bigotgate There’s no UK equivalent to the October surprise, as such, but Gordon Brown’s infamous Bigotgate comments were made just a week before the 2010 election. Sixty-five-year-old Gillian Duffy had challenged Mr Brown on immigration, but the then Prime Minister was caught on microphone shortly after calling her a “bigoted woman”. It dealt a final blow to Brown’s already faltering campaign. 

Scientists in Brazil are producing up to 60 million mosquitoes a week in a lab — and are planning to release them into the wild.

These mutant bugs will target species such as the Aedes aegypti, which carry Zika, dengue, yellow fever and chikungunya — by having sex with them.

This will spawn babies with a genetic flaw that causes them to die quickly, eradicating the diseases with them.

Biologist Karla Tepedino, from British firm Oxitec, which is creating the mosquitos, said: “What we do here is eliminate the mosquitoes that transmit the virus.

"By eliminating the vector, we eliminate the disease.”

The firm expects to release the mosquitoes into the wild in 2017. 

The factory, which is the first of its kind, in Piracicaba, northwest of Sao Paulo, can produce millions of the insects a week. 

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"We can use this as a hub for Brazil," said Oxitec president Hadyn Parry. 

The firm ran five field tests between 2011 and 2014 in Panama and the Cayman Islands where it saw the population of wild Aedes aegypti insects dropped by 90 per cent. 

This is the terrifying moment a train driver narrowly avoided being hit by another train, which was travelling at 105mph. 

The Virgin East Coast driver was investigating a power when failure when the high-speed train charged towards toward him.

The shocking CCTV still shows him cowering by his train, the second vehicle having sped by. The driver was unhurt. 

The incident, which happened 12 miles north of York station on August 3, was due to a lack “clear understanding" between the driver and a trainee signaller, a report said.

The driver was on the 07.55 BST Inverness to London King's Cross train. 

The driver sheltering by the train (Virgin East Coast)

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The Rail Accident Investigation Branch report said the driver was attempting to carry out tests when it experienced a loss of power at Kyle Beck, near Tollerton.

It said the driver contacted the signaller, a trainee working under the guidance of a more experienced colleague, to request trains on the adjacent lines be stopped in order to carry out the checks.

The report found that the signaller said he would call the driver back to confirm the line blockage, but the driver stepped down from his cab before receiving confirmation.

"It is possible the driver may not have heard what the trainee signaller said or that he had misunderstood what he was being told," the report said.

A former military clerk scammed businesses out of thousands of pounds by pretending to be an SAS hero — despite having never seen frontline action, a court has heard. 

Simon Buckden, 44, would regale girlfriends, veterans and anyone who would listen with tales of his heroics. 

The former soldier, who, a jury heard, also lied about having cancer, bragged about serving in “Bosnia, Northern Ireland, both Gulf Wars and Rwanda". 

Buckden, who genuinely helped raise funds for a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder charity, was also chosen to carry the Olympic Torch in 2012. 

But his military records show he worked a pen-pusher in the armed services. 

Craig Hassall, prosecuting, told the Leeds Crown court: "He has told other veterans that he served with the SAS and has attended events wearing medals and an SAS beret". Buckden, who denies fraud, also ran several marathons for charities — including Help for Heroes —hitting national headlines in the process. The veteran, who claimed to have held a dying child in his arms and to have worked undercover in Northern Ireland, had spoken and written of his time growing up in care and his career in the army and the SAS.

During the 2012, the same year Buckden carried the Olympic Torch, he also claimed to have been diagnosed with cancer, a court heard. Mr Halsall said: "In light of what he said about his diagnosis, people were, naturally, moved by his story and moved to try and help him. "Here was a man making a valiant effort to raise funds for charity running a 100 marathons in a 100 weeks who had, in the middle of all that, been cruelly struck down with cancer.

Simon Buckden, 44, arriving at court

"Many of the witnesses in the case provided either money or practical help to the defendant's cause, as a result of hearing about his cancer diagnosis." One businessman, Gareth Boot, gave Buckden £2,000 for a holiday so he could take a break from his fundraising. 

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The court heard Buckden, of Leeds, enlisted in 1989 and by 1993 had qualified as a military clerk, and by the time he was discharged in 2001 he had passed courses in regimental office finances and handling classified documents. 

A schoolboy has described the terrifying moment a pension-age knifemen went on a "vicious stabbing spree” after chasing him and his friend. 

Ethem Aydin Orhon, 67, is accused of attempted murder and wounding with intent after allegedly stabbing four women. 

Prosecutor Jonathan Polnay read a statement from one of the boys, who cannot be named for legal reasons, to the jury at Kingston Crown Court today. He said: "A woman comes running across the carpark screaming. "She was saying, 'I have been stabbed', or 'have I been stabbed?' I can't quite remember. "She was screaming her head off and I was not entirely sure if she was just a bit mad." The boy described watching the woman, Charandasi Chandiramanim, banging on a car door, asking the driver for help before being spotted by Orhon. The boy said as the man approached he revealed the knife in his right hand. He said: "As he came towards us he was almost calm, but his eyes were just wrong. He was making stabbing motions at us. "I stumbled again. I'm not thinking clearly. At this point, he starts to come after me. He didn't have a specific target. He was just going after anyone he could get near to. "The way he was moving was unbelievably scary. He had a knife at this point, and we thought he had stabbed two people. But the police officer told me after that he stabbed four people." 

The attack happened outside Sainsbury’s (SWNS)

MORE: Driverless cars in London will be unmarked so real drivers don’t bully them MORE: Man dressed as Freddy Krueger at Halloween party shoots five people The jury also heard from Ms Chandiramani who suffered two stab wounds in the back. Speaking from behind a screen she said: "I had my phone in my hand, as I was about to check the next bus, but suddenly I heard terrifying screaming. "I saw a woman on the ground, and a man standing next to her, very close to the lady on the ground. "He looked up and suddenly he made eye-contact with me. I wanted to run away. I was terrified. "He came running towards me at great speed. "I knew I was in danger, so I ran towards the carpark, where I knew there was activity, but he still got me twice in the back. "I didn't realise I had been stabbed. I felt two hits. I thought he had punched me. I noticed a car coming out of the carpark, opened the driver's door and asked the occupant for help. "It was then that I felt wetness on my back and knew I had been stabbed." Ms Chandiramani was taken to St George's hospital in Tooting, south London, where she was teated for two stab wounds, one of which made contact with her kidney. Jeffrey Lamb, defending, asked Ms Chandiramani about the phrases "deranged" and "on a mission" that she used in her statement to the police. Under cross-examination, she clarified: "When he caught my eye and came towards me — it was the look in his eye. "This woman was on the ground and he was still hurting her. "The fact she was on the ground… I did not know he had a knife, I thought he was still maybe punching her or hitting her." "He was on a mission of hurting." Orhon denies the attempted murder of both Suzanna Brand and Janet Morsy, and wounding with intent for both Jean Sullivan and Charandasi Chandiramani. The trial continues. 

Children are suffering from a lack of sleep due to smartphone and tablet usage before bedtime, a wide-ranging new study has found.

Researchers at King’s College London found a strong and consistent association between bedtime device use and inadequate sleep quantity.

The analysis of 20 studies is, according to the authors behind it, the first systematic review of the use of portable media and sleep.

The report urges an integrated approach among teachers, health care professionals, and parents to minimise device access at bedtime. 

Researchers said that portable mobile devices have become a ubiquitous part of children’s lives, and added that, as social media provides continuous stimulation for children, it affects sleep more than older, stationary devices. 

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“It is imperative that teachers, health care professionals, parents and children are educated about the damaging influence of device use on sleep. 

“Policy-led population-level health promotion to not stigmatise individual children but guide communities to promote the importance of sleep hygiene is needed,” said lead author, Dr Ben Carter, senior lecturer in biostatistics at the university. 

Sleep is vital to children’s biopsychosocial development, and inadequate sleep quantity and quality is a public health concern with an array of detrimental health outcomes, it warned. 

The report looked at studies of school-age children between six and 19 years. It did not include stationary exposures, such as televisions or desktop or personal computers.

It found that children who use such devices at bedtime were likely to suffer inadequate sleep quantity, poor sleep quality, and excessive daytime sleepiness. 

Recent studies have suggested that the light emitted from digital screens prevents your brain from releasing the hormone melatonin, which lets your body know when it's time to sleep, stopping you from nodding off.

A drone has captured the dramatic moment a taxi driver was caught by high waters as he drove from a tidal island. 

The incredible footage shows the car racing against the tide on the way back from Holy Island, Northumberland, which is only accessible at certain times of the day.

With two passengers in his car, he charges through the water-covered road — before getting stuck in the middle. 

The causeway becomes completely submerged after the tide comes in.

But apparently the taxi driver — nor his two passengers — knew that, or, if they did, decided to chance it. 

Mark Bradshaw, 41, from Seaton Burn, near Newcastle, caught the incident on his drone.

He said: “I went out to Holy Island with a friend to take footage of the castle.

The car attempting to cross the causeway 

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“We saw the vehicle coming over from the island side. It was very brave of him and I decided to film him.

“I was in the military for 24 years and I’ve seen lots of things but nothing as ridiculous as that.

“One of the passengers got out and walked up and down, pondering what their next move was.

His passengers appeared to be a Buddhist monk and woman, who, after getting out the car, was seen removing her soaked boots. 

Up to 80 children have fallen “violently ill” with vomiting and diarrhoea after allegedly swimming at the same leisure centre in Kent. 

A one-year-old was admitted to hospital following a pool party at the council-run Splashes Leisure Pool in Rainham. 

Her mum, Samantha Kemsley, said she was “overwhelmed” by reports of similar illness after posting on Facebook. 

She told KentOnline: “None of our family or friends are unwell — it wasn’t until we arrived home just after 6.30am that it occurred to us, the only place where she had prolonged contact with people was at Splashes.

“With this in mind, I posted on a Facebook page of which I am a member and was overwhelmed with responses from people who has been at Splashes on the same day as us and their children had come down with the same illness.

“I have found that there are over 80 children affected, who we know of so far.”

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On the centre’s Facebook page, another mum Laura Hayland wrote: “My little boy went here on Friday along with his friend and they both became ill. 

“Thought they might of just given each other a bug but after talking to more than 20 friends and friends of friends who also went here on Friday they had all been sick!! That can’t just be coincidence!”

A Medway Council spokesperson said: “Following reports of sickness among some children who had visited Splashes on Friday, we are thoroughly cleaning the pool and changing areas and have increased chlorine levels in the pool. 

The ‘dad bod’ makes men live longer and appear more attractive to women, according to a new book set to delight fathers everywhere. 

Richard Bribiescas, professor of anthropology at Yale University, compared “pudgy”, older dads to their leaner, younger counterparts.

In How Men Age, he argues that while becoming fatter after fatherhood may not fit the “macho” ideal, it does strengthen the immune system.

Further evidence suggests that these men are less likely to suffer from heart attacks and prostate cancer.  

“Macho makes you sick. The Hollywood image of the swaggering, dashing man dispatching bad guys and carrying the day conjures up a perception of indestructibility,” says professor Bribiescas. 

“While men are on average larger and physically stronger than women, men have a considerable weakness.

“We have a harder time fighting off infections and illness compared with women, and… men simply do not take care of themselves.

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“This has a significant negative impact on the pace at which men age.”

In the book, he writes: “One effect of lower testosterone levels is loss of muscle mass and increases in fat mass.

“This change in body consumption not only causes men to shop for more comfortable trousers but also facilitates increased survivorship and, hypothetically, a hormonal milieu that would more effectively promote and support paternal investment.”

But, before you get too excited, a study by Cambridge University study last year found that women searching for a father for their children should choose long-distance runners, because they are more likely to have stronger sex drives and higher sperm counts.

Apple has apologised after they refused to refund a customer — unless he could prove he was not Saddam Hussein, the deceased dictator.  

The bizarre incident happened after Sharakat Hussain, from Birmingham, attempted to return an iPhone 7. 

The 26-year-old had brought the £799 device for his sister, but decided to return it a month later after she said she didn’t want it. 

The dad-of-two was told he would receive a refund — but then, a few weeks later, received a strange email.

It said that he must prove his was not the Iraqi tyrant — who was executed in December 2006. 

He said: “I thought the email was spam and was stunned to learn it was real. I was furious being linked to Saddam.”

It turns out Mr Hussain, who works as a driver, was mistakenly put on a list of Government’s Denied Parties list — meaning he was banned from buying an iPhone. 

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The process was triggered by a requirement to check large refunds against the international sanctions list.

However, it was a human error resulted that resulted in him being mistaken for the former president of Iraq.

A spokesperson for Apple said: "We offer our sincerest apologies to Mr Hussain. 

“Though we are required to check identity while processing a refund, the letter he received was an error and should not have been sent."

A driver has been pulled over after attempting to cover a smashed window up with this bizarre fix. 

Concerned motorists alerted police after spotting the car with blue plastic sheeting tape to it. 

The makeshift solution left the driver with only a tiny peephole through which to see the the car’s wing mirror. 

Officers pulled over the white Toyota over shortly after midday on Saturday in Northampton.

PC Dave Lee, who took a picture of the car, wrote on Twitter that it was an “interesting concept”.

The Safer Roads Team officer for Northamptonshire said the driver had been written to by the central ticket office. 

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He could face a fine or a court appearance.

It is not known how the driver broke his car window, or how long he had been driving around with the plastic sheeting on it.

Earlier this month, a driver was filmed attempting to cover up a huge dent in his Mercedes using bin bags and sticky tape.

In 1943, in a wood near Wychbury Hill in Worcestershire the body of a woman was found inside a huge Wych elm tree.

She had been put in feet first — possibly still alive — sometime around October 1941, and was found with a piece of woven fabric stuffed into her mouth. 

But who was she? And who had committed this horrific crime?

Despite a police photo fit, no match could be found and no one reported her missing. 

But then, just a year after her discovery, something strange happened. 

On a wall in Upper Dean Street, Birmingham, someone scrawled the words: Who put Bella down the Wych Elm?

And so began one of Britain’s most intriguing murder stories. 

Nearby Hagley Hall

Discovery On 18 April 1943, four local boys — reportedly, Robert Hart, Thomas Willetts, Bob Farmer and Fred Payne — were playing in Hagley wood, part of an estate belonging to Lord Cobham. 

Searching for a bird’s nest, one of the boys climbed partially up a Wych elm, reaching in to retrieve what turned out be a human skull.

Panicked, they quickly put their finding back and rushed home, fearful of what might happen, given they were trespassing. 

However, it was too much for the boys to bear and one of them confessed to his parents that evening, and police were notified.

When they examined the trunk of the tree, officers discovered an almost complete skeleton — a hand nearby — and some garments of clothing and jewellery, notably (according to some reports) a wedding ring. 

The body was wedged so firmly into the tree, it couldn’t be removed until a lumberjack arrived with an axe to chop it down. 

A Wych elm

Investigation Pathologist Professor James Webster, who examined the remains, was able to shed some light on the identity of the woman.

She was aged between 35 and 40, he believed, and had been placed into the tree at least 18 months beforehand. 

Dr John Lund, a forensic biologist, spoke to Radio 4 in 2015 about the case, and noted that Webster was convinced the woman had been put in the tree while still warm — or even alive. 

The cause of death was attributed to asphyxiation, because of the cloth, part of her skirt, which had been stuffed into her mouth. 

Police worked through all missing persons in the area, hoping to find a match, but to no avail. No dentist’s records, either, could identify her. 

The graffito that appeared just a year later suggested someone, somewhere knew more about this case.  

But searches for a missing Bella were just as fruitless. 

The skull of “Bella” found in the tree

Aftermath Seventy-three years on and the questions of who “Bella” is, and who put her in the Wych elm and why are unanswered.

To add to the mystery, no one appears to know where her remains are, and there’s no record of the autopsy — just the personal notes of Dr Lund.

A DNA investigation that could potentially clear up the mystery will likely never happen. 

Several lines of inquiry have emerged down the years, with Steve Punt, on his Radio 4 show, offering two possible suggestions.

The first revolves around a statement made to police in 1953 by a woman called Una Mossop, who claims her cousin, Jack, and a Dutchamn called van Ralt had put “Bella” in the tree.

She claimed that, having met her in the pub, they put her there to stop her drink-driving, sober her up and shock her into seeing the error of her ways.

Jack Mossop was confined to a mental hospital because he had reoccurring dreams of a woman staring out at him from a tree — but died before the body was discovered. 

Another explanation — although sketchy on details — revolves around a police report that states a prostitute from the area, whose name was Bella, went missing around 1941. But there is no motive for the killing — or suggested killer.

Police also briefly linked “Bella” to the infamous murder of a man named Charles Walton, who was found in the nearby village of Lower Quinton pinned to the ground with a pitchfork — the result, locals believed, of witchcraft. 

Indeed, the occult regularly cropped up in theories about the woman’s death — and was embraced enthusiastically by the public at the time (and now — note how Wych is often erroneously spelt “witch”)

But, curiously, a more common link is espionage. 

Could Clara Bauerle have been misheard as Carabella?

Bella the spy “Bella” was murdered by Nazi spies or she was a Nazi spy herself, depending on which reports you read. 

A woman who went by “Anna”, and who contacted the Wolverhampton Express and Star in 1953, claimed to have known “Bella”’s killers, and was the first to suggest she was a spy (and a cabaret singer). 

In the 60s, writer Donald McCormick furthered the theory, claiming the woman was, in fact, a German spy and occultist called Carabella. 

More recently, The Independent has argued Bella was actually Clara Bauerle — a German spy and cabaret star, whose boyfriend Josef Jakobs was a captured Gestapo agent. 

The theory goes that Bauerle was supposed to parachute into the West Midlands in 1941 — as McCormick too suggested — but never made contact again. Jakobs, who apparently shared this story MI5, was executed.  

To this day, graffito appears bearing her name, while the story is regularly referenced in popular culture, and still captures the public imagination.

But who put Bella in the Wych elm?

Not for the first time, the EdStone has come back to haunt the Labour Party.

The limestone tablet was unveiled by Ed Miliband ahead of last year’s election, with his six key election promises carved into it. 

It was widely considered to be a terrible idea even before the Conservatives secured a shock majority and the then Labour leader resigned. 

If that wasn’t bad enough, Labour has just been fined £20,000 by the Electoral Commission for undeclared election spending during the campaign — including more than £7,000 on the EdStone.

The fine is the largest imposed by the body in its history.

Journalists alerted the commission to problems in spending when they noticed the two-tonne slab was missing from the return.

The party undertook an internal review, unearthing 24 other undeclared election expenses totalling £109,777, according to the Guardian.

Then, the commission’s investigation identified a further 49 missing payments totalling £11,357. 

Bob Posner, the commission’s director of party and election finance, said: “The Labour party is a well-established, experienced party. 

“Rules on reporting campaign spending have been in place for over 15 years and it is vital that the larger parties comply with these rules and report their finances accurately if voters are to have confidence in the system.”

The EdStone was subject to some ridicule 

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A Labour party spokeswoman said: “Labour has cooperated fully with the Electoral Commission during its investigation into general election 2015 campaign spending by political parties.

“The commission’s investigation found that internal procedural errors led to a relatively small number of items of expenditure not being declared properly. The party regrets these administrative errors. However, these amounted to just over 1 per cent of our total spending of over £12m during this election.

“We accept the findings of the report and have already tightened our internal recording procedures to address the commission’s concerns.”

The whereabouts of the slab, which contained pledges such as “a strong economic foundation” and “higher living standards for working families”, became the subject of widespread speculation after the election.

Meteorologists believe this strange hexagonal cloud formation may explain the Bermuda Triangle mystery.

The loosely defined area, between Bermuda, Florida and Puerto Rica, is associated with high numbers of planes and ships disappearing without trace.

The phrase was first coined by writer Vincent H Gaddis in 1964, after the vanishing of Flight 19, a group of five torpedo bombers on a training mission.

However, it was neither the first nor the last — with the Bermuda Triangle catching the public imagination, with wild theories, many about aliens, abounding. 

Now, in a new Science Channel documentary, experts claim that cloud formations could be behind the disappearances.

These clouds range in size from 20 to 55 miles (32 to 89 kilometers) in length. From above, they appear to form six-sided outlines, like honeycombs.

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Similar formations have been found in the North Sea, and have been associated with "air bombs" — downdrafts of air that can destroy ships.

Dr Randy Cerveny of Arizona State University said: "They're formed by what are called microbursts. 

“They're blasts of air that come down out of the bottom of the clouds and hit the ocean, and they create waves that can sometimes be massive in size once they start to interact with each other."

However, not everyone is convinced. 

Meteorologist Kevin Corriveau told NBC: "When I look at a hexagonal cloud shape in the Bahamas, this is not the cloud signature of what a microburst looks like.

"You would normally have one large to extremely large thunderstorm that wouldn't have an opening in the middle."

Many experts have argued that, in fact, there is no mystery to solve.

In his 1975 book The Bermuda Triangle Mystery: Solved, Larry Kusche argued that the number of ships and aircraft reported missing in the area was not significantly greater, proportionally speaking, than in any other part of the ocean

The marine insurance market Lloyd's of London has also argued a similar point. 

A marriage was annulled after just two hours when the groom caught his wife — wait for it — using Snapchat.

According to local reports, the bride had agreed not to share wedding pictures on the messaging app.

However, when she reneged her husband was so angry he decided to call the entire thing off.

The bride’s brother told the website Okaz that the pair had agreed a ban on all social media, but she couldn’t resist. 

He said: “There was a prenuptial agreement between my sister and her fiancé that she would not use social-media applications such as Snapchat, Instagram or Twitter to post or send her pictures.

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“It was included in the marriage contract and became binding. 

Regretfully, my sister did not honour the pledge and used Snapchat to share pictures from the wedding ceremony with her female friends, resulting in the shocking decision by the groom to cancel their marriage and call for divorce.”

According to the report, the bride’s family thought this was a little harsh.

The groom’s family, on the other hand, argued a bond had been broken and backed his decision to file for divorce. 

In recent years, there have been various reports linking social-media use to the breakdown of relationships.

It has been argued that the more a person uses websites such as Facebook, the more suspicious their partner may be. 

A plastic surgeon has had his clinic shut down after he posted photographs online posing with unconscious, naked patients.

Yassine Ghazi uploaded graphic images of clients going under the knife, reportedly without their knowledge.

In one image, the surgeon is seen grabbing the breast of a patient, making an OK sign.

The caption reads: "Welcome to the place where dreams come true."

Ghazi’s clinic has now been shut down (CEN)

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Another sees him holding onto to bloodied part of patient’s body. 

In a third, he is seen operating on a patient’s behind, while another man is seen taking a picture.

Ghazi, who built up a strong following online, was caught after a patient spotted their pictures and reported him to the health authorities. 

One of the images uploaded to social media (CEN)

An investigation found that not only was he posting pictures online, but was working without a licence.

His Adelais Clinique, in Bratislava’s Old Town, Slovakia, was immediately shut down, pending investigation.  

Yassine Ghazi (CEN)

Andrea Pivarciova, a spokesperson for the Health care Surveillance Authority, said it is still investigating whether the clinic provided services in accordance with the law.

Ghazi is yet to comment on the case. 

Two astronomers who observed strange, strobe-like signals from space say they “strongly suspect” they are messages from aliens. 

Ermanno Borra, of the Laval University in Quebec, and his graduate student Eric Trottier, analysed light from 2.5 million stars recorded in a survey of the sky. 

Of those, they found 234 stars deemed to be sending “unusual” signals. 

These, they believe, may be alien civilisations sending messages to earth by using lasers, something Borra hypothesised about in 2012.  

“We find that the detected signals have exactly the shape of an [extraterrestrial intelligence] signal predicted in the previous publication and are therefore in agreement with this hypothesis,” the pair write in a new paper.  

“The fact that they are only found in a very small fraction of stars within a narrow spectral range centered near the spectral type of the sun is also in agreement with the ETI hypothesis.”

The study has divided the scientific community, with many observers arguing it is too early to make such bold claims. 

“We have to follow a scientific approach, not an emotional one. But intuitively — my emotion speaks now — I strongly suspect that it’s an ETI [extraterrestrial intelligence] signal,” Borra added.

Breakthrough Listen — an programme set up this year to look for alien life, which is supported by the likes of Stephen Hawking and Mark Zuckerberg — urged caution. 

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"The one in 10,000 objects with unusual spectra seen by Borra and Trottier are certainly worthy of additional study," it said in statement. 

"However, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. It is too early to unequivocally attribute these purported signals to the activities of extraterrestrial civilisations,” it added. 

“Internationally agreed-upon protocols for searches for evidence of advanced life beyond Earth (SETI) require candidates to be confirmed by independent groups using their own telescopes, and for all natural explanations to be exhausted before invoking extraterrestrial agents as an explanation.

“Careful work must be undertaken to determine false positive rates, to rule out natural and instrumental explanations, and most importantly, to confirm detections using two or more independent telescopes.”

Peter Plavchan, at Missouri State University in Springfield, told the New Scientist: “They don’t consider every natural possibility and jump prematurely to the supernatural – so to speak – conclusion. I think it’s way too premature to do that.”