Month: February 2025

Found incredibly well preserved in bogland in Northern Ireland, the site quickly became a potential crime scene with officers from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) cordoning off the scene.

But police quickly stood down after realising this was not a modern death in the slightest. In fact, it was one that dating back to before the birth of Jesus Christ himself and the case was handed over to archaeologists working within the PSNI.

One major question remained: how did the body of this person come to be found without a head? And why was the head removed?

Known as the ‘Ballymacombs More Woman’ in the time since the initial discovery in late 2023, initial enquiries thought the remains belonged to a young man before DNA sequencing changed the sex altogether.

Forensics put the body as being from 343 BC to 1 BC, making her at least 2,026 years old. And despite it being from thousands of years ago, partial fragments of skin and fingernails were still on the body due to how the peat had preserved it.

Now, working with other archaeologists, historians, and forensic specialists at National Museums Northern Ireland, they have estimated the woman was between 17 and 22 years old when she died.

Standing at around five feet and six inches tall, she was a pretty tall woman for this period of history.

But what about the head? Gruesomely, there are clear cut marks around the neck bones of her skeleton. That means her head was deliberately taken off her body.

And due to the time period she was alive, it can be estimated that her death may have been part of a ritual sacrifice – a trend found with other bodies found in bogs across the British Isles.

According to Archaeology News, bodies found in bogs usually a sign of violent deaths, including stabbing, bludgeoning, hanging, or strangulation.

Eileen Murphy, Professor of Archaeology at Queen’s University Belfast, had been the person in charge of the osteological assessment.

Professor Murphy said: “As is the case for so many Iron Age bog bodies, the young woman suffered a highly violent death that involved the flow of blood from her throat, followed by decapitation.

“The head was taken away, but the body was left where it fell, only to be discovered by machine workers some 2,000 years later.

“Further scientific analysis, including the conclusion of DNA analysis, will no doubt yield more fascinating findings.”

Detective Inspector Nikki Deehan previously said: “This is the first time radiocarbon dating has been used on a bog body in Northern Ireland, and the only one to still exist, making this a truly unique archaeological discovery for Northern Ireland.”

Work is now taking place to fully preserve her remains at National Museums Northern Ireland.

The comedic actor spoke about the experience of ‘booty-calling’ a famous baseball star, whose identity she did not reveal, on the podcast.

Schumer said how he came over performed oral sex on her, then almost immediately after left, leading her to send him a message.

Later in the podcast, however, she says of her night with the sports star: “He went down on me and then I yawned and was like [I’m tired], that’s a moment in Trainwreck that’s from real life.

“That’s not the most popular move that gets the best response, but that’s the truth. That’s happened probably three times in my life when I was in my heyday, one of them was furious and one of them was totally fine with it. And the baseball player was kinda cool about it.”

2015’s Trainwreck opens with Schumer’s character, also called Amy, hooking up with a guy, telling him to go down on her first because ‘she’s shy’.

As this is going on though, she feigns falling asleep, with a voiceover saying after: “Don’t judge me f**kers, I am just a sexual girl, I am fine, I am in control.

“This is clearly not my first rodeo, the key is to never ever sleep over.”

This also plays a big part later in the film when she begins dating Bill Hader’s character Aaron.

When the two begin arguing she berates him for going down on her ‘too much’, calling it selfish.

The film follows Schumer as a young writer who doesn’t put much stock into relationships and love, choosing instead to focus on casual hook-ups.

While the film is highly rated, with 84 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes, Schumer reflected negatively on the press tour for the film in 2016.

She wrote in a series of essays, titled ‘The Girl With the Lower Back Tattoo’ (via The Sydney Morning Herald): “Maybe it was just a cultural thing that made the foreign journalists seem out of line.

“Some interviewers brought this vibe: ‘Well, you talk about sexual subject matter in your movie, so I can say anything I want to you.’

“Which made me want to shower for the rest of my life.”

She said that one particular incident in Australia involved a journalist asking her: “So your character is a skank. Do you have a word for skank in America?”

The actor said that her co-star Hader also raised issues with a journalist in Berlin asking what she was like as a sexual partner.

She said: “Bill didn’t like this question and stood up for me, but I said it was fine and explained that it was like being with one of those performers who stand on boxes on street corners spray-painted entirely in silver.

“The only difference, I said, is that no one ever gave me a dollar.”

In 2003, the former NASA engineer spent two weeks living 62ft below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean at Aquarius Reef Base, Florida.

This was to prepare for future trips to the International Space Station, something the 57-year-old has done twice, from 2008 to 2010.

Having logged over 107 days in space, however, the ex-astronaut insists that he was ‘underwhelmed’ when he saw Earth for the first time.

Normally, astronauts go on about the ‘overview effect’, which is the feeling of unexpected and overwhelming emotion when looking at Earth from space, a kind of like ‘we’re all in this together’ vibe.

“And what that felt like is really, really, hard to describe in words, but if I had to pick one word to describe what I was feeling at that moment, it would be ‘meh’,” he said on the Joe Rogan Experience back in 2020.

At the risk of sounding pretty ungrateful, Reisman went on to make a really good point about why he felt that way.

He said: “Yeah, they call that the overview effect. And a lot of guys come back and talk about that, and they really feel it, and they talk about a world without borders.

“And, it’s a beautiful sentiment, and I don’t want to knock that in any way.

“When you look down and you see the planet and you realise that we’re all in the same boat, you know.

“But that didn’t strike me as a sudden realisation because I knew that before I went.

Reisman continued: “You shouldn’t have to go and strap into a rocket and blast off and look at the Earth and know that basically, we’re all human beings.

“And you at the end of the day, we have this one home, and we’re all stuck here together.

“So I had that strong knowledge before I went and maybe that’s why, when I look down, I’m like, ‘Yeah, there it is. OK. I get it’.

“But it wasn’t like all of a sudden, like the shade was pulled back and there was suddenly a new realisation about life.”

It’s hard to knock him on that one.

You may have heard of Göbekli Tepe before. If you haven’t, then you need to know that it is a Neolithic archaeological site situated in the Germuş mountains of south-eastern Anatolia, close to the border of Syria.

This Turkish World Heritage Site comprises round-oval and rectangular structures, thought to have been erected by hunter-gatherers between 9,600 and 8,200 BCE.

Experts believe the limestone monuments were possibly used during social events and rituals and that they have been rebuilt or remodelled at least three or four times over the last 1,000 years.

As per UNESCO, Göbekli Tepe is one of the first manifestations of human-made monumental architecture and is a testament to innovative building techniques of the past.

Unbelievably, it’s said to predate Stonehenge by 6,000 years and is considered even older than the era of Sumer, which experts often consider one of the earliest true civilisations.

However, last year, archaeologists admitted that what we think we know about the megalithic site is probably wrong.

Previously, it was believed that the seven to ten-ton T-shaped pillars at the site were designed to represent humans or (at a push) mythical humanoid beings.

Some also believe the site was supposed to be used for burials, making it the world’s oldest temple in the world by some stretch of time.

Others claim it was the famed Garden of Eden, as referenced in the Bible.

However, Dr Martin Sweatman, from the University of Edinburgh’s School of Engineering, has claimed Göbekli Tepe could be the world’s oldest calendar.

“It appears the inhabitants of Göbekli Tepe were keen observers of the sky, which is to be expected given their world had been devastated by a comet strike,” he told The Express.

Göbekli Tepe was discovered in the 1960s, but its significance wasn’t truly understood until 1994.

Now, it’s currently in the process of being restored by archaeologists.

According to Dr Mehmet Önal of Harran University’s Department of Archaeology, it is likely to take around 150 years to excavate the full site.

A number of breakthroughs have taken place in recent years, including experts realising they’d stumbled upon dwellings of an ancient civilisation.

The discovery of living quarters disproved earlier archaeological theories that the site served solely as a ceremonial pilgrimage destination.

This idea, therefore, pre-dates the common palaeontologist notion that humans began settling into permanent locations and building cities around 10,000 years ago, as per Ranker.

Instead, it’s looking as if this happened 1,000 years earlier. Thus Göbekli Tepe could rewrite everything we know about human history.

Speaking about the ongoing efforts, Dr Lee Clare of the German Archaeological Institute’s Istanbul Department said on X: “The team excavating at Göbekli Tepe is doing a tremendous job.

“I invite those individuals commenting on here to the contrary to get up at 4.30 am and do a day’s manual work, shifting rubble and sediment in 40 degree heat.”

He said in the future, excavations will focus on uncovering ‘special buildings’ that have already been partially excavated and that other areas – including stone circles thought to have been buried underneath the soil – will be left for future generations.

Those 90s kids out there might remember her as Rachel McGuire on TV series Boy Meets World, while the younger lot might be more familiar with the Disney Channel spin-off, Girl Meets World.

And in a recent reunion with one of her old co-stars, she got into a bit of a heated argument.

Having seemingly left the sitcom world behind, Ward dipped her toe back in somewhat when she appeared on the latest episode of the Pod Meets World podcast.

Released today (23 February) the podcast is essentially a rewatch of the show, hosted by its stars Rider Strong, Danielle Fishel and Will Friedle.

Also discussing her transition into adult films, things took a bit of a turn just under an hour in when Fishel asked Ward: “Do you hate us?”

“No, I do not hate you,” she responded. “I think that you hate me, because you wouldn’t speak to me on Girl Meets World, and that was hurtful.”

This then saw a bit of a back-and-forth between the pair as Ward claimed Fishel had deleted her from Facebook when she tried to message back in 2013.

Friedle then apparently spoke to her about coming on the podcast, prompting Fishel to find the message and ask for Ward’s number.

Fishel then accused on the podcast: “You wrote back to Will, ‘No let’s just save it for the podcast’,” as the adult star apparently said it would ‘rock the stats’.

But that was over two years ago, and the podcast hosts have only just got up to Ward’s appearance in their rewatch.

She added that she felt Fishel asking to chat was ‘disingenuous’ especially after their reunion on the Disney set.

“You had an attitude about it. There was some beef between us, and I didn’t get it,” Ward claimed. “I didn’t know if you thought I was trying to steal attention… I was genuinely confused why we wouldn’t be good.”

Fishel says she doesn’t remember any issue but admitted Girl Meets World was ‘difficult’ for her.

“I felt a lot of different things being on that set… I am sorry that you thought I had something personally against you,” she added.

And Ward said she imagined at that time: “You didn’t like the fact that I was getting a lot of attention at that time and going off in my own space and taking away that attention.”

Things seemed to be smoothed over between the stars during the podcast but it’s certainly an interesting episode with Fishel clearing up at the end she doesn’t hate her co-star.

“She felt like this was an opportunity for her to get press by having conflict, which I am just not your girl to do that,” she said of her heated back-and-forth with Ward. “And she thought it was disingenuous for me to reach out to her. I think wanting to do it for stats is disingenuous.”

And that’s fair enough, because we’ve all seen our fair share of viral videos where a cheating spouse has been outed on their big day

However, not all wedding bombshells are disastrous for the newlyweds, after one best man was more than happy to joke about a woman he dated going on to marry his friend.

The clip, which was shared on TikTok by videographer @byjoshandmare, came from the wedding day of US couple Rachel and Foster, where the their best man Dylan revealed that he and Rachel were originally an item.

“I just noticed the connection they had,” Dylan explained to wedding guests. “The laughs they shared together, the way they looked at each other. And you would think it sounds really romantic, but the only problem was I was dating Rachel at the time.”

Now the thought of a partner hitting it off with a friend sounds like a nightmare scenario for most of us, but it seems to be water under the bridge for Dylan as he laughed and joked through the speech.

Either that or he’s a really good actor.

Both Rachel and Foster were more than happy to laugh at their unorthodox meet-cute as well, with the pair erupting into laughter at the anecdote.

While the couple and their guests seemed more than happy to chuckle over the moment viewers were divided, with not everyone seeing the funny side to the moment.

“Props to this guy…. that took HUGE COHONES to say in front of that crowd,” one person commented, while another added: “That was risky little joke.”

“What a good sport omg,” a third person wrote.

Meanwhile others questioned whether or not you could ever be truly okay with a friend dating your ex-partner.

“May this kind of friendship and this kind of love never find me,” penned an unimpressed viewer. “I worked at weddings for 10 years. I heard some wild speeches. But this one really hurt. He seems humble and kind, I hope he finds his soulmate,” another added.

But you shouldn’t be worried that this best man is sat at home heartbroken over the one that got away, as the videographer has since clarified the situation to PEOPLE that it was a ‘very innocent’ comment.

“Dylan and Rachel dated when they were 15 and 16 years old and they were all part of this friend group that included the groom, Foster,” Josh and Mare explained.

“The crowd loved it and erupted with laughter, even the parents thought it was hysterical because they know it was all very innocent and they were very young.”

Named after the famous Irish Poet, the Oliver St. John Gogartys is your ‘typical Irish pub with live music, a welcoming and convivial atmosphere, and friendly staff’, according to a review on TripAdvisor.

However, Pints Of Beauty have taken to X (@PintsBeauty) to share an ‘outrageous’ receipt for four pints of Guinness purchased last September.

They said that Geoff’s (@GREA22) four pints of stout came in at a whopping €39.80 (£32.98), which means each pint cost €9.95 (£8.34).

“Can someone please justify this to us? A full breakdown of why it has to cost €9.95 a pint?” the caption on the post read.

Commenting on the tweet, one person wrote: “Popped in there for a few beers on a stag do about eight years ago. Still haven’t financially recovered.”

“Move half a mile up the road and it’s half this amount! Tourist hotspot/rip off zone,” a second penned.

But someone else made a pretty valid point, adding: “If you pay it, they’ll charge it…”

“Temple Bar is a tourist trap in Dublin, they charge at least 2 euro more than pubs right next to it,” a fourth commented.

“Not sure what the draw is to that place, I went in there, downed a Guinness as fast as I could and left.”

LADbible Group has contacted Oliver St. John Gogartys for comment.

The average cost of a pint in the UK

Over in the UK, the average cost of a pint of Guinness has risen by eight percent in our pubs, as of 2024.

The numbers came from UK Debt Expert, who researched three popular pub chains – Wetherspoons, O’Neills, Hungry Horse and Greene King.

The findings showed that the average price of a pint of Guinness was £4.48, showing an increase from the £4.15 from the year before.

Meanwhile, the most expensive place for a pint of Guinness is London, averaging £5.73 per pint.

UK Debt Expert personal finance expert Maxine McCreadie previously said: “As we approach St Patrick’s Day, lots of people across the UK will be enjoying a pint of Guinness, since it’s synonymous with celebrations on the day itself across the world,” but warned that it was clear that people “can quickly rack up a hefty bill after drinking multiple pints of the dark Irish beer”.

And a recent post on X from Liam has left some fans concerned about the Oasis reunion tour this summer.

With his usual antics, he previously broke his silence pretty bluntly when ‘thousands of tickets were cancelled’ and hit out at complaints over his Wembley performance in the autumn.

But while fans look forward to seeing him and Noel back on stage together singing their many hits, there’s now worries about just how long they’ll actually be up there for.

With several shows lined up across the UK and Ireland, it’s fair to say people are expecting a pretty extensive set list to include their massive tracks.

However, when a fan asked Liam to confirm he was ‘joking’ that ‘Oasis gigs will last only one hour’, he replied: “Just under 59 mins 59 secs.”

Now, obviously, we know the singer likes to wind up people online with fake announcements and slams but people are still a little worried.

One took to Reddit to say it’s a ‘bit short’ but they would rather have a ‘1.5 hour set than two hour one’ to cut ‘fillers’.

While another said “What fillers? There is gonna be a lof of top songs they can’t fit in a two-hour set.”

One fan added: “Actually two hours for an Oasis/Liam/Noel show would be a world record in their career.”

Someone else speculated: “No way they do anything under two hours after the prices they charged and the media hype. 30-40 minute Noel set to get them two hours I bet.”

That’s agreed by some fans as they added that they ‘wouldn’t be surprised’ if Noel ‘gives himself a longer set’ for some of his solo stuff.

And one fan did joke: “I don’t think Liam would ever tell a lie on Twitter, so it’s gotta be true.”

However, another said: “I would say he’s on a wind up but I went to a show where he played less than an hour.

“Maybe Noel can pick up hour two.”

With others saying: “Oasis never played long shows. It was a bit of a gripe I had in the past seeing them live. But hopefully two hours will be it.”

Well, I mean if his track record is anything to go by, Liam’s probably up to his old tricks. But then again, who knows just yet how long the brothers will be on stage together this summer.

That’s not to even mention the costs of all the things they’ll want to do and buy once they’ve got to the Big Apple.

But for some, it’s one of many places they’ll never get to because they can’t face the flight. Perhaps they’ve got a fear of flying or maybe just dread the thought of sitting on an aircraft for about eight hours.

And while the ‘Son of Concorde’ might be promising to get from the England capital to New York in less than half that time, there might even be a quicker way.

Yeah, super-fast without having to go up in the air.

The proposed Transatlantic Tunnel is backed by Elon Musk and claims it could complete the whopping 3,400-mile journey in less time than it takes some Brits to commute to work in the morning.

The Tesla boss even reckons his tunnel-digging company, The Boring Company, could get the job for ‘1000-times less money’.

Essentially, the tunnel would use vacuum tubes and magnetically levitating trains which would wipe out most friction and enable zoomy speeds surpassing 3,000mph.

In comparison, as of last year, the fastest train in the world travels at up to 186mph, having been reduced from 268mph in 2021 – that’s China’s Shanghai Maglev.

However, while this tunnel might sound pretty exciting (and very appealing – less than an hour to New York? Sign me up), it’s been debated over whether it could actually happen.

One engineer took to expert community forum Stack Exchange, where they pointed out that the Atlantic’s depths pose some major issues from the off.

Getting down to 5,500 metres below sea level, scientists would need to examine the seabed’s geological structure and identify any issues before construction can even be considered.

So, it could simply be ruled that the seabed is just too soft for the tunnel. Plus, water pressure at such a depth could cause issues throughout.

“Additionally, such deep water will increase the ground stresses in the rock in the seabed, which will be problematic for an excavated tunnel,” they said.

Another hurdle would be the whopping volcanic Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

So, while the idea of zipping from London to New York in less than an hour seems pretty great, there’s truly no guarantee it could happen just yet.

And if diagnosed with a condition known as ‘locked-in syndrome’, it would mean a devastating period of home recovery awaits her in the coming months and even years.

Real name Litzy Lara Banuelos, Willis became popular in the online pornographic and OnlyFans scene after becoming an adult film star as a teenager. Starring in more than 700 productions, she became one of the biggest names in the industry.

In recent years, Willis had recently turned her back on pornography and was pursuing a career in traditional film. But she had also been suffering from a drug addiction. Taking five to six grams of ketamine every day, she eventually was put under the care of Malibu Summit rehab centre in Los Angeles in early 2024.

During her time under the care of Malibu Summit, Willis suffered a cardiac arrest where she was left without a heartbeat for 30 to 40 minutes.

This was after, her family claim, Willis’ health worsened as she suffered from an increased heart rate, hot and cold chills, tremors, headaches, feeling ‘disorientated’, difficulty walking, and suffering from vaginal pain.

Since the incident and doctors thankfully being able to get her heart pumping again, Willis has been left ‘permanently disabled’ as she receives care at home from her mother, Yesenia Lara Cooper.

Family lawyer James A. Morris Jr. is behind the lawsuit and said that while Willis hasn’t been diagnosed with locked-in syndrome yet, he added: “We have not received the medical records yet.”

In an update earlier this month, Morris said Willis is now ‘making outward noises’ and can ‘move her body somewhat’.

“She has been most recently been transferred to her mother’s home, and she is there and she is being cared for by her mother,” he said.

“That may have changed in the last day or two, things are pretty fluid with regard to her care and treatment because from time to time she does need to go in to the hospital and have more care than she can receive at home.”

Board medical doctor Marchelle Hofeldt spoke to the Mirror US about what a locked-in syndrome diagnosis would mean for Willis and what comes next for her in life.

“Her prognosis likely remains poor as most survivors of locked-in syndrome remain either locked in or severely impaired,” Dr Hofeldt says.

“It is also not unusual for them to groan or even have involuntary limb movements.

“Prognosis is dependent on extent and location of brain and nervous system damage. In her case, only time will tell and our thoughts and prayers go out to her and her family.”

According to guidance issued by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, locked-in syndrome is a ‘rare disorder of the nervous system’. It causes paralysis of nearly all muscles you can control except for those that control the movement of a person’s eyes.

Dr Hofeldt has also stressed that while ‘most survivors of locked-in syndrome remain chronically locked-in or severely impaired’ there have been cases of people making a full, or partial, recovery.

As it stands, Willis’ mother remains in a legal battle against Malibu Summit and its parent company, Malibu Lighthouse Treatment Centers LLC, alleging that they partook in the ‘abuse of a dependent adult, professional negligence, negligence and fraudulent business practices’.