The bizarre internet craze of ‘planking’ is set to lose its cult online status to the increasingly popular trend of ‘owling’.

Hundreds of young people in America, Australia and now, Britain, have taken up the new ‘owling’ craze.

It consists of nothing more taxing than crouching on one’s haunches and staring into the middle distance, like an owl.

Participants then take photos of themselves and post them on Facebook or on other social networking sites.

Extra kudos is earned for those who do it in unusual situations.

The trend is a development of the popular craze of ‘planking’ in which people would take pictures of themselves lying face down in strange locations.

However, in recent months ‘planking’ has become increasingly mainstream – and thus less popular on the trend-conscious internet.

Last month the celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay posted pictures of himself planking – a development that prompted trend-watchers to declare the craze ‘officially dead’.

‘Owling’ is believed to have started in Australia within the last few weeks.

Indeed, it is so new that the Wikipedia entry for ‘owling’ describes the practice as being a term used in the Middle Ages to describe the ‘the smuggling of sheep or wool from England to another country.

Despite its relative youth, the owling craze already has two popular Facebook groups dedicated to it, onto which more than 1,000 people are listed as members.

Other social websites including Reddit also feature pictures of young people taking part in the craze.

The trendspotting site Buzzfeed has described ‘owling’ as a ‘worthy successor’ to planking.

Earlier this year an Australian man Acton Beale died while trying to ‘plank’ from a set of railings on a balcony in Brisbane.

Afterwards Deputy Police Commissioner Ross Barnett confirmed reports that the 20-year-old ‘may have fallen while attempting a planking episode’. (Daily Mail)

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Russian armed burglar Viktor Jasinski became the victim after being used as a sex slave over three days by beauty salon owner Olga Zajac when trying to rob her shop.

Jasinski, 32, had attempted to steal the day’s takings from a salon in Meshchovsk, Russia when he was confronted by black belt shop owner.

Zajac demonstrated her martial art skills beating the intruder senseless leaving him semi-conscious before tying him up naked with a hairdryer flex and cuffing him in a back room to a radiator.

The 28-year-old then fed her hostage Viagra and used him as a sex slave for three days – wanting to teach him a lesson.

The rather tired out robber was eventually released and went straight to hospital to receive treatment for his tired out and swollen testicles.

He later told police of his ordeal who arrested him and the salon owner.

When police arrived to question Olag Zajac she said: ‘What a b*****d. Yes, we had sex a couple of times. But I bought him new jeans, gave him food and even gave him 1,000 roubles when he left.’ (wrapup)

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A Devon woman has been branded the mother-in-law from hell after sending her son’s fiancee an email lambasting her manners.

Carolyn Bourne’s email to Heidi Withers (see the pic., left), 29, went viral after the shocked PA shared it with some of her friends.

Mrs Bourne, 60, of Dawlish, wrote it after her stepson Freddie brought Miss Withers home to meet the family.

The message slammed her "lack of grace" and branded her "an ideal candidate for the Ladette to Lady television series".

Part of the email read: "When you are a guest in another’s house, you do not declare what you will and will not eat – unless you are positively allergic to something.

"You do not remark that you do not have enough food. You do not start before everyone else. You do not take additional helpings without being invited to by your host.

"You regularly draw attention to yourself. Perhaps you should ask yourself why. No one gets married in a castle unless they own it. It is brash, celebrity-style behaviour.

"I understand your parents are unable to contribute very much towards the cost of your wedding. If this is the case, it would be most ladylike and gracious to lower your sights and have a modest wedding as befits both your incomes."

She added: "If you want to be accepted by the wider Bourne family I suggest you take some guidance from experts with utmost haste."

Freddie Bourne, who runs an online bike shop and lives in Putney, South West London, declined to comment, as did his father Edward, 63. (The Sun)

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An art student is collecting old underwear for her graduation exhibition in Wuhan, central China’s Hubei Province.

Yi Ci, a senior student of Hubei Institute of Fine Arts, posted a notice in the dormitory buildings in her bid to collect old underwear a couple of weeks ago.

The notice explained: "Yi Ci, majoring in motion pictures studies, is collecting any old underwear for her graduation work exhibition. Hope you can donate your old underwear in the box in the public bathroom. Your kind actions will make a great art work. Please join me!"

Yi Ci’s work is titled ‘Privacy’ and donations so far have totalled over several hundred pairs of underwear. (Orange News)

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Braving sub-zero temperatures, she has thrown caution — and her clothes — to the wind to tame two beluga whales in a unique and controversial experiment.

Natalia Avseenko, 36, was persuaded to strip naked as marine experts believe belugas do not like to be touched by artificial materials such as diving suits.

The skilled Russian diver took the plunge as the water temperature hit minus 1.5 degrees Centigrade.

Belugas are famed for the way in which their faces are able to convey human-like expressions. Certainly Matrena and Nilma seemed to enjoy frolicking with Natalia.

The taming of the whales happened in the Murmansk Oblast region in the far north-west of Russia at the shore of the White Sea near the Arctic Circle branch of the Utrish Dophinarium.

An area of the sea is enclosed to stop whales and dolphins getting out and instructors tame the mammals before they are transported to dolphinariums around the world — a practice many animal conservationists consider cruel.

Belugas have a small hump on their heads used for echo-location and it was thought that there would be more chance of striking up a rapport with them without clothes as a barrier.

The average human could die if left in sub-zero temperature sea water for just five minutes.

However, Natalia is a yoga expert and used meditation techniques to hold her breath and stay under water for an incredible ten minutes and 40 seconds.

There are around 100,000 belugas in the wild.

The first to be held in captivity was shown at Barnum’s Museum in New York in 1861, and there are belugas in aquariums and sea life parks across Europe, North America and Asia.

Their large range of ‘facial expressions’ comes from them having a more flexible bone structure than other whales.
Certainly these two had a big smile for the naked Natalia. (Mail Online)

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Nude protesters cycled through the streets of London this weekend as part of the World Naked Bike Ride. They stripped off to their birthday suits to join a movement taking place across the globe.

Baring all in front of heavy traffic, this was the eighth London World Naked Bike Ride, which set off from Hyde Park.

Approximately 1,000 naked cyclists stripped down to ride the nine miles, passing Buckingham Palace on the way, with many treating the Queen to a rendition of Happy Birthday in the process.

It was intended to be a peaceful, imaginative and fun protest, organised against the culture in which there is a dependence on oil and cars, and to promote the alternative – cycling.

It was also aimed at exposing the vulnerability faced by cyclists on the streets.

Luckily, the sun shone and the starkers protesters didn’t have to brave the cold and rain, unlike those who participated in the World Naked Bike Ride in Portsmouth – which went ahead despite protests from city dwellers who tried to prevent the ride through the city.

The dress code for the annual event was ‘bare as you dare’ and participants were not required to be completely naked.

Organisers suggest wearing ‘as little as you can while still feeling comfortable.’

The event took place in more than 50 cities, including Cardiff, Ottowa, Toronto, Chile, Greece, and thousands of people participated across the world.

As many as 3,000 people took part in the UK last year. (wrapup)

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With soaring temperatures and high humidity, New Yorkers have had a tough time keeping cool over the last week.

But for one woman, the rising mercury proved too much after she was pictured walking the sweltering streets bare breasted before apparently being fined by NYPD cops.

Nicknamed ‘Topless Bowery Woman’ after the street where she was first spotted, the novel approach to keeping cool has won her an army of on-line fans who tracked her whereabouts in the city throughout Monday.

Soon after the first picture appeared on Tuesday morning, word of the woman quickly spread around the internet, with sightings or her naked jaunt posted by excited bloggers.

She was first spotted on Bowery street by Matt Kosoy walking ‘briskly’ with a handbag over her shoulder.

Moments later Olivia Knoepfel posted a picture and tweeted: ‘did i just see a topless girl on bowery?

Carolina Ramirez later tweeted: ‘Saw her maybe around 230pm near central park on 5th and 69th St’.

But the bold woman didn’t get far before she was stopped by police and apparently issued with a fine.

But as several bloggers pointed out, it is legal for women to walk topless on the streets of New York.

In 1992, Ramona Santorelli and Mary Lou Schloss and five other women successfully challenged their arrest for violating a law that forbade them showing ‘that portion of the breast which is below the top of the areola.’

Arguing they were being discriminated against, New York Court of Appeals court ruled that the law was ‘discriminatory on its face since it defines ‘private or intimate parts’ of a woman’s but not a man’s body as including a specific part of the breast.’

Speaking to The Village Voice, NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Public Information Paul Browne said: ‘The state’s highest court established long ago that women have the same right as men to appear topless in public.

‘Absent a link to some commercial enterprise or promotion, the woman’s lack of certain attire in this instance does not appear to be a police matter.’ (Daily Mail)

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Gator the rescue goose’s adoptive parents, Bob and Lauree Strouse, were so concerned his feet would suffer on their walks, they got him a pair of sandals.

The couple designed the footwear to combat the hot and harsh concrete in the town of St Augustine, Florida.

The trio have become a regular sight since finding Gator wandering along the edge of Lake Roy in Winter Haven, Florida.

They feared its resident alligators would gobble him up, so took him under their wing. ‘We rescued him,’ said Mrs Strouse. They called him Gator because it’s a shortening of the rather pessimistic ‘Gator bait’. That was four years ago.

They now regularly take him out for a walk but make sure he is on a lead in crowded areas to make sure he does not get into mischief.

But at heart Gator is a home body. ‘He grazes in the yard,’ said Mr Strouse. ‘He eats grass and ants and bugs,’ his wife added. (Metro)

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A German teen fled her own 16th birthday party after more than 1,500 guests turned up after she forgot to set it as ‘private’ on Facebook.

The girl, named only as Thessa, hid as the huge crowd – followed by 100 police officers – converged on her house in Hamburg.

Partygoers held signs asking "Where is Thessa?", chanted: "Thessa, celebrating a birthday is not a crime", and brought birthday presents and homemade cupcakes.

But Thessa was nowhere to be seen and police confirmed she "was not at home". She is believed to have celebrated quietly at her grandparents’ house.

Thessa had only wanted to ask a handful of friends over to her home but mistakenly put the event to ‘open’ and 15,000 people confirmed they would attend.

When her parents found out, they made her cancel the party, told the authorities what had happened and hired a private security firm to protect their home.

Despite public announcements across the city that the party had been cancelled, 1,500 teens and young adults still turned up on the street in front of Thessa’s home.

Police spokesman Mirko Streiber said: "We had cordoned off the house, some 100 police were on the ground, four of them on horses – but that did not keep the kids from celebrating." (Orange News)

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BORDER Terrier Smike’s owner can’t be strapped for cash – she bought him a dog collar with a built in £2,500 Rolex watch.

Pet lover Karen Denney, 30, got her watchdog’s bling birthday gift from a pet wear store in St Helens, Merseyside, near her home.

Designer Alison Jones, 27, said: "It’s the ultimate accessory." (The Sun)

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