Issue date: 4/23/07 Section: Arts

Men in the Philippines who whipped and cut their backs in a grisly Good Friday ceremony are now at risk contracting rabies after a fellow flagellant died of the virus. The men shared a blade to rip their skin. Then they flayed their backs to a pulp with a bamboo whip. The ritual also involves voluntary crucifixion and is meant to mark the suffering of Jesus Christ. Rabies is usually transmitted by a bite from an infected animal.

A French kiss between an Israeli woman and her boyfriend resulted in the accidental biting off of part of the boyfriend's tongue. Luckily, the man didn't swallow it and an Israeli hospital was able to reattach it. After the man was discharged he was advised by the hospital to "sip iced drinks" and "avoid wet kisses" until the stitches heal.

A 19-year-old man in Berlin, Germany fell under a train after being jolted from his drunken nap at a railway station in Cologne. The ma man had fallen asleep on the platform, was startled by the incoming train, lost his balance and fell in front of the locomotive, police said. The train driver pulled the emergency brakes, but the man emerged unscathed and unaided from underneath the engine. "According to the man he fell exactly between the two tracks and just felt a light knock on the head," Cologne police said in a statement.

German polar bear cub, Knut, received an anonymous death threat. The cub is a media star in Europe, appearing on newspaper front pages for weeks. Bild newspaper said the Berlin Zoo received a hand-written fax from with the words: "Knut is dead! Thursday midday", prompting heightened security at the Zoo. But Thursday came and went safely for the cub. Berlin police said they had investigated a letter containing a threat but did not believe it was serious.

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