Funny old world: The week's offbeat news

From the artist who paints with both feet to the viral question that's hard to bear... your weekly roundup of offbeat stories from around the world.

- What's eating Robert F. Kennedy? -

Who'd want to be an American?

Voters in the world's most powerful country may have to decide in six months' time between a sometimes forgetful 81-year-old, a man who allegedly told porn star Stormy Daniels that she reminded him of his daughter Ivanka, and a third candidate whose brain has been eaten by a worm.

Anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr -- who insists he can beat both Joe Biden and Donald Trump in November -- suffered from mental fog after part of his brain was eaten by a parasite, according to his divorce papers, the New York Times said.

The nephew of former president John F. Kennedy has been polling at about 13 percent despite being disowned by the Kennedy clan for supporting conspiracy theories.

"Questioning Mr. Kennedy's health is a hilarious suggestion, given his competition," his spokesman told AFP, taking a swipe at both Biden and Trump.

"The (parasite) issue was resolved more than 10 years ago, and he is in robust physical and mental health."

- What a feet -

Maybe it might be safer to contract out the presidency this time. Americans could do worse than take a look at the Dutch artist Rajacenna van Dam.

The 31-year-old can work on 10 canvasses simultaneously, sometimes painting with both hands and feet at the same time.

"I get bored quite quickly, so I like to challenge myself," she told AFP.

Neurologist Onur Gunturkun said her amazing acuity may be because the "left and right sides of her brain are three times more connected than average", which makes her "capable of things that neuroscience deems impossible".

Just the kind qualifications a tenant of the Oval Office needs.

- Hard to bear -

If you go down to the woods today, way more women would prefer to meet a bear than a man. That is the disconcerting conclusion of a hypothetical question that has gone viral on social media.

The question -- first posed on TikTok in April -- has spread like wildfire on other platforms, with users divided on whether this is funny or horrifying.

Of the eight women interviewed on a London street in one video, seven choose the bear, most laughing at the sudden realisation of their choice.

"No one's gonna ask me if I led the bear on," one woman said.

"A bear isn't going to rape me before it kills me," another woman wrote on X.

"No one will feel sorry for the bear because killing me might ruin his career," she added.

- Reality is weirder -

US singer Katy Perry fooled her own mother with AI-generated images of her pretending to attend the Met Gala in New York.

"Couldn't make it to the MET, I had to work," she wrote on Instagram alongside images placing her in two different over-the-top outfits on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum for the glitziest fashion night of the year.

"Didn't know you went to the Met," her mother replied, before Perry wrote: "lol mom the AI got you too, BEWARE!"

But reality was way wackier as ever at the Met Gala itself, with singer Lana Del Rey creating a buzz with a look that sparked comparisons with a beekeeper dragged through a hedge.

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