Free Republic

Through a dogged campaign to build toilets and educate Bangladeshis about the dangers of open defecation, the densely populated South Asian nation has managed to reduce the number of people who defecate in the open to just 1 percent of the 166 million population, according to the government — down from 42 percent in 2003.

A Kristiansand woman got the shock of her life during a visit to the family toilet on Tuesday. Upon lifting the seat she spotted a two-meter (6.5 foot) long python coiled up in the bottom of the bowl. "I was about to sit down and lifted the seat and there was something big and fat lying down there," Bente Mørch told newspaper VG. The police were called and two officers equipped with shields managed to ease the large snake out of the toilet. "When one of them lifted the seat he said: S**t! It's true, it is a snake," Mørch...