Odd News Wrap: Magic Rituals, Robotic Campaigning, and Ancient Wolves

From a UFC champion's shamanic rituals to robotic electioneering, this odd news brief covers a range of intriguing stories. Discover how Prime Minister Sunak hunts for votes among robots, Russian scientists autopsy a permafrost wolf, and footballers stick to quirky pre-match superstitions.

Following is a summary of current odd news briefs.

Mixed Martial Arts-Prochazka wants champion Pereira to shun magic rituals before UFC 303

Light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira's meteoric rise in the UFC fuelled by a string of knockouts has a magical aura to it, and his next opponent Jiri Prochazka believes the magic may be present in a literal way. Prochazka, who was knocked out by Pereira in their first fight in November, said the Brazilian former kickboxing world champion used shamanic rituals before every fight to help him win.

British PM Sunak hunts for votes among the robots at dawn

Badly lagging in the race to win Britain's election, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak went hunting for votes among robots and staff in a retail distribution centre on Tuesday, kicking off his first campaign stop of the day before 5 a.m. (0400 GMT).

Sunak, who has often looked exhausted as he crossed the country during a six-week campaign, started the penultimate day of campaigning before Thursday's vote in a vast Ocado warehouse in Luton, north of London, watching robots pick items for delivery.

Russian scientists conduct autopsy on 44,000-year-old permafrost wolf carcass

In Russia's far northeastern Yakutia region, local scientists are performing an autopsy on a wolf frozen in permafrost for around 44,000 years, a find they said was the first of its kind. Found by chance by locals in Yakutia's Abyyskiy district in 2021, the wolf's body is only now being properly examined by scientists.

Soccer-The quirky superstitions that footballers (and others) rely on

Right boot, left boot; left laces, right laces; right foot first on the pitch. For Slovakia's Lukas Haraslin - like countless other sportspeople - the order of this pre-match routine will be sacrosanct ahead of his side's last-16 Euro 2024 clash with England on Sunday. The winger will also have the same breakfast and lunch, and he'll dress for the game in under two minutes - two more items on his list of superstitions that, if carefully observed, he hopes will bring him luck in the game.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)