It must be true...

I read it in the tabloids

■ A group of tourists in Venice who ignored a gondolier’s plea to stop standing up to take selfies tumbled into a canal when the vessel capsized. The gondolier shouted at them to stay seated as he tried to maneuver under a bridge, according to local reports, but to no avail— perhaps because the Chinese tourists didn’t understand him. Videos filmed by onlookers showed the five tourists hanging onto the capsized gondola in the chilly canal, and the gondolier guiding them to safety.

■ A Kentucky family was shocked to find a live baby owl nestled in the Christmas tree they’d brought home four days earlier. Nobody in the household—including its three dogs—noticed the owl until a carpet cleaner saw a branch move and investigated. “I was so stunned,” said homeowner Michelle White. “We use this room nonstop.” The owl was released back into the wild; White, a needle pointer, plans to stitch an owl ornament to replace it. “Everybody’s going to be able to have a merry Christmas now,” she said.

■ A woman suffered a gunshot wound to her butt after she brought her handgun to an MRI scan. Despite being explicitly asked during a screening if she was carrying firearms or other metal objects, the 57-year-old entered the room with the handgun, which was set off when it was attracted to the powerful magnet inside the imaging machine. She was shot in the right buttock, according to an FDA report, which didn’t specify where the incident happened. A doctor who treated the wound described it as “very small and superficial.”