English Man Fakes Own Kidnapping in Thailand to Extort Money from His Family and Keep Partying
A 48-year-old English man vacationing in Pattaya, Thailand, ran out of money and tried extorting more from his family back home by having his mates pose as his kidnappers. Time and money fly when you’re having fun, and Ian Robbie Day, a 48-year-old man from Portsmouth, England, was having the time of his life in […]
Truck Fleet Owner Installs GPS Devices on Police Cars to Track and Avoid Them
The owner of a trucking company in China landed in hot water with law enforcement after she admitted to installing GPS tracking devices on police cars in her area to help her trucks avoid them. A woman in Xiangyang, Hubei province can consider herself lucky to have been slapped with eight days of administrative detention […]
Woman Files Lawsuit Against Husband for Not Showering Often Enough
A Turkish woman recently filed a lawsuit against her husband, claiming that he rarely showered, smelled of sweat, and brushed his teeth only once or twice per week. The woman, identified only as A.Y. by Turkish news media, filed for divorce from her husband, C.Y., citing his lack of personal hygiene as the main reason. […]
Trendy Ice Cream Shop Specializes in Hyper-Realistic Edible Flower Bouquets
(THISIS)SHIZEN is a Kyoto-based café that has gained popularity mainly thanks to its artistic ice cream cones which resemble intricate flower bouquets. We use the phrase ‘too beautiful to eat’ to describe food art pretty often here on Oddity Central, but the edible ice-cream bouquets created by (THISIS)SHIZEN really look too pretty to eat, regardless […]
North Korean Teenagers Sentenced to 12 Years of Hard Labor for Watching K-Dramas
A chilling video showing the apparent conviction of two 16-year-old North Korean boys to 12 years of hard labor for watching South Korean soap operas recently went viral online. In a video obtained by the BBC, two young boys in grey uniforms can be seen on a stage surrounded by hundreds of people as they […]
“Notorious Food Pirate” Eats at Restaurants Without Paying at Least 127 Times
A 58-year-old man has become the bane of restauranteurs in the Dutch city of Delft after eating without paying at least 127 times in the last few years. Earlier this month, police in Delft were called at a restaurant where a man was allegedly trying to skip out on the bill by faking a medical […]
Belarussian Man Builds and Sails in Boat Made Exclusively of Ice
A Belarussian self-taught artist single-handedly built a functional ice boat that can hold at least one person and can be sailed. Minsk-based Ivan Karpitsky’s passion for ice and snow sculpting is well-known in his home country. His name first appeared in Belarussian newspapers in 2020, when photos of his ice violin first went viral on […]
Chain-Smoking Marathon Runner Banned from Competitions for Promoting Unhealthy Habit
A Chinese marathon runner famous for chain-smoking during official running competitions has been banned by the athletic federation for two years for his “uncivilized” behavior. Chen Mouxian, aka ‘Uncle Chen’, first made international headlines in 2022, when photos of him running in the Xin’anjiang Marathon went viral on social media. What drew people’s attention to […]
Neglected Pensioner Leaves $2.8 Million Fortune to Her Pets, Nothing to Her Chilrdren
An elderly Chinese woman has decided to leave her 20 million yuan ($2.8 million) fortune to her pet cats and dogs, claiming that they were always there for her, unlike her three children. The woman, made her first will some years back, splitting all her possessions among her three children, but she recently had a […]
Bikini Company Receives Backlash for Using Male Model to Showcase Women’s Swimsuit
Moana Bikini, a swimwear company founded by Australian body-positivity influencer Karina Irby, has come under fire for having a male model pose in a women’s swimsuit. Australian swimwear brand Moana Bikini sparked controversy after posting a video of male “Moana babe” Jake Young parading in a white women’s swimsuit on its Instagram page. The backlash […]
Church Pastor Pockets Millions through Crypto Scheme Fraud, Claims God “Told Him to Do It
A Colorado pastor accused of conning his own congregation out of millions of dollars by promoting a useless crypto coin claims that God Himself told him to do it. Eli Regalado and his wife Kaitlyn are being investigated for fraud after allegedly launching and peddling a useless cryptocurrency as a a low-risk, high-profit investment pegged […]
Ukrainian-Born Woman Wins Miss Japan Beauty Pageant, Sparks Controversy
A 26-year-old model who was born in Ukraine and moved to Japan at the age of five was recently crowned Miss Japan, sparking a heated debate regarding national identity. Carolina Shiino speaks and writes impeccable Japanese, she spent most of her life in Japan and identifies as Japanese. But she wasn’t born in Japan and, […]
Leda Bergonzi, Argentina’s Church-Backed Charismatic Faith Healer
Leda Bergonzi, the so-called Healer of Rosario, is a popular faith healer who managed to capture the attention of an entire country and even gain the backing of Argentina’s Catholic Church. Argentina has had its share of religious faith healers throughout history, but none with a meteoric rise quite like that of 44-year-old Leda Bergonzi, […]
Chinese Company Develops Tiny Atomic Battery That Lasts 50 Years And Doesn’t Require Recharging
Chinese company Betavolt recently unveiled its BV100 battery which is smaller than a coin in size but has a lifespan of around 50 years and doesn’t require recharging. Atomic batteries aren’t new. Both the United States and the USSR produced such power units during the 1960s, but these nuclear batteries were large, dangerous, and expensive […]
9-Year-Old Boy Lives Alone in Apartment for Two Years After Mother Moves with Boyfriend
This is the heartbreaking story of a 9-year-old boy forced to live by himself in a cold apartment for two years after his mother moved in with her boyfriend 3 miles away. French newspapers recently reported the sad and shocking story of a boy who lived alone in a low-income housing unit in Nersac for […]