Odd News
-
Indian man amputates finger after voting for wrong party
An Indian man chopped off his index finger in desperation after voting for the wrong party in the country's national election. In a video that has gone viral on social media, Pawan Kumar said he became confused by the symbols on the electronic...
-
Couple face death penalty after building floating home off Thai coast
An American bitcoin investor could face the death penalty after Thailand's navy accused him of violating the country's sovereignty by building a "seastead" home off the coast, which he insisted was simply in pursuit of a vision of "freedom". Chad...
-
New Zealand official guilty over DC embassy toilet camera
One of New Zealand's highest ranking military officers was Thursday found guilty of trying to secretly film people in the toilet at the country's embassy in Washington DC. Alfred Keating, 59, was New Zealand's top defence official when a hidden...
-
Berlin court rules yoga can count as vocational training
A yoga course can be considered vocational training, a Berlin court has ruled, paving the way to doing the "Downward-facing Dog" or "Greet the Sun" on company time in Germany's capital. The state labour court for Berlin-Brandenburg has ruled a...
-
Kenyan thieves nab guns as police watch Champions League
Police in Kenya have been left red-faced after thieves stole guns and ammunition from an unattended checkpost as the officers on duty watched UEFA Champions League matches down the road. Three rifles and nearly two dozen rounds were pinched from...
-
Indonesia lures voters with ghouls, superheros and tons of fun
Dressed like Count Dracula, Yasim Adnan doesn't look much like an election official, but neither do his staff who are decked out as mummies and spooky nuns with blood pouring from their eyes. The 37-year-old Indonesian presided over one of the...
-
Laos new year pageant pits 'King's daughters' as rivals
Wearing gold-embroidered silk outfits, faces thick with makeup, a line-up of seven Laotian beauty queens greet a sea of cheering supporters at the annual new year beauty contest in Luang Prabang. But this is no regular pageant: the contestants are...
-
A small step for China: Mars base for teens opens in desert
A Mars base simulator sits in the middle of nowhere in China's Gobi desert, but instead of housing astronauts training to live on the Red Planet, the facility is full of teenagers. Surrounded by barren hills in northwest Gansu province, "Mars Base...
-
Valley of the dolls: scarecrows outnumber people in Japan village
In the tiny village of Nagoro, deep in the mountains of western Japan, the wind howls down a deserted street with not a living soul to be seen. But yet the street appears busy, dotted with life-sized dolls that outnumber humans 10 to one, the...
-
Dog pulled from seas 220km off Thai coast to be adopted by rescuer
An exhausted dog found paddling 220 kilometres off the Thai coast is set for a new lease on life after an oil rig worker who rescued him promised to adopt the plucky pooch. The tan-coloured dog, named Boonrod by his rescuers - Thai for "survivor...
-
YouTube accidentally links Notre-Dame fire to 9/11 attacks
A YouTube fact-check feature which is meant to tackle misinformation accidentally tagged live broadcasts of a fire engulfing Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris with details about the 9/11 terror attacks. The blaze erupted in the UNESCO world heritage...
-
Brazil flooding unleashes caimans in Rio neighborhood
Residents of a hillside Rio de Janeiro favela risk finding hungry caimans at their front door after the city was hit hard by heavy flooding caused by torrential rain. The cold-blooded creatures - smaller relatives of alligators - belong to a...
-
World's largest air purifier choked on debut
Red-faced Hong Kong officials admitted on Tuesday that a record-breaking air filter for a new bypass under the city broke down shortly after it began operating. Hong Kong opened a long-awaited $4.6 billion tunnel under a 3.7 kilometre (2.3 mile)...
-
Canada couple, brewer create Atlantic Ocean salt beer
A Canadian couple that harvest Atlantic sea salt has teamed up with a brewmaster friend to create a new salt beer - which could become the first drink of its kind to be widely distributed. Salty-sour gose beers had been brewed for about a thousand...
-
'Mikhail Gorbachev' running for office in Indonesia polls
Mikhail Gorbachev is running for office in Indonesian elections next week, but it's not the octogenarian ex-Soviet leader who helped bring an end to the Cold War. The 32-year-old - full name Mikhail Gorbachev Dom - is vying for a seat in...
-
No playing around: French authorities halt game with house as prize
A French couple hoping to sell their luxurious countryside resort via a quiz has been forced to suspend the competition after France's online gaming authorities stepped in. Brigitte and Christophe Demassougne originally put their sprawling guest...
-
Eye'll bee damned: woman finds insects in eye
Four "sweat bees" that had been living in a Taiwanese woman's eye were removed by a doctor who described his surprise at finding a "leg with hair, protruding from the eyelid". The tiny insects, which are just three milimetres long, were discovered...
-
Brazil flooding unleashes caimans in Rio neighbourhood
Residents of a hillside Rio de Janeiro favela risk finding hungry caimans at their front door after the city was hit hard by heavy flooding caused by torrential rain. The cold-blooded creatures - smaller relatives of alligators - belong to a...
-
Air purifier in Hong Kong breaks down weeks after launch
Red-faced Hong Kong officials admitted on Tuesday that a record-breaking air filter for a new bypass under the city broke down shortly after it began operating. Hong Kong opened a long-awaited $4.6 billion tunnel under a 3.7 kilometre long section...
-
Frenchman in a barrel closing in on trans-Atlantic crossing
A 72-year-old Frenchman floating across the Atlantic in a custom-made barrel says he is in high spirits as he approaches the end of his journey, after nearly 100 days alone at sea enjoying "magnificent sunrises and sunsets." "The days are going by...
Popular Stories
