strange stuff

From strange crimes to strange celebrity deaths, read all of the latest weird and strange stuff news stories on Newser.com

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Brazil Courts Will Now Decide Custody of Fido

Judges can assign shared pet care and maintenance costs when couples split

(Newser) - Brazil just rewrote the breakup rulebook—this time, for pets. New legislation will let judges award shared custody of animals when couples split and can't agree on who should keep them, reports the BBC . Per the law, "a judge will determine the shared custody arrangement and the equitable...

Guy Asks Judge for More Prison Time

Kenneth Newton sought longer access to prison programs and counseling, judge was happy to oblige

(Newser) - A 27-year-old Ohio inmate just convinced a judge to lock him up longer. Kenneth Newton stunned Mahoning County Common Pleas Judge R. Scott Krichbaum on Monday by asking for an 18-month sentence instead of the 12 months outlined in a plea deal, reports WKBN . "I've gotta tell you, I've never...

To Ding City, Mayoral Candidate Takes a Dip in a Giant Pothole

South African politician takes 'a free and wonderful Saturday-afternoon snorkel'

(Newser) - A 75-year-old woman running for mayor of South Africa's biggest city went snorkeling in a large, water-filled trench in a suburban road in a stunt to draw attention to what she describes as years of mismanagement by Johannesburg authorities. Helen Zille, a well-known South African politician, wore a wetsuit,...

Well, Patreon Has a Strange New Member

One Bob Dylan offers up a $5-a-month subscription page

(Newser) - Bob Dylan's latest side project isn't new music—it's a $5-a-month Patreon packed with ghostly letters and cowboy fiction that has fans scratching their heads. Over the weekend, his official Instagram and Twitter quietly pointed followers to "a living archive of lectures from the grave, letters...

Scottish Tesco Accidentally Ends Up With a Lot of Bananas

Store had meant to order 380 kilos of the fruit, instead ordered 38K bananas

(Newser) - The Scottish archipelago of Orkney is awash in bananas after a Tesco in Kirkwall dramatically miskeyed its fruit order. Staff meant to request 380 kilograms (about 750 pounds); instead, they ordered 380 wholesale boxes—roughly 38,000 bananas, nearly twice the population of the islands, and almost eight tons of...

Guy Trying for Forever Youth Takes 'Everest of Psychedelics'
Guy Trying for
Forever Youth
Takes 'Everest
of Psychedelics'
in case you missed it
Mar 29, 2026 7:20 AM CDT

Guy Trying for Forever Youth Takes 'Everest of Psychedelics'

Longevity influencer Bryan Johnson livestreams experimental megadose of illegal drug

(Newser) - The latest attempt by Bryan Johnson to outsmart mortality involved consuming what some call "the Everest of psychedelics" live on the internet. The 48-year-old tech millionaire and longevity obsessive streamed himself taking a megadose of 5-MeO-DMT—which Rolling Stone notes "has been said to simulate death"—on...

Somebody Is Broadcasting Coded Signals in Persian
Somebody Is Broadcasting
Mystery Signals in the War
in case you missed it
Mar 28, 2026 3:48 PM CDT

Somebody Is Broadcasting Mystery Signals in the War

Radio sleuths baffled by Cold War-style string of numbers and the Persian word 'attention'

(Newser) - "Attention" is the first word, and it comes in Persian—three times—before a male voice launches into hours of measured, seemingly random numbers. The transmission, on shortwave radio, has aired twice daily since the US-Israel strikes on Iran began on Feb. 28, reports Wired , citing the group Priyom,...

She's Ready to Sell an Incredible Set of Romance Novels

Krystin Golden has amassed 2K Harlequin Intrigue books

(Newser) - If you're a fan of romance novels and have a whole lot of empty bookshelf space, Krystin Golden has an offer for you. The CBC reports the Windsor, Ontario, woman has spent more than three decades amassing every title in the Harlequin Intrigue line, from its 1984 debut through...

That Heartwarming Story About Abducted Dogs? Fake

Pack seen roaming together did not, in fact, escape a kidnapping

(Newser) - Well, bummer: The feel-good story about a band of dogs escaping a dire fate and making their way back to their homes is, in fact, too good to be true. As CNN reports, the video clip of the dogs that went viral is real, but the story that sprung up...

Every Spring, Locals Here Drink While Tossing Socks in a Fire

Quirky tradition in Annapolis welcomes sailing season with bonfire, booze, old stinky foot covers

(Newser) - In the Maryland capital of Annapolis, the surest sign that winter's over isn't cherry blossoms—it's flaming foot coverings. Hundreds of people packed the city's Eastport neighborhood over the weekend for the Annapolis Oyster Roast & Sock Burning , a nearly 50-year-old waterfront ritual timed to sync...

What Happens in Scream Club Doesn't Stay in Scream Club

People are gathering around the country to yell their tensions and frustrations away

(Newser) - With a gut-wrenching wail that rippled from her body, Amber Walcker joined about a dozen screaming people in West Seattle who let their frustrations float away over the Puget Sound. It was just the start. Her stress from a recent job loss and raising two young children dissolved as it...

Among Shop's Plush Animals, a Very Real One

Brushtail possum appears on shelf at Australian airport gift shop

(Newser) - On shelves crammed with cuddly toy native animals in an Australian airport gift shop, one fluffy possum stood out: Its big brown eyes were moving. A browsing passenger first spotted a living Australian brushtail possum peering out from among the kangaroos on the display shelf at the departure terminal shop...

Viral Leprechaun Lore Thrives in Alabama, 2 Decades Later

Residents reflect on headline-making story in Mobile, after 2006 broadcast on supposed sighting

(Newser) - Two decades after a supposed leprechaun sighting clogged a dead-end street in Mobile, Alabama, the tiny figure that no one can quite agree they saw is still everywhere. In a St. Patrick's Day feature, the New York Times revisits a 2006 WPMI-TV segment that showed residents in the Crichton...

'Doomsday Plane' Training Over California Fuels Jitters
2 Months After One 'Doomsday
Plane' Over California, Another
in case you missed it
Mar 15, 2026 1:54 PM CDT

2 Months After One 'Doomsday Plane' Over California, Another

Military nuclear command jet spotted doing routine drills in Fresno sparks jitters, online speculation

(Newser) - Residents in California's Central Valley got an unsettling reminder of global tensions over the weekend, courtesy of a military jet with a grim nickname. A US Navy E-6B Mercury —one of the aircraft that can serve as an airborne command center in a nuclear crisis—was spotted on...

West Virginia Takes Pregame Lemons, Makes a Title Run

Mountaineers credit quirky ritual for focus during Big 12 run

(Newser) - Pregame snacks usually skew toward protein bars, not fruit that makes your face pucker. But West Virginia's women's basketball team swears by lemon wedges as its go-to ritual, a tangy tradition that was on full display as the Mountaineers captured their first Big 12 tournament title since 2017...

Kitten Shows Up at Shelter Looking Like Inflated Balloon
Vet Says This Puffy Kitten Is
Among Strangest Cases Ever
in case you missed it
Mar 15, 2026 11:02 AM CDT

Vet Says This Puffy Kitten Is Among Strangest Cases Ever

Cat with rare air buildup under the skin looked like inflated balloon, is now OK after being 'deflated'

(Newser) - A California animal shelter says a kitten that arrived looking more like a tiny balloon than a cat is now on the mend, and she could eventually be up for adoption. NBC Los Angeles reports that the shelter took in a feline, since named Zoe, about a week ago, and...

In Japan, People Are Randomly Shoving Other People

'Bumping man' phenomenon perpetrated by both men and women is causing frustration, tension

(Newser) - A smiling kid posing at Tokyo's famed Shibuya crossing is now central to Japan's latest public-behavior worry: the rise of the "bumping" attacker. Viral video from Feb. 25 shows the young girl, visiting from Taiwan, knocked flat from behind by a masked woman who keeps walking, per...

This Fox Just Took an Inadvertent Transatlantic Trip

Red fox stowed away on cargo ship from Southampton to New York

(Newser) - This stowaway truly was sly as a fox. A red fox somehow slipped onto a cargo ship that was traveling from Southampton, England, to New York, where the animal is now in the Bronx Zoo's care. The zoo said on Wednesday that the 11-pound male fox appears healthy after...

'A Bear May Be in Front of Your House When You Wake Up'

Cloudy skies tied to climate change are leading to food shortages, spurring bear attacks in Japan

(Newser) - Residents in northern Japan now have a new hazard to worry about: hungry bears. The country is seeing an unprecedented spike in attacks, with more than a dozen people killed and upward of 200 injured in 2025, prompting the government to deploy troops in Akita prefecture, and the US Embassy...

Behold, One of Britain's Strangest Contests

Finnish pair wins a barrel of ale in annual 'wife-carrying' contest in England

(Newser) - To have and to hold took on a new meaning for about two dozen couples who put their relationships to the test on a grassy hill in southern England. Wives and girlfriends clung on for dear life as their partners carried them up and down a hillside for the UK...

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