Oddities

Sinkhole in New Jersey keeps I-80 closed after a section collapses into an abandoned mine

Road crews are repairing Interstate 80 in northern New Jersey after a sinkhole from an abandoned mine shut down the eastbound lanes.

Santa braves the sticky heat of the Amazon jungle to bring gifts to children in Brazilian village

Baby pigs get Christmas pardon from Florida mayor in a Cuban twist on White House turkey tradition

NORAD’s Santa tracker was a Cold War morale boost. Now it attracts millions of kids

A library says a man can keep his overdue book — 50 years later

Thousands of Santas and a few Grinches hit the streets for annual SantaCon bar crawls

Santa Clauses are coming to town. Thousands of Kris Kringles and jolly Old St. Nicks are jamming streets, sidewalks and bars from Adelaide to Vancouver on Saturday for annual SantaCon charity pub crawls.

Mysterious googly eyes go viral after appearing on public art in Oregon

Googly eyes have been appearing on sculptures around the central Oregon city of Bend. It has delighted many residents and sparked a viral sensation covered widely by news outlets and featured on a popular late-night talk show.

Homeland Security shares new details of mysterious drone flights over New Jersey

A New Jersey lawmaker from part of the state where several mysterious drones have been spotted in recent week says the devices appear to avoid detection by traditional methods.

UK spy agency releases annual Christmas card puzzle to uncover future codebreakers

Britain’s spy agency is celebrating the festive season with a riddle wrapped in an enigma inside a mystery.

A New Zealander studied for a year to win the Spanish world Scrabble title. He doesn’t speak Spanish

A New Zealand man playing his first-ever competitive Scrabble game in Spanish, a language he doesn’t speak, has won the board game’s Spanish-language world title.

A fugitive gains fame in New Orleans eluding dart guns and nets

For months, a fugitive dog known as Scrim has transfixed the city of New Orleans. The 17-pound mutt has gained fame eluding a tenacious band of citizens wielding a tranquilizer dart gun and night vision binoculars.

Ben Curran, brother of England cricket stars Sam and Tom, called up by Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe has called up Ben Curran for this month’s one-day series at home to Afghanistan. Ben is the brother of England cricket stars Sam and Tom Curran.

Pinheiro Braathen performs snow samba to celebrate Brazil’s first podium in a World Cup ski race

It’s not just soccer anymore. Brazil is finding World Cup success in skiing now too. Lucas Pinheiro Braathen became the first Brazilian skier to finish on a World Cup podium when he placed second in a giant slalom in Beaver Creek, Colorado, on Sunday.

‘Polarization’ is Merriam-Webster’s 2024 word of the year

Depending on who you ask, the results of the 2024 U.S. presidential election rattled the country or were cause for celebration.

Michigan high school choir belts out holiday tunes from a towering Christmas tree

A Michigan high school choir performs its annual holiday concert not near a Christmas tree, but rather in it.

Pennsylvania couple who divorced in 1975 to remarry Sunday

A Pennsylvania couple who divorced nearly 50 years ago is planning to remarry. Fay Gable and Robert Wenrich first met because he was her older brothers’ best friend, and she says he told them that he was going to marry her someday.

Philadelphians channel their inner Italian Stallion at Rocky and Adrian look-alike contest

Couples who look awkward on skates have gotten a chance to celebrate their cute clumsiness in a Rocky and Adrian look-alike contest at Philadelphia’s RockyFest.

No Bevo? SEC tells Texas there’s no room for its 1,700-pound longhorn at title game vs. Georgia

The Southeastern Conference championship game will not feature another mascot showdown. The league says there’s not enough space on the sideline at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta for No. 2 Texas to bring along its 1,700-pound longhorn Bevo XV for the game against No. 5 Georgia.

World’s oldest-known wild bird lays an egg in Hawaii at age 74

The oldest-known wild bird in the world has laid an egg at the ripe age of 74, her first in four years. The U.S.

Stowaway who boarded New York-to-Paris flight claims she sought asylum in France

A Russian woman with permanent U.S. residency who was returned to the United States after authorities said she sneaked on board a flight from New York to Paris made her first appearance in court with claims of abuse.

FBI investigating reports of large drones flying in New Jersey, seeks public’s help

The FBI is investigating reports about several mysterious nighttime drone flights that have recently occurred across central New Jersey and has asked the public for help.

A missing Wyoming man with dementia is safe after being spotted on TV hundreds of miles away

A Wyoming man with dementia who wandered away from home and hitchhiked to Salt Lake City is safe after his wife spotted him on the TV news.

2024 in pop culture: In a bruising year, we sought out fantasy, escapism — and cute little animals

Did you have a “Brat summer” this year? Were you “demure,” and were you “mindful”? Did you enter a celebrity look-alike contest?

Police recover a stolen van with 2,500 pies after a chef’s appeal, but they are too damaged to eat

A British chef’s appeal for thieves to return 2,500 pies that were in a stolen van has ended in disappointment.

Oxford University Press has selected its word of the year. Here’s what it says defined 2024

Oxford University Press has named “brain rot” its word of the year. It’s defined as “the supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state,” especially from consuming too much low-grade online content.