Interesting & funny news from around the world, Интересные и забавные новости со всего мира

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Belgian former car salesman, 26, quietly becomes a prince

Belgium has a new prince after the 26-year-old former car salesman was recognized by the king's brother as his son.

Clement Vandenkerkhove reportedly joined the royal family in February in a low-key town hall ceremony, which was disclosed Wednesday. The ceremony was required for him to become a prince.

Prince Laurent, King Philippe's younger brother, last year publicly acknowledged Vandenkerckhove, who was born during Laurent's seven-year relationship with Flemish former model turned singer Iris Vandenkerckhove.

The younger Vandenkerckhove now has a royal title and a claim to an inheritance after Prince Laurent, 62. He is not included in the line of succession and will not receive a royal allowance.

Vandenkerckhove told Belgian daily Nieuwsblad that he was unsure if he would adopt the royal name of van Saksen-Coburg. "I am proud of the name Vandenkerck­hove," he said. "Sacrificing that surname would be a betrayal to everything my mother did for me."

Vandenkerckhove said he suffered anxiety as a child over his identity.

"My whole childhood I struggled with the question, 'Who is my father?' When I knew, the secrecy weighed heavily on me," he told the newspaper. "Imagine: You know who your father is, but you aren't allowed to tell anyone. After school, I became a car salesman. I liked that job and did it well. But panic attacks were destroying me."

He said the anxiety eased after he established a relationship with Prince Laurent.

"What matters most to me right now is that I am a son who is allowed to get to know his father," Vandenkerckhove said, adding that the men share a love of cars.

Prince Laurent later married British-born Claire Louise Coombs, and they have three children.

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World's fastest motorized clog shoe exceeds 70 mph

A Dutch TV host drove a clog-shaped vehicle to a high speed of 70.05 mph to break a Guinness World Record for a motorized shoe.

Klaas van Kruistum and the team behind his TV series, Klaas Can Do Everything, decided they wanted to create a record-breaking vehicle, so they reached out to British man Kevin Nicks, who set the record for the fastest motorized garden shed in 2025.

The team decided to use a Dutch wooden clog as their inspiration, and used the frame of an electric go-kart as the base for their motorized shoe.

The completed vehicle, with a shoe-shaped shell made from polyester and fiberglass, reached a top speed of 70.05 mph when van Kruistum got behind the wheel April 4 at Breda International Airport in Bosschenhoofd, Netherlands.

The speed was enough to earn the Guinness World Records title for the fastest motorized clog shoe.

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'Darth Vader' defends Flock cameras at San Diego City Council meeting

A man dressed as Darth Vader attended a San Diego City Council meeting to defend the use of Flock cameras as "what the Emperor needs."

The Star Wars villain approached the podium during the Public Safety and Livable Neighborhoods Committee meeting to satirically urge officials to install Flock cameras in the city.

The man said the cameras are "what the Emperor needs" to "help us find the rebel scum and their hidden base on Hoth."

"The Emperor is a fan of Flock, and we must continue utilizing Flock technologies so that we can follow and surveil the rebel scum as they move from playground to playground, from playground to pool, from pool to gymnasium, because we all know that the Flock cameras are not only following the license plate readers, they are following children," the man said.

Darth Vader said he also wants the cameras for a personal reason: "I need this so I can stalk my ex-girlfriend."

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Ring flushed down New Jersey train toilet returned to owner

A New Jersey woman who accidentally flushed her wedding ring down a train toilet was reunited with the precious object thanks to NJ Transit employees.

Julie Angelicola said she had just left the bathroom aboard an NJ Transit train when she realized her wedding ring was missing.

"So I'm kind of meticulously getting all of this soap off of my hands with toilet paper and literally going finger by finger, and crumpling it all up, trying to do it quickly - threw it in the toilet, flushed the toilet, went back to my seat," Angelicola told WPVI-TV.

She reported the ring's loss to NJ Transit, which took the train out of service.

Employees put the train up on jacks, removed the toilet tank and opened it up to discover Angelicola's ring on top.

The ring was returned to Angelicola on Monday at a NJ Transit Customer Service Center.

Angelicola said the ring has immense sentimental value. The ring, believed to date back to 1905, was purchased from an antique store and Angelicola only later discovered that the initials engraved inside the ring matched the nicknames she and her husband have for each other.

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Father and son break world record for throwing, catching water balloon

A father and son team from Idaho broke the Guinness World Record for the farthest distance to throw and catch a water balloon: 141.07 feet.

David Rush, who holds more than 200 concurrent Guinness World Records titles, teamed up with his 10-year-old son, Jeremy, to attempt the title on June 3.

Rush said the most challenging aspect of the record was figuring out a method of throwing the balloon that didn't cause it to immediately burst.

"What I ended up doing was trying a catapult motion where I swing my arm around with a straight arm in a circle and then release it when it is at the apex, use the centripetal force to accelerate the balloon, and then when its velocity is in the direction I want, let go and let it fly up and over an arc," Rush wrote online.

After multiple attempts, Rush was able to throw the water balloon and Jeremy was able to catch it without it bursting from a distance of 141.07 feet, warning them the title.

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California woman, 66, is the world's oldest competitive skateboarder

A California woman who holds the record for the oldest female competitive skateboarder extended her title by competing at the age of 66.

Judi Oyama, who has been skateboarding since she was 13 years old, was 66 years and 25 days old when she participated in the 2025 International Slalom Skateboarding World Championships in Brazil in November.

Guinness World Records confirmed her participation beat her own record for the world's oldest competitive skateboarder (female). She originally set the record at the age of 64 in 2024, and she is planning to extend it again in October at the World Skate Games.

Oyama started competing professionally in 1975, and was indicted into the Skateboarding Hall of Fame in 2018.

"I feel like I have raced to my best each year, but know that as I age I don't need to prove anything," she told Guinness World Records.

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Man dons 17 T-shirts while continuously heading a soccer ball

A soccer enthusiast from Kosovo put his unusual skills to the test by putting on 17 T-shirts while a soccer ball continuously bounced off his head.

Agim Agushi, 56, a high school math teacher and married father of two, took on the Guinness World Records title for the most T-shirts put on while controlling a soccer ball with the head, and bested his own previous record of 14.

"This latest attempt was driven by a very specific goal. Putting on 17 T-shirts corresponds to 17 February, which is the Independence Day of my country, Kosovo," Agushi told Guinness World Records.

Agushi's other Guinness World Records titles include the most T-shirts removed while heading a soccer ball, 28; the most times to put on and remove a T-shirt while controlling a soccer ball with the head, 164; and the longest time heading a soccer ball between two people, which he and Bujar Ajeti set at 34 minutes and 1 second.

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Swiss gardener grows chili pepper measuring 1 foot, 8.6 inches long

A Swiss gardener harvested a chili pepper measuring 1 foot and 8.6 inches long, breaking a Guinness World Record for the third time.

Jürg Wiesli first set the Guinness World Record for the longest chili pepper in October 2017, when his 1-foot, 5.7-inch chili was measured at a vegetable competition in Jona, St. Gallen.

He broke his own record the following year with a 1-foot, 7.9-inch pepper.

Wiesli's latest pepper earned him the record for a third time when it was measured at 1 foot, 8.6 inches on Aug. 11.

"I start the seeds indoors in March under grow lights at 28 degrees Celsius [82 degrees Fahrenheit]. Then I plant them out in the garden at the end of April, once the danger of frost has passed," he told Guinness World Records. "I till the soil well and mix in plenty of mature compost. After that, they need regular watering and a balanced fertilizer — but not too much! Otherwise, they just produce lots of leaves instead of chilies."

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'Blobbing' jumpers launch man 92 feet into the air to break record

Three men jumped onto a massive airbag on a body of water in Switzerland and launched a fourth man to a record-breaking height of 92.58 feet in the air.

Swiss man Luc Siegenthaler, German Lennart Florczak and American Tristan Kuhn jumped onto the airbag in Brunnen, Schwyz, on Aug. 9, and launched Swiss man Robin Steiner to a new record height for the sport known as "blobbing."

"Robin first came to one of our events around four years ago and had a go at being launched from the blob," Adrian Baumann, of experience provider Paintball Farm, told Guinness World Records. "He immediately loved it, and we quickly realized that he had an exceptional talent for it."

"Since then, he has regularly attended our blobbing events. That is how we got to know Robin, and eventually the idea came about to attempt a new world record with him," he said.

Steiner's peak height of 92.58 feet broke the previous Guinness World Record of 72 feet and 2.14 inches, which was set in 2012.

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Kitten rescued from excavator becomes part of construction crew

A kitten rescued from inside an excavator has become the newest member of an Ohio construction crew, complete with her own vest and hard hat.

Chase Guello, operating supervisor with RiverReach Construction, was examining an excavator at a Leavittsburg job site when he found the tiny orange kitten inside the engine bay.

The crew was unable to locate the kitten's mother or any siblings in the area.

The construction company named the cat Komatsu in honor of the brand of excavator, or Sue for short.

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