Fourteen high school students in Tokyo, Japan were recently hospitalized with stomach aches, nausea, and mouth pain after sharing a bag of potato chips infused with Bhut Jolokia peppers.

On July 16, around 12:40 pm, an emergency call was made after several first-year students at Rokugo Koka High School in Tokyo’s Ota Ward started complaining of nausea, as well as stomach and mouth pain. The thirteen girls and one boy had apparently been among 33 students at the high school who had shared a bag of super-spicy potato chips infused with “Bhut Jolokia,” which was once listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the “world’s hottest pepper.” The students ended up at the emergency room, treated for their mild symptoms, and released later that day. Jiji Press reported that some of the students collapsed in the school infirmary because of the pain. The incident is being promoted as a cautionary tale for young students considering trying such spicy snacks.

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Chinese prosecutors recently filed lawsuits against at least 16 companies accused of requiring female jobseekers to undergo pregnancy testing.

Chinese law explicitly prohibits employers from carrying out pregnancy tests as part of pre-employment examinations, but some companies are so worried about the costs of maternity leave and benefits that they prefer to make sure the women they hire are not pregnant. Earlier this month, prosecutors in the Tongzhou district of Nantong, China’s Jiangsu Province, announced that it had sued 16 companies for illegally testing female job applicants for pregnancy without even formally informing them about it. Their investigation revealed that companies violated women’s right to equal employment opportunities, as at least one candidate was rejected after it was revealed that she was pregnant.

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A Chinese influencer specializing in dishing out dating and relationship advice for women has come under fire for encouraging her followers to choose wealthy partners for financial gain.

Qu Qu, real name ‘Le Chuanqu’, is one of the most controversial social media influencers in China. A former singer, she quickly transitioned to the status of online love guru, offering her followers dating and relationship advice with the main goal of elevating themselves financially. What differentiated Qu Qu from the many other dating gurus on the internet is her open view of relationships as ‘benefit exchanges’ to be exploited for one’s financial gains. Often referring to herself as the “McKinsey of relationships,” Qu Qu tells her fans that romantic relationships and marriages are steps to climbing on the social and financial ladder, so they have to be managed very carefully to achieve the desired results.

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A series of thefts involving the use of ultra-realistic silicone face masks in China has ignited a debate about the legality of these widely available products.

In March of this year, four homes in Shanghai were broken into, and over 100,000 yuan ($13,760) in valuables were stolen. When the police identified the main suspect, they discovered that the 40-year-old man had a silicone mask that he had used to disguise himself as an elderly man when committing the crimes. Last month, police investigating a series of burglaries in Jiangsu Province identified a man who disguised himself as an electrical worker using a realistic mask in order to minimize the risk of being identified. These are only two examples of a growing trend in China that experts warn could lead to a crime spree unless the sale of realistic silicone masks is regulated.

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Xiao Mai, a beautiful 25-year-old woman from China’s Heilongjiang province, has been having trouble finding a suitable boyfriend because of her height. She is 2.26 meters tall.

A few months ago, Xiao Mai introduced herself to the world in a short clip that quickly went viral on social media mainly because of the young woman’s impressive height. At 2.26 meters (7 ft 5 in), the 25-year-old dwarfs even the tallest of men, and that apparently makes her very intimidating to the opposite sex. Posting the first video of herself was Mai’s mother’s idea. She had watched a clip of a girl from Shanghai proposing to her boyfriend online and was inspired to use the same technique to find her daughter a boyfriend. Apart from showing off Xiao Mai’s impressive physical features, it also showed moments from her daily life as well as an appeal from her mother to everyone watching to suggest suitable boyfriends for her. The video went viral and before long, strangers started showing up at the family’s door in Heilongjiang asking to meet the girl.

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A young Chinese woman who weighs only 25 kilograms (55 lbs) has been getting a lot of attention after showcasing her shockingly thin body online and claiming she wants to be even skinnier.

The young woman who goes by ‘Baby Tingzi’ (婷子宝宝) is 160 cm tall but weighs only about 25 kg and apparently aims to lose even more weight. She has more than 42,000 fans on Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, most of whom constantly express concern about her health. Baby Tingzi always brushes off such concerns, claiming that she prefers to be super skinny and adding that her skeleton-like silhouette has no negative impact on her life. The up-and-coming social media influencer, who reportedly hails from Guangzhou, China’s Guangdong Province, constantly posts clips of herself in skimpy outfits to show off her slender physique and apparently doesn’t care about criticism.

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A 58-year-old man can consider himself lucky to be alive after being found by a fishing boat floating on a rainbow-colored swimming ring a few miles from the coast of Taiwan.

On July 7, the Wanli Princess 168, a fishing boat heading toward the port of New Taipei, spotted something strange in the water, a few miles from the shoreline. As the boat approached the strange object, it became apparent that it was a topless man in a colorful swim ring, the kind kids use at the beach. In a clip that has since gone viral online, the crew can be seen throwing the stranded man a life buoy and then pulling him into the boat before taking him back to port and calling emergency services. Although visibly weak and dehydrated, the 58-year-old man appeared in good health, which was a bit surprising considering that he had been drifting in his colorful swim ring for 19 hours before being miraculously spotted by the fishing boat.

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A 17-year-old Chinese student from a rural vocational school who shocked her country by ranking 12th among 802 participants in an elite math contest is now facing accusations of cheating.

Math contests are a big deal in China, but it’s very rare for such competitions to capture the attention of an entire country like this year’s Alibaba Global Mathematics Competition. Organized by Alibaba’s DAMO Academy and the Alibaba Foundation, the contest is free to enter for math enthusiasts from around the world, but it is usually dominated by math majors from prestigious institutions such as Harvard, Oxford, and MIT. However, this year, something extraordinary happened. Not only was 17-year-old Jiang Ping the only girl in the top 30 after the first round of the competition, but she was also the only one whose studies didn’t focus on math. The unlikely math genius studies fashion design at a rural vocational school in Jiangsu Province, and only studies advanced mathematics as a hobby.

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At least five Srilankan fishermen have tragically lost their lives and three more are in critical condition after consuming the mysterious contents of bottles found floating in the open sea.

The Sri Lanka Navy recently reported that at least five fishermen have died after consuming an unknown liquid from bottles they found while at sea, around 320 nautical miles from Tangalle, a town on the southern coast of Sri Lanka. It’s unclear how many of these mysterious bottles were found floating out at sea, but a Navy spokesperson told journalists that they contained some sort of alcohol. The bottles were shared among the sailors of the fishing vessel named Devon, and before long, some of them started feeling sick. Despite receiving rudimentary assistance on the boat from Sri Lanka Navy medical personnel, at least five of the fishermen have died, and another is in critical condition. Unfortunately, the crew is believed to have shared the mysterious bottles with other fishing boats.

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A military buff in China alerted authorities after discovering that the discarded books he had bought from a recycling station for just one dollar were classified military documents.

China’s Ministry of State Security recently took to social media to praise the actions of a military enthusiast surnamed Zhang who had alerted authorities after buying some military books from a recycling station without knowing that they actually contained confidential military secrets. Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Zhang called a hotline to report the incident and then handed over the documents to the appropriate authorities. The Ministry praised his responsible reaction, acknowledging that things could have been very different had the military secrets ended up in the hands of bad actors. But how do such secrets end up on the open market, especially in a strict country like China?

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A Japanese supermarket that implemented an extra-slow checkout where customers are never rushed recently reported a ten percent increase in sales.

Most supermarkets these days are constantly looking for ways to speed up the checkout process, and for good reason – with time being such a valuable commodity, many customers feel pressured by their peers to pack their groceries and pay as quickly as possible, so as not to hold up the line too long. Unfortunately, some people just can’t be that fast, either because of their age, various disabilities, or even being pregnant. Some of these individuals are often left feeling guilty about moving too slowly, so much so that they avoid going to the supermarket altogether. However, one supermarket in Japan’s Fukuoka Prefecture seems to have solved the problem with an extra-slow checkout register where people can spend upwards of 20 minutes without feeling pressured in any way.

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The unusual love story between a 23-year-old woman from China’s Hebei Province and an 80-year-old man she met at a nursing home sparked a heated debate in Chinese society.

23-year-old Xiaofang (pseudonym), met the love of her life while working as a volunteer at a retirement home in Hebei Province. 80-year-old Mr. Li (pseudonym) was a resident there and the two quickly became friends after realizing that they shared many interests and hobbies. But, as time went by, their friendship evolved into something more, as Xiaofang was attracted by Mr. Li’s maturity, stability, and wisdom, while he was moved by Xiaofang’s youthful vitality and kindness. Unfortunately, the young girl’s family did not approve of her romantic relationship with a man old enough to be her grandfather, but she decided to follow her heart and severed ties with her parents to be with Mr. Li.

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Benten Mountain, in Tokushima Prefecture, is considered Japan’s shortest natural mountain with a height of just 6.1 meters and a diameter of under 60 meters.

Located in the middle of fertile paddy fields along Tokushima’s Prefectural Road 10, Benten Mountain is the shortest mountain in Japan and one of the shortest in the world. It takes the average person just one minute to reach the summit and yet over 10,000 people make the journey here every year for this specific purpose. For some, it’s just the novelty of scaling a 6.1-meter-tall mountain, others come to admire the wax tree, camelias, and other flowers that call the rocky mass their home, and a few make the short trek to reach the Itsukushima Shrine built in honor of Benzaiten, the goddess of wisdom.

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China’s Yuntai Waterfall is generally regarded as Asia’s most impressive waterfall and is often described as a natural wonder. However, it turns out that its spectacular water show is artificially enhanced.

Yuntai Waterfall is the most popular scenic spot in the Yuntai Mountains, drawing millions of tourists annually. The tallest waterfall in Asia (a sheer drop of 314 meters) offers stunning vistas and a breathtaking spectacle that was recently revealed to be the result of modern technology. A Chinese vlogger managed to make their way to the top of Yuntai Waterfall where they spotted large metal pipes feeding water into the waterfall for an enhanced video effect. At first, the viral video of the discovery was criticized as fake, but sources from the Yuntai Mountain Scenic Area acknowledged that the waterfall is slightly enhanced to ensure a pleasant experience for tourists, regardless of natural factors.

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A so-called blind dating cafe in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, has come under fire for installing a one-way window that allows men to see the girls they are talking to, but not vice-versa.

On June 1st, a blind dating cafe in Ho Chi Minh’s District 1 went viral for a controversial reason. According to multiple reports, Mina Cafe features two different rooms for men and women, separated by a glass wall. The controversy lies in the fact that the wall is advertised as a mirror when in reality it is only a mirror from the women’s side. The men’s room is dark and they can clearly see the person on the other side. Basically, the blind date part is only valid for the women, as the men can freely admire their potential partners like items on display.

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