A contender for world's tallest man underwent foot surgery at a Chinese hospital where doctors confirmed he is 10 centimetres taller than the current title-holder, state press said yesterday.
Zhao Liang, 27, was measured at 2.46 metres when he had an operation at a hospital in Tianjin city to relieve an injury suffered nearly a decade ago, Xinhua news agency reported.
It was when he sustained the initial injury that doctors first found out Mr Zhao was taller than fellow countryman Bao Xishun, who is listed by the Guinness World Records as the world's tallest man, the report said.
But Mr Zhao has not been independently measured by Guinness judges, so he is not officially considered to be the world's tallest man, the report said.
Mr Zhao's basketball career was cut short when he injured his foot 10 years ago and he remained unemployed until 2006, when he got a job with an art troupe and learned to perform magic and play the saxophone and flute, the report said, adding that his parents, who are both of normal height, do not know how their son has grown so tall.
Bao Xishun, 57, was first recognised by the Guinness Book in 2005 as the world's tallest man, measuring in at 2.36 metres.
Turkmenistan plans 'Palace of Happiness'
The Central Asian country of Turkmenistan has found an original way of coping with the global financial crisis: if your people are sad, build them a "Palace of Happiness."
The reclusive ex-Soviet republic yesterday said it would build the palace as part of construction projects worth over €753 million to beautify the capital Ashgabat and make it more liveable.
"President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov signed a series of documents under which several important community structures will be built in Ashgabat at a cost of over one billion dollars," state newspaper Neutral Turkmenistan wrote.
The Palace of Happiness - to be used as a wedding hall - will cost over €100 million, said the newspaper, a mouthpiece for the government of the energy-rich country.
The announcement comes one week after Turkmenistan unveiled plans to build a one-billion-dollar Olympic village, including a winter sports complex, despite the fact that the desert nation is not due to host any upcoming Winter Games.
Detained for driving with sons in trunk
Spanish police have detained an Ecuadoran man caught driving with his two sons in the trunk of his car. The 32-year-old, who already had a criminal record for falsifying documents, was detained late on Sunday on a road near the town of Ciempozuelos, police said.
He admitted he had driven the 35 kilometres from the Spanish capital with his two sons, aged seven and 11, in the trunk because there was no room for them otherwise.
Police said they had ordered the car - which was carrying five people in its seats - to stop because it was speeding.
They then asked the driver to open the trunk because both he and his wife were acting nervously and it was then that they found the children shut in with suitcases, tools and several bottles of alcoholic beverages.
The man faces a maximum prison term of two years for breaking road safety regulations.
Money in bra saves woman's life
Money stuffed in a woman's bra saved her life after she was shot aboard a bus in the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia, local media reported.
The incident took place on Saturday in Bahia's capital, Salvador, where 58-year-old Ivonete Pereira was shot in the chest by one of two attackers who tried to rob the bus.
She was travelling to her summer home in the nearby town of Lauro de Freitas and because of frequent bus attacks in the region, she hid 150 reals (€52) in 20- and 10-real notes coiled inside the left side of her bra.
When the bus passed through the Boca do Rio neighbourhood, the robbers suddenly announced their intention. A shootout ensued with a police officer on the scene and a stray bullet hit Ms Pereira.
Her bra was stuffed with just enough cash to absorb most of the impact, although she still had to be taken to hospital to have the bullet removed.
Polevaulter's cheek pays dividends
World polevault vice-champion Romain Mesnil's unusual stunt to attract sponsorship - he ran through the streets of Paris naked - has paid dividends. The silver medalist at the 2007 Athletics World Championships recently saw his sportswear sponsor scale down his contract due to the global financial crisis.
So the burly 31-year-old posted a video of himself running nude through the French capital on the Youtube website last month in a 46-second clip which has been viewed over one million times.
And yesterday he announced that his unabashed cheek had been fully worth the effort with a new sponsorship deal worth €16,100 with On vous heberge, a French accomodation-finding website.
In a slightly less controversial approach he had also made an attempt to get sponsors via the French version of the eBay online auction website which secured a €7,500 contribution from an anonymous donor.
Mr Mesnil, who is giving that last donation to charity, has said that while he would continue to be imaginative in his pursuit of funding, running naked was now behind him.