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Published 28 Nov, 2020 07:33am

The weekly weird

World’s tallest teenager

A Chinese boy celebrated his 14th birthday by becoming certified as the world’s tallest teenager by Guinness World Records.

Ren Keyu of Leshan, Sichuan Province, was measured at three different times in one day while both standing and lying on the ground in accordance with Guinness requirements, and his official height was recorded as 7 feet, 3.02 inches.

Keyu’s family said he was seen by multiple doctors when he was younger and none of them could find anything medically amiss about the boy that would explain his unusual height. Keyu said there is likely a hereditary component, as his mother and grandfather are both over six feet tall.

The teenager said his height and weight actually makes sports like basketball dangerously strenuous on his body, but he enjoys reading books and playing games and aspires to a career in e-sports.


World’ most expensive pigeon

A champion racing pigeon sold by a Belgian trainer broke a world record and became the world’s most expensive pigeon when it sold for nearly $1.9 million.

New Kim, a two-year-old bird put up for sale on the PIPA auction website by retired trainer Gaston Van De Wouwer, fetched a top bid of $1,894,672 at the close of the auction.

The website said the pigeon was purchased by a Chinese buyer. The buyer’s real name was not revealed, but PIPA said it was the same man who previously set the world record in March 2019, when he paid $1.4 million for a champion racing pigeon named Armando.


Woman visits all seven continents in three days

A United Arab Emirates woman broke a Guinness World Record when she visited all seven continents in three days, 14 hours, 46 minutes and 48 seconds, to become the record-holder for the fastest time to travel to all seven continents.

Khawla AlRomaithi completed her whirlwind tour of the globe in Sydney, Australia, on February 13, shortly before travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic went into effect.

“It was a difficult journey; the attempt demanded a lot of patience, especially in airports, as well as having to deal with constant plane rides,” AlRomaithi said.

She said she was inspired to attempt the record by the diversity of her home country.

“The UAE is home to around 200 different nationalities, I wanted to visit their countries and learn about their cultures and traditions,” she said.


Metriorite sold for more than a million!

An Indonesian man turned an unusual property damage into a fortune when he sold the meteorite that crashed through his roof for over $1 million.

Josua Hutagalung, said he was working outside his home in Sumatra when the meteorite crashed through the roof of the house and landed outside.

“When I lifted it, the stone was still warm, and I brought it into the house,” Hutagalung told.

Hutagalung has also posted a video to Facebook showing the spot where the metallic object had crashed through his tin roof.

The 4.5-pound chunk of CM1/2 carbonaceous chondrite, a rare variety of meteorite, was valued at $1,858,556 by experts and attracted the attention of the US expert Jared Collins, who purchased the meteorite and resold it to fellow the US collector Jay Piatek.

Hutagalung did not disclose the amount that he was paid for the meteorite, but he indicated it was over $1 million. He plans to donate some toward the building of a local church.

Published in Dawn, Young World, November 28th, 2020

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