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Today's Paper | December 24, 2024

Published 05 Sep, 2020 07:09am

The weekly weird

Martial artist uses nunchucks to light 21 candles in one minute

Shanghai martial artist Xie Desheng, who previously broke Guinness records for using his nunchucks (chain sticks) to extinguish candles and unscrew bottle caps, made it into the record books for a third time by using the weapons to light 21 matches in 60 seconds.

Xie, who has been studying the nunchucks for about 10 years, said it took him about a year of practice to prepare for each of his Guinness records.

The winner of numerous nunchuck competitions across the globe, Xie teaches classes in Shanghai on using the weapons for self-defence.


It’s raining chocolate!

Residents of Olten, Switzerland, reported spotting snow-like cocoa powder in the air and on the ground near the city’s Lindt & Spruengli candy factory.

Lindt & Spruengli confirmed that the chocolate rain was the result of a ventilation system malfunction during the production of a line of roasted cocoa nibs, fragments of crushed cocoa beans.

Strong winds in recent days caused the powder to spread around the surrounding area. Officials said they would cover any cleaning costs for vehicles or other property covered in the cocoa powder.

The company added that the powder does not pose any danger to the local environment.


Naughty puppy chews savings

Peggy, the miniature poodle, devoured around £100 of her owner’s savings after she managed to get into the pot on the side of Jocelyn’s bed where she had been putting money away for a rainy day. She eat all of the notes she found there.

Jocelyn first discovering a ripped £20 note in her room, and the next morning Peggy was sick on the kitchen floor, throwing up the remains of the cash. Jocelyn was left feeling ‘absolutely gutted’ when she realised what had happened.

“I keep my bedroom door closed because of her and I came in and could just see a single piece of £20 on my bed. I searched high and low, couldn’t find anything else and thought there’s no way she’s eaten £100 — she couldn’t have.”


Michael Jordan shoes auctioned for $615,000

A pair of shoes worn by Michael Jordan during a 1985 exhibition game broke a world record when they sold for $615,000 at an auction. The shoes broke a record set by another pair of the player’s shoes, which sold for $560,000 earlier in 2020.

Auction house Christie’s said the Nike Air Jordan 1 High sneakers were autographed by Jordan and described by the auctioneer as “a one-of-a-kind Michael Jordan artefact.”

The shoes were billed as especially unique due to a shard of glass embedded in the sole of the left shoe as a result of Jordan shattering a glass backboard with a forceful slam dunk.

Published in Dawn, Young World, September 5th, 2020

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