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China's Bao Xi Shun at a world record day at Vienna's ...

(AFP/File) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 12:35:01 GMT

(AFP/File) - China's Bao Xi Shun at a world record day at Vienna's Prater, Austria, 2006. Bao has been reinstated as the world's tallest living male because a 'taller' Ukrainian refuses to be measured, Guinness World Records said.(AFP/File/Vladimir Kmet)

A photo, received from publishers Simon and Schuster in September ...

(AFP/Simon & Schuster/File) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 11:09:47 GMT

(AFP/Simon & Schuster/File) - A photo, received from publishers Simon and Schuster in September 2004, shows an undated photo of US musician Bob Dylan from his early days in New York. The global economic downturn has inspired one British property boss to cite Dylan to describe the market turmoil -- and triggered a debate about other songs evoking the credit crunch crisis.(AFP/Simon & Schuster/File)

File photo shows badges of the late North Korean "Great ...

(AFP/File) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 08:14:51 GMT

(AFP/File) - File photo shows badges of the late North Korean "Great Leader" Kim Il-Sung (R) and his son and successor Kim Jong-Il. South Korean Olympic athletes have been given detailed guidelines to avoid friction with their North Korean counterparts in Beijing, officials said Wednesday.(AFP/File/Robyn Beck)

A monkey is seen licking a block of ice at Tokyo Zoo. A half-metre ...

(AFP/File) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 07:50:44 GMT

(AFP/File) - A monkey is seen licking a block of ice at Tokyo Zoo. A half-metre long monkey was spotted jumping back and forth on top of a sign for Shibuya station on Wednesday, a major train hub surrounded by boutiques, bars and skyscrapers.(AFP/File/Kazuhiro Nogi)

North Korean (centre), German (left) and Chinese flags are seen ...

(AFP/File) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 07:34:23 GMT

(AFP/File) - North Korean (centre), German (left) and Chinese flags are seen during medal ceremony of the women's vault final of the artistic gymnastics event of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, on August 17. North Korea and Georgia are the most successful countries at the Olympic Games, according to alternatitve medal tables which take into account a country's size, wealth and even human rights.(AFP/File/Kazuhiro Nogi)

This file photo shows the outback mining town of Mount Isa. ...

(AFP/File) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 05:10:16 GMT

(AFP/File) - This file photo shows the outback mining town of Mount Isa. Scores of angry women have protested against the mayor of the town after he said fat and unattractive females often found love and happiness in the remote mining community.(AFP/File/Torsten Blackwood)

Bradley Shaw (right) of New Zealand vies for the ball with a ...

(AFP/File) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 02:50:52 GMT

(AFP/File) - Bradley Shaw (right) of New Zealand vies for the ball with a Belgian player during a 2008 Beijing Olympic Games men's pool MA field hockey match, on August 15. New Zealand team manager Kevin Marr was ordered to watch the must-win match against Germany from the grandstand as punishment for three players wearing black undies beneath white shorts in an earlier match.(AFP/File/Lluis Gene)

Locker rooms at a sport facility. A sports club in the town ...

(AFP/File) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 18:08:01 GMT

(AFP/File) - Locker rooms at a sport facility. A sports club in the town of Elmshorn, Northern Germany, has won the filthy changing room competition sponsored by a cleaning product manufacturer, officials from the club announced on Tuesday.(AFP/File)

Hackers disappointed with Brazil's paltry medal tally in ...

(AFP/File) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:54:30 GMT

(AFP/File) - Hackers disappointed with Brazil's paltry medal tally in Olympic Games in China made their displeasure known Tuesday by defacing the website of the Brazilian Olympic Committee, media reported.(AFP/File)

Workers remove rubbish bins for emptying. In an attempt to curb ...

(AFP/File) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:45:08 GMT

(AFP/File) - Workers remove rubbish bins for emptying. In an attempt to curb littering, Finland's capital will distribute rubbish bins that say "thank you" in celebrity voices when they are fed trash, city project managers have said.(AFP/File/Vincenzo Pinto)

Crowds watch the 'Boobs on Bikes' parade of topless ...

(AFP/File) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 09:25:16 GMT

(AFP/File) - Crowds watch the 'Boobs on Bikes' parade of topless women down Queen street to promote this weekends Erotica Adult Expo in Auckland, 2006. Topless porn stars are expected to cruise down Auckland's main street on motorbikes after a court said this year's parade was not legally offensive.(AFP/File/Dean Treml)

An ABC TV framegrab shows a baby humpback whale trying to suckle ...

(AFP/HO/File) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 09:01:04 GMT

(AFP/HO/File) - An ABC TV framegrab shows a baby humpback whale trying to suckle from an yacht near Sydney. Fears are growing for the survival chances of a lost baby humpback whale who tried to suckle from an Australian yacht in the belief it was its mother.(AFP/HO/File/Abc Tv)

A man on his mobile phone in Kolkata. A cellphone ringtone that ...

(AFP/File) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 07:35:11 GMT

(AFP/File) - A man on his mobile phone in Kolkata. A cellphone ringtone that chants "condom, condom!" has been launched in India to promote safe sex and tackle the growing HIV/AIDS epidemic(AFP/File)

An African spurred tortoise. Arava the tortoise may never walk ...

(AFP) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 07:32:21 GMT

(AFP) - An African spurred tortoise. Arava the tortoise may never walk again, but a makeshift wheelchair has given the 10-year-old reptile wings by helping her to find a mate at an Israeli zoo, her keepers said on Tuesday(AFP/Yuri Cortez)

Medalists of the sabre individual lon the podium in Rome, September ...

(AFP/File) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 07:26:39 GMT

(AFP/File) - Medalists of the sabre individual lon the podium in Rome, September 1960. A silver medal from the 1960 Rome Olympics has gone under the hammer in Australia, but the auctioneer said it was still not known which athlete earned the decoration(AFP/File)

Ticket scalpers outside the Olympic basketball stadium on August ...

(AFP/File) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:18:17 GMT

(AFP/File) - Ticket scalpers outside the Olympic basketball stadium on August 12, 2008. Scalpers scrambled to offload tickets for the Olympic 110m hurdles final as soon as Chinese superstar Liu Xiang pulled out of the event on Monday.(AFP/File)

The outback mining town of Mount Isa. The mayor of the Australian ...

(AFP/File) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 07:45:32 GMT

(AFP/File) - The outback mining town of Mount Isa. The mayor of the Australian mining town has come under fire for urging unattractive women to move in, assuring them they will find a man because there is a shortage of women(AFP/File/Torsten Blackwood)

New Zealand's Valerie Vili celebrates winning gold in the ...

(AFP) — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 05:52:07 GMT

(AFP) - New Zealand's Valerie Vili celebrates winning gold in the women's shot put final at the "Bird's Nest" National Stadium during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games on August 16. A slight security guard at the Olympic athletics stadium has learned a valuable lesson - never try to stop a powerful New Zealander who has just won a gold medal.(AFP/Olivier Morin)

A girls uses a phone to send a text message. My Svensson, a ...

(AFP/File) — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 20:37:16 GMT

(AFP/File) - A girls uses a phone to send a text message. My Svensson, a 17-year-old student, needed only 61 seconds to write a 141-character SMS message rich in crisp words and snappy punctuation to claim the Swedish text messaging championship.(AFP/File/Stan Honda)

A female police officer at a check point. Bullet-proof bras ...

(AFP/File) — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 16:11:48 GMT

(AFP/File) - A female police officer at a check point. Bullet-proof bras should be made available to female British police officers, a leading police figure said, according to newspapers Saturday.(AFP/File/Carl de Souza)

File photo shows a New York City bus. About 30 men lifted a ...

(AFP/Getty Images/File) — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 02:52:18 GMT

(AFP/Getty Images/File) - File photo shows a New York City bus. About 30 men lifted a schoolbus to save a pregnant woman struck by the bus, enabling the baby to be born before the woman died of her injuries, the New York Post said Friday.(AFP/Getty Images/File/Stephen Chernin)

A view of the Olympic village in Beijing. Thieves stole eight ...

(AFP/File) — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 16:11:21 GMT

(AFP/File) - A view of the Olympic village in Beijing. Thieves stole eight bicycles belonging to the New Zealand Olympic team from the athletes village but returned them anonymously after an appeal from Kiwi officials, it was reported Friday.(AFP/File/Michael Kappeler)

A penguin called Nils 'inspects' the Nowegian King's ...

(AFP) — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 13:33:50 GMT

(AFP) - A penguin called Nils 'inspects' the Nowegian King's Guard at Edinburgh Zoo. The king penguin -- full name Nils Olav -- was knighted by the visiting royal Norwegian regiment, becoming the first black-and-white pint-sized Norwegian Sir with wings.(AFP/Ed Jones)

A penguin called Nils waddled into the history books when he ...

(AFP) — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 13:33:50 GMT

(AFP) - A penguin called Nils waddled into the history books when he was knighted by a visiting royal Norwegian regiment in Scotland. The king penguin -- full name Nils Olav -- became the first black-and-white pint-sized Norwegian Sir with wings after inspecting the Norwegian King's Guard, which is visiting Edinburgh for the annual Military Tattoo.(AFP/Ed Jones)

The world's tallest woman Sandy Allen (L) is seen in 1996 ...

(AFP/File) — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 20:14:51 GMT

(AFP/File) - The world's tallest woman Sandy Allen (L) is seen in 1996 with Stephen Day, president of the Guinness World of Records' Taiwan museum. Allen, 53, who grew to be more than seven feet, seven inches tall died Wednesday at a nursing home in Shelbyville, Indiana.(AFP/File/Tao-Chuan Yeh)

A patron at a pub drinks a beer. A British pub is offering pints ...

(AFP/File) — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 17:42:17 GMT

(AFP/File) - A patron at a pub drinks a beer. A British pub is offering pints for potatoes, or any other home-grown produce, in a bartering initiative which is taking off as the credit crunch bites.(AFP/File/Nicolas Asfouri)

A mystery Scandinavian billionaire has offered a reward of 100,000 ...

(AFP/Illustration) — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 17:18:07 GMT

(AFP/Illustration) - A mystery Scandinavian billionaire has offered a reward of 100,000 Swedish kronor (10,670 euros, 15,876 dollars) for the return of a stolen dog, tabloid Aftonbladet said Thursday.(AFP/Illustration)

A meter in a cab. A Spanish couple's language difficulties ...

(AFP/OFF) — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 16:54:12 GMT

(AFP/OFF) - A meter in a cab. A Spanish couple's language difficulties cost them several thousand euros after they mispronounced their destination giving instructions to a Norwegian taxi driver.(AFP/OFF)

A badminton player serving. Tennis had Andre Agassi and Steffi ...

(AFP) — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 16:34:16 GMT

(AFP) - A badminton player serving. Tennis had Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf, swimming paired Australia's Eamon Sullivan and Stephanie Rice, but badminton can trump them all with at least three power couples in the sport.(AFP/Indranil Mukherjee)

A young adult humback whale breaching off the coast of Australia ...

(AFP/File) — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 16:30:57 GMT

(AFP/File) - A young adult humback whale breaching off the coast of Australia in 2001. A humpback whale nickamed "Stumpy" after he lost his tail as a baby in an apparent killer whale attack has been sighted again six years later on an epic journey along Australia's coast.(AFP/File/Daniel Brayer)

A member of the British Library staff demonstrates a self-pouring ...

(AFP) — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:25:01 GMT

(AFP) - A member of the British Library staff demonstrates a self-pouring teapot (c.1886) at the opening of the Wird and Wonderful Inventions display at the British Library. A grenade that puts out fires, a self-pouring teapot, periscope spectacles, a peach peeler and a moustache protector are among oddball inventions on show.(AFP/Leon Neal)

A wristwatch with scrolling maps on it (c.1926) is displayed ...

(AFP) — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:25:01 GMT

(AFP) - A wristwatch with scrolling maps on it (c.1926) is displayed at the opening of the Weird and Wonderful Inventions exhibition at the British Library in London.(AFP/Leon Neal)

Singer Janet Jackson covers her breast after a "wardrobe ...

(AFP/Getty Images/File) — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 11:16:35 GMT

(AFP/Getty Images/File) - Singer Janet Jackson covers her breast after a "wardrobe malfunction" while performing with Justin Timberlake at the 2004 Super Bowl half-time show. The expression has now made it into Chambers dictionary, along with credit crunch, carbon footprint and electrosmog.(AFP/Getty Images/File/Frank Micelotta)

An internet image of the lacy black panties, described as "size ...

(AFP) — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 03:34:07 GMT

(AFP) - An internet image of the lacy black panties, described as "size humongous", along with the "size small" condom wrapper, which an Australian woman is auctioning after her husband's alleged affair with a woman named Kylie in Queensland(AFP/Anna)

An octopus in the Mediterranean sea. How many legs does an octopus ...

(AFP/File) — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 17:24:52 GMT

(AFP/File) - An octopus in the Mediterranean sea. How many legs does an octopus have? The answer should be easy. But not any more. For new research suggests they are not really eight-legged denizens of the deep, as popularly assumed; instead they use their front limbs more like arms -- and can even tackle a Rubik's Cube.(AFP/File/Tarik Tinazay)

A young couple walk through the Alameda Park in Mexico City ...

(AFP/File) — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:34:13 GMT

(AFP/File) - A young couple walk through the Alameda Park in Mexico City during St.Valentine's Day, February 2006. Contraceptive pills taken by tens of millions of women around the world can disrupt the innate ability to sniff out a genetically compatible partner, a study has found.(AFP/File/Alfredo Estrella)

England and Liverpool star Steven Gerrard shows off his MBE ...

(AFP/Pool/File) — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:33:14 GMT

(AFP/Pool/File) - England and Liverpool star Steven Gerrard shows off his MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) with his wife Alex Curran in 2007. Gerrard has upset his neighbours by building a modern gym in his garden that dwarfs their homes, a report in the Times said.(AFP/Pool/File/Fiona Hanson)