The biggest motorbike on earth and a contortionist who drinks tea with her feet feature in the new Guinness World Records book.
Also included in the newly released compendium is Germany's Julia Plecher, who ran the fastest 100m in high heels - 14.531 seconds.
And among the more outlandish record-holders is Happie the goat, who achieved the farthest distance skateboarded by a goat after whizzing along for a total of 36 metres.
By Alex Crawford, Special Correspondent
Hundreds of survivors of South Africa's worst post-apartheid tragedy marched through Pretoria today to the seat of government to demand justice over the Marikana mine shootings.
The demonstrators want the state to pay their legal fees for the Presidential Commission of Inquiry which is trying to determine what went wrong last year.
At the moment, the inquiry is continuing without the miners' representatives.
Forty-four people, including two policemen and two security guards, died in a series of violent incidents last year.
Thirty-four of them were miners who were shot dead when police opened fire on strikers last August 16.
The Bishop of Pretoria has called on all South Africans to take part in the march to ensure justice is served at the Commission.
Mine workers taking part in a march last year The miners insist they will not be represented by lawyers provided by the state - while the government says it will not pay for private lawyers for the miners at the inquiry.
One injured miner who was shot eight times by police told Sky News how he was virtually crippled in the shootings.
Mzoxolo Magidwana said he could no longer walk without a crutch, he had lost a testicle in the shootings and he would never be able to father any children.
"I will never know the joy of having a child now," he said.
More than a year after the massacre he still lives in a shack at Marikana and receives sick pay every month from Lonmin Platinum Mines of just over 2,000 South African rand a month (£133).
"We went through all of that last year and we still got nothing. We are just treated like slaves," he told us.
"All those fat cats (politicians) don't care about the blood spilled. This land is also ours, not just the ANC's, Jacob Zuma's. What has happened to us is an insult."
A Florida pastor has been arrested before he planned to burn almost 3,000 copies of the Koran on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
Terry Jones, 61, was detained in the town of Mulberry, near Tampa, and faces charges of transporting fuel illegally and openly carrying a firearm.
Deputies said Jones had been riding in a pickup truck that was towing a trailer carrying a large barbecue-like grill filled with kerosene-soaked Korans.
Terry Jones soaked the Korans in kerosene He also had extra bottles of the fuel inside the truck bed, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
Jones' planned public burning of the Muslim holy book came with tensions high in the Middle East, especially over Syria.
According to Jones' website, he had planned to burn 2,998 Korans in the Tampa Bay area on Wednesday, in recognition of victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Jones was arrested alongside Associate Pastor Marvin Sapp minutes before the scheduled burning, the Sentinel said.
As pastor of Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, Jones in 2010 threatened to burn copies of the Koran, drawing widespread outrage.
He eventually called off the stunt.
In 2011, however, his congregation did burn the Muslim holy book and the following year he promoted an anti-Islam film.
All three incidents sparked violence in the Middle East and in Afghanistan.
Cheers and gunfire rang out in Kabul as an unprecedented football triumph prompted a rare moment of shared joy for Afghans.
The sound of cheering, car horns and gunfire filled the night sky in Kabul Tens of thousands of euphoric Afghans took to the streets to celebrate their national football team's first ever trophy - before officials asked jubilant fans to stop firing their guns into the air.
The side beat India 2-0 to win the South Asian Football Federation championship in Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, giving Afghanistan a rare moment of shared joy.
Anxious supporters gathered in Kabul to watch the match on a giant screen President Hamid Karzai embraced members of the victorious team, while fans in cars and on motorbikes joined others on foot, cheering, blowing horns and waving Afghan flags throughout the night.
Many danced in the streets of the capital after crowding around television sets in their homes, restaurants, cafes and shops to watch the match.
Fans in Kabul gathered in shops and cafes to watch the tie Fan Ahmad Bashir, an Afghan flag draped over his shoulders, said: "Now I know what being proud feels like, this is the happiest time in my life.
"I have no idea what we will do if we ever win the World Cup."
Most of those out in the streets of the strictly conservative Muslim country were men, although some families in cars joined in the celebrations, many shouting "Zindabad Afghanistan!" (Long Live Afghanistan!).
Afghanistan's Mustafa Azadzoy (C) scored one of Afghanistan's goals 
The team beat India to win the South Asian Football Federation championship Afghans have endured three decades of conflict, stretching back through the occupation by former Soviet forces, a civil war, austere rule under the Taliban and then another 12 years of war since the invasion of the United States and its allies.
Such celebrations would have been unimaginable under the Taliban, which banned music and television, and forbade women access to education and most public gatherings.
Supporters at the stadium in Kathmandu showed their colours ... 
... as the party got in full swing back in Kabul The Taliban also banned most sport, and even used the national football stadium in Kabul for public executions.
In a statement issued by the presidential palace, Mr Karzai said: "Our youths proved that we have the ability to make progress and win."
Fans danced with joy as the revellery lasted into the nights The president's office tweeted a picture of him watching the match on Tuesday night in the palace.
Celebrations continued throughout Thursday, a brief respite for Afghans who fear increased violence as most foreign troops prepare to leave by the end of next year.
Some clung on to moving cars, while others waved the Afghan national flag The night erupted into gunfire in Kabul and elsewhere across Afghanistan immediately after the match as fans fired AK-47 assault rifles - commonplace in many Afghan households - into the air in celebration.
Witnesses said many of those firing into the air had been police, while some residents feared the gunfire signalled an attack by the Taliban - with warning sirens being sounded in some foreign embassies.
The Afghan Interior Ministry congratulated the team in a statement - but had to send out a second statement on Thursday urging people to stop the celebratory gunfire because of the risk posed by bullets falling back to earth.
Celebrations continued throughout Wednesday and into Thursday Mark Zuckerberg has said the US government "blew it" during the National Security Agency snooping scandal.
The Facebook founder and CEO was especially critical of the government's communications after the scandal over the US surveillance programmes erupted.
Speaking at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco, he said: "Our job is to protect everyone who uses Facebook. Our government's job is to protect all of us and our freedoms, and the economy and companies.
"I think they did a bad job balancing those things here.
"Frankly, I think the government blew it."
Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has also touched on the issue Facebook and other internet giants have been fighting a public backlash after former NSA contractor Edward Snowden said they turned over user data to US surveillance programmes.
Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, Google and Yahoo! have all denied the allegations that the NSA can directly access their servers.
Mr Zuckerberg said the US government's initial assurance that it was not collecting information on Americans did not help global companies.
"(They said) don't worry, we're not spying on any Americans.
"Wonderful, that's really helpful for companies trying to work with people around the world.
"Thanks for going out there and being clear. I think that was really bad," he added sarcastically.
He insisted Facebook had been "pushing just to get more transparency" on the issue, saying he thought it had made a big difference.
Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer also touched on the issue, saying her company wants to "work within the system" as it deals with US government.
She said Yahoo! had been "sceptical" about US government requests for user information, and scrutinises such requests carefully.
Meanwhile, the US Federal Trade Commission has started an inquiry to determine whether Facebook's proposed new privacy rules breach a 2011 agreement with regulators.
Facebook privacy rules have once again come under scrutiny Facebook posted an update to its data use policies on the company website on August 29 to explain how users' personal information is used by advertisers and third-party applications.
But the proposed changes drew criticism from privacy advocates.
Facebook insisted it was in full compliance with the FTC and its new policy did not grant the company expanded privileges in how it used personal data.
Japan is to complain formally about a cartoon that appeared in a French weekly newspaper following the announcement that Tokyo is to host the 2020 Olympics.
The cartoon, carried in the satirical Le Canard Enchaine, shows two sumo wrestlers with extra limbs in front of the Fukushima nuclear plant.
In the background, an announcer says: "Thanks to Fukushima, sumo is now an Olympic sport."
Another cartoon shows people in protective clothing by the side of a pool.
"This cartoon hurts the feelings of those who suffered through the Great East Japan Earthquake," said government spokesman and chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga, referring to the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that wrecked the Fukushima nuclear plant and triggered the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.
"It is inappropriate and gives a wrong impression of the Fukushima contaminated water issue. It is extremely regrettable."
The Fukushima plant is 160 miles north of Tokyo Mr Suga said Japan would lodge the complaint through the French embassy in Tokyo and that the foreign ministry had been directed to "thoroughly explain the situation" to avoid similar incidents.
Japan was angered last year after a French broadcaster used a composite picture that showed Japanese national soccer team goalie Eiji Kawashima with four arms and the caption "Fukushima Effect" about a save he made in a game between the two nations.
The broadcaster subsequently apologised.
Japan was chosen to host the 2020 Olympics at the weekend, beating Madrid, Spain, and Istanbul, Turkey, despite concerns about leaking radioactive water at the stricken Fukushima plant around 160 miles north of Tokyo.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe assured the International Olympic Committee that the situation was "under control".
Despite his assurances, the crisis appears to show no signs of ending.
Levels of tritium - considered one of the least harmful radioactive elements - spiked more than 15 times in groundwater near a leaking tank over three days this week, the operator of the plant has revealed.
The parents of Madeleine McCann were "devastated" by a book that claimed they had covered up the death of their daughter, a court has heard.
Kate and Gerry McCann have launched £1m libel action against the book's author, former Portuguese police chief Goncalo Amaral, in a Lisbon civil court.
Amaral's book, published in 2007, claimed Madeleine died accidentally and the McCanns had been negligent.
The McCanns have strongly denied the accusations.
Goncalo Amaral's book 'poisoned public opinion', it is claimed The first witness in the case was Susan Hubbard, a friend of the McCanns and the wife of the family's priest.
Mrs Hubbard said the couple were forced to use all their energy to defend themselves, instead of searching for their daughter.
Kate McCann attended the hearing this morning without her husband. She was accompanied by her mother Susan Healy.
It is understood Mr McCann is staying at the family home in Rothley, Leicestershire, to look after the couple's children.
Their lawyer, Isabel Duarte, is setting out the case on behalf of the McCanns and their twins Sean and Amelie, now eight, at the court.
Mrs McCann could have been called as a witness but is not expected to give evidence.
UK police have launched a new investigation into Madeleine's disappearance Instead, a number of relatives will also appear in the witness box.
They will speak about the "damage" caused by Mr Amaral's book which, they claim, poisoned public opinion in Portugal against the family.
Earlier, spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "Kate and Gerry McCann remain very confident that they will win the case.
"They have a strong case against Mr Amaral. The matter is now in the hands of their lawyer as it goes through court."
Madeleine, who was nearly four at the time, disappeared from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in the Algarve on May 3, 2007, as her parents dined at a nearby tapas restaurant with friends.
The McCanns pose with a computer-generated image of their daughter British detectives launched a fresh investigation into her disappearance in July - two years into a review of the case - and believe she could still be alive.
The Portuguese investigation into Madeleine's disappearance is officially closed.
The libel case will be heard today and tomorrow. It will then be adjourned until next Thursday when the court will sit again for two days.
A final hearing is due on September 27, with the judgement expected to be deferred.
British animal welfare investigators have uncovered new evidence exposing China's trade in stolen pets.
A trader in Shandong offered investigators this puppy for 200 yuan (£20) Animal Equality and Last Chance for Animals visited the country's notorious meat markets and abattoirs where they witnessed dogs, cats and rabbits kept in appalling conditions before being clubbed to death.
Working undercover with Chinese investigators they secretly filmed puppies a few weeks old crushed into wire cages at a breeding farm in Shandong.
Stolen to order: CCTV shows how gangs snare and snatch dogs on the streets CCTV pictures the group obtained reveal how dog thieves snatch pets off the streets and steal them from owner's homes.
They also uncovered video of cats being made into Dragon, Tiger and Phoenix stew which "fortifies the body," according to tradition.
Over three weeks investigators put themselves at huge risk posing as meat traders to covertly film the route animals take from breeding farms to restaurants via China's back-street abattoirs.
These puppies were filmed at a 'fattening' farm in Shandong 
Breeders at a farm in Jining allegedly told investigators that if necessary they would "hunt the streets" to secure enough dogs for them.
Gangs drive around in broad daylight looking for dogs to snatch. It takes a few seconds to snare an animal and drag it into their van.
Video secretly shot in the market reveals animals thrown around by handlers Many puppies investigators were offered reportedly still wore collars, suggesting they were once family pets. Once fattened, they are sold to abattoirs for around 200 yuan (£20) each.
Campaigners also travelled to China's Nanhai market in Guangdong province where dogs, cats and rabbits are traded and sold to local restaurants after journeys of hundreds of miles in cramped cages.
Many of the cats are captured by gangs who set traps in public parks and residential areas where they are likely to be kept as pets.
Cats in FuXing market await their fate Investigators entered the market at night and secretly filmed cages being unloaded from provinces all over China.
Though the cages were being thrown to the ground, investigators noted none of the dogs barked, leading them to suspect their vocal chords had been removed.
Despite campaigners' outrage, eating dogs and cats remains a delicacy in China where it is said to "warm the blood" and provide "vitality".
At this back-street abattoir investigators saw dogs being clubbed to death The groups are working with local welfare groups like China's Guangzhou Volunteer Centre to campaign for an end to China's trade in dog meat.
Animal Equality says more than 10 million dogs are killed every year in China, although other estimates put the number at closer to 16 million.
Nanhai market where dogs and cats in cages are sold to local restaurants According to Chinese media, a 2011 study by Guo Peng, a professor at the School of Philosophy and Social Development of Shandong University, found 88% of households in one rural village suspected their dogs had been taken.
The group intends lobbying Chinese embassies around the world to raise awareness about what they say is international outrage at China's lack of animal welfare laws.
Two Islamist militants - a Briton and a notorious American rapper - have been killed after falling out with their al Qaeda leaders in Somalia, say reports.
Osama al Britani, a British citizen of Pakistani origin and Omar Hammami, known as al Amriki, are said to have died in an early-morning attack near Mogadishu.
The pair were gunned down during an ambush after being on the run from the leaders of Somalia's al Qaeda-linked al Shabab organisation, for several months.
Al Amriki, originally from Alabama, was famed for posting rapping songs on YouTube - hoping to recruit young Islamist radicals.
He moved from the US to Somalia in 2006, ascending up the ranks of al Shabab.
He was eventually placed on America's Most Wanted terrorist list in March with a $5m (£3.16m) reward for information leading to his capture.
Al Amriki gives a news conference in Somalia Little is known about Osama al Britani, though the Foreign Office said they were "aware of reports of the death of a British national in Somalia".
Al Amriki grew up in Daphne, Alabama, where friends said he was popular at school, quick-witted, charismatic and elected president of his school year.
Reports of al Amriki's death crop up every few months in Somalia, only for him to resurface alive and well a short while later.
However, a US terrorism expert who closely follows the inner workings of al Shabab, says he thinks that the current reports of the death are accurate.
"I think it's very likely true based on the sources I am seeing," said J.M. Berger, who runs the website Intelwire.com.
A member of al Shabab told The Associated Press that al Amriki was killed, with another man, in an ambush in Somalia's southern Bay region.
Al Amriki had a falling out with al Shabab and engaged in a long public fight with the group over the last year amid signs of increasing tension between Somali and foreign fighters in the group.
He first expressed fear for his life in a web video in March 2012 that publicised his rift with al Shabab.
He said he received another death threat earlier this year that was not carried out.
"Just been shot in neck by shabab assassin. not critical yet," al Amriki tweeted in April.
He later wrote on Twitter that the leader of al Shabab was sending in forces from multiple directions.
"We are few but we might get back up. abu zubayr has gone mad. he's starting a civil war," al Amriki posted.
Al Amriki has been a thorn in the side of al Shabab after accusing the group's leaders of living extravagant lifestyles with the taxes fighters collect from Somali residents.
Updated: 3:04pm UK, Thursday 12 September 2013
By Tim Marshall, Foreign Affairs Editor
The Russian President has again seized the initiative with his opinion piece in the New York Times in which he speaks "directly to the American people and their political leaders".
By the latter I assume he means members of Congress and not President Barack Obama.
He makes a tightly argued, albeit debatable, case against US air strikes on Syria and pushes several buttons designed to resonate with the American people and political class:
(Text of Putin article in italics, comments by Tim Marshall in bold):
"The potential strike by the United States against Syria ... will result in more innocent victims and escalation, potentially spreading the conflict far beyond Syria's borders."
He then says the pre-Second World War version of the UN became irrelevant and collapsed, hinting that unless everything Syria related goes through the UN, it will suffer the same fate.
This is a riposte to the White House view that unless the UN signs up to action against Syria, it too will become irrelevant:
"No one wants the United Nations to suffer the fate of the League of Nations, which collapsed because it lacked real leverage. This is possible if influential countries bypass the United Nations and take military action without Security Council authorisation."
There follows a long section listing the dangers of a military intervention:
"The potential strike by the United States against Syria, despite strong opposition from many countries and major political and religious leaders, including the Pope, will result in more innocent victims and escalation, potentially spreading the conflict far beyond Syria's borders.
"A strike would increase violence and unleash a new wave of terrorism. It could undermine multilateral efforts to resolve the Iranian nuclear problem and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and further destabilise the Middle East and North Africa. It could throw the entire system of international law and order out of balance."
There are references to the al Qaeda-inspired groups operating in Syria made up of thousands of foreign fighters, and then a sentence which will sit uncomfortably with many Americans:
"Millions around the world increasingly see America not as a model of democracy but as relying solely on brute force, cobbling coalitions together under the slogan 'you're either with us or against us'."
He backs that up with references to three countries in the following paragraph - Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq - saying that intervention there has made things worse:
"But force has proved ineffective and pointless."
There is a hint that if the USA restrains itself in Syria, then Russia might cooperate elsewhere:
"If we can avoid force against Syria, this will improve the atmosphere in international affairs and strengthen mutual trust. It will be our shared success and open the door to cooperation on other critical issues. My working and personal relationship with President Obama is marked by growing trust."
That might come as a surprise anyone who has seen the body language between the two men recently.
Finally, he takes on the argument made by President Obama about American "exceptionalism" - the idea that the US is the indispensable nation or, in layman's terms, the world's policeman:
"I would rather disagree with a case he made on American exceptionalism, stating that the United States' policy is 'what makes America different. It's what makes us exceptional'. It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation."
The article ends by telling us that Vladimir V. Putin is the president of Russia. The V? It stands for Vladimirovich.
