Newscan

Tall order

Nasseer Ahmaad Soomro, said to be the world's tallest man - 7 ft 9 in - has arrived in Taiwan to spend four months living in the Guinness World Record Museum. He is now the first record holder employed as a crowd-puller in the museum, which has a number of life-size models of Guiness book personalities.

Twenty-nine-year-old Soomro, from Karachi, is to become, quite literally, a museum exhibit and a sporting ambassador to try to promote exercise among school children. Organisers say he is to divide his time between meeting visitors and going round local schools, promoting exercise on an island where most people lead an inactive life.

He may succeed in his mission as one of his favourite sports - basketball - has a big following in Taiwan.

Around the world

Family, friends and Government officials in the Australian State of Victoria bid farewell to Vinny Lauwers recently as he set off on a journey that could make him the first paraplegic to sail around the world alone, nonstop and unassisted. Lauwers has been unable to walk since his back was injured in a motorcycle accident when he was 22, but he has competed in several sailing races, including the 1999 5,500 km Melbourne to Osaka race. Sailing on his yacht, 'Vision Quest', Lauwers hopes to raise funds for 'Parasail - Caring for Kids', an organisation for the disabled and the disadvantaged.

Ends with coffee

The first attempted robbery in the Norwegian town of Nordfjordied, ended with the bank manager and the suspect sitting down for coffee and sweets. The manager, Geir Lefdel, said the man burst into the branch carrying a shotgun, threatening customers and staff without making it clear what he wanted. Lefdel then realised that the man was in trauma and kept talking to him. The suspect was invited into Lefdel's cabin for a chat, where he surrendered his weapon and waited for the police to arrest him.

Compiled by

MURALI N.KRISHNASWAMY

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