QUIRKY WORLD ... A daily look at some of the world's stranger stories
After swallowing two dozen bowls of noodles, the surprisingly lean man described as China’s “Big Stomach King” had barely broken sweat and announced his hunger for more.
“I can continue,” said Pan Yizhong, fragments of noodle visible at the edge of his mouth, as challengers at an eating competition fell away one by one in the face of his relentless appetite.
“Come on, Big Stomach King!” the audience shouted at the event, held in a kung fu school, while its straggle-bearded headmaster looked on.
Once he passed the 25th bowl, there were no more opponents and the cheers fell away into awed silence.
“The Big Stomach King is our hero,” said Lu Nan, one of Pan’s defeated competitors. “He has magic powers.”
Watch out for exploding toilets. Flushmate, the maker of a high-pressure flushing system sold at US stores Home Depot and Lowe’s, is expanding its recall of the parts, because they can burst near a seam with force enough to shatter the toilet tank.
The consumer product safety commission said the company is recalling 351,000 units in the US and about 9,400 in Canada of the Series 503 Flushmate 111 Pressure Assist flushing systems installed inside toilet tanks that were made from Mar 2008 through Jun 2009. There were no reports of injuries.
House Speaker John Boehner says he likes his life too much to run for president.
Making his first appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Boehner was asked whether he’d consider seeking the nation’s highest office.
“No,” Boehner said immediately. “No?” Leno said. “No,” Boehner repeated.
“Listen, I like to play golf,” Boehner said by way of explanation. “I like to cut my own grass. You know, I do drink red wine. I smoke cigarettes. And I’m not giving that up to be the president of the United States.”
A grammar expert has warned that “if they take our apostrophes, commas will be next” after reports of councils culling punctuation from street signs.
Grammar campaigners have used marker pens to fill in allegedly missing apostrophes in Cambridge, after the city council ruled they should be removed to avoid confusing emergency services.
Tim Ward, the executive councillor for planning, told the Cambridge News: “We are following national guidelines as requested by the emergency services.”
Kathy Salaman, director of the Cambridgeshire-based Good Grammar Company, said she knew who was responsible for the corrections. She added: “I haven’t done it myself but the person responsible has been in touch and they have my full support — I won’t be outing them.”
A lonely pig abandoned in a field has plucked at the heartstrings of residents of a small community who have given it food and shelter.
Locals in Shorncliffe, near Folkestone, Kent, took pity on the female pig, which they have named Porrick, after she was left behind by her owner around four months ago.
Residents who spotted the sow on her own in an overgrown field built her a makeshift shelter from tin, wood and tarpaulin.
Which recent president has used the word “gay” most often in a public speech, statement or proclamation?
The US’s largest gay rights group, The Human Rights Campaign, did some digging and found that President Barack Obama has used “gay” 274 times since taking office in 2009. The campaign said that was more often than any of Obama’s recent predecessors: Ronald Reagan, George HW Bush, Bill Clinton and George W Bush.
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