Brit schoolboy breaks world record with seven-metre slam-dunk

October 8th, 2009 LONDON - A 10-year-old British schoolboy has been predicted to be the new Mozart after he displayed his genius with just four months of formal piano lessons. Shane Thomas, who put his fingers on a piano at the age of seven, rehearses for just four hours a week but already exhibits high standards of music scores.

October 3rd, 2009 LONDON - A schoolboy aged 13, from Manchester, has become one of Britain's youngest fathers, it has been reported. The lad was "chuffed to bits" after his girlfriend, 16, gave birth to a baby girl this week, reports The Mirror.

September 23rd, 2009 LONDON - A 9-year-old boy from Belgaum, Karnataka, has set a new record by doing "limbo-skating" under cars while blindfolded. Rohan Ajit Kokane left onlookers shocked showing them his skilfulness at vanishing under three vehicles, before emerging triumphantly on the other side.

September 14th, 2009 HONG KONG - A one-bedroom flat in a luxury Hong Kong development has sold for a record $3.16 million in a sign that the city's property slump is over, a news report said Tuesday. The 75.8 square metre apartment in the city's Tsim Sha Tsui district has 54.8 square metres of useable living space -- once walls and partitions are discounted, the South China Morning Post reported.

August 26th, 2009 LONDON - A British-built car has broken the land speed record for steam-powered cars for the first time in more than 100 years, after it achieved an average speed of 225 kilometres per hour. According to a report in New Scientist, Charles Burnett III has reached speeds of 219 km/hr (136 mph) and 243 km/hr (151 mph) during two drives at California's Edwards Air Force Base.

August 24th, 2009 LONDON - A British man has smashed the previous world record of walking 960 metres on a path of broken glass. Nigel Jardine, from Leeds, West Yorkshire, covered 1,060 metres in one hour around an octagonal circuit of glass at the Bageecha restaurant in his hometown of Horsforth.

August 14th, 2009 LONDON - A teenaged schoolboy in England was left surprised when he mysteriously got a qualification in "riding buses" from exam board AQA. Bobby McHale, 15, was appreciated for his exceptional skill in walking to the bus stop, waiting for it to arrive, and getting on in the letter he received from the exam board.

June 10th, 2009 SWANSEA - Britain's leading dress costume seller Jokers' Masquerade and Swansea University have smashed the current Smurf World Record, with an enormous 2,510 Smurfs gathering in the South Wales city. Guinness itself confirmed the end of the Smurf Wars after almost two years of Universities, towns and villages donning white pointy hats and blue face paint to break the world record.

May 24th, 2009 LONDON - The world's third best and Britain's top tennis player Andy Murray has set himself an ambitious target for this year's French Open - replacing Roger Federer as the world No 2. The Scot goes into the clay-court Grand Slam event hoping to reach the second week for the first time.

May 13th, 2009 LONDON - Wimbledon legend Tim Henman insists Andy Murray will become the first Briton since Fred Perry to win a Grand Slam. Henman, who lost four Wimbledon semi-finals, declared: "Andy Murray is still only 21, yet will go on to far bigger and better things than I achieved.

May 11th, 2009 LONDON - Brit schoolboy Harry Willsher has certainly landed the sweetest job in the world-a chief taster in a sweet factory. The 12-year-old boy from Billericay, Essex, had won a contest at Swizzell's Matlow to find a recruit, and will now be testing top-secret sugary recipes as part of his new job.

April 22nd, 2009 LONDON - Former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash believes Andy Murray can become the first Brit since Fred Perry to win Wimbledon. Australian Cash, who won the men's title himself in 1987, admits he would be surprised if Murray fails to lift a Grand Slam at some point in the near future.

April 3rd, 2009 LONDON - British freediver Sara Campbell has broken a new world record by plunging to a depth of 96 meters in a single breath, in the Bahamas. According to a report in the Telegraph, Campbell broke the record while taking part in Vertical Blue 09 in Dean's Blue Hole, Long Island in the Bahamas, which is 203 meters deep.

February 8th, 2009 LONDON - Despite last year's terrorist attacks, properties in Mumbai are among the costliest in the world. While Mumbai is 10th costliest city for properties, Bangalore, India's so-called technology capital, is the second cheapest place - just ahead of Cairo in a list of 120 cities, according to a study published Monday.

January 20th, 2009 LONDON - New British singing sensation Leona Lewis has been snubbed by the Brit Awards. 'It's a complete travesty, Lewis has been overlooked in her own country.