Kanye West trainers sell for a record sum
And other stories from the stranger side of life
A pair of Nike trainers worn by Kanye West at the Grammy Awards in 2008 has sold for a record sum. Sotheby’s says the rapper’s pair of “Grammy Worn” Nike Air Yeezy 1s fetched $1.8m (£1.29m) in a private sale to an investment marketplace. The price is nearly triple the auction record for trainers set in 2020, when a pair of ’85 Jordan 1s worn by the basketball superstar Michael Jordan fetched $615,000 (£442,830) at Christie’s.
Turkmenistan creates state dog holiday
Turkmenistan has created a national holiday to honour its native dog breed, known as the “alabay”. President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov launched the state holiday to encourage people to revere the alabay, last year unveiling a 15m (50ft) golden statue of an alabay in the country’s capital Ashgabat. Real-life alabays can weigh up to 80kg (12st 7lb).
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‘Ticking time bombs’ are circling Earth
A space junk map shows “200 ticking time bombs” of space debris are in orbit around the Earth. Scientists in the US track and predict the behaviour of space junk because it could crash into functioning satellites which provide GPS, weather warnings and other vital services.
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