The coup d'etat in Thailand will bring an end to plans for exporting wildlife from Kenya to a Thai zoo, in the hometown of ex-Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Kenya's tourism ministry had sponsored the program despite a huge outcry from wildlife activists. A senior official at the ministry told AFP, "The deal is as good as dead. "

Seventy-three surfers broke the world record simultaneously by catching and riding the same wave off the coast off South Africa, according to organizers of a world record surfing attempt. Surfer Paul Botha who helped organize the event at Muizenberg Corner in Cape Town told AFP, "We have smashed the record. " Botha told SAFM public radio "We have registered the claim and got a claim number.

Matthew Harvey - an amateur diver faked his disappearance at sea triggering a massive rescue hunt involving 20 boats. Harvey, 35, was reported missing by his wife Katie on Saturday after he failed to return from a diving trip on the Channel Island of Guernsey. The police and coastguards are considering whether to prosecute the man who was eventually found unconscious in the water on Monday evening.

An Albanian artist gained himself an entry to the Guinness Book of World Records by making the biggest portrait ever. Saimir Strati, 40, used nearly 500,000 industrial nails to do a three-dimensional portrait of Italian master Leonardo De Vinci on an eight square meter surface, according to Scott Christie, a Guinness jury member.

Local authorities in Phuket, Thailand have ordered the suspension of wedding ceremonies at the island resort after the main city ran out of marriage certificates. Over the last two weeks, the Muang Phuket Registration Department has been unable to marry any couples.