Record breaking Atlantic halibut

As a fully paid-up monster of the deep, it should have swatted aside any angler with the temerity to try to catch it with a mere rod and line.

But this record-breaking Atlantic halibut bit off more than it could chew when it took on heroic Soren Beck.

As it fought to escape, Mr Beck's small boat had to chase it across the Arctic waters off Norway to prevent either rod or line snapping.

Once the energy-sapping fight was over it took three men to haul the 30-stoner aboard. Back on land, they found it measured 8ft 1in in length, 6ft 4in around the middle and weighed in at 443lb, 24lb more than the previous record for a line-caught halibut.

And if Mr Beck had managed to get it to a British market it would have made around £2,200.

The Dane, who was on holiday, was angling in waters which have given up some giant halibut in recent years.

The biggest, caught by a commercial fisherman, was 63st. Halibut typically reach maturity at ten years and average 3ft 4in in length.

When the fight was over, it took three men to haul the whopping flatfish on board their boat with the use of a hook on the end of a pole.

The giant fish then fought for his life for an amazing half an hour after he was pulled out of the Arctic circle waters.

Cato Bekkevold, an expert from the region, said: 'The area where he caught it is famed for cod and coalfish, but last year the Wildwater Camps brought up 80 halibut.

'These halibut can be caught by a variety of methods, but drifting with coalfish or big shad-jigs [a type of hook] baited with a worm have caught the majority.

'There have been some monsters caught by commercial fishermen, with one recently off Norway weighing 314.5kg.

'The biggest in recent times was 329kg caught in the late 90s, and the biggest ever recorded is around 400 kg.

'It is painted in full size at the Halibut museum on the island of Senja.'

Halibut don't recover from over-fishing as fell as other flatfish, and Atlantic halibut are often tagged then released when caught.

Bikini-clad women set Guinness record

Women dressed in bikinis pose for a photographer on Sydney's Bondi Beach September 26, 2007. 1010 bikini-clad women posed on Australia's iconic beach on Wednesday, setting a Guinness world record for the largest swimsuit photo shoot

Heavy weighed pumpkin a record 1,524 pounds

Thad Starr of Oregon celebrates after his pumpkin won first place in the World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, California Oct. 8, 2007. Starr’s pumpkin weighed a record 1,524 pounds.

World's largest camel race

A race by 468 camels around a 4km-track in Layoune, in Western Sahara, has, say the organisers, broken a world record with some 100 more entrants than previously recorded - although this is still to be ratified.
It was the high point in a week-long festival celebrating the culture of the Saharawi people.
The entrants included 100 one-humped dromedaries, known as Arabian camels, and 200 Bactrian camels, which have two humps.
Camels need to be in peak physical condition to race.
Younger camels tend to run quicker than their older counterparts, so races are often divided into different categories.
Here, races take place featuring camels either above or below five years old.
The starting line-up
The track was not wide enough for all 468 competitors.
This meant several heats of about 50 camels each were staged over three days.
The race
Camels are known for their stamina and endurance.
They can run over short distances at speeds of about 30km an hour.

Hungarians Set World Kissing Record

Hungarians have broken the world record for simultaneous kissing when more than 6400 couples joined lips for a few seconds at a party outside the country's parliament on June 9.

Hungary has been engaged in a kissing duel with the Philippines since 2004, when 5327 couples kissed in Manila, followed by new records in Budapest in 2005 and 6124 couples in Manila again this February.

"The news came a few months ago that Filipinos had overtaken us, we became defiant and said we would take it back again," journalist Ferenc Pallagi who organised the Kissing Party, said.