DAVID ADAMS reports on the odder side of life…
RANDOM NUGGETS: Not Wendy’s nuggets but similar to those Carter Wilkerson has won a year’s supply of. PICTURE: Pixabay
• A US teenager has won himself a year of free chicken nuggets while at the same time breaking the record for creating the most retweeted message on Twitter. Sixteen-year-old Carter Wilkerson reportedly took out the record after asking fast food chain Wendy’s back in April how many retweets he would have to collect in exchange for a year of free chicken nuggets – as a joke. They replied ’18 million’ and so #NuggsforCarter was born. While Wilkerson was still well short of the total earlier this week – his message had only been retweeted just shy of 3.5 million times, Wendy’s decided to award him the year of free nuggets as well as make $100,000 donation to an adoption charity. And Wilkerson, as well as the free nuggets, now also holds the record for creating the most retweeted tweet, having passed the previous record held by US celebrity Ellen DeGeneres who had set it with a selfie from the Oscars. Now that’s a win-win-win.
• Sing the national anthem at the right tempo! That’s the message from Chinese authorities who have reportedly proposed introducing a new law aimed at regulating the tempo of the anthem after concerns March of the Volunteers was not “universally respected and cherished”. The new law, which follows an existing ban on the anthem being used at weddings and funerals, will see those who use the national anthem “casually” or “in an unsolemn manner” facing legal penalties.
• Former US President Bill Clinton is co-writing his first novel – a thriller which will “be informed by insider details that only a President can know”. The President is Missing, co-written with author James Patterson, will be the president’s first novel. Clinton has described writing it “has been a lot of fun” while Patterson said the joint writing venture has been the “highlight” of his career. The book, to be published jointly by Alfred A Knopf and Little, Brown and Company, is expected to be released in June, 2018.
