Short time

Afua Asantewaa of Ghana was probably the most remarkable singer of 2023, eclipsed only by American pop star Taylor Swift who dominated last year's concert scene.

The 33-year-old former beauty queen, journalist, TV producer and entrepreneur is likely to become the Guinness World Record title-holder for marathon singing after beating the current sing-a-thon record by nearly 24 hours, BBC reported.

She performed non-stop from 24 to 28 December, or 126 hours and 52 minutes, in Accra and is now waiting for the official GWR recognition of her time. Asantewaa was allowed a five-minute break every hour, or 20 minutes after four hours, plus a 30-second pause between each song, according to BBC.

The Ghanaian belted out 125 native songs of different genres, including gospel, high-life and hip-life.

If the longest time was good for Asantewaa, a group of South Korean students complained they were shortchanged of their time when they took their college admission test last month.

The students claimed the test called Suneung was marred by an undertime that disrupted their concentration for the rest of the eight-hour exam, reputed to be one of the hardest in the world.

Crucial because it determines examinees' university placements, the government even closes the country's airspace and delays the opening of the stock market to give Suneung takers the silence they need to answer questionnaires.

At least 39 students accused teachers supervising the exam of ringing the ending bell 90 seconds early and taking the answer sheets away for the test on Korean, the first subject of the exam, BBC reported.

While the teachers recognized their mistake before the start of the next session, and gave the students one and half minutes back during the lunch break, the students claimed they could only mark blank columns left on their papers and were not allowed to change any previous answers, according to BBC.

The examinees lost their focus for the rest of the exam, with some giving up, Yonhap news reported.

The 39 students are now suing the government, demanding 20 million won in compensation for each of them. The amount represents the cost incurred in preparing for the test and reportedly will be used by the plaintiffs to retake the exam.