It must be true...

I read it in the tabloids

■■ A couple in Belgium have given their 11 children names using different variations of the same four letters: a, e, l, and x. Gwenny Blanckaert and Marino Vaneeno landed on the novel strategy after naming their first child Alex and second one Axel. “We realized that they were the same letters, so we decided to continue like this,” said Gwenny. The next nine became Xela, Lexa, Xael, Xeal, Exla, Leax, Xale, Elax, and Alxe. No name has been selected for their 12th child, due in April, but they have 13 remaining combinations to choose from.

■■ A Hong Kong bus company is offering a fivehour ride to nowhere designed to appeal to sleep-deprived people who are easily lulled into slumber on long rides. Organizer Kenneth Kong said it was inspired by a social media post from a commuter friend. He said that “he was stressed out by his work, he couldn’t sleep at night,” said Kong. “But when he was traveling on the bus, he was able to sleep well.” The first trip sold out, with tickets priced at up to $51, with some passengers bringing blankets, pillows, and slippers.

■■ When the Australian Outback town of Quilpie offered free quarter-acre lots to anyone willing to move to the remote community of 800 and build a home, they expected five or six takers. Instead, they’ve been overwhelmed by more than 250 inquiries from around the world. The governing council hatched the idea to combat a shortage of housing and workers in the ranching region. Council chief executive Justin Hancock said the response was “a little overwhelming,” but make sense in the light of the pandemic. “People coming out of lockdown are saying, ‘I want wide open spaces,’ and we have plenty of that.”