Ms Melis, from Perdasdefogu village in south-eastern Sardinia, has nine children, 24 grandchildren and 25 great-grandchildren.

BBC: Consolata Melis of Sardinia celebrates 105th birthday

Consolata Melis is the eldest of the nine Melis siblings, whose combined age totals over 881 years and 205 days.

BBC: Consolata Melis of Sardinia celebrates 105th birthday

Melis Birder, a Turkish film-maker who is co-producing a documentary on the team, believes its success can shatter prejudices against Kurds.

ECONOMIST: Some young Kurds find success on a basketball court

But Guernio Melis, a native Sardinian based in New York who is a wine buyer at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay and a sommelier at Orso, told me he didn't feature Vermentino because it was cheap.

WSJ: Vermentino, the Wine of Yachts and Beaches | Lettie Teague on Wine

In a less elegant but no less impressive effort, NEXT Architects and designer Aura Luz Melis built a lamp that's filled with vegetable fat, which constantly changes its brightness through the process of melting and re-solidifying the fat.

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