World Briefs

Sweet-toothed shoppers are being left amused by an eye-catching mosaic of the Queen made from more than 10,000 jelly beans.

The 4ft-high creation, dubbed the Jelly Queen, has gone on display at sweet shop Fizziwigg's in Brighton, East Sussex, and has drawn quizzical glances from customers.

Each jelly bean has been covered in lacquer and used to create a startling resemblance of a youthful-looking Queen, complete with crown.

The mosaic was made by an artist on behalf of jelly bean company Jelly Belly and has been on display in the front window at Fizziwigg's for two weeks. (PA)

Pet slimming competition

A fat cat which shed more than 2lb has been crowned pet slimming champion of the year by an animal welfare charity.

Amber weighed 7.1kg at the start of the challenge in September, more than 60 per cent over her ideal weight.

The 12-year-old feline from Edinburgh, who was put on a veterinary-controlled diet as part of the PDSA's annual Pet Fit Club competition, has since lost 1.2kg. (PA)

Pensioner torches car, battling frost

A 76-year-old German man trying to thaw out his car incinerated it instead when he decided to speed things up by putting a blow heater under the bonnet.

"He burned the vehicle out completely," said a spokesman for police in the western city of Hildesheim.

"Police said the man left the heater on next to the frozen windscreen washer tank and returned indoors. Shortly afterwards he heard two explosions and returned to find the car ablaze.

He alerted fire services, who arrived in time to prevent the flames destroying his house. Including charring of the building, total damages were estimated at €40,000. (Reuters)

Sleep on it

A frantic search involving rescue teams, a police helicopter and a 'missing girl' was called off when the missing six-year-old girl was found safe and well - fast asleep in her own bed.

The schoolgirl apparently overslept and her panicking parents called 999 fearing she had wandered off.

A police helicopter was scrambled to the Castlemilk area of Glasgow and a team began searching nearby streets and park, but the search ended an hour later when she was discovered safely dozing in her own bedroom and unaware of the panic. (PA)

Par avion

A golf course provided a smooth landing spot after a light plane ran out of fuel.

Pilot Brendon Ford says a faulty gauge led him to believe he had more fuel than he actually did and the engine failed over the Houston course.

He spotted two fairways with just one person around, so he glided over the top of him and landed. (PA)

Not mother's day

A man encouraged his children to try to kill their mother by beating her with a baseball bat.

Arthur Davis, from Lawrence, Kansas, was jailed for 25 years for attempted murder.

He told his 12-year-old daughter and 15-year-old son to kill his ex-wife. After they began beating her, he joined in. She escaped with minor injuries. (PA)

You lucky dog!

A dog had a lucky escape when a Polish boat rescued him from an ice floe that had carried him more than 100 kilometres up a river and out onto the icy waters of the Baltic Sea. "My crew saw... a shape moving on the water and we immediately decided to get closer to check if it was a dog or maybe a seal relaxing on the ice," said Jan Joachim, senior officer aboard the Baltica.

"As we got closer to the ice floe we saw that it was a dog struggling not to fall into the water."

Ship engineer Adam Buczynski managed to scoop the dog off the floe onto an inflatable dinghy and wrapped him in a blanket.

"He didn't even squeal. There was just fear in his big eyes," said Mr Buczynski.

When the Baltica crew found him, the dog had already drifted some 24 kilometres out to sea.

"We were in the right place at the right time," said Mr Joachim, noting that they rescued him shortly before night fall. (Reuters)

Man power

A brothel in a Nevada desert town has hired the state's first male sex worker.

"The Shady Lady Ranch successfully won state and county approval to clear the way for the "prostidude".

The male sex worker known as "Markus" is a muscular college dropout who abandoned a brief stint as a porn actor in Los Angeles. (PA)