World Briefs

It began with an innocent legacy from an elderly aunt, when she bequeathed Jean-Guy Laquerre an early 20th-century papier-mache Santa Claus figure two decades ago.

But with the passage of time a nascent fascination with all things Christmas has turned into an obsession for the retired teacher, who has now won himself a place in the record books.

“I started my collection in 1988. Over the past 22 years, I’ve accumulated 25,139 Santa baubles,” he said. Every year as yuletide approaches he unpacks his figurines and collections from their boxes to deck his home in Ontario province in Canada. He broke the world record for owning the most Santa keepsakes in 2004, but it was not until 2009 that his name was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Mr Laquerre says he hopes the entire collection will someday be displayed in a museum. (AFP)

Students get teacher’s body at first autopsy

It was their first ever autopsy, but students at one of Sweden’s top medical schools were faced with a familiar sight in the classroom: the body on the table was that of their late teacher.

“The first autopsy is really, really emotional, and we autopsied someone we knew!,” one of the shocked students said.

Chief physician Birgitta Sundelin called the event “extremely unfortunate.”

She said that students were normally informed ahead of time of whose body they were to examine but according to a student, the class did not find out until they saw their teacher’s name on the body’s toe tag. (AFP)

Golden cashpoint

Shoppers in Florida looking to buy a glittering Christmas present have a new choice – an ATM that dispenses shiny 24-carat gold bars and coins.

German company Ex Oriente Lux is installing the machine at a shopping mall in Boca Raton. The company unveiled its first machine at Abu Dhabi’s Emirates Palace hotel.

The gold-leaf-covered machine carries about 320 pieces of different-sized bars and coins. Owners said the machine will be flanked by an armed guard for now. (PA)

Festive warning

Sharing a Christmas dinner treat with the birds could kill - but the odd mince pie is fine, according to the RSPB, a UK charity working to secure a healthy environment for birds and all wildlife.

Despite many people thinking all fat is good for birds to give them energy and nutrients, only lard and suet should be used. Other fats from meat, such as Christmas turkey, are dangerous because they stay soft when cool, ruining the insulation and waterproofing of feathers, the RSPB said. (PA)

Two lives gone?

A cat has used up two of her proverbial nine lives after surviving a serious traffic accident and an airgun attack which left her with some of the worst injuries vets had seen.

A veterinary charity said the unlucky animal, named Tinsel, made remarkable recoveries after both incidents near her owner’s home in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire.

Tinsel’s owner, 55-year-old Tim Gamble, said the hardy pet had not been deterred from venturing outdoors by either incident.” (PA)

Ranch exported

US livestock producers say they have shipped an “instant ranch” to the grasslands of south-western Russia – complete with cowboys, horses and 1,400 pure bred beef cattle. Most of the cattle went by aircraft, bound for the Stevenson Sputnik Ranch, which is a partnership between Montana rancher Darrell Stevenson and Russian investors.

Included in the Russian subsidised deal is training for herdsman on animal care. It comes as the Russian government spends heavily to revive a domestic beef industry that collapsed after the fall of the Soviet Union. (PA)

Good deed backfires

A 26-year-old man thought he was doing a good deed when he gave a 70-year-old woman a lift to a bank in Janesville, Minnesota. But police say the woman robbed the bank, and the man was her unsuspecting getaway driver.

The man thought the woman, who rents a flat from his mother, was going to withdraw cash to pay her rent. Instead, bank employees reported that an “elderly woman” walked out with cash after claiming she had a gun.

Police stopped the car and took both into custody before deciding the woman acted alone. The woman, who had a hammer but no gun, is in jail, pending charges. (PA)