All Britons want for Christmas are videogames and DVDs, according to a survey of the country’s most wished for presents.
Superhero film Guardians of The Galaxy is the most sought-after gift this festive season, according to online retailer Amazon.
Hollywood blockbusters X-Men: Days of Future Past and Maleficent, inspired by the classic fairytale Sleeping Beauty, bagged the second and third spots.
Music amnesty gets 6,000 items
An instrument amnesty launched for a TV series has now collected more than 6,000 items which will be distributed to help youngsters develop their musical ambitions.
Stars such as Labrinth, who donated a guitar, and Laura Marling, who handed over a dulcimer, have helped to swell the numbers – while figures such as Sir Paul McCartney had given their support.
The instruments are now being given an overhaul by volunteer repairers after being gathered at a warehouse in west London and will be passed on to primary schools across the UK.
Podgy squaddies raise alarm
More than 25,000 British military personnel have been diagnosed as obese during the past four years, The Sunday Times reported.
Health campaigners described the new figures as “staggering” and questioned how overweight soldiers, sailors and airmen could perform front-line duties.
The newspaper said the problem is so serious in the army that officers have established an “obesity working group” of experts who will look at how to boost fitness and improve soldiers’ knowledge of healthy eating.
Lingerie thief strikes in Alaska
An underwear bandit is actively stealing women’s lingerie in Kodiak, Alaska.
State troopers said there has been a rash of burglaries reported lately. People have returned to their homes to find items – mostly women’s underwear – missing.
Hannah Clark said she began noticing items had been moved around in her home when she returned from fishing trips last summer but she did not connect those incidents to her missing underwear until she heard the news this week. She said she cannot believe “there’s an actual underwear bandit”.
Boy, 4, trapped up tree after dare
A four-year-old Alabama boy who climbed up a tree on a dare from his big brother had to be rescued after he got stuck for about two hours.
His grandmother said the boy and two of his brothers were playing outside when she went to see him and found him about 50ft up the tree.
One boy stayed on the ground and she said she was able to coax another boy out of the tree, but the four-year-old was stuck. She called firefighters but they could not reach him, so a specialist tree crew had to rescue the boy.
Dog search costs woman $35,000
A US woman has spent more than $35,000 in the past year trying to find her beloved missing dog.
Thirty-nine-year-old Janet Mihalyfi has hired psychics and private investigators, posted thousands of fliers, installed cameras in the woods and put out dog food at spots where the Rottweiler mix has reportedly been spotted.
The District of Columbia resident lost five-year-old Havoc on November 9, 2013 after she let him and her other dog off their leads during a run in a wooded area. Just then, a deer bolted by and both dogs gave chase. She has not seen Havoc since.