Scientists have discovered the world’s deepest fish during research in the depths of the Pacific.

They captured video footage of a type of snailfish at depths of 8,145 metres (26,700ft) – the greatest depth a fish has ever been observed.

They also discovered several new species on the trip to the Mariana Trench in the Pacific, as well as the first footage of the mysterious “supergiant” amphipod filmed alive.

White Christmas in UK ‘unlikely’

A white Christmas across the UK is looking unlikely for now, but severe weather warnings are in place over the weekend.

Met Office meteorologist Mark Wilson said that while any snow that falls will be “restricted to high ground in the north”, he added: “It’s still six days away so it could change.”

The Met Office currently has severe weather warnings in place through to today, warning of snow, ice, rain and wind.

Health quangos splashing out

Three health quangos expect to spend more than £7,400 of taxpayers’ cash on Christmas parties, official figures show.

Labour MP Steve Rotheram challenged Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt to reveal planned spending on Christmas cards, postage, parties, decorations and trees in 2014 by his department and its agencies and non-departmental public bodies.

Regulator Monitor’s £4,695.50 earmarked for parties was the highest among the figures provided by Health Minister Dan Poulter.

Coffee surprise for Berlin business

A Berlin coffee business found stimulants it didn’t expect in a shipment of unroasted coffee from Brazil: 33 kilos (nearly 73 pounds) of cocaine.

Police in the German capital said employees at the coffee-roasting business found the bag full of the drug the previous day when they opened a newly-arrived container of coffee. They contacted authorities.

The delivery was shipped from Brazil to the German North Sea port of Bremerhaven on its way to Berlin. Police said in a statement they are investigating who was responsible and how the drugs ended up at the coffee business.

Golden giveaway in Kansas City

A generous donor has dropped a gold tooth into a Christmas collection bucket in Kansas City, the Salvation Army announced.

Spokesman Rick Carroll said he has found diamond rings, silver bars and four-leaf clovers but has never heard of a tooth donation. He said the item could be worth 100 dollars (£64), depending on the amount of gold it contains.

Kansas City’s Red Kettle Campaign began on November 7 and is running about 50,000 dollars (£32,000) behind where it was a year ago.

Mr Carroll said he at first considered the donation to be “gross”, but now thinks it was a nice gesture. He said he was worried that the donation might have been unintentional, adding he is temporarily hanging on to the tooth in case someone claims it.

Trees and wreaths stolen at farm

The owner of a Maine Christmas tree farm says customers are taking advantage of his business’s honour system by stealing trees and wreaths.

Todd Murphy, of Trees to Please in Norridgewock, Maine, says about 2,000 dollars (£1,300) worth of merchandise has been stolen this season, including about a dozen trees worth 400 dollars (£256) last weekend.

Mr Murphy told the Kennebec Journal hundreds of people visit the farm each weekend in the weeks leading up to Christmas, and sometimes they don’t pay. If people continue to steal, he said he will have no option but to raise prices. He has notified police about the latest theft.