A man is lucky to be alive, doctors said, after he accidentally impaled himself on pruning shears.

University Medical Centre said yesterday that Leroy Luetscher, 86, of Green Valley, Arizona, was working in his garden on July 30 when he dropped a pair of pruning shears, which landed point-side down in the ground.

When Mr Luetscher went to pick them up, he lost his balance and fell face down on the handle. The handle penetrated his eye socket and went down into his neck, resting on the external carotid artery. Half the shears were left in his head, while the other half was sticking out.

Mr Luetscher was taken to the hospital, where surgeons removed the shears and rebuilt his orbital floor with metal mesh, saving his eye. Doctors say Mr Luetscher still has slight swelling in his eyelids and minor double vision but has otherwise recovered. (AP)

Twin Towers replica

A replica of the Twin Towers destroyed in the September 11 attacks will be built on a square opposite the Eiffel Tower in Paris to mark the tenth anniversary of the atrocity, organisers said yesterday.

The Eiffel Tower itself will be illuminated by a special light show later the same day, “The French will never forget” group that is hosting a series of events next month said.

US ambassador to Paris Charles Rivkin will inaugurate the replica that will be constructed on Trocadero square, it said, adding that the 25-metre towers will bear the names of the people killed in the attacks. Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the 2001 attacks, 2,753 at the World Trade Center and the others in attacks on the Pentagon and in a hijacked plane that crashed in Pennsylvania. (AFP)

Air collision

Lithuanian and French Nato military jets collided yesterday in mid-air during a routine exercise patrol over the Baltic state but all three pilots escaped unscathed.

“An L-39 Lithuanian military plane collided with a French Mirage jet in the air. The two Lithuanian pilots ejected successfully and were found uninjured,” Ieva Gulbiniene, the assistant commander at the Siauliai air base where a Nato air mission is policing the Baltic, said.

“The French military plane landed successfully,” she said, adding “the Lithuanian plane has been located.” (AFP)

Blasted bees!

A man enraged after his friend was stung dumped petrol on a beehive and set fire to it – causing an explosion heard throughout his Washington state neighbourhood.

Lynden fire chief Gary Baar told the Bellingham Herald that the night-time fire just a few miles south of the Canadian border caused a large “whoosh”, singed the tree and killed the bees, but no people were hurt.

Mr Baar says the man’s friend had been stung earlier in the day.

The fire chief said: “The correct way to do that is to call a beekeeper.”

Firefighters explained that to the homeowner, and the newspaper says it did not appear that that the man would be prosecuted. (AP)

Hedge-hogged

A wild hedgehog was rescued after he was found at loggerheads with nature. A passer-by brought the troubled animal to a vets in Nottingham in the UK, where it took 45 minutes to cut him free from a log.

Vets aided his escape with hammers and chisels, while a table spoon was used to protect the spiky adventurer’s head.

He made a full recovery and was released back to the area where he was found after being kept overnight at the Vets Now Nottingham clinic. (PA)

Marabou chick

It has the looks only a mother could love but keepers at a UK zoo are overjoyed at the progress made by only the second marabou stork to be hatched in the country. Described as the “world’s ugliest bird”, the chick has a bald, pink, scabby head, huge bill and a taste for carrion.

Some people may find the marabou stork hard to love, but the impressive bird can stand up to 4ft 11in tall, have a wingspan approaching 9ft 6in and weigh up to 1st 5lb, making it one of the largest flying birds in the world.

It is the first time a marabou stork has been hatched at Paignton Zoo, Devon, and only the second time the species has bred in the UK. The other chick was hatched at a zoo in the Midlands. The marabou stork is normally found on the grassy plains and water margins of Africa where it can sometimes been seen flying with vultures to seek carcasses. (PA)