Nearly 5,000 Thais have set a world record for the most people dancing with hula hoops simultaneously in one place.

Guinness World Records said that 4,483 people had swung the hoops to dance music for seven minutes without interruption.

Around 500 contestants dropped out of the challenge after they failed to keep their hoops up. (PA)

Valentine chocolate head

Chocolate hearts for loved ones on Valentine’s Day are so last year – at least in Japan where one Tokyo design firm offered up its 3D scanner to make miniature chocolate replicas of faces.

In a one-off celebration for Valentine’s Day, KS Design Lab invited people to be scanned with its 3D body scanner to create silicon moulds in the shape of their heads. Participants then poured chocolate into them to make mini-me treats on a stick.

“I didn’t actually think it would turn out to look this much like me, so I’m a bit surprised,” said Mariya Kawae, 30, who planned to give out heads to her husband and work mates. (Reuters)

Trump trumped over bet

A comedian, a millionaire and an orangutan. It may sound like the beginning of a screwball joke, but Donald Trump isn’t laughing.

The famously outspoken real estate magnate has sued famously outspoken television host Bill Maher, demanding the $5 million Maher offered to give to charity if Trump could prove his father is not an orangutan.

But legal experts say Trump is unlikely to get a dime from Maher, the host of the HBO series Real Time With Bill Maher, because his offer was clearly made in jest.

“It’s parody,” said Bryan Sullivan, a Los Angeles entertainment lawyer. “You know Bill Maher is a comedian and a satirist. The offer is so ridiculous.” (Reuters)

Mannequin false alarm

Paramedics and an air ambulance raced to the scene of an emergency – only to find a mannequin left in a parked car.

Crews from the East of England Ambulance Service were alerted to reports of a person unconscious and not breathing in a locked car. The vehicle was covered in snow and ice, leading to concerns the occupant may have been suffering from exposure to the cold.

But when they arrived at Milton Road in Harwich, Essex, paramedics quickly realised the mistake and emergency services were stood down. The mannequin had been sat upright in the rear seat, fully dressed and with a blanket wrapped around it. (PA)

Waiting for the afterlife

Human remains discovered at a stately home are believed to be those of the man that built it, who ordered that he be buried in his best clothes with his pipe as he waited for the afterlife.

An excavation of a mausoleum in the grounds of Pentillie Castle in Cornwall uncovered the body of Sir James Tillie, who died in 1713.

Sir James, who built the home in 1698, left instructions that on his deathbed he should not be buried. His servants are believed to have brought him wine for two years until, unable to bear their macabre orders any longer, they had his remains interred and a marble statue built in his place. (PA)