Scores of people tried to cover themselves in glory at one of the world's dirtiest sporting events.
More than 200 runners took part in an annual mud race at Maldon, Essex, yesterday.
Racers must cross the mouth of the River Blackwater at low tide - a distance of about 500 metres.
Organisers say the "Maldon Mud Race" raises tens of thousands of pounds for charity every year. (PA)
Bomb detonated, 8,500 evacuated
German police evacuated 8,500 people for several hours yesterday so they could move an unexploded American World War Two bomb found near Bremen to a safe place for detonation.
Disposal experts detonated the 500 kilogram aerial bomb, found in a residential area in the town of Vechta, in a controlled explosion after attempts to defuse it failed.
"The bomb was discovered early this year through analysis of Belgian aerial images. It was brought to a detonation area and exploded, nobody was hurt," town spokesman Frank Kaethler said.
Unexploded bombs are often found in Germany, but it is rare for so many people to be evacuated. (Reuters)
Biting festive dip
Dozens of swimmers plunged into near-freezing waters yesterday morning to enjoy a biting festive dip.
The hearty bunch leapt into a lake before swimming a 100-metre course, with some even opting to forego wetsuits. Participants were later treated to a glass of warming mulled wine.
Reg Koster, 54, and his son Nick, 19, both from Thame in Oxfordshire, said the swim was "much worse" than they expected.
"It was also longer than you think it's going to be and colder than you think it's going to be," Mr Koster, who works in computer sales, added.
"On the way back the numbness set in and that was the hardest bit - the last 50 metres." Organisers at the Princess Club waterski and wakeboard facility in Bedfont, west London, estimated the water temperature to be around two degrees Celsius. (PA)
Bingo caller censored
A local councillor who calls the numbers at charity bingo sessions has stopped saying "two fat ladies 88" and "legs 11" because council officials fear that players might take offence and sue.
Pensioner John Sayers, who runs weekly games in the town hall in Sudbury, Suffolk, said no-one had complained about being offended - but players moaned that his numbers-only style was "boring".
Mr Sayers, 75, a member of Sudbury Town Council and former town mayor, said a council clerk advised him to cut the traditional comic calls in case the authority found itself in hot water. (PA)
All wrapped up for Christmas
A US man could be unwrapping the hundreds of Christmas gifts spread around his apartment for days or even weeks.
The problem is that they are not really presents but his own belongings meticulously wrapped by friends as a prank while he was out of town. Chicago man Louie Saunders's packages contain everything from sofa cushions to the beer in his refrigerator.
It took 16 people, 35 rolls of wrapping paper and eight hours to finish the job. (PA)
Nagging wife goes for 911
US authorities claim a woman has called 911 thirty times over six months for non-emergency reasons, including to complain that her husband refused to eat his dinner.
Police were sent to the house in Kerrville, Texas, and told "her husband did not want to eat his supper", they said.
The police report said the 53-year-old woman was also yelling "about things that happened two weeks ago".
The woman now faces charges of 911 abuse. (PA)
After hours for a good cause
An Italian toy store opened at 4 a.m. on Christmas morning to help a frantic mother whose gifts for her children had been stolen from a basement.
After putting her two toddlers to bed on Christmas Eve, the mother went down to the basement storage room of the apartment block in northern Italy where she had hidden them, only to find that they had been stolen.
Police found out about the theft while the mother was frantically making the rounds of all-night petrol stations looking for substitute gifts so her two daughters would have something under the tree when they woke up on Christmas morning.
The police then contacted the owner of a toy store in a small town near Turin, who opened his store at 4 a.m. (Reuters)