The traditional Rose Monday parade was held in the streets of Cologne, Germnay, yesterday.
Carnival goers mainly in the Rhine region traditionally celebrate the highlight procession on Rosenmontag (Rose Monday).
Among the floats was one featuring the FIFA as a prostitute. (AFP)
Rhino headache
An auctioneer is on the horns of a dilemma over the sale of a stuffed rhinoceros head worth at least £30,000 to Chinese herbalists.
Jim Railton, based in Alnwick, Northumberland, is worried that selling the 19th century head could put him on the wrong side of the law.
While wall-mounted trophies have fallen out of fashion in Britain, the demand for crushed rhino horn in Eastern medicine means even dusty antiques can fetch considerable sums.
Bungalow jackpot
Members of a National Lottery syndicate who won more than £4 million between them are treating themselves to a bungalow each.
The group – four of whom worked together at the Moy Park food-processing plant in Sleaford, Lincolnshire – scooped £4,197,764 in the February 5 Lotto draw.
Syndicate members Joe Burton and couple John and Chris Bell are thinking about purchasing a bungalow – and fellow jackpot winners Andrew and Christine Mowat have already bought one.
Dad preserves voice
A Motor Neurone Disease sufferer has turned to pioneering technology to preserve his voice for his young son in case he loses the power of speech.
Laurence Brewer, 43, from Bolton, is using voice software to “bank” 1,600 phrases and sentences so he can continue to read to his 13-month-old son Stan.
Mr Brewer, who works at Salford University, was diagnosed with the degenerative illness three years ago and told he may only have between two and five years to live.
Star Wars battle
The latest episode in a multimillion-pound copyright battle over Star Wars Stormtroopers is being played out at the highest court in the land.
Supreme Court justices are being asked to rule in a dispute relating to reproductions of the helmet design.
In legal proceedings so far the Star Wars empire’s attempt to strike back against British prop designer Andrew Ainsworth, one of the originators of the evil Stormtroopers, has been unsuccessful.
Bison duties
A US sheriff has found himself with more buffalo than people in his rural county after a judge ordered him to look after a herd of some 6,000 bison.
Sheriff Keith Gall in South Dakota is now spending up to 12 hours a day at the 35,000-acre bison ranch owned by Florida real estate tycoon Maurice Wilder.
The county has so far spent more than 50,000 dollars looking after the bisons, with the bill going to Mr Wilder.
Spanish slowdown
Spanish drivers are slowing down after the government cut the motorway speed limit to reduce energy use following the oil production chaos caused by the unrest in Libya.
The maximum limit was reduced from 120 to 110 kph, and government workers spent the weekend plastering thousands of old signs with stickers stating the new limit.
The fine for violating the new rule is €100 but drivers will not be penalised with points on their licences if they break it. (PA)