“A retired teacher has entered the record books after being recognized as the biggest collector of Santa Claus-themed memorabilia in the world. 74-year-old Jean-Guy Laquerre from Quebec, Canada, has accumulated an incredible 25,189 festive items from 33 countries over the past 22 years. His record-breaking collection, which is still growing in size, now take up most of his house, but it all started with a single Santa Claus statuette he was left by a dead relative. That inspired he to acquire more and more, but now Jean-Guy has a band of helpers who send him Santa Claus gifts from antique shops and garage sales… whether he wants them or not.” w/ photos

“At first glance it may appear just like a normal body scan – but something is very definitely off. These extraordinary images of drug mules show the packages of narcotics hidden inside their bodies in astonishingly clear detail. Computed tomography or CT scans are usually used by doctors to diagnose disease. But now the high-tech X-rays are being used as an increasingly effective weapon in the war against drugs. Mules often swallow carefully wrapped packages of drugs or stuff them in to body cavities to keep them hidden as they smuggle them through airport security and across borders. And when they are caught, the contraband shows up a lot more clearly on CT scans than they do on ordinary X-rays.” w/ photos

“No wonder Jerry Miller turns heads when he takes his family out for a spin in his Toyota for the passenger on the back seat is… his horse. It’s a bit of tight squeeze for Rascal but once the front seat has been pulled forward there’s just enough room for him to get comfortable. Rascal is billed as ‘the smartest horse in the world’ by his showman owner, who drives the 15-year-old miniature horse all over Kansas in his car from their base in Pomona Lake to show off the animal’s arsenal of 40 tricks. The pair became an internet sensation after a family filmed them driving along a Kansas highway with the Rascal’s head sticking out of the side window, his forelock blowing in the wind.” w/ photos

“These remarkable photos show one of the most bizarre sights in the natural world. A British photographer captured a particular type of squid which use jet propulsion to leap out of the sea and fly up to 65ft. The flying squid swim in shoals and leap from the surface of the water and are often mistaken for the more common flying fish. The squid actually fly looking backwards, with their tentacles dangling behind them and fins acting like wings, keeping them balanced in the air. Graham Ekins, 60, a retired deputy head teacher from Boreham, Essex, took the shots in the waters south of Japan. At first he thought the flying creatures were fish, but when he realised they were squid he got off a few snaps. They show the eight inch-long blue creatures – Todarodes pacificus in Latin – flying through the air after leaping to avoid predators. The bow wave from the boat made the squid believe they were being hunted and their instinctive mechanism is to leap out of the sea.” w/ photos

“It went missing for 62 years, but now Africa’s ‘terrible hairy fly’ has been discovered in remote caves in Kenya. The insect, which does not have fully-formed wings and so is unable to fly, is one of the rarest creatures in the world. Scientists first stumbled across the yellow-haired fly in 1933 and then again in 1948. Since then, at least half a dozen expeditions have visited a site between the towns of Thika and Garissa to find it again. At less than half-an-inch long and so far found on a single 65ft-high rock, the Mormotomyia hirsuta looks more like a spider with its hairy legs, scientists said. Partial to breeding in bat faeces, the fly is thought to live only in the dank, bat-filled cleft of an isolated rock in the Ukazi Hills.” w/ photos

“Barely an inch long from nose to tail, it’s hardly surprising that this tiny animal is rarely spotted. For this miniscule chameleon is so small that it can sit on a human thumbnail with room to spare. The miniature creature, from the Brookesia genus, was spotted on an expedition in Amber Mountain Park, Madagascar, by British wildlife photographer Will Burrard-Lucas. Mr Burrard-Lucas and his brother Matt had just settled down for lunch during when their eagle-eyed guide spotted the creature. The Brookesia chameleon was camouflaged in the leaf litter, but stayed still as they took a photograph. Mr Burrard-Lucas, 27, from London, said: ‘It was really amazing to see. It was so tiny it would have been absolutely impossible to find by ourselves, but fortunately our local guide Antonio knew where to look. ‘We were just having our lunch when he spotted it camouflaged under a pile of leaves. ‘They play dead when they sense danger, so we could pick it up very carefully and put it on the end of Matt’s thumbnail. ‘This one is a fully-grown adult, so you can imagine how small the babies are.’ Madagascar is famous for its tiny creatures, which have evolved that way because of the island’s unique ecosystem.” w/ photos

“A printing problem with the new high-tech $100 bills has forced government printers to shut down production – and to quarantine more than one billion of the notes. The flawed notes represent more than ten per cent of the U.S. currently on the entire planet. They are being stored in giant vaults at Fort Worth in Texas and in Washington, DC, as the Federal Reserve desperately tries to resolve the problem. Meanwhile printers have begun reprinting the old $100 notes – without the high-tech security features and still bearing the signature of George W Bush’s treasury secretary, Hank Paulson – in order to prevent a cash flow crisis. With the holiday shopping season in full swing, authorities are scrambling to do everything they can to keep U.S. cash flowing.” w/ photos

“A company which makes the world’s biggest knickers has been forced to make even larger underwear – for women who are a size 74 with 105in waistlines. The Big Bloomers Company was set up by mother and daughter Dianne and Laura Mannering earlier this year making underwear up to XXXXXXXXL for 400+ women. But they were inundated with calls from obese women around the world claiming they are too small. So the pair have developed their latest range – which are a staggering XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXL – to fit 500+ women who have a 8.75ft waistline and a dress size of 74. Women from New Zealand, France and Australia have already been clamouring for the items, which have been flying off the shelves since going on sale last week.” w/ photos

“How did the crocodile cross the lake? He hopped on the back of a hippo to get to the other side. It may sound like a joke but these amazing pictures from Tanzania capture a crazy croc doing just that. Caught in the middle of a hippopotamus fight, the reptile grabbed on to one of the powerful mammals’ backs. The three-ton beast was so distracted by the commotion around her that she had no idea a five-year-old predator was perched on top of her. British wildlife guide Mark Johnson took the incredible pictures while he was guiding tourists on a river safari on the Luwego River near Lukula. The female hippo made her way to shore but ended up with the scaly intruder on her back as she emerged from the water. Mr Johnson, who moved to Tanzania as a child, and his group watched in amazement as the croc clung on for half-a-minute before it slid into the water.” w/ photos

“It is the dream of millions of men to live in a house filled to the brim with beer cans. For Nick West, that dream is a reality, even if all the tins are empty. The Lloyds Bank worker, 51, has a collection of 6,788 British beer cans in his home in Clevedon, North Somerset. He even forked out $1,641 for one of the first cans produced in Britain, a half-pint of Felinfoel pale ale from a brewery in South Wales. His obsession stems back to Christmas 1975 when his future wife Deborah bought him a book about collecting beer cans when they were both 16. Mr West said: ‘Deborah sort of encouraged me and has regretted it ever since. She wasn’t very happy when we had to move house to find somewhere bigger for the collection.” w/ photos