Five things you might have missed last week

1. Thumbs down

A circus ringmaster had his thumb devoured by a crocodile while attempting to demonstrate that they were "not man-eaters". Daniel Renz, on tour with the Renz Universal Circus in France, deftly incorporated the misfortune into his act, to wild applause.

2. Pigs in space

The European Space Agency has enlisted France's finest chefs to create haute cuisine fit for space. Quails in Madeira wine, carrots in orange and coriander, and semolina cake with apricots are now on the menu for astronauts.

3. Heil Santa

A German retail chain has discontinued a line of wooden Santas after customers complained that they were lifting their arms in a Nazi salute. "He's just pointing at the sky," said a spokesman.

4. Unlucky for some

An Arizona grandmother turned to drug running to finance her bingo habit. Leticia Villareal Garcia was caught driving with a car boot full of marijuana.

5. The Queen's New English

The Queen is heading downmarket, says the phonetics professor Jonathan Harrington. He has discerned a definite slackening in the royal tongue. "'That man in the black hat' has replaced 'Thet men in the bleck het'," says Harrington.

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