Family's flood of Joy

A newborn foal has become best friends with a family's cats and dogs after being rescued from floods.

Shetland foal Joy was found practically entombed in freezing cold mud in recent flooding in Victoria, Australia.

Rescuers dug her out and rushed her home where, in front of a roaring fire, she started to show signs of life.

Still less than two weeks old, Joy is now being cared for by Quest Equine Welfare president Rebecca Atkins at her home.

Her main playmates are two dogs, both taller and twice as heavy as she is, and she also loves snuggling up to cats Miffy and Willy for a snooze.

Ms Atkins said: "She needs a bottle of mare's milk formula every 40-45 minutes, then a 30-minute nap then play and prance time, and then we go through it all over again.

"It will be worth it if she survives because we can call her our greatest ever little miracle."

She is now virtually recovered from her ordeal, though her right eye is ulcerated as a result of her head being left packed in mud and it is unsure whether this will heal.

Man seeks world rope-sleeping record

A Chinese man who claims he can sleep on a rope tied between two trees is hoping to get into the Guinness Books of Records.

Gao Yang, 37, says it took him nearly a quarter of a century to master the skill but he can now sleep on the rope for seven hours.

Gao, of Anshan, northeastern China's Liaoning Province, says he practices on a 10ft high rope in his local park every morning.

He told NEN News: "I met a master when I was 12, and he taught me some tips. It took me nearly 24 years to acquire the skill.

"It's nearly impossible for ordinary people to do this. It needs the perfect coordination of body muscles and balancing skills.

"I am finally ready to contact Guinness in the coming days and am confident of being able to set a world record."

'The Cezanne of the simians'

A retired circus chimpanzee has become known as the "Cezanne of simians" after drawing crowds to watch him paint.

Jimmy, 26, has been producing paintings each day for three weeks at the Niteroi Zoo in Brazil.

And plans are now afoot for an exhibition of his works, reports the Daily Telegraph.

Roched Seba, the animal's trainer, said Jimmy had shown no interest in the toys and other diversions that chimpanzees typically enjoy.

In an effort to entertain the chimp, Mr Seba brought some paints to the enclosure three weeks ago - and Jimmy took to them straight away.

For at least 30 minutes a day, so long as he is not distracted by too many onlookers, Jimmy dips his brush into plastic paint containers and uses broad, bold strokes to create his art.

The chimp is not the first animal to wield a paintbrush. An African elephant called Brittany decorates canvases sold at the Milwaukee County Zoo's gift shop to raise revenue.

And three abstract paintings by a chimp named Congo in the 1950s sold for about £17,000 at a 2005 auction in London where works by Renoir and Warhol were unsold.

Dad makes Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

 A Hampshire man has spent three months turning a clapped-out 1976 Land Rover into a replica of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Stuart Wallis stripped the 34-year old wreck down to its chassis, engine and wheels before transforming it into his own version of the famous flying car.

Mr Wallis, 52, of Ringwood, took on the project after his eldest daughter, Lily, watched the classic film and challenged him to make a similar one.

After visiting Beaulieu Motor Museum to take photos and measurements of a separate replica, he set to work at his New Forest Metal Works business.

Stuart and a six strong team have worked over the past three months turning the Land Rover he paid £1,000 for into a copy of the world famous car.

Stuart said: "My kids have always enjoyed the film so I thought 'why not?'.

"The children all helped with the building of the car so they were all aware of how it was progressing but now it is finished I don't think they can quite believe it."

The vehicle features a 1,000 watt amplifier under the bonnet and loudspeakers so it can blast out hits from the film, as well as eight sets of air horns to create animal noises and police sirens.

In keeping with the film, it has red and yellow wings attached to the sides - although making the contraption fly for real was a step too far, even for Mr Wallis.

His children, Lily, 10, Tom, nine, and Zoe, seven, and their young neighbours Chloe and Elise Collins now love nothing better than a spin in the truly scrumptious machine.

The art of protest in Russia

 A modern art protest group is attracting attention in Russia - by overturning police cars.

The group - which calls itself Voina - overturned eight patrol cars in one night as a protest against what they say is widespread corruption in police ranks in St Petersburg.

Spokesman Alexei Plutser-Sarno, said on his blog: "The police won't pursue us. We have neither money nor property, so there's nothing to get from us.

"The werewolves in epaulettes don't work for no reason and for free."

Previous exhibitions have included staging an orgy in Moscow's Biological Museum and painting a 200ft high penis on a St. Petersburg drawbridge.

They once released thousands of cockroaches into a court room where two group members were facing trial over one exhibition.

Russian art expert David Riff, said: "The aim of art is to provoke and oppose, and Voina is the only group now which still performs these kinds of things."

High heels 'wasted on men'

Women who sacrifice comfort to wear high heels may be wasting their time because men don't even notice, according to a new study.

Experts at Northumbria University are studying the reactions of men to women walking with and without wearing high heels.

They say their research shows that men cannot even tell if a woman is wearing high heels when they walk, reports the Daily Telegraph.

It is part of a wider research project into attraction which examines the signals sent out by movement like walking and dancing.

The study, led by evolutionary psychologist Dr Nick Neave and researcher Kristofor McCarty, looked at women between 18 and 35 and what signals are sent out when the they walk with and without heels.

De Neave said: "Women are spending money on high heels, which can be dangerous, presumably to make themselves look good and add to what nature has given them."

The study is investigating if the change in body posture brought about by wearing heels, such as the illusion of longer legs, tilting torso and more prominent rear, sends a signal which has an impact on men.

Dr Neave said: "Everybody is attracted to somebody else and making relationships is very important to humans.

"Making key relationships and having children are some of the most important decisions people will make. But scientifically we know very little about this."

The study is also using 3D motion-capture technology to identify the movement areas of a male dancer's body that influence female perceptions of whether their dance skills are good or bad.