Mum's bid to be world's fattest

A US mother of two is waging a campaign to become the world's heaviest living woman.

Donna Simpson, 42, from New Jersey, weighs more than 42 stone and aims to reach 71 stone - or 1,000lbs, reports the Daily Telegraph.

She has her own website which gives fans the chance to pay to watch her eat greasy food or walk to the car.

"The bigger your butt is, the bigger belly you have, the sexier you are," she said.

Miss Simpson spends as much as £516 a week on groceries, suffers from diabetes and struggles with basic tasks such as cooking and taking a shower.

But she dismisses critics who warn that her weight can lead to health problems: "I'm very healthy. I go to the doctor every three months," she said.

Miss Simpson has found a man who says he appreciates her size, and they plan to marry in Hawaii this year.

Her fiance, Philippe Gouamba, 49, the father of her three-year-old daughter, says he finds her attractive and is one of her biggest supporters.

"You look at her curves and see her full belly and generous hips," he said. "It's very sexy."

A Guinness World Records spokesman said Miss Simpson has submitted a claim for the title of world's heaviest woman to give birth, a claim that is being reviewed.

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Students set Coke fountain record

Students in China have set a new world record for the number of fountains created by dropping mint sweets inside bottles of Coca Cola.

A total of 2,175 students at Changchun University, in northeast China's Jilin province, simultaneously created geysers, reports New Culture Daily.

They wore plastic coats to stay dry during the spectacular stunt, which was recognised by Guinness, on the university's basketball court.

On a sunny day, the students dropped skewers of sweets into bottles of Coke after a countdown was broadcast through loudspeakers.

Zhang Bofa, vice dean of the university's tourism school, said a lot of preparation went into the successful record bid.

"We tested two ways of putting in the mint candies. One was to drop them through paper pipes and the other was to use skewers. After numerous tests, we chose the latter," he said .

"We ordered 2,450 packs of sweets from a local supermarket, and the day before the event, we had to unwrap them all, put them on skewers and then wrap them again to stop them melting in the heat."

Dropping Mentos mint sweets in bottles of Coca Cola causes a harmless chemical reaction which can create a 25ft high geyser.

The previous record was 1,911 simultaneous fountains set by students of the School of Business Administration in Turiba, Latvia, in 2008.

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New mum sells breast milk online

A Devon mother produced so much breast milk that she decided to bottle it up and sell it online.

Toni Ebdon, 26, of Exeter, has 10 regular customers who she charges £15 for 4oz of breast milk, reports the Daily Mail.

The single mum gave birth earlier this year to a boy, David, but found she was producing more than enough milk for him.

So she decided to use the internet as a way of making sure the breast milk didn't go to waste, as well as earning a bit of money.

But Ms Ebdon said her customers were using the milk for its healing properties.

"I was expecting women who couldn't breast feed to get in touch but instead all the responses were from men," she said.

"I tend not to ask too many questions or pry into people's private lives. All communication prior to the sale is done via email and I meet the customer in person to hand over the milk.

"I haven't made loads of money but there's plenty more milk to come and I intend to carry on selling it until it dries up."

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Armless woman is top embroiderer!

A women born with no arms in China is said to be the best embroiderer in her village.

Ren Jiemei, 65, is so skilled with her feet that she can always thread a needle at the first attempt, reports Qilu Evening Post.

Her embroidering skills are so perfect that able-bodied villagers say can't compete with her in terms of speed or quality.

"I was born without arms. So from childhood, I swore to myself that I'd use my feet to do everything," she said.

Ren, of Haiyang, Shandong province, has learnt to use her feet to eat, wash, comb her hair, draw pictures and cut paper.

In her school days, she used her mouth to turn the pages, and wrote with her feet. Despite her handicap, she often topped the class.

In April 2009, Ren was invited to give speeches to Sichuan Earthquake survivors on how to cope with disability.

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Builder's amazing escape from mixer

A construction worker had an amazing escape in China after he fell into a working concrete mixer.

Xu, 20, was pouring cement into the mixer, in Huangshi, Hubei province, when the bag got caught on a blade, dragging him into the machine.

Luckily, a workmate heard his screams and ran to turn off the mixer before it ground Xu to a pulp, reports the Chutian Metropolis News.

But he was stuck fast and firefighters had to be called out with hydraualic cutting equipment to free him.

"Only his head was outside the blender. His whole body was unmovable," said one firefighter.

"I wouldn't like to even imagine what would have happened to him if his co-worker had been even a few seconds slower in turning off the power."

Eventually, rescuers managed to cut open the machine from both ends and pull out Xu from the blender.

Xu was taken to hospital where doctors treated him for a broken leg and hurt knee but said he would make a full recovery.

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Girl, 3, smokes and drinks after accident

The parents of a three-year-old girl say she has been smoking and drinking like an adult ever since she was in a road accident.

Ya Wen lives in a shelter with her parents who collect and sell garbage for money in Huizhou in southern China's Fujian province.

Her mother, Gao, says Ya Wen is now addicted to cigarettes and will also down glasses of beer whenever she gets the chance.

Gao said her daughter's personality changed when she was knocked down by a speeding van last year, reports the Yangcheng Evening Post.

"The first time I found her smoking was in the toilet," said Gao. "Before that I often saw cigarette butts in the toilet but thought they were my husband's until I saw my daughter smoking there."

The family had tried to stop her smoking but she kept stealing them from her husband and buying them on credit from a neighbouring store.

The store owner confirmed that Ya Wen often came over and took one or two packs away: "We didn't ask, thinking she was buying for her father," he explained.

Ya Wen's father has now stopped smoking to set a better example for his daughter and the family have moved to the other side of the city.

But Gao said the little girl still cried for cigarettes whenever she saw them: "She also likes drinking. Three glasses of beer is no problem to her," she added.

Doctors in Huizhou Central People's Hospital believe head injuries suffered by Ya Wen in her accident may be to blame for her actions.

"Another possibility is that she is just imitating adults," added one doctor.

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Wellie power to charge phones

A special pair of Wellington boots will do more than keep your feet dry at this year's festivals - they'll charge your mobile phone too.

Orange Power Wellies use a unique 'power generating sole' that converts heat from your feet into an electrical current.

Being launched at Glastonbury, by Orange in collaboration with renewable energy experts GotWind, the boots will charge a mobile phone for one hour after 12 hours walking.

After a full days festival frolics you plug your phone into the power output at the top of the welly and use the energy that has been generated throughout the day to charge your phone.

You can also boost the length of time you can charge your phone for by getting energetic in the dance tent, because the hotter your feet get, the more energy you produce.

The power collected in the 'power generating sole' is collected via a process known as the 'Seebeck' effect, in which heat from the foot and cold from the ground effect thermoelectric modules to generate electricity.

Andrew Pearcey of Orange UK says: "Orange remain committed to researching exciting new energy sources that can be used on site to ensure people can stay in touch with their nearest and dearest.

"The Orange Power Wellies use clean and renewable energy to create valuable electricity ensuring festival goers can text and phone their mates for the duration of the weekend."

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World's biggest beach towel

Don't tell the Germans, but the world's largest towel has just been created covering a whopping 2,240 square metres of beach.

A team of 25 spent 15 days making the towel and more than 50 people were needed to roll it out on the beach near Las Palmas on Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands.

More than 1,000 people registered to spend the day on the towel and Guinness World Records officials ruled it had topped the previous record set in Cyprus two years ago.

"You could leave this over every sun lounger on the whole beach and then take your pick," said one helper.

Another Guinness World Record bid was made in Sydney at the weekend when cafe owner Joe El-Ajouz created the world's biggest commerical burger.

The 15 stone burger took 24 hours to cook and was made of 81kg of mince, 120 eggs, 16 tomatoes, 120 cheese slices, 2kg of lettuce, 21kg of bread and half a kilo of barbecue sauce.

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Elephant causes traffic jam

An elephant brought commuter traffic to a halt when she went for a stroll through a Swiss city centre.

Sabu the elephant escaped from her circus home when she broke free while being loaded into her trailer.

The four tonne animal then went for a dip in Lake Zurich, before walking into the nearby city centre.

Startled motorists gave Sabu, 26, a wide berth as she strolled across Zurich's six lane one way system.

She was eventually recaptured by animal welfare experts and keepers from her home at the Circus Knie after two hours on the loose.

Circus spokesman Nik Leuenberger, 36, said: "Sabu took a bath in Lake Zurich. We are relieved that nothing happened. She didn't mean any harm."

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Only one Wayne Rooney?

Pub workers across the country have officially changed their names to Wayne Rooney to show their support for England's World Cup bid.

Staff working in pubs across England, which belong to the Clover Taverns chain, changed their names by deed poll.

One of the pubs taking part is The Wheatsheaf in Peterborough where 10 members of staff now answer to the name Wayne.

Landlord Steve Watson maintained his status as boss - by changing his name to that of England's manager Fabio Capello.

As well as having changed their names, the entire staff will also be wearing cut-out masks of their football hero as they serve customers.

Fabio, aka Steve, commented: "Rooney is the talisman and the one all the fans are looking to bring the trophy home, so he was the obvious choice among the staff."

Clover Taverns Managing Director Andy Wilkinson, said: "Our staff wanted to do something special for the World Cup to get our punters, and the community, excited and embroiled in the team's campaign.

"I think this is a good-spirited way to do it and will certainly get the banter flowing. And if the team come back with the World Cup hopefully both manager and player will pay homage to their efforts by popping in for a drink served by their namesake!"

But one Wayne Rooney, aka barmaid Kerry Higgins, said: "My boyfriend isn't too happy with the name change. He says he's sleeping on the couch until I get it changed back as he's a devoted Liverpool fan!"

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