Rescuers save rat stuck in German manhole cover

A rat that got stuck while trying to squeeze out of a manhole cover has been saved by rescuers in Germany. Firefighters and animal rescuers attended the scene after the chubby rodent was spotted in distress in Hochdorf-Assenheim. A volunteer told Sky News that, once liberated, the rat looked back as if to say “thanks, and yes, I need to go on a diet”.

Patient takes cigarette break with axe in his back

A hospital patient has been filmed casually strolling out of hospital for a cigarette with an axe in his back. The man left the Russian hospital dressed in just his underpants to brave temperatures of -10C. He backed down and agreed to return to his bed when he was told “you are about to die”.

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Welsh detective could lose job for breaking wind

A detective in Wales is facing the sack after breaking wind outside her sergeant’s office, repeatedly swearing and asking a colleague for thrush cream. DC Claire Fitzpatrick, 44, insists her behaviour is merely part of a “culture of banter” at her village police station in Bedwas, south Wales. She adds that when she farted, she would “use a silly voice to say: ‘Rather out than in’.”