Quirky World... Mandela had soft spot for Winehouse

BROWN REVEALS AMY-MANDELA JAIL JOKE

The ex-Labour leader said the pair met at former South African president Mr Mandela’s 90th birthday party, at which Rehab singer Winehouse made a joke comparing the anti-apartheid campaigner to her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil.

In an interview with the Guardian’s G2 magazine, Brown said of Mandela: “The person he most liked was Amy Winehouse.

“She said to him: ‘You and my husband have a lot in common’.” He said: ‘Oh, what is that?’ “She said, ‘You’ve both spent a long time in prison’.”

Mandela was held in the highest esteem across the world for leading South Africa’s transition from white-minority rule in the 1990s after 27 years in jail. He became the country’s first black president and died last year at 95.

Fielder-Civil, a video producer, was 26 when he was sentenced to 27 months in jail back in 2008 after admitting grievous bodily harm and perverting the course of justice in a £200,000 (€253,000) trial-fixing plot aimed at trying to save him from prison.

He and Winehouse were married in 2007 but divorced two years later after a troubled on-off relationship.

LAUNDRY LOVE PROJECT

USA: Over the long months Victoria Mitchell lived in her car with her baby daughter, there was one bright spot in her life: Doing laundry.

Every month, she travelled to a local laundromat in southern California to take advantage of Laundry Love, a growing faith-driven movement that helps people in need by washing their dirty clothes free of charge.

Volunteers befriend patrons and often find ways to help that go beyond free soap and quarters. Experts say Laundry Love has flourished because it is a simple way to give something necessary to people who do not have the means to do it themselves.

TREE-MENDOUS

ENGLAND: The man who helped researchers gain access to the highest canopy of the Amazon rainforest has created the UK’s first treetop trampoline adventure park.

With bridges, slides, giant trampolines, walkways and tunnels, Treetop Nets allows daredevils to explore the trees while up to 10m off the ground. The aerial attraction, set in the beautiful oak woodland of Brockhole near Windermere in Cumbria, is the 16th net adventure park to open in the world, The Daily Mail reports.

The course, which spans over 1,200 square metres, is made of ropes and nets traditionally used in sailing. Participants are surrounded by 3m-high walls of netting and do not require a harness.

Treetop Net was constructed by Cedric Chauvaud, one of the world’s best sailor and rope experts, and his team of seven ex-fishermen and sailors.

CLOCKS STOP

USA: Watching an action movie is worse for your waistline than tuning into a talk show, research has shown.

A study found that viewing choice has a direct effect on the amount of snacks people consume.

Volunteers gobbled twice as much while glued to a fast-paced action thriller than when they were entertained by celebrities being interviewed.

Lead researcher Aner Tal, from Cornell University in the US, said: “We find that if you’re watching an action movie while snacking your mouth will see more action too.

“In other words, the more distracting the programme is, the more you will eat.”

The 94 students taking part in the study were allowed to snack on M&M sweets, biscuits, carrots and grapes while watching TV for 20 minutes.

SEA DOG RESCUE

ENGLAND: A springer spaniel has been reunited with his owners — after spending more than a week lost at sea.

Sprig was rescued after an RNLI crew spotted the dog trapped on a rocky ledge at the foot of the highest sea cliffs in England.

The nine-year-old had disappeared during a walk with his owners, Mark and Susie Sanders, at Foreland Point in north Devon on August 22.

ALLIGATOR ACCOLADE

USA: A gigantic alligator caught by a family in Alabama earlier this month has set a Safari Club International world record.

A pair of master measurers from

Safari Club International examined the 450kg alligator, determining a total length of 4.8m. That is 33cm longer than the organisation’s previous world record American alligator, which had been killed in Texas.

The Alabama alligator was caught by the Stokes family after battling with it for more than five hours. It was hooked in a creek about 130km west of Montgomery, Alabama.