QUIRKY WORLD ... Kate to embrace turning 40 with a bikini birthday

BRITAIN: Hollywood star Kate Winslet has revealed that she will be celebrating her 40th birthday in an unusual fashion — by spending the day in a bikini.

The Oscar-winning actress turns 40 in October.

Winslet told ITV show Lorraine: “I’m very excited about it actually, I have to say.

“I think the last couple of years I’ve done a lot, had the baby. Creatively it’s been just a really interesting, diverse, and sort of fulfilling time for me so I kind of feel like when I get to that 40th birthday I will have earned it.”

The Insurgent actress, who lives with her husband Ned Rocknroll in the South Downs, added: “I have this strange notion that I’m going to spend the day in a bikini.

“I don’t know why I sort of decided that but I just want to feel great and vital, and all the things I do actually feel and so I’m looking forward to it.”

Winslet wed Rocknroll following the end of previous marriages to Jim Threapleton and Sam Mendes. Their son, Bear Blaze Winslet, was born in December 2013.

Winslet later revealed that he was given the middle name because she and her Virgin Galactic executive husband met on Richard Branson’s private island, before a fire destroyed the tycoon’s luxury estate.

Cover up

USA:

A 77-year-old man charged with lewdness after sunbathing nude in his back yard has agreed to a plea deal that keeps his record clean as long as he wears a swimming costume.

Myron Lee Kipp pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges in Farmington, Utah, but the pleas will not be recorded if Kipp stays covered for the next year.

Lawyer Bill Albright said Kipp has been taking in the sun nude for 30 years, and it was not a problem until new neighbours moved in.

Last year, police said children could see the nude Kipp from the car park of a church behind his house.

Kipp appeared in court and said he was ready to put the case behind him.

Medal haul

BRITAIN:

Items, including medals, belonging to the late war veteran Bernard Jordan — who made news with a cross-Channel dash to last year’s 70th anniversary D-Day events — have sold at auction for £1,650 (€2,278.50).

The collection was bought by military collector Andrew Butler, from Kent, who will put it on display in his shop in Normandy.

Mr Jordan died aged 90 on December 30, six months after being nicknamed the Great Escaper for slipping out of his care home and travelling to Normandy for the D-Day commemorations. His medals, including a 1939-1945 Star, an Atlantic star and an Italy star, sold at Wallis and Wallis auctioneers in Lewes, East Sussex.

Scarecrow village

JAPAN:

Tsukimi Ayano made her first scarecrow 13 years ago to frighten off birds pecking at seeds in her garden. The life-size straw doll resembled her father, so she made more. And then couldn’t stop.

Today, the tiny village of Nagoro in southern Japan is teeming with Ayano’s hand-sewn creations. Scarecrows pose in houses, fields, trees, streets, and at a crowded bus stop— where they wait for a bus that never comes.

“In this village, there are only 35 people,” said Ayano. “But there are 150 scarecrows, so it’s multiple times more.”

Nagoro has been hit hard by inhabitants flocking to cities for work. At 65, Ayano is among the youngest residents. The village school was shut in 2012 after its two pupils graduated.

However, the building is now occupied by Ayano’s scarecrows: students at their desks and in corridors, a teacher by the blackboard, while a principal looks on.

Tourists have started to come to view the creations.