Camera-head professor must put a lid on it during classes

A professor of photography is preparing to have a camera implanted into the back of his head for a new art exhibition.

Wafaa Bilal, an Iraqi teaching at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, will undergo surgery that will fix the thumbnail-size camera in his skull using a metal spike.

He intends to transmit images from his daily life to Mathaf, the new Arab Museum of Modern Art in Qatar for work called The Third I.

Bilal has previously tattooed dots on his back representing casualties in the Iraq War.

He will be forced to put a lens cap on the camera when working with students, however, because university authorities say this would otherwise violate their privacy.

My life is brilliant

The singer James Blunt has revealed how he prevented World War III from breaking out.

Blunt, best known for his worldwide hit You're Beautiful, was serving as a cavalry officer with the British army in Kosovo at the time.

Risking a court martial, he defied an order from a US commander to take back an airfield that had been occupied by Russian troops, using force if needed.

Blunt described the situation as "mad", adding: "We had 200 Russians lined up pointing their weapons at us aggressively."

Rudolph? Aisle six

A supermarket chain has been accused of "destroying the magic of Christmas" by selling reindeer meat.

Lidl, the German retailer, is selling frozen steaks under its "Deluxe" label.

Animal rights campaigners say that Siberian reindeer are often killed under cruel circumstances, with hunters rounding them up using snowmobiles and even helicopters.

A Lidl spokesman insisted, however, that all its meat came from reindeer fed on "local aromatic herbs and grass".

Who needs a brain?

A new vending machine in Japan will offer drinks based on the customer's age and gender.

If a woman in her 20s puts in money, she will get sweet tea, based on preferences determined by market research.

An older man is more likely to be offered a coffee.

The machines, the first of which has already been installed at central Tokyo station, use sensors to identify approaching customers. There could be up to 500 more by 2012.

Future refinements will also alter the selection based on the weather, season and time of day.

Okay, they need a brain

A football club in Scotland has been forced to apologise after it printed a photograph of Nazi troops on the cover of a commemorative programme to honour fallen British soldiers.

Club officials at Airdrie United mistakenly believed that the Stormtroopers were Australian soldiers and used the image on Remembrance Day.

In fact the image showed smiling German soldiers on a train returning from battle. One supporter said: "A resignation and unreserved apology is required, not 'we thought they were Australian'."

Putin puppy needs pet name

Vladimir Putin is asking the people of Russia to help name his new puppy. The prime minister of Russia was given the Bulgarian shepherd dog during a state visit to the country. A spokesman for Mr Putin said that names could be submitted via the internet and that the prime minister would read them all before making his final choice.