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Vietnam plans biggest jade Buddha

HAI DUONG, Vietnam, Jan. 19 (UPI) -- A Vietnamese jewelry company said a team of 50 artisans will be employed to turn a 35-ton block into the world's largest jade statue of Buddha.

Than Chau Ngoc Viet Gemstone and Jewelry Co. held a ceremony Monday to kick off the project, with guests including Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet and Thich Pho Tue, the patriarch of the Vietnamese Buddhist Sangha, Bernama reported.

The Voice of Vietnam said the statue is planned to measure 9.8 feet tall and the company plans to submit the finished product as a Guinness World Record.

Triet expressed enthusiasm for the project during Monday's ceremony and thanked the family of Dao Trong Cuong, former owner of Than Chau Ngoc Viet, for purchasing the block of jade from Myanmar.

The statue is scheduled for completion in two years, officials said.

Briton sets soccer long throw-in record

HALIFAX, England, Jan. 19 (UPI) -- A British gym teacher said he set a Guinness World Record for longest soccer throw-in by tossing the ball 163.32 feet, half the length of a soccer field.

Danny Brooks, 28, of Halifax, England, said he developed a special throw using flips learned from his gymnastics training to launch the ball into the record books in December, The Sun reported.

"I used to be a gymnast and realized I could do a flip while holding the ball," he said. "Just like a shot putter or discus thrower, I thought that if I could get the angles and timings right I could beat the record."

Brooks said Guinness contacted him a few days ago to confirm the record.

"I had to send them an evidence pack with film, photos and three statements, including one from a referee to say that I had done it," he said.

The previous record, 158.04 feet, was set in 1998 by Michael Lochner of Ohio.

Mannequin billboard sparks 911 calls

BRIDGEPORT, Conn., Jan. 19 (UPI) -- Connecticut police said a car dealer's 2-month-old billboard with a life-sized mannequin is prompting calls from confused motorists who think the man is real.

Dispatchers at the Connecticut State Police Troop G barracks said the billboard, at the side of Interstate 95 northbound exit 26 in Bridgeport, has been the subject of occasional calls during the past few months from motorists concerned the mannequin is a real man contemplating jumping, The (Bridgeport) Connecticut Post, reported.

The dispatchers said they explain to the callers that the mannequin, which is dressed in pajamas and holding a teddy bear, is part of the advertisement for BMW of Bridgeport.

Tim Coughlin, the dealership's general sales manager, said the advertisement promoted the business' "overnight test-drive" offer.

"For whatever reason, it's working because people are looking at it," Coughlin said. "It has become distinctive and sort of like a signature."

Police seek Kiss tribute band's equipment

LOUISVILLE, Ky., Jan. 19 (UPI) -- Police in Kentucky said thousands of dollars worth of equipment stolen from the Kiss Army, a popular KISS tribute act, remains missing despite suspect arrests.

Investigators said a trailer containing equipment including a $6,000 drum kit, a guitar, an Ampeg bass cabinet and a custom "Kiss Army" sign was taken from the band and two men were arrested after trying to sell some of the goods second hand at a Music-Go-Round store, WKLY-TV, Louisville, Ky., reported.

Detectives said the arrests of Christopher Goff and Austin Becker led them to arrest alleged accomplices Joe Morel and James Riggs.

"They didn't get any cooperation whatsoever out of them trying to locate the property," Detective Steve Fisher said of investigators.