An eye on... minor sports

American football: Douglas O'Reilly, 23, a former cheerleader, has sued Marquette University in Milwaukee claiming that he fractured his back while lifting heavy female partners. They were "not your average tiny petite cheerleaders" he told the Chicago Sun-Times. The injury forced him to quit as a cheerleader.

Tug-of-war: Doctors in Taiwan reattached the arms of two Taiwanese men who had had the limbs ripped off during a tug-of-war contest held to celebrate the anniversary of the end of Japanese colonial rule. Organisers say the accident happened when a rope, on which they and 1,500 other participants were pulling, snapped. Forty other people were also injured.

Baton-twirling: Mark Synnott, 12, has won two top awards in a national competition held in Torbay in which he was competing against 1,500 girl Majorettes. He said that he was determined to do well after boys in school called him a cissy for his baton-twirling activities. His father Joe said: "Nobody thinks Mark is a cissy anymore. All he has to do is show them the trophies he has won and they soon shut up. Mark is the only boy in the 28-strong Taunton Twirlstar majorettes.