An artist has created a homage to cultural and historical figures – by immortalising them as Star Wars characters. Mike Leavitt wanted to “document the pulse of our times” through his sculpture by splicing non-fiction characters with famous faces. He chose the sci-fi trilogy as a basis for what he calls his “pop culture satirical mash-ups”, with many of the pieces hand-carved from wood. The hilarious results include Albert Einstein as R2D2, Michael Jackson as an Ewok and Angelina Jolie in Princess Leia's famous slave girl outfit. Photo: Gandhi as Yoda. (Photo by Mike Leavitt/Rex USA)

Centenarian Sikh runner Fauja Singh poses for pictures after being the first person to officially enter for next year's Edinburgh Marathon on September 1, 2011 in Edinburgh, Scotland. A world record holder, aged 100, Fajua Singh has run seven marathons, all after his 89th birthday. He officially opened the entry process by signing up for his last ever 26 mile event in Edinburgh. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Meat is seen for sale at Laurenzo's Italian Center on January 9, 2012 in North Miami Beach, Florida. The store tries to keeps costs down but across the country grocery bills are going up due to factors including higher commodity and energy prices, along with regions of the world having experienced natural disasters that have hurt the food supply. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

“The popularity of the Internet in China has driven the explosive growth of profitable Web companies and made fortunes for some Chinese entrepreneurs despite government controls on what the public can see online. The number of mainland Internet users rose to 513 million in December, up 12 percent from a year earlier, the government-sanctioned China Internet Network Information Center said”. – AP Business Writer

Photo: Shi Yongxin, abbot of the Shaolin Temple, works on the computer April 8, 2005 in Dengfeng, Henan Province, China. (Photo by Cancan Chu/Getty Images)

A competitor reacts as she emerges from the water during the Tough Guy event in Perton, central England, January 26, 2014. The annual Tough Guy race – “the toughest race in the world” – at Perton in Staffordshire. Tough Guy claims to be the world’s most demanding one-day survival ordeal. First staged in 1987, the Tough Guy Challenge has been widely described as one of the hardest races of it’s type with up to one-third of the starters failing to finish in a typical year. (Photo by Darren Staples/Reuters)

China’s new tallest building has received unexpected publicity thanks to Russian free climbers Vadim Makhorov and Vitaly Raskalov. The pair took two hours to climb 650 metres up the unfinished Shanghai Tower. They did not use safety equipment on their ascent to the top of a crane attached to the tower, from where they took these extraordinary pictures of Shanghai. Photo: Vitaly Raskalov's feet dangle from the top of the Shanghai Tower, high above the Shanghai World Financial Centre. (Photo by Vitaly Raskalov/Caters News Agency)

Revellers enjoying the pubs and clubs in Leeds despite concerns over Omicron on December 10, 2021. Festive revellers have hit the pubs and clubs across the UK tonight as Plan B rules come into force and fears grow over the spread of Omicron. (Photo by Nb press ltd)

Law enforcement officers detain a man during a rally in support of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Moscow, Russia on January 31, 2021. Thousands of people have taken to the streets across Russia to demand the release of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, keeping up the wave of nationwide protests that have rattled the Kremlin. Hundreds have been detained by police. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)