Kenmare Resources shareholders voted yesterday to dismiss the Irish mining firm's deputy chairman, Donal Kinsella, after an incident in which he appeared naked outside a colleague's bedroom.
Mr Kinsella has denied wrongdoing, pointing to an investigation by the firm's lawyers which concluded he was sleepwalking when he appeared at the door of company secretary Deirdre Corcoran during a visit to the firm's Moma mine in Mozambique in May.
"The Moma incident involved Mr Donal Kinsella opening Deirdre Corcoran's bedroom door on three separate occasions during the night and appearing naked at her door," a Kenmare spokesman said. "This was both unpleasant and distressing for Ms Corcoran."
Foreign ministers' R&B duet
The French and German foreign ministers will record a "rhythm and blues" song on European integration next week, an official spokesman said yesterday.
The song by Bernard Kouchner and Frank-Walter Steinmeier will be recorded in Berlin on Monday on the sidelines of a Franco-German summit, which will focus on European integration.
"The two foreign ministers want to make their contribution to the debate but in a somewhat unconventional way," German Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Jaeger told a news conference.
Forgets car at petrol station
German man forgot his car after filling it up at a petrol station, police said yesterday.
After the car had sat blocking the pump for about an hour, a woman working at the petrol station became suspicious and alerted authorities.
Officers contacted the 63-year-old from Remscheid, who came straight back to fetch the vehicle. He had paid to fill up the car before walking off.
New rules for China judges
A court in central China has banned on-duty judges from wearing heavy makeup and "frolicking" with colleagues, in an exhaustive list of 55 regulations to improve judicial etiquette.
A notice issued by the high court of Henan, the top judicial authority in the heartland province, also banned judges using certain phrases in the courtroom, including: "Are you the judge or am I?" - and "You will certainly lose this case."
Judges would not be allowed to wear jewels, while holding hands with colleagues is also out. "Judges must not dye their hair, wear heavy make-up, tattoos or painted nails. Male judges must not grow long hair, beards or shave their heads," court spokesman Xie De'an told the Beijing Times.
Thais wear pink for King
Thailand's revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej has unleashed a new colour on his country - baby pink. Since he left hospital on Wednesday wearing a pink shirt and pink jacket, Thais have rushed to the stores to buy pink clothes.
"Pink shirt sales jumped 60 per cent today from yesterday after people saw the King in the colour," a woman selling polo shirts emblazoned with the royal emblem at a Bangkok street market said yesterday.
The Matichon newspaper quoted a woman working for Crown Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn as saying astrologers had advised that Mars, represented by pink, would help strengthen King Bhumibol, who spent more than three weeks in hospital.
Flasher strips off in court
A German flasher stunned lawyers during his appeal hearing on a flashing conviction by stripping off in court, authorities said yesterday.
"The court withdrew for deliberations and during the adjournment the man removed his clothes again," said a spokesman for the court in the western city of Duisburg. "It appears he sees it as art, and views himself as a living work of art."
The 60-year-old was in court to appeal against his conviction for running onto the pitch naked during a girl's soccer match and striking a range of "body builder poses", the spokesman said.
State prosecutors filed fresh charges of indecent behaviour against the man after the court incident.
Chavez among sexiest men
Hugo Chavez calls himself ugly and his looks earned him the nickname "Goofy" in the military, but the Venezuelan President's image is changing - he is now considered one of Venezuela's sexiest men.
A poll this week said the fifth-most desired man is Mr Chavez, whose large nose, protruding lips, forehead mole and gap in his front teeth are easy fodder for caricature artists in a South American nation obsessed with beauty.