World briefs

An Italian man was jailed for more than two years for putting pornographic pictures of his ex-girlfriend on the internet and sending them out in more than 15,000 e-mails.

The 32-year-old man had created a website that appeared to show his ex-girlfriend offering sexual favours and erotic games, with her phone number also on display. The man, who also sent threatening text messages to the woman and her parents, was accused of aggravated defamation, threatening and violence.

In its ruling, the Milan court said the man had publicised photos and data that should have remained private, and done so without his ex-girlfriend's consent. The court sentenced him to two years and four months in jail.

PM's ex-lover exonerated

A Finnish court yesterday dismissed charges against the Prime Minister's former girlfriend, who wrote a kiss and tell autobiography about their brief affair. Susan Ruusunen's book, Prime Minister's Bride, detailed the nine-month fling she had with Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen in 2006 after meeting him on an internet dating site.

Mr Vanhanen initially filed a complaint only against the publisher of the book, and prosecutors then brought criminal charges against both the publisher and Ms Ruusunen, a mother of three, for violation of privacy and gaining financial gain through criminal activity.

The court ruled that publishing details of Mr Vanhanen's personal life was not illegal because there was a different threshold for privacy for politicians in the public eye.

The book and resulting court case sparked vigorous debate in the Nordic country over what the media can publish on the private lives of public figures.

101-year-old marathon hopeful

Already Britain's oldest employee, 101-year-old Buster Martin now aims to become the world's oldest marathon runner by completing the London Marathon and celebrating with a pint of beer and a cigarette.

Sprightly and bearded, he completed a half marathon at the weekend in five hours 13 minutes. The former Army physical training instructor works three days a week for a London plumbing firm and says he has trained for the April 13 race in his spare time.

Mr Martin, who had 17 children and returned to work at the age of 99 saying he was bored after two years of retirement, would beat the previous record for the world's oldest marathon runner by eight years.

Japanese town backs Obama

Hundreds of residents in the sleepy Japanese fishing port of Obama sang and danced yesterday to try to cheer up Barack Obama after his winning streak in the US presidential primaries stalled.

Wearing colourful T-shirts and headbands with the logo "I Love Obama", residents gathered at a public hall, singing songs and shouting "Obama, Obama, Obama!" Around the town, businesses are selling everything from T-shirts, fish burgers and cakes to chopsticks with Mr Obama's name.

Residents anxiously watched television showing victories for Hillary Clinton among Democrat Party voters in Ohio and Texas, where losses could have forced her out of the White House race.

Pearlman to plead guilty of fraud

Lou Pearlman, the music mogul who launched the Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync, has agreed to plead guilty and make restitution to victims swindled out of an estimated $300 million in phony bank and investment schemes, US prosecutors said.

Mr Pearlman admitted in a plea agreement that for 20 years he enticed people and banks to invest millions of dollars in two companies that existed only on paper: Transcontinental Airlines Travel Services Inc. and Transcontinental Airlines Inc. He is scheduled to enter his plea today in a US court in Orlando. The charges carry a maximum of 25 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

As part of the deal, Mr Pearlman agreed to help the government identify assets to make restitution, forfeit a 2004 Cadillac, a 2005 Chrysler, a 2004 Rolls Royce Phantom, a 2006 Cadillac limousine and two bank cheques totalling $97,000.

Empire jump stunt illegal

An individual is not entitled to parachute off New York City landmarks, including the Empire State Building, no matter how extensive his training, a New York appeals court has ruled. The ruling reversed a 2007 decision, which said that stuntman and former Discovery Channel host Jebb Corliss, 31, did not put people at risk when attempting to parachute from the Empire State Building's 86th floor observatory floor in 2006.

In overturning that decision, the four-judge panel ruled that an accidental misstep or a faulty parachute could have put bystanders and security professionals at risk. "Even a properly functioning parachute that landed a jumper safely might cause a variety of accidents," the court ruled.

The Manhattan District Attorney's office is now free to pursue its charge of reckless endangerment, which carries a sentence of up to one year in prison.