World briefs

A man accused of shooting a bridegroom at his own wedding reception escaped from a courtroom yesterday, wounding a policeman and sparking a huge manhunt.

A junior prosecutor cast off his wig and gown to give chase as 20-year-old Jason McInerney fled from the dock.

Police said Mr McInerney, on trial for attempted murder, broke out of Reading Crown Court just before lunchtime but his two co-accused were held as they too tried to flee.

A newly married couple, friends and relatives were just sitting down to a wedding breakfast following a church service when balaclava-clad gunmen marched into the reception, the court had heard before the escape. They then opened fire, narrowly missing the bridegroom's genitals, prosecutors said. The victim was left with bullet fragments permanently lodged in his thigh.

Kremlin wants 3,200 mice

Wanted: 3,200 white mice. Must be female. No more than 18 grams. Purchaser: The Kremlin security service.

So why does the Kremlin guard, which is made up of former spies and elite troops who protect President Vladimir Putin, want to buy so many female white mice?

"Everyone is wondering what they are for. But if they were ordered then that means they are needed," an official from the service said with a gruff chuckle. He refused to speculate about whether the mice could be used to feed to the falcons which are kept in the Kremlin, the seat of Russia's rulers, to scare off crows.

Some Russian media have also speculated the mice could play a role in testing toxic substances or indicating the presence of dangerous gases.

Documents posted on the official government tender website yesterday showed the Kremlin guard has found a supplier and will pay 475,776 roubles (€12,890) for the mice.

Ring vanishes in thin air

Unlucky London suitor Lefkos Hajji watched a small fortune and plans to ask for his beloved's hand in marriage vanish into thin air. The 28-year-old floor-fitter lost a £6,000 engagement ring and possibly the affections of his girlfriend when the helium balloon in which he had concealed the ring was whipped from his hands by a gust of wind outside a shop.

"I just watched as it went further and further into the air," he told The Sun newspaper yesterday. "I felt like such a plonker. It cost a fortune and I knew my girlfriend would kill me."

Mr Hajji, who had intended to get his 26-year-old girlfriend Leanne to pop the balloon to find the ring, spent two hours in his car giving chase without success. "I thought I would give Leanne a pin so I could literally pop the question," he said. "But I had to tell her the story - she went absolutely mad. Now she is refusing to speak to me until I get her a new ring."

Tours to N. Korea's golf course

A South Korean tour group is in talks with hermit North Korea to take golfers to one of the world's most exclusive courses where legend has it Dear Leader Kim Jong-il made history by shooting 11 holes-in-one.

"We are not advertising for the trip yet," said an official with Pyeonghwa Air Travel Agency, but the firm has applied with North Korean authorities to conduct the golf tour. According to estimates in South Korean media, a five-day trip including rounds at the course outside Pyongyang, would run close to €1,900. That is about double what it costs for similar trips to other neighbouring countries.

The few golfers who have played the 7,000-metre, 18-hole course say the greens are well manicured and caddies can take long naps because of the yawning gaps between tee-offs.

Poster shows suspect in drag

Japanese police this week issued a new poster of a suspect in last year's killing of a young British woman, showing him as he would look disguised as a long-haired woman or with dyed blonde hair. About 4,000 posters and 30,000 flyers with the new pictures are to be distributed, he said.

Lindsay Hawker, a 22-year-old English teacher, was found dead in a bathtub full of sand on an apartment balcony near Tokyo in March 2007, in an incident that horrified many in relatively crime-free Japan.

Police launched a nationwide search for Tatsuya Ichihashi, who slipped away when officers arrived at the apartment to question him about Ms Hawker, who had been reported missing. Video pictures of

Mr Ichihashi walking into a café with Ms Hawker and travelling in the elevator in his apartment building were shown repeatedly on television last year, but no significant leads have been reported.

No droopy pants at school

The Florida Senate wants public school students to pull up their pants.

Lawmakers have passed a Bill that could mean suspensions for students with droopy britches. It won't become law unless the House of Representatives passes a companion measure.

Florida could join several southern US towns and cities that have passed "saggy pants" laws aimed at outlawing what some teenagers consider a fashion statement - wearing pants half way down their buttocks, exposing flesh or underwear.

Supporters say schools sometimes don't properly police dress codes and parents are often "under aware" of what their children are wearing to school.