World Briefs

A huge hailstorm turned parts of central Kenya white, thrilling residents most of whom had never experienced such conditions, officials said yesterday.

Hailstorms are usual in some parts of Kenya, which straddles the equator, but the ferocity of the storm in Busara, 255 km northwest of the capital, was unprecedented.

Excited villagers pelted each other with snowballs while some ate pieces of the icy sheet that formed over an entire hillside. "We thought a big white sheet had been spread, so we decided to come and see for ourselves. We thought that it was Jesus who had come back," one villager told reporters.

Kenya's Meteorological Department said Tuesday's storm was caused by the convergence of cold air currents from the Indian Ocean and warm air currents from the Congo. The only snow to be seen in normally sunny Kenya is on top of the country's highest mountain, 5,199-metre Mount Kenya.

German nudist vows to hike on after jail

A naked German hiker has vowed to carry on rambling in the nude despite spending 10 days in jail for breaking public nudity laws.

Thomas Kranig, a spokesman for the administrative court in Ansbach, said Siegfried Grawert went to jail because he "refused to pay a fine of €500 assessed for violating the public nudity code".

Mr Grawert, a janitor, told a local German newspaper he planned to continue campaigning for the right to partake in organised all-natural hikes despite his troubles with the law.

Naked hiking has gained a following since the German Society of Nudists joined the German Sports Association. Nude bathing is accepted and allowed in parts of Germany, especially on designated beaches on the Baltic Sea coast. But naked joggers have been fined in the past for running through forests wearing nothing but socks and shoes.

Blame genes for marriage problems

The same gene that affects a rodent's ability to mate for life may affect human marriages, Swedish and US researchers reported.

Men carrying a common variation of a gene involved in brain signalling were more likely to be in unhappy marriages than men with the other version, the team at the Karolinska Institute found.

Although they are not sure what the genetic changes do to a man's behaviour, some other research suggests it has to do with the ability to communicate and empathise, the team reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The team looked at a study of 552 pairs of twins and their spouses that detailed measures of parent and child relationships, marriage, personality and mental health of middle-class Swedes born between 1944 and 1971.

Abu Ghraib to be turned into museum

Iraq plans to renovate and reopen Abu Ghraib prison, the notorious site of executions and torture under Saddam Hussein and later of a US prisoner abuse scandal.

The sprawling prison on Baghdad's western outskirts, which has not been used as a prison since 2006, will also feature a museum of crimes committed under former leader Saddam Hussein, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said yesterday.

Abu Ghraib was a byword for the brutality of Saddam Hussein's reign, and in 2004 the prison gained further notoriety when photos emerged of US soldiers abusing Iraqi detainees.

Pictures showing naked prisoners forced into sexually humiliating poses or cowering in front of snarling dogs unleashed a wave of global condemnation. No timescale was given for the prison's renovation and eventual reopening.

Charged with attacking paparazzo

US officials said they charged two Malibu men for attacking a paparazzo who was snapping pictures of actor Matthew McConaughey as he was surfing in the Pacific Ocean in June. The attack on the photographer made headlines around the world and sparked calls by Los Angeles-area politicians for more controls over aggressive paparazzi.

Skylar Martin Peak, 24, and Philip John Hildebrand, 30, both of Malibu, were each charged with one misdemeanour count of battery for attacking Richid Altmbareckouhammou, who was working for a French news agency, the Los Angeles District Attorney's office said.

Officials claim the two men threw Mr Altmbareckouhammou into the water from where he was taking pictures on the beach. Each faces up to six months in jail and a $2,000 fine. (Reuters)

The incident occurred while Mr McConaughey was surfing near a cove in Malibu. About a dozen paparazzi were on the beach taking pictures of the actor. The incident caused several local politicians to look for ways to curb the activities of the paparazzi.