World Briefs

With mediaeval tradition and Buddhist spirituality, a 28-year-old with an Oxford education assumed the Raven Crown of Bhutan yesterday, to guide the world's newest democracy as it emerges into the modern world.

As the chief abbot chanted sacred sutras to grant him wisdom, compassion and vision, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck was crowned Bhutan's Fifth Druk Gyalpo, or Dragon King, by his own father, who imposed democracy and then abdicated two years ago.

The young king, who also studied in the US and India, embodies the changes sweeping the conservative Himalayan kingdom - a young country, a young democracy, with an eye on the outside world but one foot firmly planted in its past.

"What is important to me are the hopes and aspirations of the people and a long, healthy life for my father Jigme Singye Wangchuck.

On this special occasion, just pray and wish that the sunshine of happiness will always shine on our country." he told the crowd that came to pay their respects.

Thieves caught with pigs

Two thieves were caught in southern Hungary with 12 pigs stuffed in their small van during a routine traffic check, Hungarian police said yesterday.

Police stopped two men in a Renault Kangoo near the town of Szigetvar, about 220 kilometres south of Budapest, as they attempted to drive off.

"The pigs weighed about 25-30 kilos each - they were really squashed into the car very tightly," a spokesman said.

Police said the pigs came from a nearby farm, where 35 pigs have gone missing in recent days.

Lemmings hit by global warming

Lemming numbers are dwindling in Norway because of climate change, ending a historic cycle of population booms and busts that inspired a myth of mass suicides by the rodents.

Fewer lemmings - small brown, black or yellowish mammals - in the mountains of south Norway meant predators such as the Arctic fox and the snowy owl were forced to eat other prey including grouse and ptarmigan birds.

"The lemming population is falling and the peaks are disappearing," said Nils Stenseth of Oslo University.

Female lemmings can have litters of up to 12 young three times a year and the population can rocket if they are able to live sheltered from predators in early spring in gaps between powdery snow and the ground where they eat moss and other plants. But warmer temperatures in recent years meant snow was wetter, often turning hard and icy. That made it more difficult for rodents to hide and reach food.

Judge sleeps, snores in court

An Australian court has ordered the retrial of two alleged drug traffickers because the judge in their original court case repeatedly fell asleep.

"Periods of sleep became longer as the trial went on. Members of the jury were visibly detracted and, at times, amused," the High Court court said yesterday.

Rafael Cesan and Ruben Mas Rivadavia were convicted in 2004 of importing ecstasy and jailed for over a decade each.

In their appeal, the judge in the original 17-day trial was described as sleeping at intervals of up to 20 minutes, with periodic snoring.

"A substantial miscarriage of justice resulted," the court said, ordering a fresh trial.

Medical evidence showed the judge had been suffering from severe obstructive sleep apnoea.

Boy drives to grandma's house

A nine-year-old boy was caught driving his parents' car alone after the police received a report about an unmanned vehicle moving down the street.

The boy took the car, which had been parked with the key in the ignition at his family's home in Gifu, central Japan, to visit his grandmother's house, a police spokesman said.

"I learned from my father's driving and at game arcades," Kyodo News quoted the boy as telling police.

The police received a call from a passer-by who reported having seen a driver-less car running down the street, as the boy was apparently too short to be seen from outside the vehicle.

The police found the car in a convenience store parking lot, after the pint-sized motorist had lost his way.