World Briefs

Hundreds of Nepali girls, rescued after being sold off by their poor parents as domestic help, have marched in Kathmandu demanding rehabilitation like jobs and an education.

Traditionally girls as young as six or seven from the ethnic Tharu community of west Nepal were "sold" by their parents for as little as 1,500 Nepali rupees (€15). The girls, known as indentured labourers, are often made to work for about 20 hours a day as domestic help without any pay. The government banned the system eight years ago and charities have so far freed 5,000 such girls. "We want rehabilitation, free education and training," read a placard carried by freed girls.

One girl, 19, said she worked for more than 12 years as an indentured labourer in Kathmandu before being rescued. She said she knew of women who got pregnant after being raped and were thrown out of the house.

Another girl said she was only given leftovers to eat by the family she worked for.

Crash helmets, Nigerian style!

Police in Nigeria have arrested scores of motorcycle taxi riders with dried fruit shells, paint pots or pieces of rubber tyre tied to their heads with string to avoid a new law requiring them to wear helmets.

The regulations have caused chaos around Africa's most populous nation, with motorcyclists complaining helmets are too expensive and some passengers refusing to wear them fearing they will catch skin disease or be put under a black magic spell. Since the law came into force on January 1, some bikers have used dried shells of fruit or pots and pans tied to their heads with string to try to dodge the rules.

Passengers said they feared the helmets could be laced with magic spells so as to knock the wearer unconscious and make them easier to rob, while others feared they would pick up an infection.

One columnist recounted how he had picked up a bedbug while sitting on a bus.

"The story is that people who have scabies, craw-craw, ringworm, dandruff and all other such diseases would easily infect others with them through the helmets," Steve Nwosu wrote in the Daily Sun.

Anti-graft squad nabs fake policeman

Nigeria's anti-corruption police said it has arrested a man who posed as one of its own officials to extort money from members of the public when they tried to report cases of graft.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission said it had arrested Chief Egbe Akparakwu, 41, after discovering he had been pretending to be one of its agents and charging people for registering anti-corruption complaints.

Corruption is endemic in Nigeria, from traffic policemen asking for bribes at checkpoints to multi-million-dollar cases involving politicians.

Madoff sends diamonds, watches

Bernard Madoff sent valuables including diamond Cartier and Tiffany watches to relatives and others in violation of a court order and should be immediately jailed because he is now a flight risk, prosecutors said in court papers released yesterday.

Mr Madoff, who is under house arrest in his Manhattan apartment, was arrested last month and charged with what authorities say was an investment scam that bilked clients of as much as $50 billion.

Prosecutors contend that Mr Madoff violated a court order barring him from concealing or disposing of his assets by, together with his wife, sending multiple packages containing valuables to relatives and others.

He sent one package containing about 13 watches, a diamond necklace, an emerald ring and two sets of cufflinks, with total value of more than $1 million, prosecutors wrote.

Other packages contained the diamond watches as well as a diamond bracelet, gold watch, four diamond brooches and a jade necklace, the government said.

Holier than thou?

A little-known Brazilian farming town with sugar cane wealth is set to upstage Rio de Janeiro by erecting a statue of Christ that will eclipse its famous equivalent atop Rio's Corcovado mountain.

The Christ statue in Sertaozinho, northwest of Sao Paulo city, will be 57 metres tall when perched on its 39-metre pedestal, Brazilian daily newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo has said.

Rio's iconic statue overlooking the beach-side city measures up at 30 metres high, but its much shorter pedestal gives it a total height of just 38 metres.