World Briefs

EU President Czech Republic unveiled an official mosaic in one of the bloc's key buildings yesterday that uses stereotypes to depict member countries.

The art installation inside the European Council building in Brussels portrays individual countries in map forms.

France's map is emblazoned with the word GREVE! (French for strike) in red, a reference to its frequent industrial disputes. Romania is a Dracula theme park, Sweden is a do-it-yourself furniture flatpack and Britain does not appear at all.

"Entropa" is the joint work of artists representing each EU member country and the brainchild of Czech artist David Cerny, famed at home for re-painting a Soviet tank pink.

"Irony is about making fun. It is not meant to offend anybody," Mr Cerny said. The mosaic will be dismantled at the end of the Czech presidency, when Sweden will take over.

"The EU is often such a serious thing, I think people have to take a lighter approach from time to time. It is a collection of national cliches."

Laser sniper spotter

Snipers or assassins could be spotted in their nests before even firing a shot thanks to laser surveillance technology to be unveiled in Britain today.

The system developed by the European aerospace group EADS aims to warn of attack and pinpoint the sniper before he pulls the trigger by bouncing light off his telescopic sight.

"It is the same principle as 'cat's eyes' in the middle of the road," said Peter Talbot-Jones, research team leader at EADS Innovation Works in Wales.

The ELLIPSE unit sweeps a protected zone with laser beams which are reflected back off any lens they hit. A processor then distinguishes the signature of a sniper's sight from that of, say, a camera lens.

If several machines are deployed around a dignitary at a rally or in a sports stadium, the position of a sniper could be revealed as soon as the sight is spotted by "triangulation", the technique used in GPS satellite navigation.

Surfing with killer whales

A New Zealand man surfed with three killer-whales at the weekend, saying the waves were too good to be put off by the predators.

Craig Hunter, who has been surfing off New Zealand's North Island for almost 50 years, told the Dominion Post newspaper he spotted an adult orca and two young calves lurking just beyond the breakers as he was surfing on Saturday.

"There was no way I was going in because the waves were too good," Mr Hunter said, adding that this was not the first time he had surfed with an orca. He said he was too old to be bothered by the possibility of being attacked.

"My outlook is they are big enough and quick enough. If they thought I was a seal, I'd be long gone."

Punches shark, saves girl

An Australian surfer punched a five-metre shark in the head as he rescued his 13-year-old cousin who had been bitten on the leg and dragged beneath the water, local media reported yesterday.

The pair were surfing off Tasmania on Sunday when the white-pointer grabbed the girl's leg and dragged her down twice. Her cousin, Syb Mundy, 20, paddled over, punched the shark, put the girl onto his surfboard with him and paddled into shore.

The girl, Hannah Mighall, was in a stable condition in hospital.

In another near-tragedy on Sunday, a surfer on Australia's northeast coast survived a shark bite and paddled himself to shore with a 40-centimetre gash in his left thigh.

Jono Beard, 31, was surfing with a few friends, when he was bitten. He paddled for 80 metres into the shore, all the while shadowed by the shark. Mr Beard was flown by helicopter to hospital where he underwent surgery.

Bush calls dad 'nut'

President George W. Bush said on Sunday he thought his father, the former president, is a "nut" to plan to celebrate his 85th birthday with another sky-dive.

The current President kidded the former - who has marked several birthdays with parachute jumps - as both appeared for a joint interview on "Fox News Sunday."

"I think he's a nut to jump out of an airplane at age 70, 75, 80 and 85," said Mr Bush, 62, who steps down as President on January 20.

"I told you the reasons, though," the 41st president said. "You don't want to sit around, just because you're an old guy, drooling in the corner."

The younger Bush replied with a laugh, "You can drool and jump at the same time."