World Briefs

A 25-year-old transsexual Spaniard claims to be pregnant with twins after artificial insemination in the first such case in Spain, local media has reported.

"I am six-and-a-half weeks pregnant," Ruben Noe Coronado Jimenez, initially named Estefania, told the popular magazine Pronto, saying he took treatment to restart his menstrual cycle. In photos posted on his blog, where he also wrote about the pregnancy, Mr Coronado has a shaved head and a beard.

He said he had retained his female status to be able to undergo fertility treatment, but would start the administrative process this month to officially change his gender to male in accordance with newly passed legislation.

As a result, Mr Coronado said, he would give birth as a man.

A law that went into effect last year allows Spaniards suffering from "a sexual identity problem" and undergoing hormonal or endocrinal treatment to change their sexual status without undergoing surgery or a sex change.

Mr Coronado added that if all went well he would give birth by Caesarean section in September.

Kangaroos on the loose

Vandals set loose 15 kangaroos from an Australian theme park in southern France, sparking a major search operation, with three marsupials still on the loose.

"When we arrived on Saturday morning, five pens had been broken open, their padlocks were smashed and the perimeter fence was torn in several places," said Carole Masson, owner of the nature reserve in southwestern Carcassonne.

"We had 15 missing kangaroos," she said.

Firefighters, police and gendarmes were mobilised to track down the animals as they bounded through the woods.

"We found five in the park, and some more in the woods nearby. But three are still out there somewhere," Ms Masson said, adding that a warning has gone out to local drivers for fear the animals could stray onto a nearby highway.

Stink-free underwear

Teenage boys, are you tired of embarrassing questions about when you last changed underwear? Japan's space scientists may have just the answer - a line of odour-free underwear and casual clothing.

Koichi Wakata, the first Japanese astronaut to live on the International Space Station, is testing the clothes, called J-ware and created by textile experts at Japan Women's University in Tokyo.

"He can wear his trunks (underwear) more than a week," said Koji Yanagawa, an official with the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency.

Wakata's clothes, developed by researcher Yoshiko Taya, are designed to kill bacteria, absorb water, insulate the body and dry quickly. They also are flame-resistant and anti-static, not to mention comfortable and stylish.

Big Pineapple wins heritage listing

Australian authorities yesterday placed The Big Pineapple on the Queensland state heritage register, ranking it alongside the state's top historic buildings and cultural sites.

The 16-metre fibreglass pineapple has graced Queensland's Sunshine Coast tourist strip since 1971, thrilling and perplexing visitors in equal measure.

The Queensland Heritage Council said the pineapple had attracted millions of visitors since it opened.

"(It) is important in demonstrating the development of agri tourism and roadside attractions in Queensland," the council said.

The pineapple was one of the first of the "Big Things" that now dot the Australian landscape, it added.

These include Big Banana at Coffs Harbour, the Big Merino sheep at Goulburn, the Big Trout at Adaminaby and even the Big Gumboot, an oversized wellington that adorns Australia 's wettest town, Tully in Queensland.

Belfast zoo hunts 'elephant angel'

Belfast zoo yesterday launched a search for a mystery woman who sheltered a baby elephant named Sheila during World War II.

The woman, dubbed the "elephant angel", housed Sheila in her back garden for parts of the war because of fears the zoo would be hit during the 1941 Belfast Blitz.

"The woman is something of a zoo legend," said manager Joy Bond, adding: "The pictures have been here a long time but nobody had been able to identify her."

Grainy black and white photographs issued by the zoo show the elephant calf with two women, but give no clue as to the identity of either, one of whom is believed to be the mystery carer. Ms Bond said several people had called saying they could be the woman's neighbours.

"Sheila the elephant arrived to the zoo in the late 1930s, and lived until the early 1960s," added zoo chief Mark Challis. "If it wasn't for the care of this lady, that may not have been the case."

During the war the government ordered the killing of 33 animals including one hyena, six wolves, one puma, one tiger, one black bear, two polar bears and one lynx, due to fears they could escape during air raids.