A Taiwanese groom died on his wedding day after having too much wine and beer to drink, police and local media said yesterday.

The man, 35, an insurance company worker surnamed Wu passed out at home after drinking too much last Saturday at a high-end restaurant in Taipei among more than 100 wedding guests, the Liberty Times reported.

It was not known if he had health complications.

"Everyone was having a great time," said restaurant party organiser Linda Chien. "We don't know what happened after that."

Mr Wu was hospitalised after his face turned black. A hospital spokesman said he died despite treatment. (Reuters)

Leopard roams Prime Minister's garden

Pakistani hunters are trying to catch a wild leopard roaming the grounds of Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani's official residence.

The animal, first spotted on a closed-circuit TV camera, slipped into the garden of the well-guarded Islamabad compound late last week, perhaps in search of prey such as wild boar that also roam the area.

The prime minister's spokesman said that Mr Gilani had not left the residence and was carrying on with his duties as usual.

Wildlife officials armed with tranquillizer darts have been trying to catch the leopard. They had almost it cornered on Sunday, but it leapt over a 1.8 metre wall topped with barbed wire into another part of the compound.

Islamabad was built in the 1960s up against the forested foothills of the Himalayas and animals including wild boar, foxes, monkeys and porcupines are often seen in the city's green spaces. (Reuters)

Monica Bellucci's flat burgled as actress attends festival

Jewellery and other items worth around €80,000 were stolen from Italian film star Monica Bellucci's Paris apartment on Sunday while she was at the Cannes film festival's closing ceremony, police said.

Ms Bellucci, a former model who is married to French cinema star Vincent Cassel and has featured in The Matrix Reloaded and Irreversible, had not yet officially reported the theft, a police spokesman said.

A final valuation of the items stolen from the couple's apartment, which also included laptop computers and Ms Bellucci's Italian passport, was therefore not available.

Ms Bellucci was at Cannes, a resort town on France's Mediterranean coast, to promote Marina de Van's Don't Turn Around, in which she stars alongside French actress and former Bond girl Sophie Marceau.

An unknown number of burglars entered the apartment, on the fourth floor of a building in eastern Paris, from a terrace, the spokesman said. (Reuters)

Animals strut their stuff

Leggy models shared the catwalk with a porcupine, a python and a yak last Sunday at a fashion show to raise public awareness of animal welfare and Saint Petersburg's zoo.

About a dozen animals in all - some on leashes, others in the models' arms - strutted their stuff for the zoo, one of the oldest in Europe but hard-pressed for funds.

"Casting the models was not easy," Tatiana Fedorishenko, the zoo's deputy director, said, referring to the human kind. "The animals in the show are tame, but the models have to be without fear, and comfortable with them."

"It was hard," confided one of the models, Natasha. "My fox was always trying to run away. I had trouble finishing my walk."

The show was the idea of fashion designers in Russia's second city, in solidarity with the 410 species and 2,000 animals at the zoo in Alexander Park that was founded in 1865.

"I'm taking part because of my compassion for animals," said designer Vladislav Aksyonov. "I am flatly opposed to the use of natural fur and I also want to help our zoo." (AFP)

Helping hand!

A Chinese man was pushed off a bridge by an angry passer-by after his threat to commit suicide held up traffic for five hours.

Retired soldier Lian Jiansheng, 66, broke through a police cordon and reached out to shake the hand of would-be jumper Chen Fuchao before shoving him off the bridge.

"I pushed him off because jumpers like Chen are very selfish. Their action violates a lot of public interests," Mr Lian was quoted as saying by the China Daily newspaper.

"They do not really dare to kill themselves. Instead, they just want to raise the relevant government authorities' attention to their appeals."

Mr Chen, two million yuan ($293,200) in debt because of a failed building project, fell eight metres onto a partially inflated emergency air cushion and was hospitalised with wrist and back injuries. Mr Lian was detained by police.

Mr Chen was at least the twelfth person since early April to threaten suicide at the same spot, the Haizhu bridge in Guangzhou. But none jumped and - until Mr Lian gave Mr Chen a helping hand - none was pushed. (Reuters)

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