World Briefs

A Japanese religious group called the Cosmic Truth Society has been fined for declaring more than $14 million in "love hotel" revenues as charitable donations, media reports said.

The group, which runs at least 23 of the pay-by-the-hour hotels and motels, had declared the 1.4 billion yen in revenues over seven years as donations to make them tax-exempt under Japanese law, reports said.

Tax authorities have ordered the group to pay a 300 million yen penalty.

The religious organisation, called Uchu Shinri Gakkai and based in Tadotsu in western Japan's Kagawa prefecture, has objected, arguing it donated the money to "unprivileged children", the leading Asahi Shimbun daily reported.

The newspaper said that outside one love hotel in Nagano prefecture, a stone statue of the Buddhist goddess Kannon has been erected to ask for donations.

A hotel manager was quoted as saying 2,000 yen of the hotel's standard 5,500 yen overnight hotel room fee is donated to charity, the Asahi reported. (AFP)

Chimp bites off zoo director's finger

The director of the Berlin Zoo made famous by the polar bear cub Knut has had his finger bitten off by a chimpanzee called Pedro.

Bernhard Blaszkiewitz, 51, was feeding Pedro walnuts as he showed a visitor round the zoo on Monday when the ape grabbed his hand and bit off his right index finger.

"Pedro is the boss of the group so he has to demonstrate a certain dominance in it to prove himself," zoo spokesman Andre Schuele said yesterday. "Under normal circumstances, a chimp would never have the chance to reach a keeper or our director."

Doctors sewed Mr Blaszkiewitz's finger back on but said it was not clear if the operation would be successful.

Mr Schuele said the incident would have no repercussions for the 28-year-old Pedro. (Reuters)

Wife not told about pay cut

British Airways Plc chief executive officer Willie Walsh is showing solidarity with his staff in planning to work without pay next month as part of cost cuts, but the move may not have gone down so well with his wife.

"She read about it in the papers," a grinning Mr Walsh said at a lunch for airline executives gathering in the Malaysian capital.

Mr Walsh, whose normal salary is £735,000 (€854,000) a year, will work for nothing in July as part of a cost-cutting drive under which 2,500 staff have left the airline in the past year. The airline unveiled record losses last month.

Many airlines have cut jobs as the industry has been battered by a global downturn that has hit demand for travel and air freight. (Reuters)

Dog find live hand grenade

A dog out on a walk happened upon a live US grenade from World War II and eagerly delivered it to his master, police said yesterday. Thankfully, authorities were able to defuse the explosive before it went off. A 40-year-old woman had let the dog off its leash near a stream on Sunday on the outskirts of the town of Erkrath in western Germany's Neander Valley. The animal found the grenade on the ground, picked it up in its jaws and trotted back to its owner.

"She recognised immediately that it was probably an old, rusted hand grenade," police said. "On the orders of the woman, the dog obediently put his find back next to the stream."

She then alerted the authorities who blocked off the area and dispatched a munitions expert who identified the object as a still live American hand grenade from World War II and defused it.

Germany is still littered with unexploded Allied munitions more than six decades after the war, leading frequently to major evacuations when they are discovered in densely populated areas. (AFP)

Swearing TV chef rebuked by PM

Foul-mouthed British chef Gordon Ramsay was rebuked yesterday by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who said the celebrity reflected "a new form of low life" for insulting a high-profile female television reporter.

Mr Ramsay sparked the latest row on Saturday when he showed a food-fair audience a photo of a nude woman on all fours, with multiple breasts and a pig's face, and said the image was of Australian television journalist Tracy Grimshaw.

Ms Grimshaw, who had interviewed Mr Ramsay the previous night on her national current affairs programme, hit back by describing Mr Ramsay as an "arrogant narcissist" and "bully", with Mr Rudd backing Ms Grimshaw yesterday.

"All I could describe his remarks as reflecting is a new form of low life. I just think that's off, and offensive. Good on Tracy Grimshaw for coming out and giving him a left upper cut," Mr Rudd told Australian radio. (Reuters)

Jailed tearing wig off for

A man who tore the wig off a telegenic Taiwan legislator last year was sentenced to five months in jail for depriving the MP of his freedom to look good, a court spokesman said yesterday. The Taipei District Court sentenced Huang Yung-tien, 50, to jail for snatching the toupee off the head of ruling Nationalist Party lawmaker Chiu Yi. Mr Chiu has become a household name for his media-friendly offensives against the political opposition.

"The judge thought Chiu Yi had the freedom to wear what he wanted, and Chiu felt the wig made him look prettier," court spokesman Huang Chin-ming said. "The judge thinks that to remove it intentionally was to take away that right."

Chiu lost his wig, revealing a mostly bald head, when he went to file a complaint against former President Chen Shui-bian in December. (Reuters)