World Briefs

European women are being forced to work like men, travel alone and sleep in hotels out of necessity rather than choice, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi lamented to an incredulous crowd of 1,000 Italian women last Friday.

In a rambling speech, Colonel Gaddafi said European women had been pushed into the workplace after wars in the last century because their men had been killed off.

"So women were forced to do the work of men ... And as long as women are forced to do the work of men, it means we have assaulted their nature," said Col Gaddafi, known for his all-female bodyguard corps.

The women in attendance, including ministers and prominent businesswomen applauded when Col Gaddafi said he believed in equal rights for men and women, who should be free to marry and divorce at will. But he added: "Why did God create two sexes? He could have created just one. We have to respect the difference in gender."

Col Gaddafi held a similar meeting in 2007 on a visit to Paris, where he said he wanted to "save European women." (Reuters)

Curry powder sparks fire alert

An Air India passenger jet heading to Frankfurt was forced to return to Mumbai after a bag of curry powder set off smoke and fire alarms, it was reported over the weekend.

Pilots on the Boeing 747-400 plane activated fire extinguishers after receiving a cockpit warning about a fire in the cargo hold, the Mumbai Mirror newspaper said.

But on the plane's return to India, engineers said the alert had been triggered by the escape of particles from a bag containing two to three kilograms of curry powder. The bag, belonging to a passenger from the Indian state of Gujarat, was removed before the plane took off again after a 12-hour delay.

Mangoes and meat products that generate heat have been suspected of causing similar incidents on Air India flights in the past. (AFP)

Arrives in Germany with mini arsenal

German police stopped an American at Duesseldorf airport last weekend for carrying a pumpgun, two pistols and a combat knife in his luggage.

The 38-year-old man, en route to Switzerland from Florida, said he was not aware European security regulations required him to have special permission to transport the weapons.

Police found a .12 calibre pumpgun, a .357 magnum revolver, a Smith & Wesson "Long Rifle" and a combat knife.

The man told police he had alerted the airline that he would be carrying the weapons and was not aware he needed further permits. The police confiscated the weapons and fined him €450 before releasing him.

A police spokesman said they were investigating how the man managed to get the weapons through security checks in the United States. (Reuters)

Rat Island, rat-free after 229 years

Alaska's Rat Island is finally rat-free, 229 years after a Japanese shipwreck spilled rampaging rodents onto the remote Aleutian island.

After dropping poison onto the island from helicopter-hoisted buckets for a week and a half last autumn, there are no signs of living rats and some birds have returned, according to the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

Rats have ruled the island since 1780, when they jumped off a sinking Japanese ship and terrorised all but the largest birds on the island. The incident introduced the non-native Norway rat - also known as the brown rat - to Alaska.

The $2.5 million Rat Island eradication project, a joint effort between the US federal govern-ment, the Nature Conservancy and Island Conservation, is one of the world's most ambitious attempts to remove destructive alien species from an island. (Reuters)

Guns, not charm, expel snakes

Power hoses and AK-47 assault rifles have succeeded where Sierra Leone's snake-charmers failed, by removing 400 cobras and vipers that overran a police station.

Authorities in the southern district of Bo called in police, army and fire fighters after the snakes scared away police officers and residents reporting crimes.

"We have forced water into the building and some of the snakes trying to escape were shot by our men carrying AK-47s," said Brima Kontu, head of the police station in Gerihun.

About 250 of the estimated 400 snakes who had made the station their home have been killed.

"Hopefully the combined force will be able to free the house from the snakes by next Tuesday (tomorrow)," Mr Kontu said. (Reuters)