World Briefs

A five-year-old female parrot named Strawberry has proved smarter than human investors in a stock investment contest, organisers said yesterday.

The parrot from Papua New Guinea finished third in the six-week contest which ended on Wednesday, said Paxnet, an online stock market information provider.

Ddalgi (strawberry) competed with 10 stock investors. Each started with 60 million won ($34,141) in cyber money and traded 10 million won worth of stocks in each transaction.

Human investors picked any stocks they wanted. The parrot, using its beak, made random choices from balls representing 30 blue chips including Samsung Electronics.

"The outcome of our contest was amazing. Ddalgi stood third with her investment return standing at 13.7 per cent," Paxnet general manager Chung Yeon-Dae said.

Human investors averaged a 4.6 per cent loss, with only two outperforming the parrot - one by 64.4 per cent and one by 21.4 per cent. (AFP)

Unhappy lovers wear away saint's tomb

Unhappy lovers in Cyprus have been taking so much stone from the tomb of St Agapitikos to use in love potions that soon there won't be anything left.

Dust from the grave in the courtyard of the church in the village of Arodes has been used for centuries by the lovelorn, who are supposed to slip it into the drink of their objet d'amour.

But in recent years so many have been filching shards of stone that a quarter of the tomb has disappeared.

Mayor of Arodes Matthaios Stefanou is unclear whether Cypriots' love lives are becoming more troubled.

St Agapitikos - whose name means "lover" - is believed to have served in the German army of the Crusaders before settling as a hermit in the area. (Reuters)

Someone clean, green to groom for PM

Singapore is looking for someone in their 30s to stand at the next election and eventually become Prime Minister. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, 57, is having a difficult time finding suitable candidates and the country's fourth leader could be among new faces in an election due by early 2012, said Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong.

"He is looking for someone in their early 30s or maybe late 30s. Someone who can rise to be Prime Minister is not easy to find," said Mr Goh, Prime Minister from 1990 to 2004. "I'm not saying there is no one in the Cabinet now who can take over. There are a few people, but they are only a few years younger."

Mr Lee, who battled cancer while deputy prime minister, is the son of independent Singapore's first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, whose People's Action Party marked 50 years in power in June. (Reuters)

Russian fighter jets sold for $5

Russian investigators are probing the illegal sale of four fuselages of MiG-31 interceptor fighter jets that were sold off for as little as $5, although worth $3.7 million each, RIA news agency have said.

Corruption is rife across Russia, with the country's President Dmitry Medvedev repeatedly pledging to launch crackdowns and repeatedly complaining this week about officials who demand bribes.

The sale came to light after an anti-corruption check was carried out to see whether regulations were followed during the sale of items from the Sokol Aircraft Construction plant located in the Russian Volga city of Nizhny Novgorod, RIA reported.

"As a result, long-range supersonic interceptor aircraft that were not for sale were purchased by a dummy firm," prosecutors were quoted as saying by RIA. It did not say where the jet bodies had been found. (Reuters)

Free radios for 'untouchables'

Authorities in eastern India are distributing free radio sets to lower-caste villagers so that they can listen to music and news after a hard day's work and improve their awareness, officials have said.

Officials of Bihar state are distributing transistors costing 400 rupees (€5.60) each among hundreds of "Dalits" or the formerly "Untouchables" who remain oppressed at the bottom of India's ancient Hindu caste system.

"It (radio) will entertain the tired villagers with music and will make them aware about what is happening around with news," Bihar's Tribal Welfare Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, said.

More than 16 per cent of India's 1.1 billion population are Dalits and they continue to face discrimination and injustice although untouchability now is a crime. (Reuters)