World Briefs

Swedish police said they were holding one suspect after armed robbers used a helicopter to stage a spectacular raid on a cash storage unit on the outskirts of the capital yesterday.

The gang landed a helicopter on the roof of a cash storage facility belonging to Anglo-Danish firm G4S in Vastberga, south of Stockholm, and made their way into the building through a window. Witnesses reported several explosions. The gang then loaded up the helicopter and flew off.

"It was well-organised, it was well-planned," police spokesman Christian Agdur said at a news conference.

Nobody was injured in the raid though several of the staff at the warehouse were left shaken up. The helicopter was later found abandoned north of the city and police dogs were being used to search the area.

A police helicopter in the Stockholm area had been prevented from taking off in pursuit of the robbers by a suspicious bag close to the aircraft. A chopper had to be called in from Gothenburg, some 400 km (250 miles) away, police said. (Reuters)

Woman gives birth to 8.7 kilo boy

An Indonesian woman has given birth to an 8.7-kilogramme (19.2-pound) baby boy, the heaviest newborn ever recorded in the country, a doctor said yesterday.

The baby, who is still unnamed and is 62 centimetres long, was born by Caesarean section last Monday at a public hospital in North Sumatra province, a gynaecologist who took part in the operation said.

The boy is in a healthy condition despite having to initially be given oxygen to overcome breathing problems, the gynaecologist said.

"He's got a strong appetite. Every minute, it's almost non-stop feeding," he said.

The boy's massive size was likely the result of his mother, Ani, 41, having diabetes.

When a diabetic mother's glucose level is high during pregnancy, the baby can receive too much glucose and grow too large, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. (AFP)

Drives drunk to police station

A Frenchman was arrested for drink-driving after taking his car to a police station to distribute Alcoholics Anonymous pamphlets there, police said yesterday.

Gendarmes in the eastern town of Neuf-Brisach smelt alcohol on the 56-year-old's breath when he arrived with the leaflets. They tested his blood and found it contained nearly double the permitted alcohol level.

The man had a previous conviction for drunk driving.

Police confiscated his licence and released him after ordering him to appear in court in December, when he faces a maximum sentence of up to four years in jail and a fine of €9,000. (AFP)

Skydivers claim height record

Three skydivers - two British and one Indian - plunged through the shadow of Everest last Tuesday to land at the world's highest drop zone.

The daredevil adventurers jumped from an altitude of 6,154 metres early on Tuesday morning and landed at Gorak Shep, a sandy plateau 5,165 metres above sea level.

"It was not just Everest. I co-uld see the whole panorama of fantastic mountains and it was just amazing," said Leo Dickinson, a British documentary filmmaker who was also the first person to fly over Everest in a balloon, in 1991.

Mr Dickinson said he would begin the process to register the feat after getting back home.

"I have never heard anyone landing at that height so far. I will claim for the world's highest parachute jump landing with Guinness World Records," he said. (AFP)

Highway cannabis patch on motorway

Police in northern Greece have arrested a 35-year-old man who allegedly grew cannabis in the middle of the country's busiest motorway, a local police officer has said.

"The suspect had planted 42 plants up to 1.8 metres high, probably in April or May," Pieria prefecture police director Thanassis Fotopoulos told state television Net.

The illegal patch on the median strip of the Athens-Thessaloniki motorway had ample access to water after tapping into piping installed for the strip's original greenery, Mr Fotopoulos said. (AFP)