World Briefs

A novice metal-detecting enthusiast said he was "stunned" to unearth a £1 million Iron Age treasure hoard during his first outing with the machine.

Safari park keeper David Booth, 35, had owned his metal detector for just five days when he discovered four 2,000-year-old gold neckbands in a Stirlingshire field.

The neckbands, dating from between the 1st and 3rd century B.C., are worth an estimated £1 million and the find represents the most important hoard of Iron Age gold in Scotland to date. (PA)

Professors on the trains

A morning commute seems like a good time to embark on an ambitious train of thought.

At least, that was the idea from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which put a professor on a train yesterday to lecture commuters.

Passengers on the 9.00 a.m. train from the suburban community of Modiin to Tel Aviv put away their morning tabloids and iPods to listen to a talk from Professor Hanoch Gutfreund on "Einstein's love letters."

The lecture was the first of the university's "scientists on the rails" programme - an attempt to broaden the appeal of higher education and bring academia to the people.

"The public needs to understand the importance of higher education," said university spokesman Orit Sulitzeanu. "Higher education is facing a crisis, its status is eroding and people need to understand it's a strategic asset for the country."

Disrespectful university student

A British university student who was photographed urinating over a war memorial was warned yesterday that he could be jailed for the "disgusting act".

Philip Laing, 19, was charged by police after the picture, which showed him urinating on a poppy wreath following a drinking session in Sheffield, appeared on a newspaper's website. The incident has become one of the most notorious in a growing litany of booze-fuelled incidents in Britain's city centres that have sharply raised public concerns about excessive drinking.

"The image of your urinating over the poppy wreath on the war memorial in this city will make most turn away in disgust, shock and sadness," said District Judge Anthony Browne, adding, "It has undoubtedly distressed and upset many. The war memorial is a sacred and a special place."

Mr Laing pleaded guilty to outraging public decency. (Reuters)

Snakes invasion

Snake hunters carrying out a trial to eradicate invasive species in Florida snared 37 pythons.

Their numbers have exploded in the past decade to potentially tens of thousands after pet owners freed their snakes into the wild.

Experts also think some Burmese pythons may have escaped in 1992 from pet shops battered by Hurricane Andrew and have been reproducing ever since. (PA)

Fourth Musketeer

A pensioner suffered brain damage after he battled a burglar with a brolly during a night-time raid on his home.

Ken Creffield, 75, said he fought "like D'Artagnan" of the Three Musketeers when he was confronted by Daniel Jefferies outside his bedroom.

Mr Creffield, a grandfather of two, grabbed a golf umbrella and chased him out of the house in his underpants in Thornbury Road, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset. Mr Jefferies was jailed for 30 months at Bristol Crown Court after pleading guilty to burglary. (PA)

Young Mr Grace

Hitting old age usually means it is time to relax and enjoy life's sunset years - but not for one pensioner, who was chauffeur-driven to work in a Rolls-Royce to celebrate his 95th birthday.

Sydney Prior, from Fulham, south-west London, still works one full day every week at B&Q, where he is employed to "meet and greet shoppers" on the door.

But when he arrived ahead of his 10 a.m. shift at the New Malden branch, in Surrey, he was left "overwhelmed" by the dozens of friends and colleagues who had turned out to wish him a happy birthday. (PA)

Poison pen

A critic of President Lech Kaczynski has bought a fountain pen that malfunctioned when the Polish leader signed the EU Lisbon treaty.

Janusz Palikot paid £4,000 for the pen in an internet auction saying it was symbolic of Mr Kaczynski's presidency. (PA)