World briefs

An Australian man is being paid thousands of dollars to watch the World Cup inside a giant football equipped with a well-stocked fridge, a games console and a bunk bed.

Adam Santarossa, 23, says his friends are jealous after he was selected by Adidas to spend the month-long tournament watching football, tweeting and writing blogs inside the six-metre diameter Jabulani ball.

"Other people have work commitments and family commitments. My only problem is getting my blog done on time," he told AFP. "It's an easy life I'm living. I'm sure people will be quite jealous."

Mr Santarossa has a cleaner, free laundry, a PlayStation 3 and a laptop, and will get $3,000 for his trouble, along with the contents of the ball and three bags full of sports gear.

He is allowed to have friends round to the ball, on Melbourne's dockside, for Australia's games and even had a visit from a minor celebrity, singer Dannii Minogue's partner Kris Smith.

"I had a bit of trouble at the start - it's a bit difficult having people peer in through the windows 24-seven," he said.

"But it's a pretty easy life. I'm going to be seeing if they can extend my lease." (AFP)

Shoot each other in buttocks

Two Australian men needed surgery after shooting each other in the buttocks during a drinking session to see if it would hurt, police said yesterday.

The men, both aged 34, used an air rifle to fire at each other on Sunday. By yesterday, both were in hospital to have pellets removed from their buttocks and legs.

"The men were sharing a few beers on Sunday evening when they thought it would be interesting to see if they shot one another with an air rifle, if it would penetrate their skin or it would hurt," a police spokesman said.

"It appears other than a bit of pain, the two men from the base of the Grampians (near Melbourne), thought they were fine.

"Two days later, both men have been admitted to hospital and require surgery to remove slug pellets from their buttocks and legs."

One of the men has been stripped of his firearms licence over the incident. (AFP)

Hitler begged for car discount

An imprisoned and impoverished Adolf Hitler wrote to a car dealer begging for a discount on a Mercedes he had his eye on, according to a letter being auctioned in Germany next month.

The letter, excerpts from which were published in the Bild mass circulation daily yesterday, dates from September 1924, when Hitler was languishing in Landsberg prison after the abortive Munich beer hall putsch.

He said he needed the dealer to knock "a couple of thousand marks" off the price of the grey 11/40 Benz (later Mercedes-Benz) model he was interested in as he was waiting for the proceeds from his book Mein Kampf. (AFP)

Prince Albert of Monaco to get engaged

Prince Albert II of Monaco yesterday announced his engagement to 32-year-old blonde South African swimmer and fellow Olympian Charlene Wittstock, in a statement to AFP.

Prince Albert, 52, is the son of deceased Prince Rainier III and late Hollywood actress Grace Kelly and has ruled his family's tiny Mediterranean principality since succeeding his father in July 2005.

Ms Wittstock was a school teacher and a former Commonwealth 100 metres backstroke champion who has appeared on Prince Albert's arm at several society events in Monaco, a Riviera millionaire's playground, since 2006.

Born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, she also competed for South Africa in the Olympics in Sydney 2000, and won three golds in the 2002 swimming World Cup.

Prince Albert has competed in five Olympic games as a member of his country's bobsleigh team. (AFP)

WTC search finds 72 human remains

New York City officials say a renewed search this year of debris in and around the World Trade Centre site has recovered 72 human remains.

The sifting of more than 800 cubic yards of debris recovered from ground zero and underneath roads around the lower Manhattan site began in April and ended on Friday.

The greatest number of remains - 37 - were found from material underneath West Street, a highway on the west side of ground zero.

The new debris was uncovered as construction work made new parts of the site accessible.

The city began a renewed search for human remains in 2006.

More than 1,800 remains have been found. (PA)