World Briefs

Motorists in Taiwan are being urged to give land crabs right of way during the animals’ spawning season, wildlife authorities said yesterday.

Every year the females of more than 40 different species of land crab travel to spawning grounds on the coast of the Kenting National Park, at the southern tip of the island.

But the journey is potentially dangerous as the crustaceans have to cross roads that are especially busy at weekends. Two sections of highway are to be sealed off for a total of six days over the next two months to protect the animals, officials said.

In a statement the national park headquarters called on motorists to slow down while driving through the area and bring their cars to a complete halt if needed. (AFP)

Marriage by auction banned

Cambodia yesterday cancelled a TV mini-series about a beautiful woman whose suitors have to bid for her hand in marriage at auction – with a starting price of $1,000,000.

The Ministry of Information ordered the Cambodian Television Network (CTN) to stop showing the popular film series Strange Lovers because it was “totally opposite to good Cambodian tradition.”

The story revolves around a young, wealthy woman called Nuon Neang Lom-orng, who has all the qualities of the ideal modern wife: she is smart, comes from a good family, has studied abroad and knows all about art and music.

She is inundated with marriage proposals until her mother, after agonising over who should be allowed to wed her daughter, decides to auction her off at a starting price of $1,000,000. (AFP)

An offer you can’t refuse

Heartthrob actor Dominic West was ambushed into directing a daytime drama – after being cornered in a toilet, it has been revealed.

The British star, who plays Detective Jimmy McNulty in cult US crime series The Wire, was a “captive audience” when Moving On producer Colin McKeown approached him.

Mr McKeown revealed that he offered the actor a job on the Liverpool-set drama after spotting him in the toilet at the Bafta awards. (PA)

Duke of Edinburgh’s latest

The Duke of Edinburgh asked Scottish Conservative leader Annabel Goldie if she wore tartan knickers at the Papal reception in Edinburgh, she has revealed.

The exchange was laughed off by Miss Goldie, who said afterwards that it was good to know the royals have a “sense of humour”.

It happened after the Pontiff was welcomed to the UK by the Queen at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in the Scottish capital. (PA)

One in a million

An ex-Army major caught cheating his way to £1 million on a TV game show has sliced off three toes in a freak gardening accident.

Charles Ingram, 47, who won the top prize on ITV1’s Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? with help from an accomplice, needed surgery after slipping while mowing the lawn and getting his foot caught in the mower.

In 2003 Mr Ingram, his wife Diana and university lecturer Tecwen Whittock were convicted of deception for attempting to cheat on the ITV quiz show. Mr Ingram used coughs from Mr Whittock, who sat among the other contestants, to guide himself to the correct answers. The trio were handed 18-month suspended jail sentences, each fined £15,000 and ordered to pay £10,000 costs. (PA)

Nose-piercing religion

A 14-year-old schoolgirl suspended from school for wearing a nose piercing says the ban violates her right to exercise her religion under the US Constitution’s First Amendment.

Ariana Iacono and her mother, Nikki, of Raleigh, North Carolina belong to the Church of Body Modification – described as a non-theistic faith that draws people who see tattoos, piercings and other physical alterations as ways of experiencing the divine.

The Iaconos have contacted the North Carolina chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union to help them in their dispute with Clayton High School, about 15 miles south-east of Raleigh. (PA)

Only for those who can afford

The 456 million Indians who live on less than 80p a day will have to start saving hard if they want to buy anything from a new luxury retailer which opened the doors to a new shop in Mumbai. Italian design house Poltrona Frau is offering a Chesterfield sofa at £9,700, hand-stitched by a single artisan in Italy.

However, the poorest in India would have to save for more than 33 years to afford the sofa – provided they did not spend anything on food and accommodation. (PA)