World Briefs

A large barge that appeared to be sinking in the middle of Hong Kong’s famed Victoria Harbour yesterday was in fact deliberately submerged for engineering purposes, authorities said.

Authorities responded to an emergency call and a fire boat rushed to the scene, but were told that the 121-metrevessel was intentionally submerged, a fire department spokesman said.

The half-submerged barge was clearly visible from the ground and from the thousands of skyscraper offices that encircle the picturesque harbour. (AFP)

Racy life of vain Turkmen leader

The racy life of the secretive leader of the Central Asian state of Turkmenistan has been ‘exposed’ a diplomat claimed in documents leaked yesterday.

In dispatches published on WikiLeaks website, a US diplomat said sources called the leader of Turkmenistan, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, “vain, suspicious,” and a “practised liar.” She also reported a rumour that the married President has a mistress called Marina, a former nurse at his dental clinic, with whom he has a 14-year-old daughter.

Mr Berdymukhamedov took over power in Turkmenistan in 2006 after the death of the eccentric previous leader, Saparmurat Niyazov, known as the Turkmenbashi and famous for renaming months of the year after himself and his mother. (AFP)

Grandmother throws infant off bridge

A US woman was charged with murder after she allegedly threw her two-year-old granddaughter off a sixth-story bridge at a Washington shopping centre, police have said.

The child, Angelyn Ogdoc, died hours after arriving at a hospital in critical condition.

Several members of the family were shopping on Monday evening when the child’s grandmother, Carmela Dela Rosa, threw the child off a pedestrian walkway onto pavement 50 feet below. Ms Dela Rosa, 50, was initially charged with “aggravated malicious wounding,” but the charge was changed to murder after the child’s death.

Neighbours described Ms Dela Rosa as a warm and loving grandmother. (AFP)

Footprints

Two thieves who stole a quantity of lead have been arrested after UK police followed footprints in the snow leading away from a crime scene.

West Mercia Constabulary said officers in Market Drayton, Shropshire, detained the men after tracing them to an address in the Fairfields area of the town.

A police spokesman said two men aged 21 and 20 were arrested within 30 minutes. (PA)

Clairvoyant sues client for unpaid fees

A clairvoyant sued a client for €7,000 in unpaid fees in Germany’s highest court yesterday on top of €35,000 he had already handed over.

The fortune-teller’s lawyer told the Federal Appeals Court in Karlsruhe, that she was entitled to charge for her professional services just like a priest exorcising a house with holy water.

Her client sought out the fortune-teller’s supernatural services in “life coaching” in 2008 in the hope of winning back his girlfriend, and was “drawn into her world like into a sect,” his lawyer said. (AFP)

Russian strongmen ‘competition’

Russian President Dmitry Medve-dev performed chin-ups on national TV yesterday, flexing his muscles as he battles perceptions that his successor Vladmir Putin is the real strongman of Moscow.

“Come on, let me do a few chin-ups here,” Mr Medvedev told a crowd of cheering students as he pulled off his jacket.

NTV television then showed the students counting in unison as Mr Medvedev completed his fifth pull-up. He began to do a sixth before stopping and jumping back down.

Recently revealed US cables identified Mr Putin, the former president who is now Prime Minister, as the real leader of Russia, describing Mr Medvedev as “Robin” to the “Batman” premier. (AFP)

Birthday boy saved

A Frenchman escaped trial for stealing a car after his lawyer proved to the court that at the time of his arrest he was exactly one minute away from becoming an adult.

Lawyer Delphine Branquet told the court in Nantes that her client was arrested on his birthday on November 28 last year. But after she made enquiries she discovered that he was arrested at 10.49 p.m., just one minute before the precise time of his birth 10.50 p.m.

“Jurisprudence... shows that the day is not sufficient to establish whether a person is an adult, it is the time of birth that counts,” she said.

The court declared it was not competent to try Mr Branquet, who has to appear before a youth court to answer charges of stealing a vehicle and driving without a licence. (AFP)