World Briefs

An official Sri Lankan timekeeping website aimed at synchronising watches and helping locals to obey astrological instructions crashed on its first day thanks to unexpected stormy weather.

The website, www.sltime.org, was launched on Monday by President Mahinda Rajapakse as a resource to help align clocks, watches and computers with Sri Lankan Standard Time, which is five and a half hours ahead of GMT.

“But too many hits and lightning affected our server and the website went down,” a spokesman for the site said.

Many Sri Lankans are firm believers in astrology and regularly consult experts for advice.

The website “will make it easier for people to follow astrological advice and do things at the correct auspicious time,” Trade Ministry spokesman Nipuna Ekanayake said. (AFP)

Live... from toilet

Israeli officials often conduct radio interviews at home, but listeners got an unexpected insight into just where their Foreign Minister was when he punctuated his comments with a toilet flush.

Israeli news site Ynet.com reported yesterday that the unusual soundtrack to Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s interview came as he was addressing the issue of a flare-up of violence with Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.

During the Monday interview, the controversial head of the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu made reference to the group, telling the public radio station: “We know who we’re dealing with.” And then apparently flushed the toilet.

Mr Lieberman’s Yisrael Beitenu is the third biggest party in the Israeli Knesset, with 15 seats in the 120-seat house. A recent poll showed the party could snap up two more seats if elections were held today.

The Foreign Minister has frequently found himself in the headlines for his sometimes undiplomatic language, and is also facing the prospect of being indicted for corruption. (AFP)

Nuclear bunker

A rare Cold War nuclear bunker 15 feet underground may not be everyone’s idea of the perfect property.

But one lucky buyer is going to get the chance to be the proud owner of one when it goes under the hammer at the Bentley Hotel, in South Hykeham, Lincs, on May 12.

The bunker, in the Lincolnshire Wolds just outside Baumber, near Horncastle, is being sold at auction with a guide price of £7,000. It is part of a “collective property auction” by Lincoln-based property agent JH Walter. (PA)

Scent of success

Police in South Korea have arrested a farmer for hiding about £6 million in cash in a garlic field.

They said his relatives made the money by running an illegal internet gambling site.

Officers said the man’s two brothers-in-law – one in prison and the other on the run – had asked him to hide the money. (PA)

Hawk rescued

Firefighters might be used to rescuing cats from trees but a crew was called to help an animal that should have been at home in the branches.

A bird of prey had to be freed by animal rescue crews after it became trapped nine metres up a tree in Blandford, Dorset.

The Harris hawk, called Storm, has a one-metre wing span and had become entangled by its tethers after escaping from his owner. Storm’s owner called the fire service after not being able to reach the bird himself. (PA)

Census extras

A bizarre collection of items including passports, cheques, death certificates and even a drawing of the Queen have been enclosed with completed 2011 Census forms, the Office for National Statistics said.

The body has said where possible it is returning the items, but it has appealed for people not to send extra documentation with their completed questionnaires.

Organisers have suggested that those people who have not yet completed the Census should do so online for greater convenience. (PA)

Get the message

Divorce by text message will soon be banned in the mainly Muslim Central Asian nation of Tajikistan.

State religious officials have ruled that sending messages with the “triple talaq”, a Muslim ritual whereby a husband can end a marriage by reciting the term for divorce three times, breaches Islamic law.

Divorce by text message has become common in the country, particularly among migrant labourers living abroad. (PA)

Risque food games

Estonian equal-pay campaigners have come up with a new way to spotlight the gulf between men and women’s wages in the Baltic state, engaging in risque word-play about sandwiches.

Menus of participating cafes and restaurants across the nation of 1.3 million yesterday included salmon sandwiches, with a mark-up of almost one third for added dill.

The Estonian for salmon, lohe, also means gap. Till, the word for dill, also translates as a childish term for a penis.

“The cafes and restaurants that are asking for nearly a third more for salmon with dill today are highlighting the 30.9 per cent gap between the average salaries of men and women in Estonia,” organiser Eva Truuverk told AFP.

“Our aim is to draw attention to the problem in a humorous way,” she explained.

According to European Union data, Estonia’s pay gap is the widest in the 27-nation bloc. (AFP)

Spiked

The Pennsylvania Game Commission is poised to declare open season on porcupines, citing complaints of property damage from residents.

It said the animals damage log cabins and have been known to nibble on vehicle brake lines. (PA)