World Briefs

Police in Spain detained a beekeeper suspected of accidentally starting the biggest wildfire in the history of the holiday island of Ibiza, local officials said yesterday.

Some 200 people have been evacuated from about 80 homes, the regional government of the Balearic Islands said in a statement. Fanned by strong winds, the fire erupted on Wednesday near the town of Sant Joan de Labritja in the north of the Mediterranean island and has so far burned at least 1,000 hectares of land, a spokesman for the regional government’s environment department said.

“It is the biggest wildfire in Ibiza since records started being kept,” he said. (AFP)

German beer law

A group of German brewers, politicians and public figures have called for the country’s 14th century beer purity law to be included on the UN’s list of “intangible” world cultural treasures.

“This almost 500-year-old law is one of the oldest food and drink regulations in the world,” the German institute for pure beer (DIRB) said after its annual meeting earlier this week.

“It has been the best guarantee for consumers for a very long time of an absolutely pure, tasty and high quality product. Beer is and remains Germany’s national drink.”

Germany’s cherished beer purity law dates back to 1516 and ensures that the country’s brewers can only use malt, hops, yeast and water and no artificial additives such as flavourings or preservatives. (AFP)

Freaky accident

A New Zealand truck driver who inflated “like a balloon” when he fell buttocks-first onto a compressed air nozzle was described as lucky to be alive.

Steven McCormack was working on his truck at Opotiki on the North Island on Saturday when he slipped between the cab and the trailer, dislodging the compressed air hose that feeds the brakes, the Whakatane Beacon reported.

It said the brass fitting that the hose had been attached to pierced Mr McCormack’s left buttock in the fall, sending compressed air rushing into his body.

The 48-year-old said he felt as if he was going to explode and began to scream as his neck, feet and hands swelled up.

“I was blowing up like a football... it felt like I had the bends, like in diving. I had no choice but just to lay there, blowing up like a balloon,” he told the newspaper.

Workmates rushed to Mr McCormack’s aid, turning off the compressed air and packing ice around his swollen neck.

Ambulance officers removed the brass nozzle from his buttock and rushed him to Whakatane Hospital, where a surgeon treated the injury and drained one of his lungs, which had filled with fluid during the ordeal. (AFP)

Puppy love

A “dog-dating” website has been launched by the Kennel Club to try to ensure pedigree puppies are healthy and free from genetic problems. Mate Select is the brainchild of the club – whose primary objective is “to promote in every way, the general improve­ment of dogs” . It aims to put an end to genetic problems caused by some breeders mating dogs who are too closely related, or “inbred”.

While dogs used to be bred more for work than pet qualities, changes in society over the past 100 years mean more people are looking for pets as companions while owners who want pedigrees or pure-bred dogs want to have the best-looking animal they can find.

But good looks come at a price. Inbred – or overbred – dogs such as pugs can sometimes have breathing troubles, while German Shepherds and retrievers may be prone to weakness in joints and Dalmatians are often deaf. The club is hoping that the website will make such problems less likely. (PA)

Sleeper cells

Al-Qaeda makes use of sleeper cells in several West African countries, security experts said yesterday after a regional meeting on terrorism and trans-border crime in Gambia.

“A sleeper cell is a cell that is on standby,” explained a security official at the meeting organised by the African Centre of Terrorism Research, an African Union body, in collaboration with Spain. (AFP)

Missing toddler

A two-year-old girl who vanished from her parents’ home has been found unscathed in China’s Gobi Desert. The toddler, named Guli, went astray from Halajun in the country’s western Xinjiang province. Reports claimed she had crawled out of the house to look for her parents. A team of over 100 frontier soldiers and residents joined in the search for her, but could not find any trace of her.

The hunt for Guli was called off overnight and after resuming in the morning, the girl was found in a small pit in the desert.

Despite being starved and weak, the child reportedly showed little sign of fear. (AFP)