World Briefs

A Finnish pair have won the country’s annual wife-carrying competition for the third year in a row.

Taisto Miettinen and Kristiina Haapanen defended their title in front of 6,500 spectators who turned out to watch the celebrated event in Sonkajarvi.

The 46-year-old lawyer, his partner’s legs wrapped around his head, sprinted 253 metres, leaping hurdles and negotiating a water pool along the way, all in a time of one minute.

The competition has its roots in the legend of local bandit Herkko Rosvo-Ronkainen who lived in the forest at the end of the 19th century and stole food – and sometimes girls – from nearby villages.

He and his “wife” – for Ms Haapanen is just a friend – are the first pair in the event’s 16-year history to win three times in a row. (AFP)

10-storey save

A two-year-old Chinese girl survived a fall from a 10th-floor window thanks to a passer-by who raced to catch the toddler, state media reported yesterday.

Wu Juping, 31 – the mother of a seven-month-old baby – was feted as a heroine on Chinese TV, which showed her in a hospital bed recovering from a broken arm after Saturday’s accident which took place near Hangzhou, in Zhejiang province.

The child, Niu Niu, suffered internal bleeding and remains in a critical condition. She was at home alone when the accident took place.

Seeing the child dangling from the window and about to fall, Ms Wu kicked off her high-heeled shoes and ran towards her with her arms outstretched.

Niu Niu struck Ms Wu’s left arm before falling onto the lawn, while Ms Wu passed out from the force of the blow.

Jin Dengfeng, director of a hospital in Fuyang, said the woman had risked her life by breaking the child’s fall. (AFP)

President’s song

The President of isolated Turkmenistan marked his birthday by singing on national TV a love song whose music and words he had penned himself.

Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov serenaded viewers with the love song For You, My White Flowers, on a special TV show late Saturday celebrating his 54th birthday.

The President was shown in casual clothes, wearing grey slacks, a shirt and green pullover, singing the song to the accompaniment of a guitar which he also played.

The song was shown on a giant screen to a concert attended by 3,500 people in Ashgabat, with the audience applauding the head of state.

Mr Berdymukhamedov was not present at the concert but the anchor confirmed that the President had written “the words and music himself”. State TV said his guitar and accordion have now been placed in the national museum as a “national asset and great treasure”. (AFP)

Ill timed

UK Police have launched an investigation after officers woke a 13-year-old boy to quiz him about throwing an apple at school.

Father-of-three Clive Lindoe, from Great Horkesley, near Colchester, Essex, said two officers called at his home at 11.20 p.m. to quiz his son Charlie, a pupil at St Helena School in Colchester.

A spokesman for Essex Police said: “We have received a complaint from Mr Lindoe, which will be investigated.” (PA)

Stubborn moth

Doctors removed a stubborn moth from a 12-year-old Colorado boy’s ear after trying in vain to kill it. Wade Scholte, of Parker, south-east of Denver, said the insect crawled into his ear after he fell asleep.

Doctors numbed Wade’s ear and first tried drowning the moth before they pulled it out alive with tweezers and gave it to the boy as a keepsake. (PA)

True vine

The Gospel of John quotes Jesus as saying “I am the true vine”, and some people in the southern US state of North Carolina think they may have witnessed a literal demonstration.

A utility pole about two kilometres south of Kinston has attracted attention in the last week or so from people who say the kudzu plant clinging to it resembles the image of Jesus on the cross. (PA)

Which hand?

Prince Albert II of Monaco accidentally tried to slip Princess Charlotte’s wedding ring onto the wrong hand on Friday as they exchange vows in their religious marriage ceremony.

Charlotte offered him her right hand – the wrong one – as they stood at the altar in the courtyard of their palace, and the Prince gamely began to put it on before the couple realised, smiling at their mistake.

The ring eventually went on the correct left hand and the service continued. (AFP)