World Briefs

Doctors in Spain have carried out the world’s first double leg transplant, giving new limbs to a patient who lost both at mid-thigh in an accident.

The surgical team was led by Dr Pedro Cavadas, who in 2009 carried out Spain’s first face transplant – the first anywhere to include a new tongue and jaw.

A statement said the operation at La Fe Hospital in Valencia was extremely complex and Dr Cavadas will wait at least 48 hours to release more information.

“Today we can say a landmark has been reached,” said Dr Rafael Matesanz, director of the National Transplant Organisation.

The operation began Sunday night, and lasted about 13 or 14 hours. There were no details as to how the patient was doing, but if the limbs are rejected it will happen more or less immediately. It will be a month or so before doctors know how successful the surgery has been. (AP)

Removal of burqas

Police in the Australian state of New South Wales are to be allowed to demand the removal of burqas and other face veils so they can identify people.

The state government has approved the move after the high-profile recent case of a Muslim woman being acquitted when a judge ruled she could not be positively identified because she was wearing a burqa. Anyone who refuses to show their face could be jailed for up to a year or fined Aus$5,500 (€4,200).

The move comes after a case in November when a woman was sentenced to six months jail for falsely accusing police of forcibly trying to remove her burqa when she was stopped for a traffic offence. But her sentence was quashed last month when a magistrate said he could not be 100 per cent sure it was the same woman who made the complaint because officers were not able to see the face of the accuser. (AFP)

Cross words

Disgruntled staff at the doomed News of the World took out cerebral revenge on their former bosses with a series of pointed clues and answers in the newspaper’s final ever crosswords.

Compilers used their two puzzles to slam News International chief executive officer Rebekah Brooks and lamented the actions of previous employees who created the phone-hacking scandal which brought down the 168-year-old title.

Cryptic clues included “Woman stares wildly at calamity”, which led to the solution “disaster” and “Stellar student follows a star incorrectly”.

Ms Brooks has been a favourite of News Inernational owner Rupert Murdoch since she joined the paper as a 20-year-old secretary. Clues in the quick crossword included “Brook”, “Lamented”, “Prestige”, “Stink”, “Catastrophe” and “Criminal enterprise” while answers included “Tart” and “Stench”. (AFP)

Treasures salvaged

A Tiffany diamond bangle stuffed in a sock and worth some $8,300 was among hundreds of items retrieved from Christchurch hotels abandoned during February’s earthquake in New Zealand and now returned to their owners.

Other pieces of abandoned luggage included thousands of dollars in foreign banknotes hidden in a fake soft drink can and a rare Steiff teddy bear belonging to an Australian child.

Hotel guests had to flee for their lives during the 6.3 tremor which claimed 181 lives and leave their luggage in buildings which in some cases remained unsafe to enter for months.

New Zealand Hotel Council executive officer Rachael Shadbolt said that more than 750 pieces of luggage had been painstakingly recovered in recent weeks and sent to owners in 37 countries. (AFP)

Eye of the beholder

A 52-year-old Houston woman is suing after what she says was an order from her boss to dye her shoulder-length grey hair.

Sandra Rawline, who was an escrow officer and branch manager at Capital Title of Texas, said she was also instructed to wear “younger fancy suits” and lots of jewellery. When she refused to dye her hair, Ms Rawline said she was told her services were no longer necessary and she was replaced by a younger woman.

Capital Title of Texas said Ms Rawline was dismissed in 2009 because a customer no longer wanted to do business with her. Chief executive officer Bill Shaddock called her allegations “completely baseless and preposterous”. (PA)

Unfazed by volcano

Acclaimed director Ridley Scott began yesterday shooting scenes for his next film at the foot of an Icelandic volcano that may be stirring to life, but appeared unfazed by the prospect of an eruption.

“When you do my job, nothing shakes you up,” Mr Scott told reporters late Sunday when asked about filming part of Prometheus near Hekla, a volcano experts warned last week was ready to blow.

Actors Charlize Theron, Michael Fessbender, Guy Pearce and Noomi Rapace are in Iceland for the two-week shoot.

The Oscar-winning director of Blade Runner, Gladiator, Thelma and Louise said he was drawn to Iceland because of its rugged landscapes. (AFP)

Ale box

Villagers angered by the loss of their historic local pub turned a redundant red telephone box into an alehouse for a night.

Locals in Shepreth, Cambridgeshire, in the UK opened The Dog and Bone to coincide with their annual fete.

A carpenter created a triangular-shaped “bar” which allowed the barman to stand inside and pull pints from a barrel underneath the bar, while drinkers queued down the pavement. (PA)