World Briefs

Troubled US actress Lindsay Lohan was jailed for 30 days yesterday after admitting violating her probation terms for a previous offence.

Judge Stephane Sautner ordered the 25-year-old to surrender to county jail by November 9 to begin the sentence, while issuing a series of conditions to avoid serving another 270 days behind bars. (PA)

Canaries quake

A series of quakes including one measuring 4.0 on the Richter scale shook Hierro island in Spain’s Canaries yesterday, three weeks after a nearby undersea volcanic eruption.

The 4.0-magnitude quake struck at 0755 GMT in the Atlantic about five kilometres northwest of the town of Frontera, population 4,000, said a report by the National Geographical Institute.

It was measured at a depth of 20 kilometres.

Experts advised that the possibility of a new volcanic eruption could not be confirmed or ruled out, said a spokeswoman for the Canary Islands regional government. (AFP)

Gold weathervane

A cathedral has installed a weathervane gilded with the first Fairtrade and “Fairmined”-certified gold to go on display on a public building.

A team of steeplejacks put the 3ft cockerel on Chichester Cathedral in the culmination of a project between the church, Chichester-based ethical jewellers Cred and the Fairtrade Foundation.

The gold leaf covering the weathervane, placed at the top of the cathedral’s 277ft spire, has been sourced from the Sotrami Mine in Peru, one of the first mines in the world certified under the Fairtrade system. (PA)

Act less gay

School pupils who were victims of homophobic bullying were told by teachers to act “less gay”, a report says.

The advice emerged in a report for Essex County Council following a conference at which teachers and pupils talked about their experiences of bullying in schools.

The report said that in some cases teachers were “insensitive to the needs” of victims and had insufficient training in how to tackle the problem. (PA)

‘Fairies’ remark

BBC bosses have ruled a comment by QPR manager Neil Warnock during a Match Of The Day interview that his team played like “fairies” was unacceptable.

The club chief made the remark during an interview following a 2-2 draw against Cardiff City in April.

It led to a viewer claiming the comment was “a homophobic stereotype” and should not have been screened. (PA)

Snack attack

Two men robbed a teenager of his meatball sandwich at gunpoint but did not bother with his mobile phone.

They approached the boy in Philadelphia and pulled a gun before rifling through his pockets then driving off.

The 13-year-old called police, who soon located a car matching the description. (PA)

China space station

China took a crucial step towards fulfilling its ambition to set up a manned space station today by completing its first successful docking high above earth, state media reported.

The Shenzhou VIII spacecraft joined onto the Tiangong-1 experimental module at 1737 GMT, silently coupling more than 343 kilometres above the earth's surface, the Xinhua news agency said. (AFP)

Tune up

Germany’s transport minister is sharing one of his own stress-reducers with drivers in hopes the soothing music will help reduce road rage.

A new CD called Adagio In The Automobile features Peter Ramsauer playing part of Mozart’s Piano Concerto 21 accompanied by the orchestra of Berlin’s Deutsche Oper.

Mr Ramsauer said studies have shown that slow classical music has a calming effect on people. (PA)

World Cup inquiry

British lawmakers yesterday called for an independent investigation into the bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups despite a ‘whistleblower’ retracting allegations that Qatar paid bribes to FIFA members.

The culture, media and sport (CMS) committee said FIFA’s reforms announced last month were “encouraging” but that football’s world body still needed a full inquiry into allegations of past misconduct.

Committee member Damian Collins also believes there should be a separate investigation into FIFA member Mohamed Bin Hammam’s activities in football after he was banned for life for bribery while running for FIFA president in May. (AFP)