World briefs
Filippino king of comedy dies
The Philippines’ “King of Comedy”, the performer fondly called Dolphy by generations of Filipinos, has died aged 83.
Rodolfo Vera Quizon Sr died at Makati Medical Centre of multiple organ failure and complications from pneumonia, according to an e-mail from the hospital where he had been treated in recent weeks.
He also suffered from kidney failure.
Philippine government officials, fellow film and TV celebrities and the public heaped praise on Mr Quizon, who shot to fame for portraying gay roles and odd characters.
He started performing on stage in the 1940s during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines and made his final comedy film, where he played a priest, two years ago.
Alligator bites off teen’s arm
An alligator at least 10 feet long lunged at a teenager swimming in a river and bit off his right arm below the elbow, Florida state wildlife officials said.
Kaleb Langdale, 17, survived the encounter in the Caloosahatchee River.
Wildlife officers who caught and killed the alligator retrieved the arm, but doctors were unable to reattach it.
The teenager was rushed to a Fort Myers hospital.
His friends told Fort Myers television station WBBH that while the arm could not be reattached, Mr Langdale was in good spirits.
Mother leaves baby on road
A Russian court has sentenced a young mother and her brother to eight years in prison after they admitted to putting the woman’s nine-month-old son on a four-lane highway in the hope he would be killed.
A passing motorist rescued the child unharmed after about 10 minutes. He has since been adopted by another family.
The Moscow Regional Court said 24-year-old Elena Osina and her 21-year-old brother admitted attempted murder in the May 2011 incident.
In previously reported testimony, Osina said life had become hard with the baby – her parents, with whom they lived, complained and her boyfriend had moved out.