World briefs

Snails, swords and even spouses are among things left behind in hotels, according to a survey.

The snails were left behind at a hotel in Budapest, while a startled guest in a hotel in Washington DC found a snake in his room.

The left-behind spouse was at a hotel in Prague when a businessman went straight to the airport, leaving his wife at the hotel. A guest staying in a hotel in Dublin forgot his mother was with him and left without her.

Minefield ‘miracle’

A Bosnian man ended in a hospital after veering off a mountain road in his car and rolling down a hillside still dotted with mines from the 1992-95 war.

Rasim Dzeko’s car slid 50 metres before hitting a tree. The 40-year-old clambered out but then slid another 300 metres down a mined slope, getting stuck in a water hole for two days.

Dzeko had no idea he was in a mined area and could have triggered a mine had he managed to get out. It took two days to find Dzeko and then hours of work by de­miners to remove him.

Presidential spelling error

A county board of elections in upstate New York has said it will take quick action after being informed that it had drawn up election ballots that misspelled Barack Obama’s name.

Sample ballots printed on the Oneida County Board of Elections website were missing the “c” in the President’s first name, reports said.

An election commissioner said templates sent to a printer also contained the error, but said they would be retrieved and corrected in time for election day.

Ruling on manuscripts

A court has ruled that manuscripts by Franz Kafka and Max Brod must be transferred to the Israeli National Library in Jerusalem.

The ruling brings an end to a protracted court case. Tel Aviv sisters Eva Hoffe and Ruth Wiesler insisted on keeping the collection of rare documents, which they inherited from their mother, who was Brod’s secretary.

The court ruled the documents were not given as gifts. The National Library said Brod, Kafka’s close friend, left the manuscripts to the National Library in his will.