Three white tigers mauled a Malaysian to death in Singapore's zoo yesterday after the man jumped into their enclosure, a zoo official said.

Nordin Bin Montong, 32, a Malaysian working as a cleaner at the zoo, leapt into the moat of the white tiger exhibit and was attacked, said Biswajit Guha, assistant director of zoology at the Singapore Zoo in a statement.

The noise from the attack caught the attention of zookeepers nearby and they eventually managed to distract the tigers and rescue Mr Nordin. "Keepers managed to separate the worker from the tiger. While waiting for the ambulance, our vets attended to him," said Mr Guha. "The worker tragically succumbed to his wound."

Singapore's Straits Times newspaper said on its website that Mr Nordin was seen behaving in an agitated manner before he fell into the moat. Terrified visitors near the section watched the vicious attack in horror and screamed, the paper said.

Convict released for being too fat

A 430-kilo convict was released early from a Quebec prison because his jailers could not accommodate his enormous frame.

Michel Lapointe, who served more than two years in jail on drug charges, was released on Tuesday three months early, Canadian news broadcaster CTV said yesterday.

The decision was made in May by a Quebec judge after prison officials said they were unable to find Mr Lapointe a chair or table large enough to fit him.

Mr Lapointe described his time in prison as "a living hell", CTV said.

Tomboy protests 'a security threat'

Malaysia's police, who have recently cracked down on dissident bloggers and broken up anti-government demonstrations, say that protests over an edict against Muslim women wearing trousers are a security threat.

Mainly Muslim Malaysia's National Fatwa Council recently issued a religious ruling that wearing trousers was un-Islamic. It said that, by wearing trousers, young girls risked becoming "tomboys" who became sexually active.

That move triggered small protests later from two non-Muslim non-government organisations - Katagender and Food-not-Bombs.

As well as women in trousers, the Fatwa Council is considering barring Muslims from practising yoga.

Just over half of Malaysia's 27 million people are Malay Muslims, practising the moderate form of Islam.

Bitter ale for tough times

As central bankers try to prop up an ailing global economy with financial bailouts, a tiny Western Canadian brewery has stepped into the battle with what it bills as a recession-fighting ale.

Howe Sound Brewery began selling Bailout Bitter at its pub in Squamish, British Columbia, and is awaiting permission to begin selling bottles of the brew in stores in the provinces of British Columbia and Alberta.

Howe Sound co-owner Leslie Fenn said the ale, which is similar to a British extra special bitter, was an attempt to inject some humour into tough economic times. It carries the slogan "A bitter ale for bitter times".

In keeping with the tight financial times, it will be sold at a lower price than the brewery's other ales.

Hoax report declares end of Iraq war

A group of pranksters handed out more than 1.2 million fake New York Times newspapers mainly in New York City and Los Angeles on Wednesday with a front page story declaring "Iraq War Ends".

The elaborate 14-page edition, dated July 4, 2009, is said to be the work of a group called the Yes Men, whose previous hoaxes include masquerading as World Trade Organisation officials announcing they were disbanding the body.

"It is fake and we are looking into it," said New York Times mouthpiece Catherine Mathis.

A statement sent from a website set up for the fake edition, www.nytimes-se.com, said creating the newspaper took six months and that it was printed at six different presses and then given to thousands of volunteers to distribute.