Prague's historic Charles Bridge witnessed a wobbly symbolic handover of the Czech European Union presidency to Sweden on Saturday as officials passed a keg of Czech beer from one boat to another.

"We were looking for a symbol of the Czech presidency that we could pass to the Swedes, and I think we were right when we ended up with a keg of beer," Czech Minister for EU Affairs Stefan Fule said.

The Czech Republic, which holds the EU presidency until June 30, boasts the highest beer consumption per capita in the world.

Crowds of onlookers watched Mr Fule and his predecessor Alexandr Vondra take the oars to transport the 42-kilo keg to the middle of the Vltava river, where a delegation from the Swedish embassy in Prague took it over.

But the ceremony was partly lost in confusion as curious tourists on rowing and pedal boats surrounded the dangerously swaying boats to take pictures.

The event took place near the historic Charles Bridge - which was badly damaged during the Swedish siege of Prague during the Thirty Years War (1618-1648).

Thief attempts to forklift ATM

It was no speedy smash-and-grab when a thief, dressed like a Formula One driver, failed in his attempt to break open a Malaysian cash machine with a forklift, Malaysian newspapers reported.

Closed-circuit television footage caught the helmet-wearing, white jumpsuit-clad thief in the act as he used the forklift to ram the cash machine booth for 10 minutes, district police chief Zainal Rashid Abu Bakar told the Star daily.

The cash machine was located at a petrol station which was closed during the early morning robbery attempt, he said. "However, as soon as the alarm went off, the man panicked and left the forklift which was stuck in the panel" of the cash dispenser, Mr Zainal told the daily.

'Crocodile' spotted in French pond

Authorities in eastern France are preparing to drain a village pond in order to catch a crocodile thought to be lurking there.

Police and firemen have reported spotting the reptile in the small lake near Xertigny in the Vosges region, but all efforts to confirm its presence have so far failed. On Saturday an echosounder probed the pond, which is two hectares in area and up to 3.5 metres deep, after it was partially drained.

An object was detected, but local mayor Veronique Mercot said it could have been a shoal of fish. "The best thing now is to empty the pond completely so as to remove any doubt," she said.

Meat has been left around the pond as bait, and fencing erected to stop the animal, believed to be a crocodile or a cayman, from escaping, while the area has been declared off limits to sightseers.

Naked swingers flee fire

Red-faced firefighters doused burning passions over the weekend, stamping out an early morning blaze at a swingers' club on Montreal's northeast side, the fire department said.

At 6:30 a.m. local time on Saturday, fire crews rescued 10 employees and patrons of Auberge 1082, who had been carousing and flirting inside the establishment before real sparks started flying.

Five people escaped in bed sheets from a second floor of the burning building, down a fire truck ladder. Naked, or barely-clad in borrowed towels, they watched from the street for over an hour as firefighters put out the blaze, neighbors told local media.

Six people were also treated for smoke inhalation, the fire department said.

Robbers caught by Google Maps

Two men who robbed a 14-year-old of cash and a cellphone last September, were arrested after their victim identified them on a photo on an online mapping service, Dutch police said .

"Police managed to track down the men, twins aged 24, thanks to Google Street View," said a statement from Groningen police in the northern Netherlands.

Their teenage victim contacted investigators last March after he found an online photograph showing him and his assailants taken moments before the robbery.

"As the faces were unrecognisable, police made contact with Google in the United States, and received the original photograph by mail in June. An investigator immediately recognised one of the suspects," said the statement.

One of the two subsequently confessed.