Portuguese Economy Minister Manuel Pinho has resigned after making an offensive gesture at an opposition MP during the state of the nation debate in Parliament on Thursday.
Mr Pinho placed his two index fingers above his head, a sign representing two horns which in Portugal means calling someone a cuckold, while looking at the leader of the communist parliamentary group, Bernandino Soares.
Mr Soares said he had made a remark about Mr Pinho's handling of the troubled Aljustrel mine in Portugal, but added the comment did not merit such a reaction.
Prime Minister José Socrates said: "Nothing justifies this gesture and it's not admissible. This should not have happened. The minister is conscious of how this affects the image of the government. So during the debate he communicated his desire to resign and I accepted it." (Reuters)
Burglar falls asleep on job
A Thai thief broke into a house but promptly fell asleep inside before stealing anything and was eventually discovered by a housemaid yesterday morning, police told AFP.
Prachak Jarkngooloem, 24, was found at a house in the coastal resort of Pattaya, 150 kilometres south of Bangkok, where he admitted planning to steal goods from the property.
"He told police that he entered the house yesterday evening hoping to steal something but he was tired and sleepy because he argued with his girlfriend the previous night and went for a drink with friends, so he slept," the police said. (Reuters)
Radio-controlled zeppelin jailbreak foiled
Spanish police said yesterday they had foiled an Italian drug trafficker's plan to break out of jail in the Canary Islands using climbing equipment and a four-metre-long zeppelin.
"The plan consisted of using a remotely controlled zeppelin to bring him night-vision goggles and climbing equipment with which to escape," a National Police statement said.
The prisoner, named as Giulio B., 52, was in jail after being caught piloting a seaplane taking 200 kilogrammes of cocaine from Mauritania to the Canaries.
Police said they had arrested three people outside the jail who were preparing the escape, and had intercepted a package sent from Italy containing the balloon, night-vision goggles and climbing gear.
House searches on Grand Canary island had also uncovered a tent and a telephoto lens the gang had used to observe security details at the jail from a hill 600 metres away, as well as plans drawn by the prisoner. (Reuters)
Wrecks house with flame-thrower
A German gardener's house was left a smouldering wreck yesterday after he set it on fire while trying to get rid of the weeds with the help of a flame-thrower.
After accidentally setting his hedge alight, the 54-year-old's garden shed was soon also engulfed in flames and despite efforts to extinguish the fire with a garden hose, the blaze spread to the roof of the house.
Seven firemen were needed to put out the blaze in Tangstedt near Hamburg in Germany, which occurred on Thursday. Police said the house was now uninhabitables. (AFP)
Jail for barman over fake contest
A barman was jailed yesterday for serving at least 44 shots of tequila to a 16-year-old German boy during a faked drinking contest that killed the teenager.
The 28-year-old barman gave himself glasses of water, but served the teenager with alcohol during the drinking bout the pair had in February 2007. After about an hour the youngster fell into a coma and died five weeks later.
The bartender was sentenced to three years and five months in jail for causing grievous bodily harm with fatal consequences. (Reuters)
N. Korea's latest launch... beer
Communist North Korea's latest launch is sure to cause much frothing... it is a locally brewed beer.
The impoverished state this week launched an advert on state TV for Taedonggang beer, a tipple it has been quietly brewing since shifting an entire brewery it bought in Britain to North Korea.
State TV shows almost no adverts - although programming about local factories is common - so the beer advert is a rare step towards commercialism. (Reuters)