Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, in Rome for a UN food summit, spent several hours in the company of 200 Italian women recruited by an agency and tried to convert them to Islam, Italian media reported yesterday.
"Seeking 500 attractive girls between 18 and 35 years old, at least 1.70 metres tall, well-dressed but not in mini-skirts or low cut dresses," read the ad by the Hostessweb agency and quoted in Italy's Corriere dell Sera newspaper.
Some 200 women showed up at a Rome villa, having been told they would receive €60 and "some Libyan gifts". Most had expected to attend a party but instead were invited to wait in a hall until the arrival of Colonel Gaddafi, who gave them a lesson on Libya and the role of women in Islam. After around two hours the lesson ended with an exhortation by Colonel Gaddafi to "convert to Islam" and with each woman being given a copy of the Koran and a book of sayings by Colonel Gaddafi.
"They didn't even give us a glass of water," one woman said. (Reuters)
Long overdue books
A former pupil at an Arizona school returned two overdue books checked out 51 years ago along with £700 to cover the fines.
Camelback High School said the two Audubon Society books were taken in 1959 and sent back with the money by the anonymous pupil.
A letter with them explained that the borrower's family had moved to another state and the books were mistakenly packed. (PA)
Inflated claims
A Texas woman lied about having breast cancer and spent £7,000 raised at a benefit to have her breasts enlarged.
Trista Joy Lathern, 24, shaved her head to look like a cancer patient undergoing chemo-therapy.
Police said Ms Lathern, who has been charged with fraud, wanted the implants to try to save her seven-month marriage. (PA)
Dead and forgotten
Maori remains discovered in storage at a UK museum have been handed back to New Zealand following a special ceremony.
The skeletal remains of a woman and the bones of 11 others are thought to have arrived at National Museum Wales in Cardiff around 80 years ago at a time when remains were traded.
They were found in boxes marked "Mercury Islands" during a recent audit at the museum and further investigation revealed they were most likely obtained from Ahuahu or Great Mercury Island.
The repatriation was arranged in partnership with the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. (PA)
There is hope yet
A once-daily pill developed by Germany's Boehringer Ingelheim has increased female sex drive in late-stage trials, putting the group in the frame to launch the first non-hormonal treatment for women with low libido.
The drug which failed the test as an antidepressant could find a new use as the female "Viagra", scientists say. The compound known as flibanserin promoted sexual desire and increased the number of "satisfying sexual events" in women suffering from abnormally low libido, Boehringer said yesterday.
The drug had a disappointing effect on mood but did wonders for women's flagging sex drive. Unlike Procter & Gamble's hormone patch Intrinsa, targeted at woman after the menopause, flibanserin directly manipulates the chain of chemical reactions in the brain believed to trigger sexual desire. (Reuters)
Trapped thief drops trousers
He wiggled, jiggled and even dropped his trousers, but a thief trying to break into a supermarket in Portugal stayed stuck fast in a tiny window until he was rescued by police and the fire brigade.
"Apparently he dropped his trousers as he was trying to free himself by wiggling," Capt. Santos, local police chief in Loule in southern Portugal, said yesterday.
He said the slim 22-year-old Romanian man had spent about 11 hours stuck in the window, including the two hours it took police and the fire brigade to get him out.
"Once he got his upper body inside, there was nothing there to find support on, so he was stuck at his waist ... It's not uncommon for thieves to get inside and then not be able to get out after a burglary, but this was quite unusual," Capt. Santos said. (Reuters)