If your drawers are packed with the ghosts of Christmases past in the shape of unwanted gifts, a new Slovenian shop may be just the thing for you.

On a narrow street winding up to a mediaeval castle overlooking the Slovenian capital, Darilnica (the Gift Shop) opened this month as a place where gifts of any kind can be exchanged for something you do want.

Four young women decided to open the shop to make people think before giving presents, particularly at Christmas. One of them, Masa Cvetko, said, "We set no price on the presents; one can take anything we have in exchange for any present they bring and there is no money involved."

Each present is put in a box, wrapped up neatly and placed under a large Christmas tree while its photo is put on the wall so people can choose presents from the photos. (Reuters)

Foreigners tempted with ice, frost

Freezing weather may have brought misery to Europe, but for Kazakhstan it is a selling point.

President Nursultan Nazarbayev said yesterday more diplomats should move to his country's icy capital, Astana, to enjoy its extreme weather.

"Today it's only -30˚C. It only strengthens our spirit," Mr Nazarbayev told diplomats, adding, "This city is so sterile. Even germs can't survive in this weather. So we can enjoy living long lives here."

Mr Nazarbayev moved the capital to Astana, in a steppe known for its particularly inhospitable winters, in 1997 and poured billions of dollars to turn it into a futuristic extravaganza of gold-tinted skyscrapers. But diplomats and Kazakh government officials alike have been reluctant to move to Astana, now the world's second coldest capital, from the old capital Almaty, on the foothills of the Tien Shan mountains. (Reuters)

Eats rare tiger

A man who killed and ate what may have been the last wild Indochinese tiger in China was sentenced to 12 years in jail, local media reported yesterday.

Kang Wannian, from Mengla, Yunnan Province, met the tiger in February while gathering freshwater clams in a nature reserve near China's border with Laos. He claimed to have killed it in self-defence.

The only known wild Indochinese tiger in China, photographed in 2007 at the same reserve, has not been seen since Mr Kang's meal, the Yunnan-based newspaper Life News has reported.

A local court sentenced Mr Kang to 10 years for killing a rare animal and two years for illegal possession of firearms. He was also fined 480,000 yuan (€49,000). (Reuters)

Prisoner on the run gives status update

A prisoner on the run from an open jail is giving police details of his life outside the law on an internet site.

Craig Lynch, 28, who absconded from Hollesley Bay Prison near Woodbridge, Suffolk, in September, is posting notes on the social networking site Facebook.

Police said Mr Lynch, who had links to Edgware, Middlesex, was given a seven-year jail term after being convicted of aggravated burglary. (PA)

Snow joke

A police officer in the US has been slapped down by his department after pulling a gun during a mass snowball fight.

Washington DC Metropolitan Police chief Cathy Lanier said the plain-clothed detective's actions were "totally inappropriate" and he has been put on desk duty pending an investigation.

It follows the release of footage of the off-duty officer brandishing the weapon after apparently being hit by the snowball. (PA)

Secret Santa

A jewellery in Wisconsin has hidden 1,000 gift boxes in the state as a thank-you to customers.

They contain items such as necklaces and bracelets, and Wickersham Jewellers says it hopes the finds will bring a bit of happiness into people's lives.

The store says it got help from people to hide the boxes in hospitals and public build-ings, and hopes all will be found. (PA)