Weighty man dies rather than be x-rayed at zoo

A GERMAN man weighing 230 kilograms has died after refusing to go to the zoo for an x-ray because he was too heavy for machines designed for humans, the daily Bild reported yesterday.

“It sounded like they were trying to wind us up,” Thomas Lessmann’s widow Petra said.

His pride wounded, he refused to go and died 13 days afterwards. The cause of his death was unclear. — Sapa-AFP

Dalglish bombers guilty

TWO men pleaded guilty yesterday to their part in planting a live grenade outside the home of former Liverpool and Scotland star Kenny Dalglish. He was not in the house at the time and nobody was injured in the incident. — Sapa-AFP

Child abuser sent to jail

AN AUSTRIAN man was found guilty yesterday of sexually abusing his stepdaughter. He received a seven-year prison term, one month after he and 21 others were arrested in an international crackdown on a child pornography network. — Sapa-DPA

16 die in train accident

A PASSENGER train smashed into a cargo train on the edge of Pakistan’s financial capital Karachi yesterday killing 16 people, including women and children. — Sapa-AFP

Storm leaves 40 dead

TROPICAL storm Mirinae, which hit the Philippines as a deadly typhoon at the weekend, killed at least 40 people and left 11 missing in Vietnam, a national disaster official said yesterday. — Sapa-AFP

Mexican journalist executed

A JOURNALIST specialising in police matters was kidnapped and killed execution-style in Durango state in northern Mexico, the most dangerous Latin-American country for the press.

In 2008, Mexico was the Latin-American country with the most murders of journalists – nine – mostly concentrated in the northern parts, home to feuding drug cartels behind over 14 000 murders in the past three years. — Sapa-AFP

Hamas rocket can reach Israel

THE Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas has test-fired a rocket which can reach Tel Aviv from the Gaza Strip, a senior Israeli general warned.

The rocket, believed to be Iranian-made, has a range of about 60 kilometres putting Israel’s major population centres in range, said Major-General Amos Yadlin, head of military intelligence. — Sapa-AFP

Court clears MDC member

A ZIMBABWEAN lawmaker from Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s party has been cleared of charges of stealing a mobile phone.

Lawmaker Thamsanga Mahlangu, who is also deputy minister for youth, had been accused of stealing the phone, belonging to a war veteran, but a judge ruled that the evidence did not support the charge.

Magistrate Kudakwashe Jarabini said the State’s case was riddled with inconsistencies, with witnesses contradicting themselves.

The Movement for Democratic Change has accused President Robert Mugabe’s allies of using the police to arrest its lawmakers on trumped-up charges. Tsvangirai suspended co-operation with Mugabe in the unity government more than two weeks ago, following the arrest of his party’s treasurer Roy Bennett on terror charges. — Sapa-AFP

US envoys in Burma talks

TWO top US envoys began talks with Burma’s ruling generals yesterday and were set to meet democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi as they made the highest level visit to the military-ruled nation in 14 years. — Sapa-AFP