An unemployed security guard has won Spain's first national siesta championship by sleeping for 17 minutes in a busy shopping centre. Pedro Soria Lopez, who is from Ecuador, was praised by judges for the volume of his snoring, which won him extra points. The contest in Madrid was part of a campaign to revive the Spanish tradition of an afternoon nap, which is seen as threatened by the pace of modern life. As the champion, Mr Soria collected a prize of 1,000 euros (about $1,400).
South Australian Independent senator Nick Xenophon says taxpayers have every right to question the salaries being paid to former governors-general. Freedom of information documents show some of them are costing as much as $500,000 a year. Senator Xenophon says he will seek clarification from the Finance Minister about the high levels of benefit. "The fact that they are getting such a significant pension really raises questions about it," he said. "It's a case of former governors-general being looked after - I think it's fair enough that former governors-general are looked after - but it could be done on a premium beer budget, not a french champagne and caviar budget."
An American businessman in Singapore who is facing a punishment of caning for overstaying his visa has now been charged with money laundering. Police say the 37-year-old American was involved in a phone scam operation that involved cheating elderly Australians. If caned, he would be the first American to undergo the punishment since a teenager was caned for vandalism in 1994, despite appeals for mercy from Washington. The man could also be jailed for a maximum of 10 years if convicted of the criminal charges.
A West Australian court has been told how a man unwittingly led police to his crime after forgetting to hang up from a call to emergency services. James Patrick Bermingham, 20, phoned triple-0 in March this year after one of his mates was assaulted by another man in Geraldton. After reporting the incident to police, Bermingham forgot to end the call and was recorded planning retribution. He and three others then used a cricket bat to smash the windows of a car and house belonging to the man. Bermingham's lawyer told the court the revenge attack, along with several admissions, were recorded by police. Magistrate Ed de Vries said the case reminded him of the world's dumbest criminals. He placed Bermingham on a community-based supervision order and ordered he pay one quarter of the repair bill.
A Saudi prince has been found guilty of beating and strangling one of his servants at a London hotel. The court heard that the murder of Bandar Abdulaziz was the final act in a "deeply abusive" master-servant relationship in which the prince carried out frequent attacks on his aide for his own sexual gratification. Jurors were told that by the early hours of February 15, after a night spent celebrating Valentine's Day together, Mr Abdulaziz was left so worn down and injured that he simply let his boss kill him without a fight. Saud Abdulaziz bin Nasser al Saud - the grandson of the billionaire king of Saudi Arabia - spent the following hours on the phone to his home country trying to devise a plan to cover up what he had done. Saud, who will be sentenced on Wednesday, had admitted manslaughter but denied murder. The servant had spent the previous three years travelling as an occasional companion of the prince, whose father is a nephew of the Saudi king and whose mother is a daughter of the king. He had suffered "a series of heavy punches or blows to his head and face", leaving his left eye closed and swollen, his lips split open and his teeth chipped and broken, prosecutor Jonathan Laidlaw said. There were also injuries to his ears and internal bruising and bleeding to the brain, as well as severe injuries to the neck consistent with manual compression, the court was told. It was not the first time the victim had been subjected to beatings. Closed-circuit TV cameras had caught Mr Abdulaziz being hit by the defendant in the hotel lift on January 22 and February 5 and outside a restaurant on the night leading up to his death. Saud said he and his servant were "friends and equals" and that he was heterosexual. But the prosecutor said: "The evidence establishes quite conclusively that he is either gay or that he has homosexual tendencies."
It has been revealed a Victorian police officer has been on paid sick leave for more than nine years. The officer has produced medical certificates to support his absence and Victoria Police says it does not have the power to resolve the case. The police force has called for a review of arrangements for dealing with staff on long-term sick leave. "It's time to have a really good scrutiny over our different systems in cases of this nature," Assistant Commissioner Emmett Dunne said. "We're bound by the advice of the medical certificates, in this case that said he was too ill to go to the police medical officer."
Police at Ipswich west of Brisbane have charged a 21-year-old tattooist who is accused of putting an obscene picture on a customer's back instead of the image requested. The 25-year-old customer wanted a yin and yang symbol and a dragon but instead was given a 40 centimetre tattoo of a penis and a rude slogan implying he was gay. It is believed the pair had earlier been involved in an argument. Police say the tattooist will appear in court next month charged with two counts of assault occasioning bodily harm and one charge relating to the Public Safety Act.
