"Sindhu Darshan" festival

Dancers wearing traditional costumes perform during the "Sindhu Darshan" festival in Leh, capital of Ladakh, June 12, 2007

Monks walk on a platform floating on the Indus river to perform rituals during the "Sindhu Darshan" festival in Leh, capital of Ladakh, June 12, 2007.

Editors Pics

Natalia Petrova of Volga Classical Ballet Company ties her laces as she prepares to dance during a media rehearsal of "Swan Lake" at Madrid's Nuevo Apolo theatre June 13, 2007.(SPAIN)

A rabbi from southern Ukraine examines a burial site containing recently discovered bones, believed to be of victims of Nazi brutality during the World War Two occupation of Ukraine, in the village of Gvozdavka, 300 km (186 miles) south of Kiev, June 13, 2007. The Jewish community hopes to give a proper burial to the remains and erect a monument to the dead.(UKRAINE)

Stressed execs get to smash hotel rooms

A Spanish hotel chain is running a competition for stressed executives to let off steam in a fashion usually reserved for rock stars -- by smashing hotel rooms. NH Hoteles will allow 30 people chosen by a team of psychologists to help demolish the interior of the 11-year old NH Alcala hotel in central Madrid as part of its refurbishment, it said. The chosen 30, armed with mallet and hard hat, can destroy any part of the 146-room building, NH said, from bringing down walls to smashing windows. The demolition will take place on July 3.

Squirrel goes on rampage, injures 3

An aggressive squirrel attacked and injured three people in a German town before a 72-year-old pensioner dispatched the rampaging animal with his crutch. The squirrel first ran into a house in the southern town of Passau, leapt from behind on a 70-year-old woman, and sank its teeth into her hand, a local police spokesman said Thursday. With the squirrel still hanging from her hand, the woman ran onto the street in panic, where she managed to shake it off.

The animal then entered a building site and jumped on a construction worker, injuring him on the hand and arm, before he managed to fight it off with a measuring pole. "After that, the squirrel went into the 72-year-old man's garden and massively attacked him on the arms, hand and thigh," the spokesman said. "Then he killed it with his crutch." The spokesman said experts thought the attack may have been linked to the mating season or because the squirrel was ill.

Prisoners flee jail during church service

Eleven prisoners from Papua New Guinea's biggest jail escaped as guards were taking inmates to their weekly church service, local media reported on Thursday. The prisoners, including a convicted murderer and armed robbers, cut a hole in a wire perimeter fence of the Bomana Prison on the outskirts of the capital Port Moresby on Wednesday, said The National newspaper. "They cut through the fence and made their escape while our attention was on the prisoners' religious service," said the prison's chief superintendent, Michael Mosiri. Mosiri said three of the prisoners had been recaptured and security was being reviewed to see if any prison officers had breached prison rules. Bomana prison officers walked off the job for six hours on Tuesday in protest over a pay issue. The National newspaper ran a photograph of the front gate of the prison left open during the protest. The newspaper said the guards have threatened to shut down the prison. Prison officers told The National that the escapees may have taken advantage of the warders' protest to cut the hole in the wire fence before escaping during the religious service. Mass prison break-outs and escapes from police cells are common in the South Pacific island nation of Papua New Guinea, where prisons are run down and security is often poor.

Man fails school exams on 38th try

A 73-year-old Indian farmer who vowed not to marry before passing his high school exams has failed to get through for the 38th time. Shiv Charan Yadav has been taking the exams -- normally given to schoolchildren at the age of 15 -- every year since 1969, without success. He was in his 30s when he first decided to better himself through education. This year, he failed everything except Sanskrit, scoring only 103 out of a possible 600 points. He said he found mathematics especially hard, blaming the subject for dragging down his score. "Once I pass I want to get married to a girl who's under 30," Yadav, who lives alone in Kohari village in the western desert state of Rajasthan, told Reuters. He is now revising for his 39th attempt next year.